Britain, Environment, Research, Science, Scotland

Rare beetle found in abundance…

MELOE BREVICOLLIS

A rare flightless beetle in Britain, thought to be close to extinction, has been found in abundance on a Hebridean island.

The short-necked oil beetle was thought to have disappeared completely until 2008, when scientific surveys uncovered two small populations in South Devon, and the Isle of Coll.

Researchers working for RSPB Scotland and charity Buglife have now found more than 150 of the threatened insects. This equates to a 400 per cent increase since the last count was made in 2010.

Scientists also identified two new sites on the island for the beetles, which rely on wild bees and their larvae to survive.

A spokesperson and natural recovery officer at RSPB Scotland, said:

… This was a beetle that was thought to be extinct for about 60 years… A small population was found in Devon and then, out of nowhere, about 20 individuals were discovered on Coll.

… To go back and find the species in such abundance now shows they are doing a lot better than we ever dreamt they could be.

The beetle – Latin name Meloe brevicollis – is named for the toxic oil secretions it produces when threatened.

A conservation officer at Buglife Scotland, said:

… The abundance of wildflowers in the machair and dunes of the island, combined with lots of warm, bare sand provide a near-perfect habitat for the solitary bees that the beetles depend on.

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Egypt, Foreign Affairs, Government, Middle East, Politics, Society, United States

Abdulfattah el-Sisi: Egypt’s new political leader…

EGYPT

Once again, Egypt has a senior military officer in charge of the country’s affairs. Field Marshal Abdulfattah el-Sisi, recently promoted from the rank of General, has been elected with the support of 97 per cent of the voters (of a low turnout) and has been inaugurated into office. He officially stood down from his military appointment in contesting the presidency. For the past 60-years, ever since the Free Officers Movement overthrew King Farouk in 1952, the Egyptian government has had a senior military strongman at the helm. Successive leaders – Naguib, Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak – all came from the military, so on that basis el-Sisi’s political victory in now leading his country should come as no great surprise.

For many, though, given the political earthquake and subsequent tremors that have occurred over the past three years, and the way in which power has been handed over, will leave many feeling uncomfortable if not untoward. The high hopes of the Arab Spring and the resulting revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak were undone by the election of the Muslim Brotherhood. Mohammed Morsi’s mandate suggested that the Arab world’s most populous country would become increasingly Islamised, and became a significant factor in his eventual deposition that came in the form of a military coup. But now the Brotherhood is proscribed once more and most of its leaders are in prison.

Whether President el-Sisi is to be remembered as another Arab tyrant will depend on how he utilises his unparalleled position of public dominance. Time will tell – and history will record – whether he is able to reform his country’s anachronistic and decrepit institutions and his ability to convert an inward-looking society into one that is more representative of the modern age. In the short-term, his priorities must be to overhaul the police and judiciary and to end the daily charades of how justice is dispensed in the courts.

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Government, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Politics, United States

The formation of a Palestinian ‘unity’ government…

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

The formal announcement earlier this week of a Palestinian unity government, embracing both Fatah and Hamas, curtails any remaining hope of a successful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for some time to come. In truth, the attempts by John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, over the past nine months in brokering a process for peace, was already dead in the water following the rapprochement between the rival factions. The decision of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to enter into agreement with the Gaza-based terror organisation has simply served to convince doubters that he was never serious or intent enough on delivering a two-state model. The Palestinians have also maintained that alleged Israeli dithering over prisoner releases has been a clear demonstration that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was simply going through the motions. Once Hamas was brought on board, though, the talks were always likely to founder. To suggest otherwise is illusionary.

Mr Kerry has devoted large swathes of his time over the past nine months in attempting to bring about a workable solution. Although many of the arguments have been thrashed out many times before, Mr Kerry’s timetable for delivery of an agreement was unrealistic, despite his efforts and commitment to the process being commendable. Progress has been made. Mr Netanyahu has come a long way from his previous implacable opposition to a two-state solution and agreed to halt new settlement buildings along the border while the talks continued.

For their part, the Palestinians have been forced to merge through weakness rather than strength: Hamas, in particular, has been affiliated with those unwieldy and tyrannical despots in both Egypt and Syria. The new ‘unity government’ in Palestine is being portrayed as a technocratic administration (whose members have no political affiliation). Fatah’s reconciliation with an organisation widely regarded as a terrorist movement, however, will be seen by many as being toxic.

There is one clear way to move forward. And that is for Hamas to recognise Israel and renounce violence for good.

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