Australia, Britain vow AUKUS nuclear-powered subs will be built

MAKING THE WORLD A LITTLE MORE DANGEROUS PLACE

In total, the AUKUS submarine project could cost up to Aus$368 billion (US$240 billion) over the next 30 years.


By AFP
March 22, 2024

(L-R) Australia's defence minister Richard Marles, Britain's foreign secretary David Cameron and British defence secretary Grant Shapps speak with media in Adelaide - Copyright AFP Michael Errey

Australia and Britain said Friday that a landmark deal to develop AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines would go ahead, despite mounting fears about costs, capabilities and the possible return of Donald Trump.

Under the fledgling AUKUS deal, the two countries along with the United States have pledged to beef up their military muscle in a bid to counter China’s rise.

Defence chiefs this week unveiled ambitious plans to supply Australia with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, a key pillar of the agreement.

“The three governments involved here are working at pace to make this happen,” Australian defence minister Richard Marles told reporters on Friday.

“This is going to happen and we need it to happen,” he added.

Barely two years old, there are already signs that AUKUS and its central project could be under threat.

Some fear Trump could jettison the pact if he wins this year’s presidential election, returning to his “America first” style of foreign policy.

UK foreign secretary David Cameron suggested that “brilliant” AUKUS and other alliances like NATO — which he dubbed “the most successful defence alliance in history” — needed to be fighting fit come US election time.

“I think whoever is president, the best thing we can do is to get those alliances, to get those projects into the best possible shape so whoever is the new president can see that they’re working,” Cameron said.

He added that the nuclear-powered submarines deal was “a huge project, a huge undertaking, but absolutely essential for our security”, adding that he had “total confidence” that the deal would go ahead.

– Dangerous times –

With potential flashpoints emerging across the globe, and China taking an increasingly aggressive stance in the Taiwan Strait, visiting UK defence minister Grant Shapps said AUKUS was as crucial as ever.

After decades of relative peace, Shapps said the planet was slowly shifting from a “post-war” era to a “pre-war” footing.

“We are living in more dangerous times,” he said during a tour of the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia.

UK defence contractor BAE Systems has been enlisted to help construct Australia’s fleet of nuclear-propelled submarines.

Australia hopes to have eight nuclear-powered vessels in the water by the 2050s — a mix of the new AUKUS-class subs built at home and in the UK, and Virgina-class vessels purchased from the United States.

Marles said a “drumbeat” of AUKUS-class submarines would then continue to roll off Australian production lines “every few years” in perpetuity.

“There is no country in the world which has obtained the capability to build nuclear-powered submarines, which has then turned that capability off,” he said.

“We will see submarines being produced here on an enduring basis.”

– Potent threat –

Although the financial details of the BAE deal are under wraps, Australian defence officials want to initially build at least five AUKUS-class nuclear-powered subs at a cost of billions of dollars.

The subs will be quieter and stealthier than Australia’s existing diesel fleet, and capable of deploying over vast distances without surfacing, posing a potent threat to any foe.

BAE Systems, one of the largest defence contractors in Europe, said it was “already making good progress on the design and development of the next generation submarine”.

The company has a close relationship with the UK navy, and is responsible for building its Astute-class and Dreadnought-class nuclear-powered vessels.

The scale of the project is vast, and questions have been raised about whether Australia — with limited nuclear experience and a relatively small navy — can pull it off.

Australian officials believe about 20,000 workers will be needed for the homegrown nuclear industry — among them an army of technicians, metal workers, electricians and welders.

The Australian navy has struggled to maintain its current fleet of ageing diesel-electric subs, which have been plagued by design flaws and cost blowouts.

In total, the AUKUS submarine project could cost up to Aus$368 billion (US$240 billion) over the next 30 years.

Russian spacecraft launch aborted seconds before take-off


By AFP
March 21, 2024

Russia had devoted the launch to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, who would have turned 90 this month - 

Copyright AFP Nicholas Kamm

The launch of a Russian spacecraft to the International Space Station was aborted at the last minute on Thursday, in another high-profile setback for Russia’s space programme.

The Russian Soyuz MS-25 mission was due to take off from the Baikonur space port in Kazakhstan on Thursday, carrying three astronauts from Russia, the United States and Belarus.

But the launch was cancelled just seconds before scheduled blast-off at 4:21 pm Moscow-time (1321 GMT), when engines didn’t fire up as the crew were strapped in and counting down.

“Attention at the launch complex. There was an automatic launch cancellation. Bring the units of the launch complex to the initial state,” the flight controller said in a live broadcast by Russia’s space agency Roscosmos.

A separate NASA broadcast of the planned launch said it was aborted 20 seconds before take-off.

“This is Mission Control Houston. To recap: today’s launch of Soyuz MS-25 was aborted at about the T minus 20 second mark,” the announcer said.

The announcer said the “engine sequence start” did not occur as expected, triggering an “automatic command to abort the countdown”.

Roscosmos head Yury Borisov later said a “voltage dip” had occurred in a chemical power source during the final pre-launch preparations, Russian state news agencies reported.

“This is the thing with space. The situation is quite understandable,” he told reporters.

He said the launch would be rescheduled to Saturday.

– Latest setback –

Russia had devoted the mission to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, who would have turned 90 this month.

Moscow’s once pioneering space programme has faced multiple setbacks since it won the first leg of the space race more than 60 years ago.

The programme has suffered since the collapse of the USSR, including with the loss of its first lunar probe in almost 50 years last August.

The Russian segment of the ISS also suffered three coolant leaks in under a year, spraying flakes of frozen coolant into space on multiple occasions in 2023.

Roscosmos said the crew were safe and were being extracted from the spacecraft after Thursday’s failed launch.

Space is one of the final areas of US-Russia cooperation amid an almost complete breakdown in relations between Moscow and Washington over the last two years.

But Russia has said it plans to ditch the ISS and build its own space station.

It previously said it would quit “after 2024,” but the most recent position is that Russia will remain a participant until 2028.

Russian officials have decried outdated equipment on board the ISS and said it justifies their desire to quit the initiative.

“The International Space Station is approaching the finish line of its existence,” Borisov said last year.

For almost a decade, Russian Soyuz launches were the only way to ferry astronauts between Earth and the ISS, after NASA halted its Space Shuttle programme.

But the United States has now moved to using privately-built SpaceX rockets and capsules, ending Russia’s monopoly on manned launches.

Irish PM resignation: what happens next?


By AFP
March 21, 2024

Leo Varadkar announced on Wednesday that he would step down as Ireland's prime minister 

- Copyright AFP JOHN THYS

Peter MURPHY

Leo Varadkar’s announcement that he is stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister has triggered a leadership contest in his Fine Gael party.

The 45-year-old leader on Wednesday said his decision was made for “personal and political” reasons, and comes before European parliament and local elections in June.

A general election also has to be held in Ireland by March 2025.

– What happens next? –

The race to replace Varadkar as Fine Gael party leader, and by default as taoiseach (prime minister), began almost immediately.

Speculation is already bubbling about likely contenders.

The contest proper started on Thursday, with parliamentary party members allowed to submit nominations until Monday.

Party members are due to vote between April 2 and 4 before a winner is declared on April 5.

The Irish parliament — where the governing coalition’s centre-right Fine Gael and Fianna Fail parties, and Green Party form a majority — is expected to vote in the new taoiseach after it returns from recess later in April.

– Who’s in the running? –

The frontrunner is education minister Simon Harris, who was expected to formally throw his hat in the ring later on Thursday.

By midday on Thursday, the 37-year-old had secured endorsements from more than 20 party members including Fine Gael ministers, MPs and members of the European Parliament.

His campaign said over 100 councillors also support his candidacy to “re-energise” Fine Gael.

Several Fine Gael cabinet ministers and MPs insist a leadership contest would be good for the party.

But with votes from Fine Gael MPs weighing more than the 20,000-strong party membership, the race could be decided quickly if Harris’s dynamic early showing convinces potential challengers not to stand.

Public spending minister Paschal Donohoe, chair of the prestigious Eurogroup of European Union finance ministers, was seen as Harris’s main rival.

But Donohoe, 49 — recently touted as a potential IMF head — ruled himself out while in Brussels on Thursday on the sidelines of a Eurogroup meeting.

“I think it’s over. There is the capacity for contenders to come forward until Monday but with Donohoe out of the race, it’s hard to see how anyone is going to stand against Harris,” said Paul Cunningham, a political reporter with public broadcaster RTE.

“It’s possible but highly unlikely.”

Varadkar, also in Brussels for a European Council summit, was tight-lipped, and said he would follow precedent and not come out publicly in favour of a candidate.

“I’m not going to do that and the reason why I’m not going to do that is it will allow me to support wholeheartedly whoever is elected as the next Fine Gael leader,” he told reporters.

– What does it mean for the general election? –

Before Varadkar’s departure, pundits expected a general election would be held later this year rather than in early 2025.

But the leaders of the other parties in the governing coalition — Fianna Fail’s Micheal Martin and the Green Party’s Eamon Ryan — both say they prefer the government to serve a full five-year-term.

Meanwhile, opposition parties have queued up to demand an immediate general election.

“Rather than limping on, and rather than passing the office of taoiseach amongst yourselves again, the correct democratic route at this point is to go to the people,” said Mary Lou McDonald, leader of the largest opposition party, Sinn Fein.

“There needs to be a general election,” McDonald, whose left-wing nationalist party currently leads in polls, told RTE.

‘On brink of abyss,’ Polish Catholic church ignores warning signs


By AFP
March 21, 2024

Only 71% of Poles describe themselves as Catholic, down from 88% a decade ago - 

Copyright AFP/File Roman PILIPEY

Bernard OSSER

With empty pews and seminaries and its moral authority in free fall, Poland’s Catholic church is on the brink of the abyss, a reality analysts say it is choosing to ignore.

The election last week of Tadeusz Wojda — known solely for his anti-LGBTQ statements — as head of the Polish church promises no change, observers told AFP.

Moreover, the selection of the archbishop considered “a man of continuity” comes soon after two of the country’s bishops resigned amid accusations of covering up child sexual abuse by priests.

“It’s a sign that Poland’s bishops aren’t aware of the situation that the church is in,” Catholic commentator Ignacy Dudkiewicz told AFP.

Yet, alarm bells are ringing.

Only 71 percent of Poles describe themselves as Catholic, down from 88 percent a decade ago, according to the latest national census, from 2021.

Less than a third of the faithful went to Sunday mass that year, the lowest figure since 1980, according to Poland’s Institute for Catholic Church Statistics.

The number of baptisms fell by 40 percent between 2017 and 2022, and families have been taking their children out of religion class in droves, especially in big cities.

Faced with a lack of interest, three seminaries recently closed their doors.

The roughly 200 priests ordained last year were half that of a decade ago, prompting some bishops to recruit priests from Africa to fill the gap.

Among young Poles, the late homegrown Pope John Paul II — once a beloved national hero whose likeness graces hundreds of statues across the country — is nothing more than a subject of memes.

The church’s moral authority, which it earned as a bastion of resistance during the communist era, is something of the past.

A church spokesperson did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

– ‘In ruins’ –

The previous head of the episcopate left Poland’s church “in ruins” after a decade of governance, according to theologian Stanislaw Obirek.

“The church has been abandoned by the Catholics themselves,” said the former Jesuit, adding that it is “on the brink of the abyss” and its new head guarantees no reform.

The list of the church’s failings is long, beginning with the paedophilia scandals and the institution’s inability to manage them.

Fourteen bishops have been punished by the Vatican for sexual assault scandals in recent years.

“The matter of sex crimes is not over. It’s just the beginning,” theologian Zuzanna Radzik told AFP, explaining that cases of harassment at seminaries and religious orders had yet to be examined.

The church’s alliance with the former government has also not helped its reputation.

“For years, Poland’s bishops blackmailed successive governments in order to obtain gains for the church or themselves,” Dudkiewicz said.

They notably backed a massive campaign against “LGBTQ ideology” waged by the previous right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government.

The new head of the episcopate personally played a role in the crusade.

In 2019, he publicly opposed a gay pride parade in the eastern city of Bialystok, saying it “mocked faith and corrupted the youngest” members of society.

Thanks to the alliance, the church benefited from financial privileges, political influence and also a certain impunity, as the judiciary was often reluctant to prosecute paedophilia.

But that power and influence is now in the past.

– ‘Less’ –

A 2022 survey by Ipsos found that just two percent of Poles saw bishops as a moral authority.

In elections last October, the majority of Poles backed a pro-European coalition that promised, among other things, to separate church and state, liberalise access to the morning-after pill and reduce the number of hours of religion in schools.

“Poles decided they had enough of the church as an institution acting as a supervisor… of society,” Dominican friar Pawel Guzynski told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

Analysts agree, with Dudkiewicz affirming that “the new government holds all the cards” rather than the bishops, whom the faithful see as “disconnected from reality”.

He said the bishops should get used to the notion of less: “fewer priests, less money, less influence, less authority”.

“And for now they don’t seem to know how to respond.”

Top French court studies fate of ‘Europe’s largest’ hippo Jumbo


By AFP
March 21, 2024

Hippopotamuses hail from sub-Saharan Africa - Copyright AFP JOHN THYS

France’s top administrative court is to decide if a three-tonne hippopotamus called Jumbo should be freed after decades working as “the largest hippo in Europe” for a family circus.

The decision, which is expected in the coming weeks, is the culmination of a lengthy legal battle between an animal rights group and the Muller Circus.

The One Voice group has accused the circus of mistreating Jumbo, leaving the semi-aquatic mammal alone for hours on end in an enclosure, locked up in a lorry, or standing in a water-filled skip from which it cannot clamber out on its own.

They have requested that Jumbo, who they say is obese, be transferred to a sanctuary.

The circus has rejected the claims, and said the animal should stay with them.

The centre of the case is an official permit issued by the southern Drome region in 2008 giving the Muller family the right to show the animal to the public.

One Voice took legal action in 2017 to repeal the permit, but an administrative court in 2019 refused to do so, and a regional appeals court in 2022 upheld that decision.

The case has now made its way to the State Council, France’s highest administrative court, where the fate of Jumbo was discussed Wednesday.

The circus says the hippo, now in its late thirties, has retired. They did not however say when.

France has also since the start of the case introduced an animal rights law to gradually phase out the performance of wild animals from travelling shows by late 2028.

A rapporteur at the State Council has advised the court to send the case back to the appeals court, recommending it re-examine it taking into account new developments.

As Jumbo has retired, the contended 2008 permit to perform no longer applies, they argued.

One Voice’s lawyer Thomas Lyon-Caen said that recommendation seemed “perfectly justified”.

But the Muller family’s lawyer, Helene Farge, argued Jumbo would be happier living out the rest of its days with the circus.

Won’t it “be better off where it has always lived instead of in a retirement home?” she said.

Hippopotamuses hail from sub-Saharan Africa, where they usually wallow in water all day before emerging onto land at night to graze on grass.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as “vulnerable”, as they are threatened by human activity and drought.

In 2007, a French court ordered the release of an 11-year-old hippopotamus called Tonga from another circus. It was flown to a sanctuary in South Africa.

Global music biz sees 10.2% growth in 2023: industry

THANX TO TAYLOR SWIFT INC.

By AFP
March 21, 2024

Taylor Swift was the most valuable artist of the year according to the IFPI ranking -

 Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File JOE RAEDLE

Eric RANDOLPH

Global music revenues were up 10.2 percent last year to $28.6 billion, according figures released Thursday, but record firms are concerned over how to maintain growth in the streaming era.

The biggest artist in the world was — no surprise — Taylor Swift, according to the annual report by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents global record companies.

Swift was followed closely by two Korean bands, Seventeen and Stray Kids, reflecting the increasing spread of K-Pop.

The biggest singles in the world were “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, the only song to surpass 2 billion streams (2.7 bn), followed by “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez (1.89 bn) and “Kill Bill” by Sza (1.84 bn).

The music industry grew for the ninth consecutive year, thanks largely to the continued growth of streaming (up 11.2 percent), which now accounts for more than two-thirds (67.3 percent) of global revenues.

Paid streaming subscriptions soared past 500 million for the first time to reach 667 million.

Physical formats — particularly vinyl — also saw growth, with sales up 13.4 percent.

“The figures in this year’s report reflect a truly global and diverse industry, with revenues growing in every market, every region and across virtually every recorded music format,” said John Nolan, IFPI’s chief financial officer.

The fastest-growing regions were Sub-Saharan Africa (up 24.7 percent) and Latin America (19.4 percent), thanks to the spread of streaming and the rise of local stars like Burna Boy, Asake, J Balvin and Bad Bunny.

The biggest music markets remained the United States, Japan and Britain.

– TikTok effect –

The industry has several key concerns, however, particularly as young people spend increasing time on TikTok and games.

“The worst ad-supported, short-clip video platforms have no chance of leading to paid subscriptions and are becoming the primary consumption platforms for many young consumers,” said Dennis Kooker, of Sony Music, at a press conference to launch IFPI’s report.

Universal Music Group recently yanked its music off TikTok in a feud over the app’s approach to AI-generated music and song royalties.

Kooker suggested record firms were increasingly focused on superfans.

“Those who want more, and are willing to pay more, need products that are specifically designed for them,” he said.

But firms are finding it hard to encourage people to pay for streaming in several key markets, including France.

“The streaming penetration rate is still very low in France,” said Marie-Anne Robert, managing director Sony Music France, at the conference.

“It’s a huge challenge for us and the artists and the recent introduction of a streaming tax clearly does not help,” she added, referring to a new tax on services like Spotify that is being introduced this year in France.

In Spain, hi-tech hops keep beer bitter as climate bites

By AFP
March 21, 2024

Hops are the delicate papery flowers, or cones, of the hop plant which contain resins and essential oils - Copyright AFP Daniel LEAL

Hazel WARD

Outside the warehouse in northwestern Spain, it’s a freezing, foggy morning but inside it’s balmy, the warmth and LED lights fooling 360 hop plants to flower as if it were late August.

Mounted on a soaring grid system of cables and wire, these vigorous climbing plants are in full flower, covered in delicate papery-green hops which are prized for giving beer its unique aroma and crisp, refreshing bitterness.

Normally farmed outside, the hop plants are part of a unique indoor farming project by Spanish startup Ekonoke, which has developed an alternative way to cultivate this climate-vulnerable crop in order to protect the drinkability of beer.

Experts say rising temperatures and increased droughts have made Europe’s hop harvests increasingly unpredictable, lowering yields and reducing the quality of the alpha acids in its resins and oils that are so crucial to the taste and character of different beers.

“Climate change is affecting the field, and last year we were down 40 percent on hop production in Europe,” said Giacomo Guala, policy adviser on hops for Copa-Cogeca, which groups the European Union’s main farmers unions.

“You don’t get rain when you’re supposed to, or too much rain when you’re not supposed to, so that predictability is no longer there,” he told AFP.

– Hi-tech hops –

Brewers are already feeling that unpredictability.

Having a stable supply of hops was “crucial” as there was no alternative to give that bitterness, explained Jose Luis Olmedo, head of research and development at Cosecha de Galicia, the innovation arm of Spanish brewer Hijos de Rivera, which makes Estrella Galicia beer.

Reliant until now on field-grown hops, the Galicia-based brewer quickly saw the potential of the indoor hops grown by Ekonoke.

When the startup raised 4.2 million euros in investment rounds in 2022, it said “a significant” chunk of it came from the brewer.

It also caught the attention of the world’s largest brewer AB InBev, joining its startup accelerator programme.

“What brewers are most interested in is the guaranteed supply of quantity and quality,” said Ekonoke chief executive Ines Sagrario at their 1,200-square-metre (13,000-square-foot) pilot farm in Chantada, where they harvested their first crop in mid-February.

They began trials at their Madrid lab in 2019, starting with four plants and scaling to 24, slashing the growing time and using “15 times less water” than outdoors, while aiming “to reach 20”.

“In this warehouse, we control all the environmental and nutrient parameters and the lighting factors, using LED lights to provide the plant what it needs when it needs it,” said Sagrario.

The lights replicate the different colours and intensity of sunlight at each stage of the growth cycle when they bathe the rapidly growing plants in an ambient purple glow.

– Halving the growth cycle –

The heady scent of hops permeates the air as a huge bine laden with hop cones is cut from its trellis, tumbling to the floor before being carried out to a red harvesting machine.

Grown without soil, the bines are fed by a closed system that allows constant reuse of the nutrient-infused water and doesn’t use pesticides, relying instead on tightly controlled access protocols.

“In the field, although the cycle is six months, they can only harvest once a year, because you need the correct growing conditions,” said agronomist and chief operations officer Ana Saez.

“Here, as we can control and replicate ‘spring’, we’ve reduced the crop cycle to three months.”

Multiple trials had shown their hops contained “more alpha acids per kilogram” than those in the field, Saez said, pointing to the abundance of yellow powdery lupulin clinging to the cones.

By summer, three grow rooms will be operational with more than 1,000 plants maturing on a staggered basis.

“Once we finish learning everything we need to learn in this pilot, we will be building a full-scale industrial facility with 12,000 square metres of growing area,” said Sagrario, whose 12-strong team has so far managed to replicate five different hop cultivars.

For Hijos de Rivera, it’s a project of “strategic” importance, with the brewer planning to have the facility fully operational “by the end of 2025”, said Olmedo.

Mirek Trnka, a bioclimatologist from the Czech Academy of Sciences, said hydroponics was one solution, but scaling up to meet market demands would be tricky.

“Even though the hop is a minority crop, you’d have to upsize operations quite significantly to match the current production globally by hydroponic growth,” he told AFP.

At Ekonoke, they see their role as using science and technology to protect the hops’ biodiversity and eventually developing new hybrids “to give more quantity and quality using less resources”.

“People ask us if hop farmers outdoors feel threatened by us, but we’re not threatening them. Climate change is threatening them,” said Sagrario.

Biden unveils almost $20 bn for Intel to boost US chip production

ALL CAPITALI$M IS STATE CAPITALI$M

By AFP
March 20, 2024

US President Joe Biden speaks at the Intel Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Arizona - Copyright AFP Brendan Smialowski

Brendan Smialowski with Daniel Avis in Washington

US President Joe Biden unveiled almost $20 billion in grants and loans Wednesday for Intel’s domestic chip-making plants — his administration’s biggest investment yet in the sector as he takes on China’s chip dominance and sells his economic achievements over election rival Donald Trump.

Biden’s decision to make the announcement during a trip to Arizona underscores his strategy of highlighting legislative achievements in key battleground states ahead of November’s presidential rematch against Republican Trump.

“Unlike my predecessor, I was determined to turn things around to invest in America — all-American, all Americans. And that’s what we’ve been doing,” Biden said in a speech at the Intel Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Arizona.

Biden said the investment in Intel facilities in four states — Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon — would put the United States on track to manufacture 20 percent of the world’s leading-edge chips by the end of the decade.

He then took a further dig at Trump, saying that “my predecessor would let the future rebuild in China and other countries, not America, because it may be cheaper.”

Arizona, in the southwestern United States, was one of the tightest races of 2020, with Biden winning by just 10,457 votes — and the president will likely need to win it again in 2024.

The Democrat, 81, faces a tough reelection fight as he seeks to convince voters still skeptical about his economic record, despite strong recent growth and job creation data, persistently low unemployment, and slowing inflation.

The White House said the deal with Intel would provide up to $8.5 billion in direct funding along with $11 billion in loans under the CHIPS and Science Act.


– ‘America’s comeback’ –


The $8.5 billion is the largest of any grant made so far under the $52.7 billion 2022 legislation, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters ahead of the announcement.

The money will help incentivize Intel to make more than $100 billion worth of investments, which will be one of the largest investments ever in US semiconductor manufacturing, she said.

“We rely on a very small number of factories in Asia for all of our most sophisticated chips. That’s untenable and unacceptable,” she said.

“It’s an economic security problem. It’s a national security problem. And we’re going to change that,” she added.

Intel also plans to claim the US Treasury Department’s Investment Tax Credit of up to 25 percent on some capital expenditures, according to the White House, which would significantly increase the amount of financial support it receives from the US government.

The tax credit is linked to a separate Biden administration policy — also adopted in 2022 — called the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Intel’s investment is an exciting part of America’s comeback story, with leading edge semiconductor manufacturing coming back to America for the first time in 40 years,” Biden’s National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard told reporters on the same call.

The new funding will create 10,000 new manufacturing roles and 20,000 construction jobs, many of them unionized, Brainard said.

The White House estimates the investment will directly support at least 10,000 new jobs in both Arizona and Ohio. Some 3,000 roles in each state will be in manufacturing, and the remaining 7,000 will be in construction.

Unmasking hidden behaviours impacting business productivity


By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL

March 20, 2024


Working in an open plan office. — Image by © Tim Sandle

Treating people and their behaviours as data points is useful for creating systems that cater to the diverse needs of employees, according to new analysis. Such an approach enables organisations to identify work patterns, preferences, and challenges. This paves the way for firms to foster a more adaptable and efficient work environment.

Hence, a data-driven approach can ensure that systems are designed to enhance overall productivity. This is borne out in a survey from the established software development firm Codiance, who have provided to Digital Journal some insights into the importance of looking at behaviour and people as a data point, and the five most significant behaviours businesses often miss that can affect efficiency.

Collaboration plays a role in developing systems tailored to a company’s needs and enhancing efficiency. According to Mark Hesketh, MD at Codiance: “Involving end-users in the development process of a new system is crucial at every step. This approach not only guarantees that the solution is perfectly tailored to meet its intended purpose in the real world, but it also instils a profound sense of ownership among those involved. Such ownership is not just beneficial; it’s decisive. It can be the difference between the success and failure of any new system”.

This leads Hesketh to identify the five main behaviours that are often missed yet impact business efficiency patterns:

Adapting Systems to People

Hesketh says: “Systems ought to be designed around the behaviours of those who use them, not the reverse. Frequently, individuals devise their own ‘workarounds’ or ‘hacks’ to navigate through tasks or bypass system limitations – innovations that often go undocumented. It is only through observing individuals in action, through shadowing, that these ingenious solutions come to light. Acknowledging and understanding these informal practices are key to tailoring systems that truly resonate with and support the needs of their users.”

Collaborative Interactions

In terms of work synergies, Hesketh finds: “Traditional process and system maps often illustrate the transfer of roles or responsibilities but fall short in depicting the dynamic interactions and collaboration between individuals and teams. They overlook the essence of communication: How is information exchanged? Is information exchanged frequently and in different ways? Do inquiries deepen, and if so, how extensively? A profound understanding of these collaborative behaviours is crucial. It’s only with this insight that one can truly optimise both systems and processes, paving the way for more efficient and effective teamwork.”

Embracing Unofficial Innovations

Hesketh explains: “We often encounter people who have crafted their own solutions, such as custom spreadsheets or specific websites, that serve as indispensable time-saving tools. These innovations typically emerge in response to a lack of suitable alternatives, the inefficiency of existing tools, or the absence of crucial features. Often, these creative shortcuts remain under the radar, concealed from the broader organization due to concerns over official approval. Diligent shadowing is crucial in bringing these invaluable yet unofficial practices to light, revealing a wealth of untapped efficiency and ingenuity within our processes.”  

Residential and businesses by Reagent’s Canal, London. — Image: © Tim Sandle

Optimising Workload Management through Shadowing

On this concept, Hesketh explains: “Shadowing provides a transparent view into how individuals handle tasks throughout various stages of a process. This observation often uncovers both highly effective and markedly less successful task management practices. It’s essential to document these findings in any process map, as they offer a treasure trove of insights. By identifying the most efficient techniques, we can develop them into scalable tools that enhance productivity. Simultaneously, we can offer targeted support to those grappling with workload management, leveraging automation as a lifeline to streamline their processes and improve efficiency.”

Valuing Human Experience

To draw on human resources within the firm, Hesketh puts forwards: “At times, automating certain tasks may seem to yield a modest return on investment (ROI) when compared directly to their manual counterparts, leading to their potential deprioritisation. However, it’s crucial to recognise that many tasks deemed low value can be stressful, monotonous, exhausting, or simply dull. While automating these tasks might not deliver the highest financial returns, the impact on enhancing an employee’s daily experience is immeasurable.”

The advantage here is: “Removing such burdens can significantly boost job satisfaction, morale, and engagement, fostering a vibrant, more energised workforce. This approach underscores the importance of prioritising human and cognitive factors in decision-making, recognising that the true value of automation extends far beyond mere numbers.”

Leaders tout nuclear power as climate tool at Brussels summit

A Greenpeace activist climbed a wall at the venue with a banner reading “Nuclear Fairy Tale”


By AFP
March 21, 2024


The IAEA hosted its first summit to promote nuclear power 

- Copyright AFP JOHN THYS

More than 30 countries — including European nations, the United States, Brazil and China — took part on Thursday in the first-ever summit held by the United Nations’ atomic energy agency to promote nuclear as a “clean and reliable source of energy”.

“This is a fight where we have to use all the available, dispatchable, CO2-free energy sources for the common challenge,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi told the gathering at the Atomium in Brussels — a modernist landmark built for the 1958 World Fair.

The approach is anathema to a number of other European countries — including Germany and Spain — and to many environmentalists, who see the drive for nuclear as a harmful distraction from the need to invest massively, and immediately, in renewables.

The summit follows on from last year’s COP28 UN climate negotiations, at which 22 world leaders backed a call to triple the world’s nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

“It took 28 conferences on climate change to recognise, at long last, that nuclear should be accelerated,” Grossi said. “Better late than never.”

Now, said Grossi, the focus was on “what we still need to do” — including crucially on the question of financing.

Nuclear currently accounts for just under 10 percent of global electricity generation, with 438 plants operating across 31 countries.

More than 500 plants are at various stages of planning and development, with 61 under construction according to World Nuclear Association data.

“I see around the world, nuclear is making a comeback. A very strong comeback,” International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol told reporters at the gathering.

Birol attributed the shift chiefly to the quest for carbon-free power sources but also the search for secure and stable energy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said there was “a key role for nuclear”, while also acknowledging that the “major part” of carbon-free electricity needed to come from renewables — solar, wind and hydro power.

In the European Union, France has been spearheading a drive to establish nuclear as a key source of carbon-free energy in the bloc, which has included it in its roadmap to reaching its 2040 climate goals.

Questioned by reporters about nuclear safety risks, French President Emmanuel Macron pointed to France’s decades-long record of producing atomic energy “within a framework that is controlled, understood, mature”.

“I say we should be much more worried, for instance, about CO2 emissions that have a direct impact on our health every day,” Macron said.

While nuclear plants generate almost no greenhouse gases, critics hightlight that compared to renewables they can take decades to build, are expensive and generate hazardous waste.

The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 dealt the industry a severe blow and Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest, has raised alarm in Kyiv about the risks of a new Chernobyl disaster.

To make the point, a Greenpeace activist climbed a wall at the venue with a banner reading “Nuclear Fairy Tale”.

Nuclear’s EU comeback on show at Brussels summit


By AFP
March 21, 2024

France has been decisive in putting nuclear energy back on the EU's agenda 

- Copyright AFP Daniel LEAL

Julien GIRAULT

Promoting nuclear power was long taboo in Brussels, but a high-profile international summit Thursday will send loud and clear the message that atomic energy — now touted by its champions as key to fighting climate change — is back.

Gone are the days when Berlin’s anti-nuclear stance set the tone: in the past two years atomic pioneer France has been decisive in crafting friendlier regulation, and putting nuclear back on the EU’s agenda.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which is organising this week’s meet in Brussels, is a leading proponent of nuclear as a “clean and reliable source of energy.”

“The world needs much more of it,” says Grossi, who sees “a growing realisation that nuclear energy is an indispensable part of the solution to some of the most pressing global challenges of our time.”

The IAEA’s first summit held to promote nuclear energy brings together representatives from some 50 countries — from the EU but also the United States and China — and 25 leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron.

“For the past four years, we have been sowing seeds — they began to grow, and now we are reaping the harvest,” said EU lawmaker Christophe Grudler, from Macron’s centrist Renew Europe party.

Back in 2021, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen made headlines by arguing the EU needed nuclear as a “stable source” of energy — and Brussels went on to label it among its list of “sustainable” investments.

By early 2023, France was spearheading the launch of a “nuclear alliance” of a dozen EU members including Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands, with a view to weighing on policy.

With notable successes so far: last June, Paris secured a change to EU renewable energy rules to recognise nuclear power as a way to produce low-carbon hydrogen.

In December EU states and lawmakers reached a deal on public aid for investment in existing nuclear power plants, then in February on including nuclear in a law cutting red tape for “net-zero” emission technologies.

Finally, Brussels included nuclear energy in its roadmap to reaching its 2040 climate goals, and in February it launched an industrial alliance to speed up the development of small modular reactors (SMRs).

– Convert the ‘momentum’ –

With 100 reactors currently in service across 12 countries, nuclear accounts for about a quarter of electricity produced in the EU, and almost half its carbon-free power.

Around 60 reactors are at various stages of planning or construction, one third of them in Poland.

Massimo Garribba, deputy director general at the European Commission’s energy department, told a conference Monday he had seen a “change of attitude” among EU members these past 18 months.

“They have become much more outspoken,” he said, “but also they have been working together to try and set up an agenda.”

The French-led nuclear alliance says that “momentum must now be converted into a comprehensive and enabling European framework for nuclear development” — including its financing.

Its members want nuclear and renewables put on a strict equal footing without “discrimination” in the bloc’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

The alliance wants that equality to apply to European Investment Bank financing, to the “Hydrogen Bank” funding instrument set up to boost sustainable hydrogen, and to any revisions of EU rules on renewables.

Despite the EU’s more accommodating stance, the nuclear vs. renewables debate is still fuelling a standoff between Paris and Brussels: France failed to meet EU-set renewable targets in 2020, but is refusing to make amends — arguing that its carbon footprint is low enough thanks to nuclear.

“France will not be paying penalties,” warned its economy minister Bruno Le Maire this month. “These goals of having this many wind turbines, that many solar panels — that’s a Europe that we don’t want any more.”

– ‘Theoretical’ –

Likewise when it comes to a new French energy strategy that includes no goals for renewables: Brussels wants it to set targets by June, with at least 44 percent of renewables by 2030, against 20 percent now.

France’s stance is anathema to many environmental activists — and to EU countries like Spain, Austria, Germany and Luxembourg which together form a “Friends of Renewables” alliance within the bloc.

“We have never thought about mixing or exchanging renewable and nuclear,” Spanish energy and climate minister Teresa Ribera said in December.

Sven Giegold, a German state secretary for the economy, said the promise of nuclear remains largely “theoretical” with many projects at planning stage — making the case instead for “competitive” renewables.

Rejecting that argument, the centrist Grudler said SMRs will be a reality by 2035, and new generation EPR reactors by 2040.

“That is still a way off, but it’s now that we need to create the framework and the financing plans,” he said.