Court orders striking Kenya Airways pilots to resume work

Reuters - 1
By Duncan Miriri and Jeff Kahinju


Striking Kenya Airways pilots summoned in court in Nairobi© Thomson Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) -A labour court on Tuesday ordered pilots at Kenya Airways to resume work by Nov.9, seeking to end a strike that has left thousands of passengers stranded at one of Africa's most important aviation hubs.

Members of the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) — a union that represents about 400 pilots at the carrier - went on strike on Saturday after failing to resolve a dispute over their pensions contributions and settlement of deferred pay.

On Tuesday, a labour and employment court judge ordered the pilots to resume their duties "unconditionally" at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), on Wednesday.

The court also stopped the airline's management from taking disciplinary actions against pilots who took part in the industrial action.

The court had restrained the union from embarking on the strike and the airline sought to cite the union's officials for contempt of court after the strike started. The court will continue hearing the dispute, Judge Anne Mwaure said.

Kenya Airways welcomed the court's directions, and said it would comply. Officials at the pilots' union were not immediately available for comment.

The pilots' walkout has so far cost the airline an estimated more than $2 million daily, affected more than 10,000 passengers and led to the cancellation of dozens of flights.

Kenya Airways, which is nearly 50% owned by the government, had earlier said it planned to cancel its bargaining and recognition agreements with the pilots union, saying their current strike was unlawful and amounted to economic sabotage.

The union is demanding the resumption of regular payments to its members' pension plan, which were stopped in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started, and the payment of pension arrears.

It also wants the carrier to start paying salaries that were deferred during the health crisis.

The airline's management says it has been working hard to fully recover from the pandemic and accuses the pilots of jeopardising that push.

The financial turmoil at Kenya Airways preceded the pandemic.

The airline sank deep into the red after it borrowed heavily to buy new aircraft at a time when its passenger business slumped mainly due to frequent militant attacks in Kenya.

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Jeff Kahinju; Editing by George Obulutsa and Tomasz Janowski)

Court Orders Kenya Airways Pilots To End Strike, Resume Work Tomorrow

By Citizen Reporter Published on: November 08, 2022 

Members of the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA).


Lady Justice Anna Mwaure directed the KQ management to allow the pilots to do their duties without harassment or disciplinary action.
Justice Mwaure said the case will come up for mention on November 21, 2022.

The Employment and Labour Relations court has directed striking Kenya Airways (KQ) pilots to call off their industrial action and resume work on Wednesday at 6am.

Lady Justice Anna Ngibuini Mwaure, in a ruling delivered on Tuesday, also directed the KQ management to allow the pilots to do their duties without harassment or disciplinary action pending determination of the matter.

Justice Mwaure said the case will come up for mention on November 21, 2022, adding that both parties in the case, the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) and KQ management, should refrain from prosecuting the matter in public.

Operations at all airports normal,’ KAA says as it challenges aviation workers' strike

The judge had early on ordered KQ and KALPA to hold talks and come up with a way forward on their stalemate.

She directed the parties to present consent in written form to the court by Tuesday, 2:30 PM as she turned down KALPA’s request to be granted seven days to solve the issue.

Justice Mwaure raised concern about the losses that the airline will make if the parties are granted the 7-day mediation period.

The Employment and Labour Relations court had summoned 11 KALPA officials after refusing to call off the pilots’ strike that entered its fourth day on Tuesday.

The pilots and KQ management have been trading accusations, with KALPA accusing the airline of failing to honour their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA.)

On the other hand, KQ termed the pilots’ strike as illegal, accusing them of holding passengers and the Kenyan economy at ransom through industrial action.

 

Smart farming tech offers sprout of hope in Greece

by Vassilis KYRIAKOULIS, Hélène COLLIOPOULOU

A new generation of Greek farmers see high technology as key to their ailing sector.

Eyes glued to his mobile phone, farmer Sotiris Mournos pores over the latest microclimate and humidity data about his fields on the plain of Imathia in northern Greece.

The high-tech farming techniques he uses are making slow progress in Greece's tradition-bound and struggling agricultural sector, but growers like him see them as key to their future.

Mournos, 25, employs a Greek smart-farming app to boost production of his family's cotton fields and fruit trees.

Using real-time data recorded by a weather station, he can analyze and correlate the impact of weather conditions on his 10-hectare (nearly 25-acre) cotton plantation.

"We've managed to reduce the use of fertilizer and irrigation... (and thereby to) increase the financial return" of the farm, said Mournos, who gave up studying computer science at university to devote himself to the family holding in the town of Platy.

Measuring the humidity or the nitrogen level in the soil helps to curb the excessive use of fertilizers and saves water, he notes.

As in many other southern European countries, Greece's agricultural sector is chronically short of water and smart farming could help deal with that problem.

Boosting yields

The sector has also lost a major share of its available labor in recent decades, as young people snub farm work for better-paid jobs in services such as tourism.

Agriculture now represents just five percent of Greece's GDP, half what it was 20 years ago.

The government has budgeted 230 million euros ($231 million) over the next three years to revive the country's farming industry.

Most of that derives from the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy innovation fund.

"Most young people in my village prefer other jobs and have given up working in the fields," Mournos told AFP.

But he is making a go at farming, aiming to work smart by using the farming app for several years now.

It means he uses 40 percent less fertilizer on his cotton field and can avoid using two pesticide sprays—altogether saving 9,000 euros (about $9,000)—without affecting production rates.

Technology is helping Greek farmers save money and increase their yield.

Analysts say the farming app is not widely used in Greece although interest is gradually picking up.

But persuading farmers who may be less technologically minded than Mournos to embrace it faces myriad challenges.

A key hurdle is the small size of Greek farms—less than 10 hectares on average—and the country's largely mountainous terrain.

Greek farms are often family businesses or involve rented fields, making investment in tools and practices less appealing.

Convincing farmers

Meanwhile, an "endemic" lack of cooperation among farmers prevents them sharing costs, says Aikaterini Kasimati, an agricultural engineer at the University of Agronomy in Athens.

As a result, Greece lags far behind other European states in the use of smart farming, says Vassilis Protonotarios, marketing manager of Neuropublic, a company specializing in digital agriculture.

He said farmers could benefit from new technology without having to invest in expensive equipment or have "specialized digital skills".

Then, there is the difficulty of convincing farmers to try something new.

Organic farmer Thodoris Arvanitis says his colleagues are not interested in new technologies because they don't know enough about them and prefer long-used conventional methods.

"Farmers won't go after technology when they don't have enough money for fuel," he added, at his farm in the small town of Kiourka, some 30 kilometers (nearly 20 miles) north of Athens.

Attitudes may change in time as climate change puts additional pressure on farm costs, says Machi Symeonidou, an agronomist and creator of the agricultural IT startup Agroapps.

The war in Ukraine and its impact on global food supplies also shows that it is increasingly necessary to produce food at a local level, said agricultural engineer Kasimati.

"We see a constant degradation of fields and a fall in yield," she said, adding that water was also becoming expensive.

"But as the technology becomes simpler and cheaper, these tools will see more use," she added.

© 2022 AFP

Weather extremes to change future farming

COP27 app gives Egypt’s Sisi access to every move attendees make

Sébastian SEIBT 

Egyptian authorities have unveiled a COP27 application to "help" participants at the climate change summit in Sharm El Skeikh, which ends on November 18. But NGOs and cybersecurity experts warn that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s regime can very easily and effectively use the app to surveil attendees, including top diplomats and Egyptian activists.


COP27 app gives Egypt’s Sisi access to every move attendees make

© Stefan Rousseau, AP

The 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, which began on Sunday, November 6 in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El Sheikh, is a summit under tight surveillance. Human rights groups and cybersecurity experts believe the Egyptian application made available to COP27 participants is a weapon of massive espionage for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s regime.

"It’s not the official UN application that’s the problem; it’s the one developed by the Egyptian government that bothers us," explained Katharina Rall, senior environment researcher at Human Rights Watch, who participated in the NGO’s investigation into the repressive measures put in place by Egypt ahead of COP27.

The Egyptian app, which was rolled out on October 24, is supposed to "improve the COP27 experience for all participants". It allows users to manage flight and hotel reservations, get information about Covid-19, and provides agendas for on-site meetings as well as a calendar of negotiations and roundtables.

The all-in-one tool has already been downloaded by more than 5,000 delegates and visitors (out of a total of 44,000 registered participants) who were probably reassured by the fact that this Egyptian application is promoted on the official UN website for the COP27. The UN imprimatur "appears very problematic to us, and we have the right to wonder why there was no verification beforehand", said Rall.

‘Unlimited trust certificate’ with access to all

Shortly after the app was rolled out last month, cybersecurity experts realised that it was "a cartoon super-villain of an app”, as Gennie Gebhart from the Electronic Frontier Foundation put it in an interview with the British daily, The Guardian.

It’s difficult to imagine a more intrusive app: It "requires access to all the communication connectors of the smartphone, such as Bluetooth, GPS, camera, microphone, address book, NFC ['near-field communication', a wireless data transfer technology for very short distances],” explained Frans Imbert-Vier, CEO of UBCOM, a Swiss cybersecurity agency that has analysed the mobile service developed by the Egyptians.

Unlike most other apps, the COP27 one does not offer warnings that they want to have access to this or that function of the smartphone. "In this case, an unlimited trust certificate is submitted to the user," said Imbert-Vier. After acceptance, the phone's operating system acts like the app can mostly do whatever it wants.

Specifically, it transmits geolocation data, photos taken, messages exchanged and allows access to outgoing email content, according to The Guardian, which conducted its own security assessment of this quasi-spyware.

Users cannot simply refuse to allow access to certain functions and still use the application, warned Imbert-Vier. It's all or nothing, even though all the experts interviewed agree that such an application does not need to have access to emails or the microphone, for example, for the services it offers.

Cheaper, faster, better than standard spying operations

Experts are especially concerned about the app’s uninstalling function. Rall from Human Rights Watch warns that, "uninstalling the application is not enough to get rid of it". The elements that enabling spying on communications linger on smartphones. "You have to reset the operating system settings [an advanced reset to clean the heart of the smartphone] to put everything back in order," added Imbert-Vier.

The Egyptian authorities have thus developed the perfect little cyber spy that is difficult to get rid of and that, in addition, steals the user’s consent.

For the Sisi regime, "the COP27 has provided a unique opportunity to update, at low cost, all their information on diplomats and high-ranking dignitaries of the countries attending this event. What’s more, it’s much faster and more reliable than doing all the espionage work on the ground, since the information is provided directly by the victim," noted Imbert-Vier.

The app is also an additional weapon for the regime to monitor domestic dissent in a country routinely singled out for its gross human rights violations, including crackdowns on freedoms of expression and association. "We must not forget that some of the participants in COP27 are local organisations, and most of the international NGOs also work with Egyptian activists," said Rall.

Human Rights Watch fears that in a country where tens of thousands of detainees are considered political prisoners by NGOs, and which has increased arrests in the run-up to COP27, the official application can be used as a tool to increase repression.

>> Mother of jailed Egyptian activist on hunger strike fears for son’s life

Spying opportunities for regimes hosting events

Egypt is not the first country to be accused of using an official application for a major event for espionage purposes.

For the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February, China asked athletes and participants to download "My2022", an equally intrusive application.

A similar scenario appears to be emerging for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which starts on November 18. Activists and experts have flagged two applications, Ehteraz, a local Covid-19 app, and Hayya, a digital permit required to enter stadiums and the country, for giving Qatari authorities wide access to information on smartphones.

All these examples suggest that hosting major international now provide authoritarian regimes with an easy gateway to extend the scope of their cyber-surveillance.

Why tech layoffs are happening all at once — and why the next few weeks could be the worst of them

Avery Hartmans

Tue, November 8, 2022 

Meta is expected to announce big job cuts sometime soon, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

• Layoffs season is underway, with Meta expected to conduct widespread cuts.

• The layoffs are the result of multiple factors, including economic conditions and budget-planning for next year.

• Industry experts say the next few weeks are critical, as holiday layoffs could hurt morale and future hiring.

Layoffs season has arrived.

Meta is reportedly planning widespread layoffs. Lyft cut nearly 700 staffers. Fintech giant Stripe laid off 14% of its workforce. Those are just headlines in the last week — and it's likely only the beginning, industry experts say.

Earnings across tech are weakening at the same time that companies are beginning to plan for the coming year. And with economic forecasts looking dire, tech firms are starting to tighten the belt — starting with cutting their workforces to shave salary costs.

Which means that in the weeks ahead, thousands of tech workers may be out of a job.

How did we get here

As Big Tech companies reported less-then-stellar earnings over the past few weeks, they also also flashed warning signs about the months ahead. The looming threat of a recession was causing customers to scale back spending, companies said — with few signs of a rebound on the horizon.

That means in the weeks and months to come, those companies are going to be looking to trim costs where they can, said Dan Wang, an associate professor at the Columbia Business School.

"When they cut costs, the first thing to go is typically labor costs and also advertising and marketing," Wang told Insider. "So when it comes to forecast what their numbers will look like, it'll depend on how they have seen the trend in advertising spending on their platforms. When that doesn't look good, then they have to accommodate those expectations by adjusting the workforces."

Tech companies are coming off a period of outsized growth, spurred on by the pandemic. What's happening now is something of a correction, he said, as the tech world recalibrates to a time when people aren't stuck at home, glued to their devices.

And even though in many cases layoffs began earlier this year — both at startups and big tech firms — sometimes, they didn't go far enough, Menlo Ventures partner Matt Murphy previously told Insider.

"It always happens in cycles like this that sometimes companies don't do layoffs significantly enough, but rather slow down on hiring and hope that normal churn might rightsize them," Murphy said. "Coming out of Q3, which was much more difficult than Q2, it became much more obvious how many headwinds there were, and startups realized they can't grow out of this with the staff they have and actually have to lay people off."

What's happening now

For some companies, these economic challenges are coming at the same time that they're planning for the next fiscal year.

Amazon, Meta, and Google, for example, have fiscal years that end at the end of 2022 or in early 2023. They may be looking to get costs off their balance sheets now — before their fiscal years close. For example, if an employee is laid off now and given six weeks of severance, that reduces costs for the first quarter. Even if workers are given a longer severance, like three months, their salaries would be off the books before the end of the first quarter.

While budget-planning doesn't apply to every company — Microsoft, for example, just conducted layoffs and its fiscal year ends in June — there is an element of planning ahead at play, said J.P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, a market research company.

"That's sort of unfortunate because it means that a certain number of folks are going to lose their jobs before the holidays and before the turn of the year," he told Insider.

But in other ways, some companies may just be playing follow the leader: assessing economic conditions based in part on what other companies are doing, Gownder said.

"Watching other firms that are peers, not necessarily competitors, but similar firms to yours in the tech sector, could lead you to say, 'Ah, this is the time,'" he said. "There is a bit of group-think in Silicon Valley."

What happens next

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the next two weeks are critical. That's because companies may not want to cut jobs during the holidays — it could tank company morale, paralyze the employees who did keep their jobs, and affect future hiring, Gownder said.

"The best talent don't want to work for the companies that kind of indiscriminately and without any empathy lay people off at the first sign of trouble," he said.

Which means that if tech firms want to conduct layoffs, the next two weeks are the time to rip the bandage off or risk not only keeping those costs on their profit and loss statements headed into the next quarter, but piling on these secondary effects.

Some planning could mitigate that — severance would help soften the blow, as would helping laid-off workers get new jobs, like Airbnb did back in 2020 — but the timing still comes down to how individual companies are going to make their planning decisions.

"There is a process at work here, and unfortunately, I don't know that that process is much focused on not disappointing people at Christmas," Gownder said.

Elon Musk's Twitter laid off more than 90% of staff in India — now only about 12 employees remain, report says

Kate Duffy
Tue, November 8, 2022 

Twitter owner Elon Musk.Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Getty Images

Elon Musk's Twitter slashed 90% of employees in India over the weekend, sources told Bloomberg.

Twitter had about 200 staff in the country but now only about 12 remain, per the report.

About 70% of the layoffs in India were in the product and engineering team, it added.

Twitter has laid off more than 90% of its employees in India as Elon Musk made huge cuts to the company's global headcount, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

Over the weekend, Twitter's workforce of about 200 in India was cut down to about 12 staff, people with knowledge of the matter and who requested to remain anonymous told Bloomberg.

Around 70% of the layoffs in India hit employees in the product and engineering department, one of the people told Bloomberg. That's about 140 workers out of roughly 200 from that team.

The people told Bloomberg that staff working in marketing, corporate communications, and public policy in India were also fired.

Twitter didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.

Since Musk took over Twitter on October 27, thousands of employees across the world have been laid off. Even on the billionaire's first day, he fired some top Twitter executives, including the CEO.

There were plans to lay off 3,700 employees — around 50% of the workforce — and those impacted would receive severance, Insider's Kali Hays reported.

Almost a week after Musk's takeover, some Twitter employees said they were locked out of work laptops, emails, and Slack accounts before being told that their jobs were terminated, including one employee who was eight months pregnant.

However, Twitter has already asked some of the laid-off employees to come back, Insider previously reported.

"Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required," Musk tweeted on Friday.

Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey recently apologized for the layoffs, saying he "grew the company size too quickly."

Gigi Hadid quits Twitter saying it has become more of a 'cesspool of hate' and 'bigotry' under Elon Musk's leadership

Beatrice Nolan

Mon, November 7, 2022 

Elon Musk and Gigi HadidJames Devaney / Contributor / Getty Images and Craig Barritt / Stringer / Getty Images

• Model Gigi Hadid has deactivated her Twitter account after 10 years on the platform.

• She said that Twitter was becoming more of a "cesspool of hate" and "bigotry" under its "new leadership."

• Hadid is the latest in a string of celebrities who have left the platform following Musk's takeover.

Model Gigi Hadid has deactivated her Twitter account after Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover of the social media platform.

On Saturday, Hadid shared a tweet that claimed Twitter's entire human rights department had been laid off to her Instagram story.

She wrote underneath the screenshot: "I deactivated my Twitter account today. For a long time, but especially with its new leadership, it's becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and it's not a place I want to be a part of."

The model added she couldn't say that Twitter was a "safe place for anyone."

Representatives for Hadid and Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Hadid apologized to her fans, saying she had "loved connecting with" them for a decade on Twitter.

Hadid is the latest in a string of celebrities who have left the platform after Musk's takeover, including singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, R&B star Toni Braxton, and "Bridgerton" creator Shonda Rhimes.

Days after Musk's deal closed, screenwriter, producer, and showrunner Rhimes also said she quit the platform. She posted a tweet saying: "Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye."

Some stars vowed to leave the platform in April after Musk originally offered to buy the platform, citing concerns over what the self-proclaimed "free-speech absolutist" would do as head of the social media giant.

Since Musk finalized the $44 billion deal, there has been a rise in hate speech on the platform and approximately half the company's workforce has been laid off with little notice, prompting concern from the United Nations.

Mary Peltola vs. Sarah Palin and more: Alaska's at-large district US House election

Hanna Kang
Mon, November 7, 2022; Insider

Former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, left, faces Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, right, and three other candidates.

LM Otero/AP Photo; Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo

Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola is running against three others — including Sarah Palin — in Alaska's at-large congressional district.

Alaska has only one congressional district and therefore does not go through a redistricting process.

After Peltola's special election win, The Cook Political Report shifted its forecast of the race from "likely Republican" to "toss-up" to "lean Democratic."

Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska faces off against three challengers in Alaska's at-large congressional district general election.

Polls close in the state at 8 p.m. local time. Given the state has multiple timezones, the first polls close at 12 p.m. EST and the last polls close at 1 p.m. EST.

Alaska's at-large congressional district candidates

Peltola, who won the at-large seat for Alaska in the US House special election, is the first Alaskan Native to be elected to the House of Representatives. Her victory also established Peltola as the first woman to ever represent Alaska in the House and the first Democrat to do so since 1972.

A Yup'ik Alaskan Native, Peltola worked as a herring and salmon technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. She served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009 and as executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, where she helped mobilize 118 tribes and rural Alaskans to advocate for the protection of salmon runs in the western regions of the state.

After Peltola defied expectations to earlier this year defeat former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and a cast of other candidates in a special election that used the state's brand-new ranked-choice voting system, The Cook Political Report shifted its forecast of the race from "likely Republican" to "toss-up."

Peltola is serving the remainder of former Rep. Don Young's term following his death in March and will be up for election to a full term in November. Young, who died at 88, was the longest-serving Republican in the House and was the oldest member of both the House and Senate.

Palin, the former governor of Alaska, has known Peltola for years and served alongside her in the Alaska state house. Following her win, Peltola told Insider that Palin complimented her as "a real Alaskan chick."

"We've been texting this morning and she sent well wishes and let me know that she's been referring to me as, let me make sure I'm saying it correctly, 'a real Alaskan chick. Beautiful and smart and tough,'" she said.

After her defeat, Republicans attacked ranked-choice voting, which Palin herself has railed against, calling it a "cockamamie system" that is "very, very potentially fraught with fraud."

Palin, the first female governor of Alaska, as well as the first woman to appear on the Republican Party's vice presidential ticket, is a commentator, author, and reality television personality. She started her political career in the city of Wasilla, Alaska, as a member of the city council, where her family settled when she was eight years old. After stints as Wasilla's mayor and chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, she was elected governor of Alaska in 2006.

Palin burst onto the national political scene in 2008 when the Republican Sen. John McCain named her, a self-described "hockey mom" with almost no foreign policy experience, as his presidential running mate.

The McCain-Palin ticket eventually lost the election to President Barack Obama.

Although Alaska's 2022 general election, much like the special election, will largely be centered around Peltola and Palin, Alaska's ranked choice voting system makes this a four-way race.

Two other candidates will also be in the race to represent the non-contiguous US state: Nick Begich, who co-chaired for the late Rep. Don Young's 2020 re-election campaign, and Libertarian Chris Bye.

Republican Tara Sweeney had qualified for the four-way race, but pulled out, meaning Bye — originally the 5th place finisher — advanced to the general election.
Voting history for Alaska's at-large congressional district

Alaska's at-large district, where former President Donald Trump had a 10 percentage point margin of victory over Biden in 2020, is the only congressional district in the state and therefore does not go through a redistricting process. The district has a Republican partisan lean.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Peltola has raised $5.7 million, spent $3.3 million, and has $2.4 million on hand, as of October 19. Her top opponent, Palin, has raised $1.7 million, spent $1.6 million, and has $120,201 cash on hand, while Begich has raised about $1.6 million, spent $1.1 million, and has about $473,541 cash on hand, as of October 19.

As of early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups had together spent about $5.2 million to advocate for or against the candidates.
What experts say

The race between Peltola and Palin is rated as "lean Democratic" by Inside Elections, a "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

More beaver zones to be built at flood-prone estate


Mon, November 7, 2022 

Two beavers were introduced to the Spains Hall Estate in Essex in 2019

Two more beaver enclosures are to be built in the area of Essex where a pair of the animals were released into the wild for the first time in 400 years.

I n 2019, two Eurasian beavers were introduced at the Spains Hall Estate near Braintree to help reduce flooding.

A year later the pair, called Woody and Willow, had two offspring, known has kits.

Archie Ruggles-Brise, estate manager, said: "The chance to bring more natural engineering skills to the estate is beyond exciting."

The mammals were hunted to extinction in England centuries ago, but have since been gradually reintroduced.

The estate, at Finchingfield, flooded in 2012 and 2014.

Mr Ruggles-Brise said: "Since 2019 we've seen what beavers can do to reduce flood risk, increase drought resilience, clean water and create year-round habitat for wildlife."

H e said the beavers would make the estate "more able to weather the changes climate change will bring, and all the while providing inspiration and experience that others can use elsewhere".

The £350,000 project, funded by an environmental partnership, will see two new 50-acre enclosures built, 10 times the size of the original enclosure which was built in 2019.

The Environment Agency (EA) said the beavers reduced flood risk by building dams which slow down the river flow and send it through new channels and wetlands.

The dams also helped river flows by slowly releasing retained water, helping to protect local wildlife during the dry weather in the summer.

Matt Butcher, from the EA, said: "The beavers have shown what effective flood engineers they are in the past few years and it'll be great to extend this to a wider area."

Anglian Water's Dr Robin Price, said the effects of climate change "are felt more keenly in the east of England more than anywhere else in the UK".

He said the beavers were a "wonderful, nature-based solution".

COP27: Inside one of UK's oldest green power stations

Steffan Messenger - BBC Wales Environment Correspondent
Mon, November 7, 2022 

Interconnecting reservoirs drive power generation at Cwm Rheidol

Hidden away in a remote valley you'll find one of the UK's oldest renewable power stations.

For 60 years, Rheidol Hydropower Plant, near Aberystwyth, has been generating clean electricity from abundant rain.

Operators say Wales has the key ingredients to be a "strong player" in producing green energy, but the Institute of Welsh Affairs has warned progress has been too slow.

The Welsh government said it had bold ambitions to meet energy needs.

It is set to talk later about its plans to tackle climate change, while world leaders are meeting in Egypt for the COP27 summit.

Renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro meet 56% of Wales' electricity demand, but the Welsh government hopes this will reach 70% by 2030, although this is currently under review.

How one estate creates its own energy to cut bills

Why do new homes not have solar panels?

People are "always surprised" when they stumble across the vast hydro power plant in Ceredigion's scenic Cwm Rheidol valley, according to boss Dennis Geyermann.

"But this is the story of renewable energy - it brings interesting, high tech jobs into rural areas," he said.

Made up of a series of interconnecting reservoirs, dams, underground tunnels and power stations, it is the largest project of its kind in Wales and England.

It covers a total area of 62 sq miles (162 sq km), and supplies enough electricity to power up to 15,000 homes.

Since 2008, it has been owned by Statkraft, an offshoot of the Norwegian government, and Europe's largest producer of renewable power.

Dennis Geyermann: "We have the right landscape, we have enough rain and wind and there's a great coastline"

From here the firm's other renewable energy schemes - as far afield as the Scottish Highlands - are also monitored 24 hours a day.

"This is kind of like the brains of the operation," explained Mr Geyermann, vice president for operations and maintenance.

'Climate chaos' warning as UN summit begins


What can you do to reduce carbon emissions?

He said the company - which recently announced it hopes to develop a new green hydrogen plant in Pembrokeshire - had a "large project pipeline for the UK".

And Wales, in particular, could be "a strong player when it comes to renewable energy", he added.

"We have the right landscape, we have enough rain and wind and there's a great coastline," he said.

"The Welsh people are up for it too."

Sarah South advised young people to gain skills to take advantage of the "big push" towards green energy

Sarah South, who is responsible for health and safety at Statkraft UK, grew up nearby and recalled fishing with her father in the scheme's reservoirs, as well as countless school trips to the site.

She said she would encourage young people to gain the skills needed to take advantage of the "big push" towards green energy.

"Your English, sciences, maths, geography - you might think they're boring subjects in school - but they'll be really important," she said.

"It's such a big industry that's coming through now, and so important to the future of the world."
What has changed?

Built in 1962, long before concern about climate change filled the headlines, Rheidol's hydropower scheme has lived through an energy revolution in the UK.

At the time, virtually all our power came from burning coal.

Handmade water wheel powers Christmas lights

Is it time to start producing my own home energy?

Fast forward to 2020 and, for the first time in more than 200 years, the official energy statistics showed coal had played no part in Wales' energy generation mix.

And 56% of the country's electricity demand is now met from renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro.

Officially, the Welsh government's target is to reach 70% by 2030, though that is currently under review.
'Progress is too slow'

Auriol Miller, director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs think-thank, said progress had, so far, been too slow.

"We've got to look higher, further and faster in terms of those targets," she argued.

The think-tank has urged Welsh ministers to aim for 100% by 2035 in a series of reports in recent years.

Scotland, by comparison, is virtually already there.

The dam at Nant-y-Moch reservoir helps to generate enough electricity to power up to 15,000 homes

Neil Lewis, founder of Carmarthenshire Energy which has helped develop wind, solar and electric vehicle projects across the county, said it took too long to get schemes off the drawing board.

"We have colleagues who've built community-owned windfarms which have taken 10 to 20 years to get permission to build them," he said.

"It's really important that we speed up our efforts."

Can floating turbines harvest the world's wind?

Can an enormous seaweed farm help curb climate change?

Is the UK on track to meet its targets?

Meanwhile, the Senedd's climate change committee has also expressed concern over a slowdown in renewable energy development since 2015.

The Welsh government, which this year carried out what it described as a deep dive investigation into the barriers facing renewable energy, has pledged new targets by next summer and a national energy plan by 2024.

It also announced earlier this month that it was setting up a state-owned renewable energy developer for Wales - in a UK first.

'Wealth and value'

In a statement, the Welsh government said it had "bold ambitions for renewable generation to at least fully meet our energy needs in Wales - while receiving a fair share of its wealth and value".

It said it was "making progress towards our targets but we need to go further and faster".

"We are supporting local organisations to tackle climate change and we will support businesses to develop their staff for the clean energy future," it added.

"In this cost of living crisis, we must focus on finding the most affordable, least impactful solution as the decisions we make today will have a massive impact on generations to come."

Cornwall takes on first space industry apprentices on courses

Mon, November 7, 2022 

Apprenticeships and training courses in space technology have begun in Cornwall for people wanting roles in the sector.

Cornwall Space and Aerospace Technology Training (CSATT) courses include a Higher National Certificate in space technology and a foundation degree.

They include training in satellite technology, physics and astronomy.

Course bosses said the training, using state-of-the-art facilities, was preparing people to support the county's growing space industry.

Spaceport Cornwall, at Cornwall Airport Newquay, will be launching satellites into space from UK soil

The CSATT training, run by Truro and Penwith College, includes the use of facilities at its £7m specialist technology Valency centre in Truro.

The training comes as Spaceport Cornwall, based at Cornwall Airport Newquay, works towards its first launch of satellites into space from UK soil.

A Virgin Orbit plane and rocket arrived at Cornwall Airport Newquay in October.

Cornwall Council said the county's space sector had grown 164% since 2010 and was set to contribute £1bn to the local economy by 2030.

One of the apprentices, 17-year-old Sennen, who said he had been learning about satellites and coding, said getting on a course had been helping him with one of his "main dreams", as he had wanted to be an astronaut since he was seven years old.

He said: "It's been that sort of dream that has been out of reach for so many years now. I have this entry way into it - it's amazing."

Course project manager Dr Heidi Thiemann said: "While we only have a few apprentices on courses at the moment, we know that courses are going to grow and grow as more companies move down to Cornwall and start employing people in the region."

American crocodiles are rare and one just showed up on a Florida beach, video shows


Facebook video screengrab

Mark Price
Mon, November 7, 2022 

A rarely seen American crocodile found its way ashore along Florida’s Treasure Coast, 160 miles north of Miami.

It happened the first week of November in Indian River County, and video shows beachgoers were shaken when the 8-foot reptile decided to stick around.

Only 1,500 to 2,000 adult crocodiles survive in southern Florida’s brackish swamps, so seeing one on a public beach is highly unusual, according to the South Florida Wildlands Association.

“This rare capture of a croc in Sebastian, Florida, is at the very northern end of the range,” the association wrote on Facebook.

“American crocodiles range from the northern coast of South America through Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. In the U.S., only the southern end of Florida hosts a population of these native American reptiles.”

The video was credited to Tiara Alessandra and it reports the sighting occurred between Sebastian Inlet and the Mel Fisher Treasures Museum.

It shows the crocodile sat still at the edge of the surf (jaws closed), with only its tail occasionally moving. The association noted it seemed “to love having the waves splash over its body.”

A longer version of the video posted to TikTok shows the reptile eventually walked into the ocean, where it quickly vanished beneath the waves.

Florida is home to crocodiles and alligators, and it’s typically the alligators that show up on public beaches. However, alligators have a preference for fresh water, and don’t stay long, experts say.

“American crocodiles” have a higher tolerance for saltwater, but are “shy and reclusive” making beach encounters less likely, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says.

Male American crocodiles can reach 20 feet, “but rarely exceed 14 feet in the wild,” according to Everglades National Park.

The crocodile video has gotten nearly 200,000 views on Facebook since being posted Nov. 2, and hundreds of reactions and comments. This includes some who didn’t know the state had crocodiles and others who said they never heard of one being that far north.

“I think he’s going to get his way and have the beach to his self until he decides to leave,” one woman wrote.

“These scare me way more (than) sharks! Crocs just shouldn’t be in the ocean,” another posted.

Crocodile jumps from zoo van and chaos breaks out in Florida traffic, video shows

13-foot crocodile recorded chasing angler’s catch across river onto land in Australia

Rare crocodiles on the brink of extinction will be raised at North Carolina aquarium