Aurelia Butler

By Jane WardellSYDNEY (Reuters) -Paramedics with jetpacks, border police in flying cars and city workers commuting by drone all sound like science fiction – but the concepts are part of a advanced air mobility (AAM) market that is expected to be worth as much as $17 billion by 2025.As urbanisation leaves city streets congested and advances in technology allow for vehicles considered impossible just decades ago, using the sky for small-scale aircraft has become increasingly attractive. “We can’t continue to use road transport; 3D mobility is really important,” Anna Kominik, Asia Pacific Director at Wisk, said in an interview broadcast on Thursday at the Reuters Next conference.Wisk, a joint venture between Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co. and Kitty Hawk Corp., has been testing Cora, an autonomous electric aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, at its base in Tekapo, New Zealand, for four years. Wisk is liaising with regulators, including the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, to get approval for public use of the air taxi, which can carry two passengers about 40 kilometres plus reserves (25 miles) at speeds of about 160 km/h.”Sixty-seven percent of the world’s population will be cities by 2030 ,so that ground infrastructure can’t keep up and is costly to overhaul,” Kominik said in a panel discussion recorded on Nov. 5. “We have to move to the sky as a resource.”Netherlands-based PAL-V is keeping one foot on the ground while taking to the air. Its two-seat gyroplane road vehicle Liberty, which has a maximum speed of 180 km/h and a flying range of 400 km, received approval for use on European roads this year. Delivery to customers will begin in 2023 after they complete the required training, said Robert Dingemanse, chief executive of PAL-V International.He added that PAL-V had orders, including down payments, from 15 countries, with interest from 193 countries. Kominik declined to put a timetable on when Cora would carry its first passengers. “We don’t expect we will be the first to market; we do expect to be the best,” she said. DEVELOPING AN ECOSYSTEMThe advanced air mobility market could be worth almost $17 billion by 2025 and $110 billion by 2035, according to Allied Market Research.The same report suggests the piloted segment will hold more than three-quarters of the market share in 2025, but the autonomous segment will grow fastest between 2025 and 2035.Dingemanse said he expected the Liberty to be used for a range of applications, including pipeline observation, policing and health operations in remote areas.Similarly, Richard Browning has already done trial runs of his Gravity jetpack with militaries in several countries and emergency response personnel in the United Kingdom. With 317 pounds of thrust, the jetsuit can carry a person for about four minutes. The company is working on updates to extend flying time, and Browning has built up a dataset of the jetpack’s use across 35 countries.Kominik said the creation of an “ecosystem” of use cases was critical as the industry and technology develops. “That requires a very different mindset from government policy, regulators and community,” she said. “We have to create that, because it’s not there at the moment. California-based Wisk selected New Zealand because it was unique globally in allowing “beyond line of sight” trials of autonomous aircraft.CORONAVIRUS IMPACTSDingemanse and Kominik said the pandemic had helped and hurt the industry.Sales of the PAL-V slowed as in-person test drives became restricted, Dingemanse said, but the crisis has provided a boost to the private jet industry and reinforced the human need to meet face-to-face. “In that sense, it is an advantage to our solution, which is personal space when you’re travelling,” he said.Kominik said New Zealand’s tight border restrictions had prevented some key personnel from entering over the past several months, but also spurred the opening of a new testing site in Australia. Browning is keen to return to public demonstrations to inspire a new generation: “Landing a 1,000 horsepower jetsuit amongst a school – with an invitation of course – is a pretty good way to stop kids from looking at an iPad for a moment.”To watch the Reuters Next conference, please register here https://reutersevents.com/events/next More

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.Joe Biden is to hold talks with leaders of eastern European Nato states who fear the US president is open to negotiate with Russia over its demand for the western military alliance to curb its expansion in the region.Following a virtual meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Biden said he planned “to discuss the future of Russia’s concerns relative to Nato writ large” and explore “whether or not we can work out any accommodation”. Putin, who has overseen a large-scale military build-up on Russia’s border with Ukraine that US intelligence has said could be used for an invasion, has demanded that Nato rule out making Kyiv a member. The Russian president also wants the alliance to cease military deployments in eastern European member states bordering Russia. “I hope I’m wrong but I smell ‘Munich’ here,” Marko Mihkelson, head of the foreign affairs committee of Estonia’s parliament, told the Financial Times in reference to the 1938 agreement in Europe to try to avoid conflict with Nazi Germany by ceding the Sudetenland.Thanks for reading FirstFT Asia. Here’s the rest of today’s news — EmilyFive more stories in the news1. Evergrande rated ‘restricted default’ by Fitch The rating agency has become the first to declare that Evergrande’s overseas bonds are in default after the world’s most indebted developer failed to make a crucial interest payment. Fitch also stated that Kaisa, another heavily indebted developer that failed to repay a $400m bond, was in restricted default.2. US to blacklist China’s SenseTime over Xinjiang The US will put the artificial intelligence company on an investment blacklist, as it prices its Hong Kong initial public offering. The action against SenseTime, which Washington says enables human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs, will be part of a package of sanctions to mark Human Rights Day, according those familiar with the decision.3. Sackler name to be removed from Met galleries The Sackler family name that has graced galleries at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for nearly 50 years will be removed as the institution tries to distance itself from a family accused of fuelling the opioid crisis.4. US seeks to tighten Iran sanctions as nuclear talks sputter The state department said a US delegation would visit the United Arab Emirates next week to caution that banks and businesses in the Gulf state, an important trading partner for Iran, risk punitive measures if they violate sanctions on the Islamic republic.5. Beijing critic Jimmy Lai found guilty of illegal assembly Hong Kong media magnate and prominent Beijing critic Jimmy Lai has been found guilty by a local court of inciting people to take part in a banned assembly last year commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.Coronavirus digestA slow rebound in airline, hotel and cruise industries has sparked fresh executive turnover.New applications for US unemployment benefits plunged last week to their lowest level in 52 years.Austria will impose criminal fines of up to €3,600 on anyone over the age of 14 who refuses to be vaccinated, the government saidUS regulators have authorised third shots of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine for 16 and 17 year olds amid concerns about the Omicron variant.Three government parties that took place when London was under stringent coronavirus restrictions are to be investigated by the UK’s top civil servant.Employees at US rideshare company Lyft have been told they do not need to return to offices until 2023 at the earliest.The day aheadInflation data Germany, India and the US will report monthly consumer price index figures. US inflation is expected to have increased 0.7 per cent, down from 0.9 per cent in October, according to economists surveyed by Refinitiv.UK monthly GDP Economists polled by Reuters expect GDP to have grown 0.5 per cent between September and October — before global markets were shaken by news of the Omicron coronavirus variant in late November.Nobel Prize ceremony Nobel prizes will be awarded to Nobel Prize laureates in Oslo, Norway. Many received their awards in scaled down ceremonies because of the pandemic. Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov are set to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. (NPR) What else we’re readingChina’s Shein storms the world of fast fashion The brand has become the biggest in the US market by being cheaper and faster than rivals like Zara. But company detractors say its business model relies on tax loopholes, a flexible attitude to intellectual property and scant regard for corporate and social responsibility.America is still a dangerous nation It is easy to presume “non-interventionism” has become Americans’ settled view. But the climate can switch rapidly. Think of what happened after 9/11. Now imagine hordes of Ukrainians fleeing as Russian tanks churn up their towns this winter, writes Edward Luce.Disney’s chief is planning to do things his way Bob Chapek borrowed billions, sidelined insiders and irked the talent. But it’s all part of the plan, say Christopher Grimes in Los Angeles and Anna Nicolaou in New York in a report for FT Magazine.China’s 20th WTO birthday triggers mixed emotions Beijing’s celebrations on its 20th anniversary as a World Trade Organization member contrasts sharply with a distinct lack of a party atmosphere in Washington, writes Alan Beattie in our Trade Secrets newsletter. Using ‘synthetic data’ to uncover Syrian war crimes Researchers are increasingly turning to “synthetic data” instead of real images to train artificial intelligence programs to recognise weapons used in the conflict and captured on social media. But can the technique adequately represent reality?Wellbeing and fitnessOur colleagues on the How To Spend It magazine have selected six new ways to optimise your health this winter.

 The view from the spa at Deplar Farm © Eleven Experience More

TORONTO (Reuters) – As the COVID-19 pandemic raged, Canadian government inspectors frequently deemed the employers of migrant workers compliant with health and safety rules despite a lack of evidence, according to an Auditor General report released Thursday.While Canadian provinces and territories set housing standards, the federal government is responsible for ensuring that tens of thousands of migrant farmworkers have adequate accommodation and their employers comply with quarantine rules.Employment and Social Development Canada has been carrying out reviews of living spaces and workplaces. The vast majority of these inspections since April 2020 have been done virtually. In 2020, Canada found 99.6% of inspected employers compliant; in 2021, it was 100%.Auditor General Karen Hogan’s office warned of inspection problems in late 2020 but things worsened, the audit found, with 88% of quarantine inspections deemed “problematic” compared with 73% the previous year.”I think they had a lot of information and really should have acted on it, and I am disappointed that the situation didn’t improve,” Hogan said in an interview.”It’s a pretty big failure.” The COVID-19 pandemic hit migrant workers hard as many lived in congregate settings that fueled transmission. In light of the pandemic and recent wildfires and floods in British Columbia, Mexico is trying to change the conditions of Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program to better protect workers.Eighty percent of the COVID-19 outbreak inspections the auditor reviewed sat inactive, even as they required time-sensitive responses to ensure worker safety. Sometimes inspectors had information indicating noncompliance with pandemic regulations but labeled employers as compliant anyway, the audit said.Employment and Social Development Canada agreed with the audit’s recommendations. “The Temporary Foreign Worker Program was not designed to deal with a pandemic. As a result, rules, procedures, and training had to be developed in real time,” the department said in a statement included in the audit.Canada’s C$68.8 billion ($54.2 billion) agricultural sector relies heavily on migrant workers. More than 79,000 migrants came to work in Canada’s agricultural sector between March 2020 and June 2021.But Hogan said migrant workers are also “human beings who are relying on their employer to give them accommodations.”($1 = 1.2695 Canadian dollars) More

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia kept up a barrage of hostile rhetoric towards Ukraine on Thursday and compared the crisis there to the most dangerous moment of the Cold War as it waited for U.S. President Joe Biden to invite it to possible talks with NATO countries.The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of moving heavy artillery towards the front line of fighting with pro-Russian separatists in the east of the former Soviet republic and failing to engage in a peace process.The events in the Donbass, or the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, now “resemble genocide”, TASS state news agency quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying on Thursday.A Ukrainian warship headed towards the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia and its annexed peninsula of Crimea, and did not react to a Russian request to change its course, the Russian intelligence service (FSB) said of events that happened earlier on Thursday.The Ukrainian vessel later headed back, Interfax reported, citing FSB. The Ukrainian defence minister said it was a search-and-rescue ship with no weapons on board.”Negotiations on a peaceful settlement have practically hit a dead end,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters, referring to the seven-year conflict between Ukrainian and separatist forces in the eastern Donbass region.The ministry’s Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) feed, quoting Zakharova, said: “With the support of NATO countries pumping the country with weapons, Kyiv is building up its contingent on the line of contact in Donbass.”Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov agreed with a reporter who suggested East-West tensions over Ukraine could turn into a rerun of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the United States and the Soviet Union stood on the brink of nuclear war. “You know, it really could come to that,” Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. “If things continue as they are, it is entirely possible by the logic of events to suddenly wake up and see yourself in something similar.”The comments came two days after a video call between Biden and Putin that was intended to help defuse the crisis over Ukraine.They signalled that Moscow has an interest in keeping tensions high while waiting for the next move from Biden, who has said he plans to hold follow-up talks involving Russia and NATO countries.Ukraine, which seeks to join NATO, says it fears an invasion by tens of thousands of Russian troops gathered near its border. Moscow says its posture is purely defensive.’FIGHTING BY OURSELVES’Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv expects to be supported by Western military allies even if the United States does not send troops there, an action that Biden has ruled out https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-both-sides-follow-up-quickly-putin-biden-talks-2021-12-08.”We will be fighting this war by ourselves,” Kuleba told investors in London. “We know how to fight. We do not need foreign troops fighting for us. But we will appreciate anything that can strengthen our army in terms of military supplies.”Ukraine’s military accused the Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country of six new violations of a broken-down 2020 ceasefire on Thursday, three of them involving weapons banned under earlier peace deals that Moscow and Kyiv say they are trying to revive.Interfax quoted a Ukrainian official as saying Kyiv was proposing a humanitarian exchange of up to 60 prisoners by New Year.In Tuesday’s video call, Biden voiced concern about Russia’s military buildup and told Putin that Moscow would face serious economic consequences if it invaded.Putin has said talk of an invasion is “provocative” and accused Ukraine and NATO of fanning tensions.Biden said on Wednesday he hoped for an announcement by Friday of high-level meetings with Russia and major NATO allies to discuss Moscow’s concerns and the possibility of “bringing down the temperature along the eastern front”. Russia’s Ryabkov described that as a “unilateral” statement, implying the U.S. side had not discussed it with Moscow.Asked if Russia would object to the participation of other NATO members, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We cannot say, because there is no understanding of how all this will be arranged.” More

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Bank of Canada is concerned the factors fueling price increases, such as supply disruptions and related cost pressures, could last longer than expected, leading to more persistent inflation, an official said on Thursday.Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle told a business audience there was much to be hopeful for as the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic picked up pace. But he said with inflation running “considerably above” the central bank’s 1%-3% control range, the risk it would stay above target was of greater concern. “If supply disruptions and related cost pressures persist for longer than expected and strong goods demand continues, this would increase the likelihood of inflation remaining above our control range,” he said in a speech delivered via video link from Ottawa.”This could feed into inflation expectations and contribute to wage pressures, leading to a second round of price increases,” he said. Canada’s headline inflation in October hit an 18-year-high at 4.7%.The remarks highlight the Canadian central bank’s continued unease with hot inflation, which is proving less transitory than expected. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last month said the word “transitory” was no longer the most accurate term for describing the current inflation dynamic in the United States.Gravelle reiterated that the Bank of Canada expected inflation to remain high into 2022, easing back to its 2% target in the second half of the year. The central bank on Wednesday held its key rate at 0.25% and repeated guidance that a first hike could come as soon as April.Gravelle said the Bank of Canada expects supply disruptions to unwind over time as bottlenecks are resolved. But he noted the risk of persistent disruptions figured prominently in the decision to hold borrowing costs at record-low levels.In October, the central bank forecast supply disruptions would peak toward the of this year, then dissipate in 2022.The Canadian dollar was trading 0.3% lower at 1.2695 to the greenback, or 78.77 U.S. cents, as oil prices fell and worries about the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant weighed on investors. More