REDS ON THE RED PLANET

China's Tianwen-1 probe sends back Mars landing visuals

(Xinhua) May 20, 2021



The black and white image taken by an obstacle avoidance camera installed in front of the rover of China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 shows that a ramp on the lander has been extended to the surface of Mars. The terrain of the rover's forward direction is clearly visible in the image, and the horizon of Mars appears curved due to the wide-angle lens. (Photo provided by the China National Space Administration)

BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Two photos and two videos captured by China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 during and after the country's first landing on the red planet were released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Wednesday.

The lander carrying a rover of the Tianwen-1 mission touched down in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15, becoming the country's first probe to land on a planet other than Earth.

The first photograph, a black and white image, was taken by an obstacle avoidance camera installed in front of the Mars rover. The image shows that a ramp on the lander has been extended to the surface of Mars. The terrain of the rover's forward direction is clearly visible in the image, and the horizon of Mars appears curved due to the wide-angle lens.

In the color photo taken by the navigation camera of Tianwen-1 probe towards the rear of the rover, the rover's solar panels and antenna are seen unfolded, and the red soil and rocks on the Martian surface are clearly visible. (Photo provided by the China National Space Administration)

The second image, a color photo, was taken by the navigation camera fitted to the rear of the rover. The rover's solar panels and antenna are seen unfolded, and the red soil and rocks on the Martian surface are clearly visible in the image.

Videos taken by a camera on the orbiter of Tianwen-1 show how the lander and the rover separated from the orbiter during landing. (Videos provided by the China National Space Administration)

The probe also sent back two videos taken by a camera on the orbiter, showing how the lander and the rover separated from the orbiter during landing.

Tianwen-1, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. It was the first step in China's planetary exploration of the solar system, with the aim of completing orbiting, landing and roving on the red planet in one mission.

After landing last Saturday, the lander and rover established communication with the Earth.

On May 17, the orbiter entered orbit to relay communication between the rover and the Earth, and sent back images and data from the rover.

The rover is now making preparations for moving down from the lander onto the Martian surface, CNSA said.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)

Interview: Space cooperation creates bridges between Europe, China, says ESA expert

(Xinhua) 11:05, May 20, 2021

File photo released on March 4, 2021 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows a high-resolution image of Mars captured by the country's Tianwen-1 probe. (CNSA/Handout via Xinhua)

"The data that Zhurong (China's first Mars rover) will bring back to China would be of great interest to the scientific communities, be it in Europe, in China or anywhere," said an expert of the European Space Agency.

PARIS, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Europe-China cooperation in outer space is of great importance and creates bridges between scientists of the two sides, a senior official and expert of the European Space Agency (ESA) has said, expecting more cooperation and exchanges in this field.

In an interview with Xinhua on Monday, Karl Bergquist, ESA's administrator of international relations, said the agency, which has been cooperating with Chinese scientists in space exploration over the past years, is closely following the development of China's Mars mission.

The Tianwen-1 probe carrying China's first Mars rover Zhurong, named after the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology, successfully touched down on the Red Planet on Saturday morning. It is the first time China has landed a probe on a planet other than Earth.



Technical personnel work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Bergquist called the landing "a fantastic achievement" because landing on Mars is a highly complex and difficult task and what China has done is something which has never been done before -- succeeding to land in the first attempt.

"We really would like to congratulate China on this great achievement," he said.

"The data that Zhurong will bring back to China would be of great interest to the scientific communities, be it in Europe, in China or anywhere," the ESA expert added.

The expert said the European agency had provided environmental data on Mars to the China National Space Administration in 2015. It has also offered telemetric and tracking support for the Mars exploration mission.

As to a future Mars mission, a sample return one, Bergquist believed it will come in several years because of its enormous complexity. He is looking forward to more cooperation between European and Chinese scientists in this domain.



Technical personnel celebrate at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

For decades, European and Chinese space scientists have been working together in various domains, the expert said, citing the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, or SMILE, a joint mission between the ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences which aims to build a more complete understanding of the Sun-Earth connection by measuring the solar wind and its dynamic interaction with the magnetosphere.

"This is a very interesting mission. The purpose of such a mission is providing data to European and to Chinese researchers so that they can work together to understand and learn more about the universe," he said.

Bergquist also highlighted Europe-China cooperation in the field of earth sciences, introducing the "dragon" project that has been going on for over 10 years with about 700 scientists from the two sides working together on issues including oceans, atmosphere, chemistry, pollution and climate.

"These are really fields that we have global problems (with) and we try to see how we can work together to find a solution for us all," Bergquist said.

"This is fantastic. We are pushing science a little bit further each time through these cooperation projects," he added.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)

Study finds Sinovac vaccine 99.49 pct effective in immune responses

(Xinhua) 17:22, May 19, 2021

Photo taken on May 12, 2021 shows COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac at a COVID-19 vaccination center in Bangkok, Thailand. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)

99.49 percent of the recipients of Sinovac vaccine had developed antibody responses four weeks after their second shots, the Bangkok Post said on Sunday, quoting the study results.

BANGKOK, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A new vaccination study conducted by Thailand's Chulalongkorn University has found that China's Sinovac vaccine has extremely high efficacy in boosting immune responses against COVID-19, according to media reports.

The study run by the Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology of the Faculty of Medicine at the university showed that 99.49 percent of the recipients had developed antibody responses four weeks after their second shots, the Bangkok Post said on Sunday, quoting the study results.

Three weeks after the first shot, around 66 percent of the recipients had developed immune responses, the report added.

The number of antibodies against the coronavirus was measured with Roche Elecsys Electrochemiluminescence Immunoassay, a qualitative detection of total antibodies developed against the virus in people's blood samples before and after the vaccination period, said the research group.

The tests were conducted before injections, three weeks after the first shot and four weeks after the second injection.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Hongyu)

BOTTOM FEEDER ARISTOCRAT

UK
‘The pay is right’: Jacob Rees-Mogg defends 1% increase after nurse who treated Boris Johnson quits NHS


James Morris
·Senior news reporter, Yahoo News UK
Thu, 20 May 2021, 

Watch: Jacob Rees-Mogg defends 1% rise for NHS workers – 'The pay is right'

Jacob Rees-Mogg has defended the government’s proposed 1% pay rise for NHS staff following the resignation of Jenny McGee, insisting: “The pay is right.”

McGee, the nurse who cared for Boris Johnson when he nearly died from coronavirus last year – and who was publicly thanked by the prime minister – has quit the NHS.

She cited the government’s controversial 1% pay rise offer and said Downing Street does not respect the profession.

Johnson evaded a question about her resignation at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

Boris Johnson and Jenny McGee at a Downing Street reception in July last year celebrating 72 years of the NHS. (Andrew Parsons/Number 10 Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

However, House of Commons leader Rees-Mogg was also asked about McGee at Thursday’s business questions in the chamber.

Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire asked what Rees-Mogg had to say to McGee.

He said: “There is a 1% pay increase being given to nurses. And over the last year there are 56,900 more people working in the NHS.

“That is a real success, it shows the recruitment is right, and if the recruitment is right that usually indicates the pay is right."

McGee cared for Johnson in intensive care at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London in April last year.

She told a Channel 4 documentary, The Year Britain Stopped, which will be broadcast on Monday: “We’re not getting the respect and now pay that we deserve. I’m just sick of it. So I’ve handed in my resignation.”

In March, the government’s 1% pay rise recommendation for NHS staff in England sparked outrage. One poll suggested as much as 72% of the population thought it was too low.

At the time, Johnson defended the offer, saying: “Don’t forget that there has been a public sector pay freeze, we’re in pretty tough times.”

The NHS Pay Review Body is currently considering the recommendation and is set to report back to the government within the next 11 days.

JOE BIDEN’S DRILLING MORATORIUM 

IS NOT A MORATORIUM

BY SAM MELLINS

JACOBIN

05.20.2021

During his first week in office, Joe Biden signed an executive order pausing oil and gas leases on federal land. But a few months later, it's clear the modest action will do little to rein in US carbon emissions

.
Experts and environmental advocates say that Joe Biden's moratorium on drilling is likely to have little effect. (@ElMelindo / Flickr)

During the 2020 campaign, President Joe Biden promised to combat climate change by “banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters” — and the week he took office in January, Biden issued an executive order pausing oil and gas leases on federal land as part of the administration’s effort to “combat the climate crisis by example.”

But experts and environmental advocates say that the moratorium is likely to have little effect. Moreover, even as a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report said governments must immediately end fossil fuel development, Biden has yet to use his executive authority to take steps that could more quickly do that.

The ramifications of Biden’s initial moves will likely be limited because fossil fuel companies, fearing such a ban under a potential Democratic administration, sought and received approval for thousands of drilling permits on millions of acres of federal land during the Trump years, which they can develop at any time. Several energy executives have said that this stockpile will keep the companies occupied at least until the next presidential election, without needing to seek any new leases in order to continue development.

Even if their stockpiles don’t last that long, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management has already broken Biden’s campaign promise by approving more than five hundred new drilling permits for previously existing leases since Biden took office.

“The review process for an application for a permit to drill is comprehensive to ensure oil and gas development will be done in an environmentally sound and responsible manner,” the Bureau of Land Management told Argus Media in March.

These factors are why Mitch Jones, policy director for environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch, believes the pause on new leases “most likely will have no effect on oil and gas production on federal lands.”

Jones added: “The mere fact that new leases aren’t being issued isn’t having any real-world effect on the amount of drilling that’s taking place.”

The IEA report, released this week, found that in order to keep global temperature increases below catastrophic levels, governments should move aggressively toward electric cars and zero-emissions power plants, both of which would dramatically reduce oil and gas use.

If Biden is serious about reducing oil and gas developments on federal lands and mitigating the worst effects of climate change, experts insist that action is needed beyond the permit moratorium. Specifically, there are other concrete steps the administration can take without congressional action, including a moratorium on new drilling permits, and disincentivizing further development by raising the cost of leasing land and the percentage of oil and gas revenues taken by the government.
A Limited and Tenuous Moratorium

Without additional action, Biden’s executive order is unlikely to enable the United States to reduce emissions on federal lands by the 45 percent amount that is necessary by 2030 to limit warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Even under conservative estimates, the emissions produced by development of leases granted under Trump alone could equal the annual emissions of the entire nation of Brazil, according to a 2020 report from the Wilderness Society.Fossil fuel companies, fearing such a ban under a potential Democratic administration, sought and received approval for thousands of drilling permits on millions of acres of federal land during the Trump years, which they can develop at any time.

“Most of the [fossil fuel company] revenues are coming from existing wells that have already been developed and are pumping oil,” said Mark Squillace, professor of natural resources law at the University of Colorado Law School. “Nothing that the Biden administration has done has changed any of that.”

Regardless of its effectiveness, there’s another problem with the moratorium on new leases: It could be overturned soon. The state of Wyoming has sued in federal court to obtain an injunction against the moratorium. The state’s memo in support of its suit claims that the moratorium violates the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, which requires that “lease sales shall be held for each State where eligible lands are available at least quarterly.”

According to Squillace, Wyoming has a “good shot” at getting an injunction blocking the moratorium, especially since the Wyoming federal district court has previously been sympathetic to the state’s lawsuits against the Bureau of Land Management. “I do think that they’ve got a decent argument,” Squillace said.

Jones said that he believes the moratorium is legal under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, which authorizes the Interior secretary to “take any action necessary to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of [public] lands.”

Asked whether he thought such an argument could prevail in federal court, Jones said that “it’s a solid argument, whether or not a Trump-appointed federal judge would see it that way.”

Reached by email, Wyoming attorney general Bridget Hill told the Daily Poster that the state does not comment on pending litigation.
Other Opportunities

Even if the moratorium is struck down, there are other approaches that would make bigger contributions to reducing oil and gas development on federal lands and that don’t present the same legal issues.

Before fossil fuel companies can exploit oil or gas on leased land, the Bureau of Land Management has to approve the companies’ application for a drilling permit. The permitting process could allow the government to impose limits on the way in which oil and gas development occurs, or block such development entirely, without running into the same legal issues as the moratorium on new leases.

“The [permitting] process is an opportunity for the government to impose restrictions, or limit the way in which oil and gas development occurs,” Squillace said. “They could put a pause on [permits].”

And unlike the statutory obligation to offer new leases, Squillace said, “I don’t know that there’s any particular obligation to issue [permits].”

Pausing new permits “would be a good first step for the federal government … where the administration actually has the authority to act unilaterally without going to Congress for legislation,” Jones said.

Short of pausing permits entirely, the Bureau of Land Management could put conditions on permits that require developers to mitigate the environmental harms of drilling, such as utilizing methane capture technologies, Squillace said.

The Biden administration could also unilaterally create financial disincentives to fossil fuel exploitation on federal land by raising costs and fees associated with drilling.

The Mineral Leasing Act sets a minimum rent on federal land — $1.50 per acre for the first year of a lease, and $2 per acre for each subsequent year — but doesn’t preclude the president from setting a higher rent. In recent comments to the Interior Department, Squillace and eighteen other law professors recommended raising yearly rents to $10 per acre.Fossil fuel exploitation on federal lands ‘shouldn’t be made more expensive, it should be ended.’

With such a rent hike, “We’d actually have fewer leases being developed, but those that were being developed would generate more revenues for the federal government and the states,” Squillace said.

Another way to raise money while disincentivizing development would be increasing the government’s cut of revenues from oil and gas extraction on federal lands. The government’s share is currently 12.5 percent — the same as it has been since the passage of the Mineral Leasing Act in 1920. Squillace said that “if the BLM is serious about ramping down production and maximizing federal and state revenues,” the government’s take should be raised to 20 percent.

“I don’t think the long-term outlook for oil and gas is very bright — revenues are going to go down as price goes down.” Squillace said, noting the rapidly-falling cost of renewable energy. “In the short term, we should be squeezing fair revenues out of these industries before they shut down.”

Increasing the government’s share to 20 percent would also disincentivize development by lowering fossil fuel company profits, he said.

Jones, however, said that Food & Water Watch considers these types of policy changes insufficient.

Fossil fuel exploitation on federal lands “shouldn’t be made more expensive, it should be ended,” Jones said. “We should be taking direct action to transition away from fossil fuels, and the federal government needs to play a central role in guiding that transition.”

You can subscribe to David Sirota’s investigative journalism project, the Daily Poster, here.

#ABOLISHICE

US ends use of 2 immigration jails where mistreatment alleged

  

In this May 12, 2021 photo, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before the Senate Appropriations committee hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Biden administration will stop using immigration detention facilities in Massachusetts and Georgia that are the subject of abuse allegations. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday announced that federal authorities will no longer use the jail facilities in Bristol County, Massachusetts and the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia.(Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

By BEN FOX and KATE BRUMBACK

Published: May. 20, 2021 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A detention facility in Georgia where women claim they were subjected to unwanted medical procedures and a Massachusetts jail that has drawn complaints of inhumane conditions will no longer be used to detain immigrants, the Biden administration said Thursday.

The Department of Homeland Security said it would terminate contracts with the local government agency that runs the detention center in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and with the private operator of the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia.

Any detainees the U.S. believes should remain in custody will be transferred elsewhere, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in announcing the move, which had been sought by immigrant advocates.

“Allow me to state one foundational principle,” Mayorkas said, “We will not tolerate the mistreatment of individuals in civil immigration detention or substandard conditions of detention.”

Mayorkas said ending the use of the facilities is part of an effort to make “lasting improvements” to a detention system that advocates have long argued detains people for civil immigration offenses for too long and in inappropriately harsh conditions.

It also reflects a broader effort to roll back the anti-immigrant policies that characterized U.S. policy under President Donald Trump.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a part of DHS, holds about 19,000 noncitizens for removal at about 200 facilities around the country, down about a quarter from a year earlier. About 73 percent of those in custody have no criminal record and many others have only minor offenses, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data-gathering organization at Syracuse University.

DHS suggested additional detention facilities could close in a statement that noted that it would “review concerns” about other centers.

“Today’s announcements show the Biden administration’s willingness to decisively break from the immigrants’ rights abuses of prior administrations,” said Naureen Shah, senior advocacy and policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, which recently called for the closure of 39 immigration detention centers around the country.

The ACLU has called for an end to the “default incarceration” of immigrants and an end to the agreements with state and local authorities that enable prisoners who are noncitizens to be transferred into ICE custody for deportation upon release.

Mayorkas has led an effort to soften some immigration policies but has publicly insisted that noncitizens who pose a threat to the public and have committed serious crimes should be detained pending their removal from the country.

The Massachusetts jail was run under an agreement with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office. The Georgia facility was run by a private company under contract with ICE.

Members of Congress and advocates have called for the closure of the Georgia facility since last year after women held there told of being forced into unnecessary gynecological procedures with dirty equipment and other unsanitary conditions.

DHS and the Justice Department are investigating the allegations of medical mistreatment, which a doctor involved in their treatment has denied, and Mayorkas said that steps will be taken to preserve evidence.

Immigrants held at Irwin also had broader complaints about overall conditions, alleging that authorities at the detention center failed to take adequate measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Given its extensively documented history of human rights violations, Irwin should have been shut down long ago,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, legal and advocacy director for Project South, an advocacy group that has pressed for ICE and the company that runs the facility to compensate women subjected to unwanted procedures there.

The facility in Ocilla, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Atlanta, has been used to house men and women for ICE as well as inmates for the U.S. Marshals Service and Irwin County. It’s run by the private LaSalle Corrections, a Louisiana company.

The company had no immediate comment to Thursday’s announcement.

Immigrants held at the Massachusetts jail, known formally as the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center, have also complained about a lack of COVID-19 precautions as well as overcrowding and excessive use of force.

The Massachusetts attorney general’s office issued a scathing report in December, determining that officers violated the rights of detainees and used excessive force during a disturbance there earlier in the year.

A spokesman for Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, who was an honorary chairman of former President Trump’s reelection campaign in Massachusetts, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.

But local immigrant rights groups that have frequently clashed with Hodgson cheered the decision as long overdue.

Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU Massachusetts, said Hodgson “carried out the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda with zeal.”

And Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, head of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said the jail, located almost 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Boston near Cape Cod, is “notorious for its inhumane and unconstitutional treatment of civil immigration detainees.”
___

Brumback reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Philip Marcelo contributed from Boston.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

COLD WAR 2.0
US, Russia at odds over military activity in the Arctic

Posted Thursday, May 20, 2021 
By MATTHEW LEE

REYKJAVIK. Iceland (AP) — The Biden administration is leading a campaign against to assert authority over Arctic shipping and reintroduce a military dimension to discussions over international activity in the area.

As Russia assumed the rotating chairmanship of the on Thursday, the U.S. rallied other members to oppose Moscow’s plans to set maritime rules in the Northern Sea Route, which runs from Norway to Alaska, and its desire to resume high-level military talks within the eight-nation bloc. Those talks were suspended in 2014 over


The effort reflects growing concerns in Washington and among some NATO allies about a surge in Russian military and commercial activity in the region that is rapidly opening up due to the effects of climate change. Russia has expressed similar suspicion about NATO's motives.

At a meeting of Arctic Council foreign ministers in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the group should maintain its focus on peaceful cooperation on environmental issues, maritime safety and the well-being of indigenous people in the region.

“The Arctic is a region for strategic competition that has seized the world’s attention," Blinken said. "But the Arctic is more than a strategically or economically significant region. It’s home to our people, its hallmark has been and must remain peaceful cooperation. It’s our responsibility to protect that peaceful cooperation and to build on it.”

Blinken stressed the importance of upholding “effective governance and the rule of law” to ensure that the “Arctic remains a region free of conflict where countries act responsibly.” He had previously questioned the legality of the proposed Russian maritime rules and expressed deep reservations about Russia's military activity in the far North.

Several other foreign ministers, including those from Canada, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden, echoed Blinken's call to keep the Arctic peaceful and free of conflict under the authority of international, rather than that of individual countries. Representatives of indigenous Arctic populations urged that their voices be heard.

“We are concerned over the level of recent angry and provocative rhetoric,” said James Stotts of the Inuit Circumpolar Council. “We do not want to see our homeland turned into a region of competition and conflict.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who had earlier this week dismissed the U.S. criticism because the Arctic “is our territory, our land," questioned NATO's motives in deployments of bombers and submarines to the area. On Thursday, he said resumption of an Arctic Council military dialogue would contribute to stability.

“It is therefore important to extend the positive relations we have within the Arctic Council to encompass the military sphere as well, first of all by revitalizing multilateral dialogue on military issues between the general staffs of the Arctic states," Lavrov said.

He said later at a new conference that resuming that dialogue would be a priority for Russia while it heads the council.

“We have not received any ‘no’s’ so far but we have not received any positive reaction, either,” Lavrov said. “So we have decided that within the next three years we will create the proper conditions so that this particular aspect of common security will once again be part of the work of the Arctic Council.”

The outgoing council chair, Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, of Iceland, did not appear enthusiastic. “Everything that we can do as nations to lower tension and see stability is something that, of course, should be looked into very positively, but I think it’s important to keep the council as it is,” he said.

Lavrov also cast aspersions on NATO and the U.S., which he accused of acting with arrogance toward Russia and its security concerns. He took particular aim at Norway, which he said was amending its laws on foreign military presence to allow for the constant rotation of military equipment and personnel.

“We’re especially concerned about what is going on close to our borders and Norway is indeed a very close neighbor of ours," he said. "We have very good relations with Norway. Nevertheless, the issues related to heightened military tensions due to military deployments in Norway and in the Baltics are still very present.”

He called the rotational presence a “play on words” to describe what is actually a permanent presence. “This is not the first demonstration of this highbrow approach that our Western colleagues are now taking in the international arena," he said. “We are going to undertake necessary measures in order to ensure our security, but our priority and our preference really is dialogue.”

Lavrov also proposed a summit of Arctic Council leaders to be held at some point during Russia's two-year chairmanship and said Moscow is keen to foster cooperation.

“We encourage you to maintain and seek consensus in the council to continue constructive cooperation,” Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told Lavrov.

UK

The Tories are renationalising chunks of the railways. Sound familiar?

Jeremy Corbyn was mocked for claiming he "won the argument" in 2019. 

Was he that far wrong?

 by Henry Goodwin
May 20, 2021
in Politics


The government has announced a major shake-up of the UK’s rail network, bringing vast swathes of the country’s railways into state control.

A new state-owned body, Great British Railways (GBR), will set timetables and prices, sell tickets in England and manage infrastructure – with Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, vowing that it will offer more punctual services and cheaper tickets.

However the industry will remain substantially privatised, with franchises replaced by contracts to incentivise private firms on punctuality and efficiency as opposed to raising revenue.


The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said passengers had been failed by “years of fragmentation, confusion and overcomplicating” – and that GBR would “become a single familiar brand with a bold new vision for passengers – of punctual services, simpler tickets and a modern and green railway that meets the needs of the nation”.

#CorbynWasRight trends after Tories unveil new railway plans

Jon Trickett calls for wealth tax after superyacht sales and food bank use simultaneously rocket

Train in vain

Despite a few caveats, the policy is not radically different in substance to one first proposed by Jeremy Corbyn who, in one of his first acts as leader in 2015, outlined plans to bring rail franchises back into public hands.

A programme of nationalisation was at the heart of Labour’s manifesto in 2019, with the party proposing to bring the Royal Mail, energy supply networks, water and sewerage companies as well as the rail network into public ownership.

According to Confederation of British Industry estimates at the time, that plan would have cost at least £196 billion – a price-tag used by Boris Johnson to criticise Corbyn’s proposals, which he called a “£196bn programme taking money away from companies”.

Yet, announcing the sweeping reforms on Thursday, the prime minister said he was “a great believer in rail”, adding: “For too long passengers have not had the level of service they deserve.”

Taxes, taxes, taxes

It’s not the first time that the Conservative government has cribbed ideas from previous Labour manifestos.

In March, as Rishi Sunak unveiled his latest Budget, eagle-eyed observers pointed out that a slew of the chancellor’s initiatives seemed to be drawn from Labour’s playbook in 2017 and 2019, prompting James Meadway – a one-time adviser to John McDonnell – to tweet that Corbyn’s shadow chancellor “really did forge a new economic consensus.

The big one is corporation tax, which Sunak revealed he would raise from 19 per cent to 25 per cent by the end of the 2024 parliament. Labour’s 2019 manifesto vowed to increase the headline rate to 26 per cent.

Back in November 2019, Boris Johnson – vowing to slash corporation tax – derided Corbyn for wanting to hike the tax to “the highest levels in Europe”. He was wrong – corporation tax was as 34.4 per cent in France and 31.5 per cent in Portugal at the time.

‘Levelling up’

Another fêted announcement was the creation of ‘Treasury North’, a new economic campus in the north of England. It will be located, conveniently, in Darlington – a ‘red wall’ seat won from Corbyn’s Labour in 2019 which Johnson and Sunk are eager to hold on to.

Sunak announced Treasury North in his first Budget, last year, when McDonnell – still in situ – pointed out that he had proposed something very similar a year earlier.

“We’re going to break up No 11. Part of No 11 is going to the north,” McDonnell told the Manchester Evening News in July 2019. “If they’re going to plagiarise they could have the decency of properly attributing the idea to Labour,” McDonnell quipped last March.

The creation of a national infrastructure bank, based in Leeds, also made headlines. Both McDonnell and Ed Miliband’s Labour proposed creating a national investment bank which would break London’s hegemony over investment.

“We will end the Treasury bias against investing in the regions and nations,” McDonnell said in his 2018 conference speech. “And we’ll make sure it assesses spending decisions against the need to tackle climate change, protect our environment, drive up productivity and meet the investment challenges of the fourth industrial revolution.”

Bus it up

Corbyn’s footprint is visible elsewhere, too. Having been derided by political commentators for repeatedly raising the issue of local buses at PMQs during his tenure at the despatch box, Johnson – after seeing off Labour in the 2019 election – announced a “transformative” slate of investment in local transport.

“Improving connectivity by overhauling bus services and making cycling easier than ever is such an important step forward, to make sure every community has the foundations it needs to thrive,” the prime minister said.

The former Labour leader was widely – and somewhat understandably – mocked for claiming to have “won the argument” after his shellacking in 2019. But the current iteration of the Conservative party are proving that statement to be more true than most thought at the time.

Politically, that’s a huge problem for Corbyn’s successor, Keir Starmer. Gripes about plagiarism aside, the emergence of what Meadway has dubbed a “Red-Green Tory prospectus” – high tax, high spend, tough on crime and immigration – seems to be a winning formula.

That was especially clear in March, in Starmer’s lukewarm response to the Budget. The Labour leader seemed keen to stress that, soon enough, Sunak will return to “business as usual”, cutting spending and ushering in a new age of austerity. But what if he doesn’t? The Chancellor is playing football firmly in Labour’s half – and, for now at least, they don’t seem to know how to win the ball back.

Related: Large parts of British rail to be nationalised as part of sweeping Tory reforms

Britain throws weight behind Israel’s bombardment of Gaza

James Cleverly condemned Hamas and said Israel has a "legitimate right to defend itself".

SO DO THE PALESTINIANS

by Henry Goodwin
May 20, 2021
in Politics

The British government has thrown its weight behind Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, stating the country has a “legitimate right to defend itself”.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, James Cleverly – the Middle East minister – briefly urged Israel to make sure “all actions are appropriate”, choosing instead to focus his condemnation on “acts of terrorism by Hamas”.

“The UK unequivocally condemns the firing of rockets at Jerusalem and other locations within Israel,” Cleverly said.

“We strongly condemn these acts of terrorism by Hamas and other terrorist groups who must permanently end their incitement and rocket fire against Israel. There is no justification for the targeting of civilians.

“Israel has a legitimate right to self-defence and to defend its citizens from attack. In doing so, it is vital that all actions are proportionate, in line with international humanitarian law and make every effort to avoid civilian casualties.”

Israel has unleashed a fresh wave of air strikes across the Gaza Strip, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding several others.

The latest strikes came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against US pressure to wind down the offensive against Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, who have fired thousands of rockets at Israel.

Explosions shook Gaza City and orange flares lit up the night sky, with air strikes also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the southern town of Khan Younis.

At least 227 Palestinians have been killed, including 64 children and 38 women, with 1,620 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into fighters and civilians.

Twelve people in Israel, including a five-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and a soldier, have been killed.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran, who is of British-Palestinian heritage, said her “heart was broken before, it’s shattered now”.

“We need a ceasefire and the UK shouldn’t have left it to France to be the main sponsor of a UN resolution calling for it,” she said. “This government is shirking its historic responsibility and it’s time to step up.”

Labour MP Richard Burgon added: “How many Palestinian children have to be killed, how many more Palestinian homes have to be reduced to rubble, how many more Palestinian schools and hospitals have to be bombed before the British government takes the action necessary to finally force the Israeli government to stop its war on the Palestinian people?

“Surely now is the time for all UK weapons sales to Israel to be stopped. Surely now is the time for sanctions on the Israeli government for its repeated violations of international law. Surely now is the time – this House voted for it back in 2014 – to recognise the state of Palestine because Palestine has the right to exist.”

But Cleverly said Burgon had misunderstood the “sequencing” of the latest conflict, suggesting “Israel’s actions were in response to indiscriminate rocket attacks from an internationally recognised terrorist organisation” – despite violence breaking out after Israeli security forces attacked worshippers at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, questioned the nature of “Britain’s military relationship with Israel” in a contribution in parliament.

“Can he tell the House if any weapons sold by Britain or munitions sold by Britain to Israel have been used to bomb places in Gaza or if any drone equipment supplied or bought by Britain has been used as a surveillance method on either the West Bank or Gaza that has been followed up by destruction of civilian life and the death of many people?” he said.

Cleverly replied: “The UK has a robust arms export licensing regime and all export licences are assessed in accordance with it.”

After black fungus, white fungus cases reported in India - Know how it is more dangerous for women and children

The disease occurs in the newborn in the form of diaper candidiasis in which cream-coloured white spots appear.

, File Photo


WRITTEN BY
DNA Web Team

DNA webdesk

Updated: May 20, 2021


Amid the second surge of COVID-19 in India and the increasing number of patients of black fungus, now four cases of white fungus infection, which is considered more dangerous than Black Fungus, have been reported from Patna, Bihar.

According to the doctors, COVID-19 positive patients who are on oxygen support are more likely to get gripped by the white fungus which can infect their lungs. The white fungus is considered dangerous as it infects children and women and according to doctors it is the main reason for Leucorrhoea.

The disease occurs in the newborn in the form of diaper candidiasis in which cream-coloured white spots appear and in young children it causes oral thrust. Cancer patients also need to be careful of the fungus.

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Now, white fungus, which is more dangerous than black fungus, hit India - Who are more at risk?

Doctors have said that white fungus also infects the lungs and an infection similar to COVID-19 is detected when HRCT is performed on the infected patient.

According to Chief of Microbiology at PMCH, Dr S N Singh, all four persons infected by white fungus showed coronavirus-type symptoms but they were not COVID-19 positive. Singh added that but their lungs were found infected and after tests when they were given anti-fungal medicines then they recovered.

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After black fungus, white fungus infection cases reported in India - Know why it is more dangerous

Dr Singh noted that just like black fungus, the white fungus is also more dangerous for those who have weak immunity. Diabetes patients and those who are taking steroids for a long period of time are more at risk of getting infected with white fungus.

Dr Singh said that it is easy to prevent white fungus infection by sanitising the oxygen or ventilator properly.

 

Horizon Technologies gets funding for maritime surveillance satellites

by Jason Rainbow — May 19, 2021

IOD-3, Horizon Technologies's first satellite, will be deployed from the International Space Station after an August resupply mission. Credit: Horizon Technologies

TAMPA, Fla. — A British company that equips spy planes and drones to track satellite telephones has raised capital to launch a handful of tiny surveillance spacecraft to listen for signals from ships operating clandestinely. 

Horizon Space Technologies, a recently established subsidiary of Berkshire, England-based Horizon Technologies, is prime contractor for the U.K. government’s cubesat signals intelligence program called IOD-3 Amber. 

Amber IOD-3, its first satellite, is part of the In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) program run by government-backed nonprofit Satellite Applications Catapult.

With funding from the U.K. government’s innovation agency, the Amber IOD-3 cubesat is being built by AAC Clyde Space to provide data for the country’s National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC). L3Harris Technologies is assisting with the payload’s development.

The satellite is slated to launch aboard a SpaceX Cargo Dragon mission in August for deployment from the International Space Station shortly after arrival. Houston-based NanoRacks arranged for the cubesat’s deployment from the ISS.

More satellites incoming

Horizon Technologies CEO John Beckner told SpaceNews the company has secured funds to launch two more Amber satellites next year, amid plans for an initial constellation of six satellites. 

Beckner declined to discuss the size of Horizon’s Series A funding round, which was led by private equity firm Maven Capital Partners. An industry source said it is in the “single-digit millions of dollars.”

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson’s financial services firm Virgin Money participated in the round through its Clydesdale Bank lender. Virgin Orbit, Branson’s air-launch rocket startup, has been investing in other space ventures in return for launch agreements. 

The British government aims to use Horizon’s data to counter activities ranging from illegal fishing to human trafficking across its coastal waters.

“The Amber program to date has been an excellent example of a successful public/private partnership,” Beckner said.

“We are thrilled to have received so much support from the U.K. government, and this includes the [innovation accelerator] Catapult, Department for International Trade (DIT) and Defence & Security Organisation (DSO). Their help has simply been invaluable.”

Tracking the untracked

All passenger ships and most ocean-going vessels above a certain tonnage are required by law to be fitted with Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponders, enabling them to be tracked by coastal stations and satellites equipped with AIS receivers. However, ships can deactivate AIS transponders to avoid detection.

Horizon’s satellites will supplement AIS data by picking up faint electronic signals from navigation radars and satellite phones, enabling the tracking of vessels even if they turn off AIS.

The company will buy AIS data from third parties that will feed into its ground station. Becker said its satellites will have AIS receivers to double-check measurements, but it does not plan to sell this service.

The market for radio-frequency mapping (RFM) networks has been expanding in recent years, with venture capital investors helping to expand the number of players and satellites in orbit.

U.S.-based HawkEye 360 currently provides RFM services with six in-orbit satellites, saying in April that it raised an extra $55 million to complete its constellation with nine additional satellites.

Horizon’s technology builds off an L-band satellite-phone detection system called FlyingFish, which the company already sells to governments that operate it from crewed and uncrewed aircraft.

The company recently split into two business segments, hardware-based Horizon Aerospace Technologies and data-based Horizon Space Technologies, after FlyingFish helped it report more than 4.5 million British pounds ($6.4 million) in sales for 2020.

As well as launching satellites, Beckner said Horizon’s Series A funding enables it to hire new personnel and cover research and development for expanded features, supporting software payload upgrades for Amber IOD-3 and beyond.

He said the signals it picks up are demodulated to provide government end-users with intelligence data, ranging from radar “fingerprints” to satellite phones’ GPS locations.

Six satellites will enable worldwide coverage with latency under one hour.

Rapidly expanding market

Three other companies, all founded in the last six years, have been raising capital to deploy commercial RFM networks. These are U.S.-based Aurora Insight, Luxembourg’s Kleos Space and Unseenlabs of France.

“Demand for radio frequency sensing and monitoring by U.S. and international government organizations has continued to grow rapidly in recent years, with no signs of slowing down,” said Nicolo Dona dalle Rose, engagement director in boutique management consulting firm Avascent’s space practice.

“Defense and intelligence agencies will likely remain the core consumers of this data for the near future. However, appetite is rapidly expanding among commercial customers as well. Early movers in this space have an opportunity to shape the way in which data is consumed and the service is delivered.”

Unseenlabs said April 27 it raised a 20 million euro ($25 million) Series B round for its radio-frequency geolocation constellation.

The venture launched its first satellite in August 2019, and aims to deploy between 20 and 25 of them by 2025 to expand its services.

BRO-1, its first satellite, was still operational in November when Unseenlabs announced the launch of two more spacecraft: BRO-2 and BRO-3.

It plans to enable full coverage of the globe and a half-hour revisit time by growing its constellation.

Kleos Space raised $13.8 million following the Nov. 7 launch of its first cluster of four radio-frequency mapping satellites, providing daily coverage of the Earth.

The venture, which says on its website that revisit times are dependent on the specific area of interest, is funded to launch four more satellites toward the end of 2021. It is planning ten four-satellite clusters in total.

Beckner was coy about future plans but confirmed Horizon’s Amber constellation would be growing in the future.

He said work would begin soon on securing additional funding as Horizon accelerates its deployment of cubesats.

The company has also started looking for partners to combine its space-based data with tower-based systems, providing 24/7 coverage of critical maritime choke points, as well as UAVs for full-motion video to support legal proceedings.