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Pilot whales beached on Macquarie Harbour, in Tasmania

About 200 pilot whales have perished after stranding themselves on an exposed, surf-swept beach on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, Australian rescuers said Thursday.

Just 35 of the approximately 230 beached whales are still alive, according to state wildlife services, who described a tough battle ahead to rescue survivors. 

Aerial images from the scene revealed dozens of glossy, black mammals strewn along Ocean Beach, stuck on the waterline where the frigid southern ocean meets the sand.

Locals covered some of the creatures with blankets and doused them with buckets of sea water to keep them alive until more help arrived.

“We have got about 35 surviving animals out on the beach and the primary focus this morning will be on the rescue and release of these animals,” said state wildlife operations manager, Brendon Clark.

“Unfortunately we do have a high mortality rate on this particular stranding,” he added.

“The environmental conditions, the surf out there on the exposed west coast, Ocean Beach, is certainly taking its toll on the animals.”

Helpers usually wade into the water and use harnesses to float the mammals into deeper waters, but officials said a new technique will also be tested, using a aquaculture firm’s mechanical aid.

From there a vessel will take them to deeper clearer waters to avoid a new stranding.

Two years ago nearby Macquarie Harbour was the scene of the country’s largest-ever mass stranding, involving almost 500 pilot whales.

More than 300 pilot whales died during that stranding, despite the efforts of dozens of volunteers who toiled for days in Tasmania’s freezing waters to free them.

Clark said the conditions of the latest stranding were tougher for the whales than two years ago, when the animals were in “much more sheltered waters”.

Attention will also turn to the removal and disposal of carcasses, which often attract sharks.

– Distress signals –

Necropsies will be performed for clues as to why the whales beached, but scientists still do not fully understand why mass strandings occur.  

Scientists have suggested pods could go off track after feeding too close to shore.

Pilot whales — which can grow to more than six metres (20 feet) long — are also highly sociable, so they may follow podmates who stray into danger.

That sometimes occurs when old, sick or injured animals swim ashore and other pod members follow, trying to respond to the trapped whale’s distress signals.

Others believe gently sloping beaches like those found in Tasmania confuse the whales’ sonar making them think they are in open waters.

The latest stranding came days after a dozen young male sperm whales were reported dead in a separate mass stranding on King Island — between Tasmania and the Australian mainland.

State officials said that incident may have been a case of “misadventure”.

In nearby New Zealand strandings are also common.

There, around 300 animals beach themselves annually, according to official figures and it is not unusual for groups of between 20 and 50 pilot whales to run aground. 

But numbers can run into the hundreds when a “super pod” is involved — in 2017, there was a mass stranding of almost 700 pilot whales.

The government and parliament oppose the initiative, insisting that Switzerland already has strict animal welfare laws

The Swiss will vote Sunday on whether to ban intensive livestock farming in the largely rural country, which already has some of the world’s strictest animal welfare laws.

The animal rights and welfare organisations behind the initiative want to make protecting the dignity of farm animals like cattle, chickens or pigs a constitutional requirement.

Their proposal, which received more than the 100,000 signatures needed to put any issue to a popular vote under Switzerland’s famous direct democracy system, would essentially eradicate all factory farming.

“We believe animal agriculture is one of the defining problems of our time,” animal welfare group Sentience, which presented the initiative, says on its website.

It points to the “immense suffering experienced by animals on factory farms,” but also to scientific studies showing that “industrial animal husbandry is disastrous for the environment and detrimental to our health”.

If accepted, the initiative — which has the backing of left-leaning parties, Greenpeace and other environmental organisations — would impose stricter minimum requirements for animal-friendly housing and care, access to outdoors, and slaughtering practices.

It would also significantly shrink the maximum number of animals per pen.

– Price hikes –

The government and parliament oppose the initiative, insisting that Switzerland already has strict animal welfare laws defining how much living space each animal should have.

The initiative “goes too far,” Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset told reporters in June, maintaining that the government for the past quarter century had been promoting “respectful animal husbandry”.

According to the current laws, farms cannot keep more than 1,500 fattening pigs, 27,000 broiler chickens or 300 calves, basically ruling out the kinds of massive factory farms seen in other countries.

“There is no factory farming in Switzerland,” insisted Marcel Dettling, a farmer and parliamentarian with the populist right-wing Swiss People’s Party.

Pointing out that limits in neighbouring Germany for instance can be 100 times higher, he told Swissinfo.ch that the initiative would only serve to hike prices. 

Sentience campaign manager Philipp Ryf, however, said that when you have 27,000 chickens crammed into a pen and only 12 percent of farm animals ever go outside, “we do think that is factory farming”.

He acknowledged to AFP that the law in Switzerland “is quite strong compared to other countries”, but added: “We don’t necessarily think that’s a good metric.”

“We want to look at what we are doing… We think we could be doing more.”

The government has also warned that if the initiative passes, prices would swell, and has cautioned it could also impact relations with trading partners.

This is because the requirements would also apply to the import of animals and animal products, which the government says would force Switzerland to violate its World Trade Organization obligations and to renegotiate trade agreements.

The Swiss would also have to invest large amounts in costly inspections of foreign farms, it argues.

– ‘Misconception’ –

Such arguments appear to have convinced a growing number of Swiss.

While early polls indicated that a slim majority was in favour of the initiative, the latest gfs.bern poll last week saw the “no” camp take the lead, with 52 percent of those questioned opposed to the move.

The farmers themselves appear particularly sceptical. 

The latest poll showed 62 percent of those questioned in rural areas rejecting the proposal, while 53 percent of city-dwellers surveyed said they would vote in favour.

Ryf said the strong opposition in rural areas was largely due to a well-funded campaign by the initiative’s opponents that had spread the “misconception” it would be bad for farmers.

“We regret that, because we do believe that our initiative will be good for farmers,” he said, pointing out that it would provide them support and 25 years to implement the changes.

While Switzerland’s largest farmers association is staunchly opposed to the initiative, many of those running smaller farms support it. 

David Rotzler, who has a small, diverse livestock farm in Sonvilier in northern Switzerland, told the Journal du Jura daily that “animal welfare does not depend on the size of the farm, but on the farmer”.

But, he said, it is certainly “easier to care for animals when you are smaller”.

Pilot whales beached on Macquarie Harbour, in Tasmania

About 200 pilot whales have perished after being stranded on an exposed, surf-swept beach on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, Australian rescuers said Thursday.

Just 35 of the approximately 230 whales discovered on the beach the day before were still alive, the state’s wildlife service operations manager, Brendon Clark, told journalists at the scene.

Aerial images have revealed dozens of glossy, black mammals strewn across Ocean Beach, stuck on the waterline where the frigid southern ocean meets the sand.

“We have got about 35 surviving animals out on the beach and the primary focus this morning will be on the rescue and release of these animals,” said Clark, who is managing the incident.

“Unfortunately we do have a high mortality rate on this particular stranding. That’s predominantly due to the exposed conditions out on Ocean Beach,” he added.

“The environmental conditions, the surf out there on the exposed west coast, Ocean Beach, is certainly taking its toll on the animals.”

Locals had covered whales with blankets and doused them with buckets of water to keep them alive after they were discovered on the beach.

Two years ago nearby Macquarie Harbour was the scene of the country’s largest-ever mass stranding, involving almost 500 pilot whales.

More than 300 pilot whales died during that stranding, despite the efforts of dozens of volunteers who toiled for days in Tasmania’s freezing waters to free them.

Clark said the conditions of the latest stranding were tougher for the whales than two years ago, when the animals were in “much more sheltered waters”.

– Distress signals –

Rescuers had triaged whales in the latest stranding to identify those with the best chance of survival, he said.

“Today’s focus will be on rescue and release operations.”

The cause of mass strandings is still not fully understood.

Scientists have suggested they could be caused by pods going off track after feeding too close to shore.

Pilot whales — which can grow to more than six metres (20 feet) long — are highly sociable and can follow podmates who stray into danger.

That sometimes occurs when old, sick or injured animals swim ashore and other pod members follow, trying to respond to the trapped whale’s distress signals.

Others believe gently sloping beaches such as those found in Tasmania confuse the whales’ sonar making them think they are in open waters.

The latest stranding came shortly after a dozen young male sperm whales were reported dead in a separate mass stranding on King Island — between Tasmania and the Australian mainland.

The young whales’ deaths may be a case of “misadventure”, wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon from the state government conservation agency told the local Mercury newspaper.

In nearby New Zealand strandings are also common.

There, around 300 animals beach themselves annually, according to official figures and it is not unusual for groups of between 20 and 50 pilot whales to run aground. 

But numbers can run into the hundreds when a “super pod” is involved — in 2017, there was a mass stranding of almost 700 pilot whales.

Internally displaced people wade through floodwaters to return home after heavy monsoon rains in Dadu district of Pakistan

The United Nations chief said Wednesday it was time for “meaningful action” on the issue of compensation for damage wrought by the climate crisis, especially in developing countries.

Ahead of the forthcoming COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi — the latter appearing by video link — co-hosted a meeting of world leaders for “frank exchanges” on climate action.

“My messages were stark,” Guterres told reporters at the UN General Assembly following the meeting.

“On the climate emergency: The 1.5-degrees limit is on life support –- and it is fading fast,” he said, referring to the Paris accord goal of limiting long-term warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. 

“You have all seen the appalling images from (flooding in) Pakistan. This is happening at just 1.2 degrees of global warming, and we are headed for over three degrees.” 

He called on governments to tackle “four burning issues” between now and COP27: greater ambition to keep the 1.5C possible; meeting financial commitments to the developing world; increasing support for adaptation measures, and the issue of “loss and damage.”

This last point has become a critical area in climate negotiations. It concerns damage already caused by multiplying extreme weather events, which neither the measures to mitigate global warming nor those to adapt to its impacts have been able to prevent. 

Developing nations argue that historic polluters have a moral imperative to pay for the loss and damage, but the idea was shot down by rich nations at COP26, who offered only to start talking about the issue at COP27.

A few days ago, the group of least developed countries meeting in Dakar once more pushed on the issue, calling for the establishment of a “funding mechanism” to deal with the damage caused by global warming.

“I hope COP27 in Egypt will take it up, as a matter of climate justice, international solidarity and building trust,” said Guterres.

World Bank President David Malpass has been accused of being a 'climate denier' after he refused to answer if he believed manmade emissions contributed to global warming

Climate groups called Wednesday for the World Bank’s president to be removed after he refused multiple times to say if he believed man-made emissions contributed to global warming.

Activists have previously called for David Malpass to resign or be removed for what they say is an inadequate approach to the climate crisis.

The head of the World Bank is traditionally an American while the other big international lender in Washington, the IMF, tends to be European. Malpass is a veteran of Republican administrations in the United States and was appointed in 2019 while Donald Trump, who famously and repeatedly denied the science behind climate change, was president.

The chorus against Malpass grew louder after his appearance Tuesday at a New York Times conference on climate finance.

Asked by a journalist to respond to former US vice president Al Gore’s claim that he was a climate denier, Malpass said that some of his critics “may not know what the World Bank is doing.” He boasted that its climate funding is “by far the biggest” among international financial institutions.

After another attempt failed to get a straight answer, the journalist, David Gelles, said: “Let me just be as clear as I can: Do you accept the scientific consensus that the man made burning of fossil fuels is rapidly and dangerously warming the planet?”

Malpass again pointed to the World Bank’s work on the issue, at which point multiple people in the audience shouted: “Answer the question!”

“I don’t even know. I’m not a scientist,” responded a clearly frustrated Malpass.

The Big Shift, a consortium of climate groups, called Wednesday for the World Bank’s board to remove Malpass over the comments.

“For the World Bank to maintain any shred of decency Malpass cannot remain as President,” said Tasneem Essop, executive director of the Climate Action Network, a Big Shift member group.

A separate group of activist organizations said they would on Thursday unveil a banner at the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington that reads: “The World Bank Group is Run by a Climate Denier.”

Malpass’s term ends in 2024 and he can only be removed by a vote of the World Bank’s board.

Climate groups have called on President Joe Biden to up the outside pressure.

Biden’s climate change envoy, former US secretary of state John Kerry, declined during an appearance at the same Times event to comment on Malpass’s future, saying “that’s the president’s decision.”

The World Bank declined to comment on the situation when reached by AFP.

NASA said Wednesday it had successfully trialed the fueling process for its new rocket, after technical issues a few weeks ago halted two attempts to get the behemoth off the ground and headed towards the Moon.

“All of the objectives that we set out to do we were able to accomplish today,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director of the program called Artemis 1.

The unmanned mission hopes to test the new 30-story SLS rocket as well as the unmanned Orion capsule that sits atop it, in preparation for future Moon-bound journeys with humans aboard.

The last attempt in early September to launch NASA’s most powerful rocket yet had to be aborted because of a leak while its cryogenic fuels — liquid hydrogen and oxygen — were being pumped into the rocket’s tanks.

Repairs were carried out and Wednesday’s test involved filling those tanks again.

Though a small hydrogen leak was detected during the test, NASA engineers were able to get it under control.

Last week NASA said it is now aiming for September 27 as the next date for liftoff. October 2 was set as a backup date.

“Teams will evaluate the data from the test, along with weather and other factors, before confirming readiness to proceed into the next launch opportunity,” NASA said.

Asked about the timing of the next launch attempt, Blackwell-Thompson declined to comment, though she said she was “extremely encouraged by the test today.”

US officials are also keeping a close eye on Hurricane Fiona’s trajectory off the coast in the Atlantic.

For the September 27 date to be possible, NASA must receive a waiver to avoid retesting the batteries on a detonation system used to destroy the rocket if it strays uncontrollably off course.

The next mission, Artemis 2, would take astronauts to the Moon without landing on its surface, while the third — set for the mid-2020s — would see the first woman and person of color on lunar soil.

NASA wants to build a lunar space station called Gateway and keep a sustained presence on the Moon to gain insight into how to survive very long space missions, ahead of a mission to Mars in the 2030s.

World Bank President David Malpass has been accused of being a 'climate denier' after he refused to answer if he believed manmade emissions contributed to global warming

Climate groups called Wednesday for the World Bank’s president to be removed after he refused multiple times to say if he believed man-made emissions contributed to global warming.

Activists have previously called for David Malpass to resign or be removed for what they say is an inadequate approach to the climate crisis.

The head of the World Bank is traditionally an American while the other big international lender in Washington, the IMF, tends to be European. Malpass is a veteran of Republican administrations in the United States and was appointed in 2019 while Donald Trump, who famously and repeatedly denied the science behind climate change, was president.

The chorus against Malpass grew louder after his appearance Tuesday at a New York Times conference on climate finance.

Asked by a journalist to respond to former US vice president Al Gore’s claim that he was a climate denier, Malpass said that some of his critics “may not know what the World Bank is doing.” He boasted that its climate funding is “by far the biggest” among international financial institutions.

After another attempt failed to get a straight answer, the journalist, David Gelles, said: “Let me just be as clear as I can: Do you accept the scientific consensus that the man made burning of fossil fuels is rapidly and dangerously warming the planet?”

Malpass again pointed to the World Bank’s work on the issue, at which point multiple people in the audience shouted: “Answer the question!”

“I don’t even know. I’m not a scientist,” responded a clearly frustrated Malpass.

The Big Shift, a consortium of climate groups, called Wednesday for the World Bank’s board to remove Malpass over the comments.

“For the World Bank to maintain any shred of decency Malpass cannot remain as President,” said Tasneem Essop, executive director of the Climate Action Network, a Big Shift member group.

A separate group of activist organizations said they would on Thursday unveil a banner at the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington that reads: “The World Bank Group is Run by a Climate Denier.”

Malpass’s term ends in 2024 and he can only be removed by a vote of the World Bank’s board.

Climate groups have called on President Joe Biden to up the outside pressure.

Biden’s climate change envoy, former US secretary of state John Kerry, declined during an appearance at the same Times event to comment on Malpass’s future, saying “that’s the president’s decision.”

The World Bank declined to comment on the situation when reached by AFP.

Armed militants gather for a protest against Yemen's Huthi rebels in the Khokha region of the country's war-ravaged western province of Hodeida

The United Nations said Wednesday it has raised the $75 million necessary to salvage a stricken tanker off Yemen, an emergency operation aimed at averting a disastrous Red Sea oil spill — and a potential $20 billion cleanup.

The decaying 45-year-old FSO Safer, long used as a floating storage platform and now abandoned off the rebel-held Yemeni port of Hodeida, has not been serviced since Yemen plunged into civil war more than seven years ago. 

UN officials last month warned that the ship — which contains four times the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 — was a ticking environmental time bomb requiring immediate action.

“We are able to announce we have now pledges and commitment sufficient to start the FSO Safer salvage operation,” said David Gressly, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Yemen and leader of the global body’s efforts on the Safer.

“It’s a very key milestone,” he said, adding that donor pledges have now topped $77 million.

Yemen is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises due to the war between the government and Huthi rebels who control the port of Hodeida.

The ship in question contains 1.1 million barrels of oil. The United Nations has said a spill could destroy ecosystems, shut down the fishing industry and close the lifeline Hodeida port for six months.

The result would potentially be the fifth largest oil spill from a tanker in history, with the clean-up costs alone reaching $20 billion.

The first phase of the salvage operation would stabilize the FSO Safer and transfer the oil to another vessel. 

A second phase involving long-term storage of the cargo is estimated to cost another $38 million. 

“We believe that we could meet that in a timely fashion,” Gressly said of the cost.

Tuvalu's Prime Minister Kausea Natano makes a national statement on the second day of the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow

The flag of Tuvalu contains nine yellow stars — one for each of the islands that make up the tiny Pacific archipelago, home to some 11,000 people. 

Today, however, two of those atolls are on the verge of being swallowed by rising sea levels as a result of the global climate crisis that has already done irreversible harm and will likely leave the nation uninhabitable in the coming decades.

What happens to a country when it disappears beneath the waves, when all its people are forced to leave?

“That is exactly the idea behind the Rising Nations Initiative — to convince members of the UN to recognize our nation, even if we are submerged underwater, because that is our identity,” Prime Minister Kausea Natano told AFP on the margins of the UN General Assembly.

Vague promises and messages of sympathy from the international community have done little for Pacific atoll countries, which began a push Wednesday for a formal legal process to retain their statehood, should the worst come to pass.

The plan aims to reaffirm the international community’s commitment to Tuvalu and other island nations’ sovereignty.

It would also create a repository for the islands’ cultural heritage and designate them as UNESCO World Heritage sites, as well as increase financial support for adaptation measures. 

Already, the situation is dire. 

As so-called “floating islands” that aren’t directly connected to the ground below, atolls sit on top of “lenses” of freshwater, which are increasingly permeated by saltwater as oceans rise.

That has left them dependent on rainwater for drinking and agriculture — and Tuvalu is now into its sixth month of drought.

“We have to deploy desalination plants, but they are very expensive, they consume very high amounts of electricity,” explained Natano.

The archipelago’s islands barely break the surface of the ocean, reaching 15 feet at the highest point, but more like four or five feet in other places. 

This leaves the islands prone to exceptionally high “King Tides” that wash away root crops, including former island staples taro and cassava, and salt the earth, added Natano. 

The circumstances are deeply inequitable: Pacific island nations are among the least responsible for planetary heating, accounting for just 0.03 percent of global emissions. 

But even if the world’s polluting nations correct course and meet the goal of limiting warming to 1.5C, it could be too late to save the most vulnerable countries like the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.

– ‘We live as a community’ –

Natano recalls that more people began leaving — to New Zealand, Australia and the United States — after devastating Cyclone Pam struck in 2015, though for now, opportunities for migration remain limited by tough border policies.

“In Tuvalu we live as a community,” said Natano, visibly moved. “Even the people who leave don’t want to go, they just look at their children and grandchildren and know they have to look for a future for them.”

The country has joined calls for so-called “loss and damage” compensation from rich nations based on their historic and ongoing contribution to the climate crisis, but the issue remains contentious. 

Natano still hopes, however, to get the assistance his country needs so the people can remain on their land.

There are preliminary discussions on ways to formally apply for a separate identity within other countries, but these are a “last resort,” he said.

“When you’re in Australia, you will become Australian, same for New Zealand,” he added.

“We want to stay in our country, practice our culture and traditions and maintain our legacy.”

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft carrying the crew of Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS)

A US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said Wednesday, after blasting off on a Russian-operated flight in a rare instance of cooperation between Moscow and Washington.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA both distributed live footage of the launch from Kazakhstan and commentators speaking over the feed said it was stable and the crew was “feeling well”.

NASA’s Frank Rubio and Russia’s Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin made up the crew that launched from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome at 1354 GMT.

The three will spend six months on the ISS along with three other Russian cosmonauts, three other US astronauts and one Italian.

Rubio is the first US astronaut to travel to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz rocket since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.

In response, Western capitals including Washington have hit Moscow with unprecedented sanctions and bilateral ties have sunk to new lows.

Space is one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between the two countries.

Russia’s only active female cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, is expected to travel to the orbital station in early October aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon. 

She will become only the fifth professional woman cosmonaut from Russia or the Soviet Union to go into space, and the first Russian to fly aboard a spacecraft of SpaceX, the company of billionaire Elon Musk.

Russian cosmonauts and Western astronauts have sought to steer clear of the conflict that is raging back on Earth, especially when in orbit together.

A collaboration among the United States, Canada, Japan, the European Space Agency and Russia, the ISS is split into two sections: the US Orbital Segment and the Russian Orbital Segment.

– Russia leaving ISS –

At present, the ISS depends on a Russian propulsion system to maintain its orbit, about 250 miles (400 kilometres) above sea level, with the US segment responsible for electricity and life support systems.

Tensions in the space field have grown since Washington announced sanctions on Moscow’s aerospace industry — triggering warnings from Russia’s former space chief Dmitry Rogozin, an ardent supporter of the Ukraine war.

Rogozin’s recently appointed successor Yuri Borisov later confirmed Russia’s long-mooted move to leave the ISS after 2024 in favour of creating its own orbital station.

US space agency NASA called the decision an “unfortunate development” that would hinder scientific work on the ISS.

Space analysts say  construction of a new orbital station could take more than a decade, and Russia’s space industry — a point of national pride — would not be able to flourish under heavy sanctions.

The ISS was launched in 1998 at a time of hope for US-Russia cooperation following their Space Race competition during the Cold War.

During that era, the Soviet space programme boomed. It boasted a number of accomplishments that included sending the first man into space in 1961 and launching the first satellite four years earlier.

Experts say Roscosmos is now a shadow of its former self and has in recent years suffered a series of setbacks, including corruption scandals and the loss of a number of satellites and other spacecraft.

Russia’s years-long monopoly on manned flights to the ISS is also gone, to SpaceX, along with millions of dollars in revenue.