Collapsing prices, the rise of mega farms in warmer states and fluctuations in demand have led to a spate of bankruptcies
The Goodman family has been milking cows in Wisconsin since 1889. Jim Goodman is the last of his line. The 66-year-old farmer has sold his herd and the land where they grazed. His children have chosen other careers.
Related: Why America’s cheese capital is at the center of Trump’s trade war
Continue reading...Fishing was a powerful factor in the case for leaving the EU. On the eve of crucial trade talks, the Observer finds optimism tempered by caution on the quays of Devon and Cornwall
Neil Watson was eight or nine when his dad took him out to sea for the first time. Soon he was earning his first pocket money by washing fish boxes on the quay at Brixham in south Devon. Three years after he started crewing, he got his skipper’s ticket and eventually he bought his own boat. For 30 years, he regularly spent seven days at sea followed by one night off, only stopping when his boat sank two years ago.
“I fished through good times and bad times. Fishing’s like riding a wave – one minute you’re up the top, and the next you’re down in the trough,” he said. Now Watson works at Brixham’s fish market, one of the largest in England, where £40m of fish was sold last year across the UK and Europe. A fisherman’s life is brutal, he said, but he badly misses the camaraderie.
Continue reading...Leaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says Earth is on unsustainable trajectory
The world’s largest financier of fossil fuels has warned clients that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity and that the planet is on an unsustainable trajectory, according to a leaked document.
The JP Morgan report on the economic risks of human-caused global heating said climate policy had to change or else the world faced irreversible consequences.
Continue reading...Use of harmful chemicals is higher in poorer nations, according to data analysed by Unearthed
The world’s biggest pesticide companies make billions of dollars a year from chemicals found by independent authorities to pose high hazards to human health or the environment, according to an analysis by campaigners.
The research also found a higher proportion of these highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) in the companies’ sales in poorer nations than in rich ones. In India, 59% of sales were of HHPs in contrast to just 11% in the UK, according to the analysis.
Continue reading...Study indicates human fossil methane emissions have been underestimated by up to 40%
The oil and gas industry has had a far worse impact on the climate than previously believed, according to a study indicating that human emissions of fossil methane have been underestimated by up to 40%.
Although the research will add to pressure on fossil fuel companies, scientists said there was cause for hope because it showed a big extra benefit could come from tighter regulation of the industry and a faster shift towards renewable energy.
Continue reading...‘Absolutely unacceptable’ discovery a new setback for US firm, which orders inspection
Boeing has ordered inspections of its entire fleet of grounded 737 Max planes after it found debris in the fuel tanks of some of the aircraft, in the latest setback for the US plane-maker.
The specialist aviation blog Leeham News, which first reported the discovery of the “foreign object debris” (FOD), said it was unlikely that the inspections would delay the recertification of the jets. However, it will take up to three days to inspect each plane because fuel must be drained and vapours dissipated before the fuel tanks can be opened.
Continue reading...Deaths in mainland China pass 2,000 and Foreign Office tells Britons to stay on the Diamond Princess cruise ship
Inspectors in protective suits have been going door to door in Wuhan in an effort to find every infected person, the Associated Press reports.
Wednesday marked the final day of a campaign to root out anyone with symptoms whom authorities may have missed so far.
Britons returning home from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that has had more than 600 cases of coronavirus will be quarantined at the same NHS facility that housed people flown back to the UK from Wuhan.
The Department of Health said: “We can confirm that an accommodation block on the Arrowe Park NHS site will be used to isolate those returning from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. They will be kept in this location for the 14-day quarantine period, with around-the-clock support from medical staff at all times.”
Related: Foreign Office tells Britons not to leave cruise ship struck by coronavirus
Continue reading...Government plans to take ‘full control’ of borders a disaster for economy and jobs, say industry leaders and Labour
Britain is to close its borders to unskilled workers and those who can’t speak English as part of a fundamental overhaul of immigration laws that will end the era of cheap EU labour in factories, warehouses, hotels and restaurants.
Unveiling its Australian-style points system on Wednesday, the government will say it is grasping a unique opportunity to take “full control” of British borders “for the first time in decades” and eliminate the “distortion” caused by EU freedom of movement.
Continue reading...UK prepares evacuation flight for cruise ship passengers. Follow the latest news
The Italian luxury fashion house Prada has postponed a fashion show due to take place in Japan in May.
In a statement, the company said:
Due to the current uncertainty related to the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Prada Resort fashion show originally scheduled for May 21 in Japan will be postponed.
Repatriating passengers from the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship in Japan is not without risks, a medical expert has said.
Paul Hunter, professor in Medicine at the University of East Anglia, said:
Considerable care needs to be made to ensure that the passengers do not transmit infection between themselves or to cabin crew during the flight home and once back on home soil they do not act as a focus for the spread of the disease into their home countries – any returning passengers may be put in quarantine on their return.
It is well known that certain infections such as influenza and norovirus can spread rapidly on board cruise ships. Cruise ships take passengers and crew from all over the world, often passengers are relatively elderly, they spend most of their time on board indoors mixing with others.
The most likely [infection] route is direct person-to-person transmission when people are close to an infected person, but with currently publicly available information it is not possible to rule out other issues at this stage.
Continue reading...The 39-year-old has three weeks to sort out programme after Sajid Javid’s exit
The budget will go ahead on 11 March, the Treasury said on Tuesday, forcing the new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to piece together a fresh tax and spending programme over the next three weeks.
A delay was expected after Sunak’s predecessor, Sajid Javid, abruptly quit his job after a demand by Boris Johnson that he sack his advisers and replace them with a team jointly managed with No 10.
Continue reading...Bank warns of ‘meaningful’ job losses in UK and of impact of coronavirus outbreak in Asia
HSBC has said it will slash 35,000 jobs over three years as part of a major shake-up as it issued a warning over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in Asia.
The interim chief executive, Noel Quinn, confirmed on Tuesday that plans to cut $4.5bn (£3.5bn) worth of costs would involve slashing about 15% of the group’s global workforce. “We would expect our headcount to decrease from the current level of 235,000 to be closer to 200,000 in 2022,” Quinn said.
Continue reading...Figures obtained by GMB show safety at its UK warehouses could be worsening
More than 600 Amazon workers have been seriously injured or narrowly escaped an accident in the past three years, prompting calls for a parliamentary inquiry into safety at the online retailer’s vast UK warehouses.
Amazon, whose largest shareholder is the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos, recently launched an advertising campaign fronted by contented staff members, after a string of embarrassing revelations about working conditions.
Continue reading...International trade slump and coronavirus outbreak combine to weaken consumer demand
Japan’s economy is heading for a recession this year after figures showed the world’s third largest economy slumped by an annual rate of 6.3% during the last quarter of 2019.
Germany, the world’s fourth largest economy, is also expected to stumble as the coronavirus epidemic and a slump in trade with China combine with weak consumer demand to drag growth lower.
Continue reading...French foreign minister says it will be hard for UK to strike deal by end of year given differences
Britain and the European Union are going to rip each other apart in talks over a future trade deal, the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has predicted, while also holding out hope that UK defence co-operation with Europe will continue.
Speaking at the Munich security forum, he added it would be tough for Britain to achieve its aim of a free trade deal by the end of the year given the differences between the two sides.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, including the latest eurozone growth figures
Andrew Kenningham of Capital Economics has told clients:
“We think the economy will continue to flirt with recession in the first half of this year.”
It’s hard to put too much gloss on a stagnating economy, but the German government has tried to strike an optimistic-ish tone this morning.
Berlin’s economy ministry says Germany’s economy is going through a weak phase, but it’s encouraged that business sentiment has improved.
Continue reading...Key event in European automotive calendar could be under threat as crisis deepens
Carmakers are monitoring the development of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe amid concerns that a key motor show in Geneva could be affected.
The spread of the disease has forced the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress, a tech trade fair in Barcelona that had been expected to host more than 100,000 delegates from about 200 countries.
Continue reading...Artist pays tribute to collector Robert Tibbles, who was his first customer in 1989
In 1989, 28-year-old Robert Tibbles bought a medicine cabinet artwork full of bottles of pills for £600. His friends derided it as “crap” and told Tibbles he had been ripped off and should return it.
On Thursday that medicine cabinet, called Bodies by Damien Hirst, is expected to sell for between £1.2m and £1.8m in an auction of Tibbles’ entire Cool Britannia collection, which also includes works by Michael Craig-Martin and Gilbert & George.
Continue reading...MS Westerdam, which has 1,455 passengers and 802 crew, will dock on Thursday as WHO chief warns coronavirus threat is greater than terrorism
A paper in the Lancet medical journal, published online, should dispel some of the worries around reported deaths of some babies born to women who have fallen ill with what is now being called COVID-19 infection.
The authors say preliminary evidence suggests the new coronavirus cannot be passed to the baby in the womb.
Hi, Amy Walker here taking over the blog from my colleague Simon Murphy.
Patients who were treated by the two Brighton GPs who have been diagnosed with coronavirus are being traced by health officials, the BBC has reported.
Continue reading...Africa’s richest woman suspect in criminal investigation into misappropriation of funds
Portugal has ordered a freeze on the bank accounts of the billionaire businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, who is currently the subject of a criminal investigation in Angola.
The public prosecutor’s office in Lisbon confirmed reports that dozens of personal and corporate accounts belonging to Dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo, were the subject of a seizure order.
Continue reading...Architect and PM’s enthusiasm for Celtic crossing tempered by local cynicism of ‘pipe dream’
“The stars are aligning” for a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, according to the principal advocate for a Celtic crossing, the leading architect Alan Dunlop.
Although engineering experts have dismissed the concept as “bonkers”, Dunlop has been pressing for serious discussion of Boris Johnson’s latest grand infrastructure scheme since he conducted a feasibility study into the proposal in 2018, when he first raised the prospect.
Continue reading...