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Wild beavers release approved for England

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Wild beavers release approved for England
Jonah Fisher

BBC environment correspondent

Reporting fromRIver Otter, Devon

These are some of the first beavers that will be released

Beavers will be released into the wild in England after the government approved their reintroduction.

The decision follows years of trials and will see beavers make an officially approved return to waterways.

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Hunted to extinction in Britain four hundred years ago, beavers have in the last two decades been making a comeback.

But some farmers are concerned that without proper management the large rodents could have negative impacts on food production.

It’s thought that about five hundred beavers already live in England, some in the wild and others in enclosures. Many more are in Scotland, where wild releases are already permitted.

Conservationists call beavers “ecosystem engineers” because of how they redesign where they live. The dams they build slow the flow of rivers and streams and create habitats where other creatures can thrive. They’ve also been credited with reducing flooding further downstream.

“This is an incredibly exciting moment, a real landmark for nature recovery in England,” Tony Juniper, the head of Natural England, told me next to a beaver dam in Devon.

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“We’re bringing back a missing animal that’s been absent for centuries, and an animal that we know will bring huge benefits for the rest of the wildlife that is already depleted across much of England,” he says.

The beavers will be released under a licensing system overseen by Natural England.

It says long term plans will need to be in place to avoid impacts on farming, food production and infrastructure.

That’s something the National Farmers Union say is vital. It wants culling beavers to be an option if they prove disruptive.

NFU Deputy President David Exwood said that while beavers could provide certain benefits, “we are concerned about the negative impacts beavers can have on productive farmland, as well as the management requirements, costs and risks involved”.

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“Beavers can flood and waterlog fields, feed on agricultural crops like maize, as well as damage and fell trees such as cricket bat willow.”

Tony Juniper poses for a photograph in a blue shirt with a green badge that says 'natural England' - he's wearing black binoculars around his neck and is standing in front of a grassy riverbank fringed by trees.

Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, says the wild release of beavers will only be approved if certain conditions are met

We met up with Tony Juniper of Natural England at the site of the pilot project for wild beaver release in England, the River Otter catchment in Devon. Beavers first appeared here more than a decade ago – it’s not clear where they came from. They may have escaped from enclosures or have been illegally released, so called “beaver bombing”.

Since then the wild beavers have been allowed to stay, with their impact on the landscape and the way they interact with local farmland closely monitored.

“All of this open water is down to the beavers,” Peter Burgess of the Devon Wildlife Trust tells me as we splash our way through the boggy land.

“They want this water because it makes them feel safe and secure. It means that they can transport their food as well.”

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Along the River Otter Mr Burgess tells me the beavers have created wetlands that now host species such as great white egrets and kingfishers. Dragonfly numbers have soared as have frogs and toads. Water voles now roam the network of channels, streams, and ponds the beavers use to navigate the flood plain.

Beaver Trust A wild beaver on the River Tay in Scotland. It's standing on its haunches knee deep in river water just beside the bank.Beaver Trust

Some farmers are worried about the beavers causing damage to their crops and fields

Not everyone in the area is delighted by the thought of beaver dams popping up everywhere.

Clinton Devon Estates manage several farms in the Devon catchment area where the trial wild beaver project has been running. Though broadly supportive of the beavers’ return there are concerns about whether enough thought has been given to managing their impacts.

“We’ve also seen farmland flooded, we’ve seen properties flooded. We’ve seen people’s trees in their gardens felled,” says John Varley, the chief executive of Clinton Devon Estates.

“There are positives with the beaver, huge positives, but there’s also some quite significant negatives, particularly for small farmers.”

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Beaver Trust A close up of a beaver drinking water from a trough in an enclosure in ScotlandBeaver Trust

One of the beavers that has been caught in Scotland and is set to be one of the first officially approved wild release in England.

Scotland is several years ahead of England and has already approved the release of beavers and it’s thought there are now more than 1,500 living wild. In some areas the beavers have been so successful at breeding that they have had to be relocated or as a last resort culled.

The first wild release of beavers in England is now expected to take place in the next few days. Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer from the Beaver Trust, which is managing the release, told the BBC the male and female had been taken from “conflict sites” in Scotland and were now undergoing medical checks ahead of being moved south.

Additional reporting by Kevin Church.

Lifestyle

In ‘No Other Choice,’ a loyal worker gets the ax — and starts chopping

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In ‘No Other Choice,’ a loyal worker gets the ax — and starts chopping

Lee Byung-hun stars in No Other Choice.

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In an old Kids in the Hall comedy sketch called “Crazy Love,” two bros throatily proclaim their “love of all women” and declare their incredulity that anyone could possibly take issue with it:

Bro 1: It is in our very makeup; we cannot change who we are!

Bro 2: No! To change would mean … (beat) … to make an effort.

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I thought about that particular exchange a lot, watching Park Chan-wook’s latest movie, a niftily nasty piece of work called No Other Choice. The film isn’t about the toxic lecherousness of boy-men, the way that KITH sketch is. But it is very much about men, and that last bit: the annoyed astonishment of learning that you’re expected to change something about yourself that you consider essential, and the extreme lengths you’ll go to avoid doing that hard work.

Many critics have noted No Other Choice‘s satirical, up-the-minute universality, given that it involves a faceless company screwing over a hardworking, loyal employee. As the film opens, Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) has been working at a paper factory for 25 years; he’s got the perfect job, the perfect house, the perfect family — you see where this is going, right? (If you don’t, even after the end of the first scene, when Man-su calls his family over for a group hug while sighing, “I’ve got it all,” then I envy your blithe disinterest in how movies work. Never change, you beautiful blissful Pollyanna, you.)

He gets canned, and can’t seem to find another job in his beloved paper industry, despite going on a series of dehumanizing interviews. His resourceful wife Miri (Son Ye-jin) proves a hell of a lot more adaptable than he does, making practical changes to the family’s expenses to weather Man-su’s situation. But when foreclosure threatens, he resolves to eliminate the other candidates (Lee Sung-min, Cha Seung-won) for the job he wants at another paper factory — and, while he’s at it, maybe even the jerk (Park Hee-soon) to whom he’d be reporting.

So yes, No Other Choice is a scathing spoof of corporate culture. But the director’s true satirical eye is trained on the interpersonal — specifically the intractability of the male ego.

Again and again, the women in the film (both Son Ye-jin as Miri and the hilarious Yeom Hye-ran, who plays the wife of one of Man-su’s potential victims) entreat their husbands to think about doing something, anything else with their lives. But these men have come to equate their years of service with a pot-committed core identity as men and breadwinners; they cling to their old lives and seek only to claw their way back into them. Man-su, for example, unthinkingly channels the energy that he could devote to personal and professional growth into planning and executing a series of ludicrously sloppy murders.

It’s all satisfyingly pulpy stuff, loaded with showy, cinematic homages to old-school suspense cinematography and editing — cross-fades, reverse-angles and jump cuts that are deliberately and unapologetically Hitchcockian. That deliberateness turns out to be reassuring and crowd-pleasing; if you’re tired of tidy visual austerity, of films that look like TV, the lushness on display here will have you leaning back in your seat thinking, “This right here is cinema, goddammit.”

Narratively, the film is loaded with winking jokes and callbacks that reward repeat viewing. Count the number of times that various characters attempt to dodge personal responsibility by sprinkling the movie’s title into their dialogue. Wonder why one character invokes the peculiar image of a madwoman screaming in the woods and then, only a few scenes later, finds herself chasing someone through the woods, screaming. Marvel at Man-su’s family home, a beautifully ugly blend of traditional French-style architecture with lumpy Brutalist touches like exposed concrete balconies jutting out from every wall.

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There’s a lot that’s charming about No Other Choice, which might seem an odd thing to note about such a blistering anti-capitalist screed. But the director is careful to remind us at all turns where the responsibility truly lies; say what you will about systemic economic pressure, the blood stays resolutely on Man-su’s hands (and face, and shirt, and pants, and shoes). The film repeatedly offers him the ability to opt out of the system, to abandon his resolve that he must return to the life he once knew, exactly as he knew it.

Man-su could do that, but he won’t, because to change would mean to make an effort — and ultimately men would rather embark upon a bloody murder spree than go to therapy.

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Austin airport to nearly double in size over next decade

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Austin airport to nearly double in size over next decade

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will nearly double in size over the next decade. 

The airport currently has 34 gates. With the expansion projects, it will increase by another 32 gates. 

What they’re saying:

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Southwest, Delta, United, American, Alaska, FedEx, and UPS have signed 10-year use-and lease agreements, which outline how they operate at the airport, including with the expansion. 

“This provides the financial foundation that will support our day-to-day operations and help us fund the expansion program that will reshape how millions of travelers experience AUS for decades to come,” Ghizlane Badawi, CEO of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said.

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Concourse B, which is in the design phase, will have 26 gates, estimated to open in the 2030s. Southwest Airlines will be the main tenant with 18 gates, United Airlines will have five gates, and three gates will be for common use. There will be a tunnel that connects to Concourse B.

“If you give us the gates, we will bring the planes,” Adam Decaire, senior VP of Network Planning & Network Operations Control at Southwest Airlines said.

“As part of growing the airport, you see that it’s not just us that’s bragging about the success we’re having. It’s the airlines that want to use this airport, and they see advantage in their business model of being part of this airport, and that’s why they’re growing the number of gates they’re using,” Mayor Kirk Watson said.

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Dig deeper:

The airport will also redevelop the existing Barbara Jordan Terminal, including the ticket counters, security checkpoints, and baggage claim. Concourse A will be home to Delta Air Lines with 15 gates. American Airlines will have nine gates, and Alaska Airlines will have one gate. There will be eight common-use gates.

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“Delta is making a long-term investment in Austin-Bergstrom that will transform travel for years to come,” Holden Shannon, senior VP for Corporate Real Estate at Delta Air Lines said.

The airport will also build Concourse M — six additional gates to increase capacity as early as 2027. There will be a shuttle between that and the Barbara Jordan Terminal. Concourse M will help with capacity during phases of construction. 

There will also be a new Arrivals and Departures Hall, with more concessions and amenities. They’re also working to bring rideshare pickup closer to the terminal.

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City officials say these projects will bring more jobs. 

The expansion is estimated to cost $5 billion — none of which comes from taxpayer dollars. This comes from airport revenue, possible proceeds, and FAA grants.

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“We’re seeing airlines really step up to ensure they are sharing in the infrastructure costs at no cost to Austin taxpayers, and so we’re very excited about that as well,” Council Member Vanessa Fuentes (District 2) said.

The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Angela Shen

Austin-Bergstrom International AirportAustin
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After years of avoiding the ER, Noah Wyle feels ‘right at home’ in ‘The Pitt’

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After years of avoiding the ER, Noah Wyle feels ‘right at home’ in ‘The Pitt’

Wyle, who spent 11 seasons on ER, returns to the hospital in The Pitt. Now in Season 2, the HBO series has earned praise for its depiction of the medical field. Originally broadcast April 21, 2025.

Hear The Original Interview

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