The monthly landings statistics will be released at 9.30am on the 4th Friday of each month, or the next working day if this is a bank holiday.

The shortlist for the prestigious USD1.3 million 2018 Newton Prize has been published yesterday, featuring 22 proposals between researchers in the UK and Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Each year the Newton Prize is awarded to projects that demonstrate the best science or innovation; promoting the economic development and social welfare of Newton partner countries. The prize sheds light on the challenges faced by the developing world and how Newton Fund partnerships are helping to solve them. It also incentivises researchers to join the Newton Fund as partners with the UK to address global challenges such as poverty, climate change and public health.

This year 140 Newton funded projects, fellowships or other awards applied for the Newton Prize. Four prizes of up to USD260,000 each will be awarded to winning projects with the eligible Latin American countries. There will also be an additional prize (the Chairman’s Award) of USD260,000 for a project with the potential for broader impact with other developing countries.

Shortlisted applications take on numerous sustainable development goals: from improving health and wellbeing to reducing inequalities, building sustainable cities, and contributing to peace and justice. They also Applications for this year’s prize were received from a range of institutions, including universities and companies from the UK and abroadspan the Newton Fund’s three pillars of work:

• development of people,
• new research
• translating ideas into innovations

Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, Newton Prize Committee Chair and President of the Royal Society and Nobel Laureate, said:

As the Chair of the judging committee I am thrilled that we have such an exciting and competitive shortlist and I look forward to working with the international judging committee to decide the winners.

One of the aims of the Newton Prize is to highlight the lasting partnerships developed between UK researchers and their colleagues in Newton Fund partner countries to solve global challenges.

Latin America has a wealth of excellent researchers working in collaboration with the UK to tackle issues as diverse as post conflict studies, biodiversity, health and energy through the Newton Fund partnerships in the region. Science and innovation often depends on working in partnership across the globe: sharing knowledge and resources to enhance our understanding and make discoveries with the potential to change lives.

Sir Venki leads a distinguished and independent Newton Prize committee with expertise in the development sector, the Latin American region as well as science and innovation. The committee will review the short-listed applications, along with feedback from expert peer reviewers, and choose the winners.

During November the shortlisted projects below will be celebrated at award events taking place in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, where the winning project for that country will be announced. These events will be followed by a UK reception in December hosted by Sam Gyimah MP, the Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation to celebrate international and science innovation collaborations. In Chile, the event will be held in the city of Santiago on November 13.

The shortlisted applications in Chile are as follows:

Political violence and human rights violations accountability: circumstances, uses and effects of forced disappearance registration. Lessons from a comparative perspective in the Americas.

Project partners: Vikki Bell, Goldsmiths University of London and Oriana Bernasconi, Alberto Hurtado University.

Low cost genomic selection for improving disease resistance in Brazilian tilapia aquaculture.

Project partners: Ross Houston, The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh and Jose Yanez, University of Chile.

Resilient planning of low-carbon power systems.

Project partners: Professor Pierluigi Mancarella, University of Manchester and Rodrigo Moreno, University of Chile.

Technology Development and Implementation for Microgrid Interconnection Systems.

Project partners: Jon Clare, University of Nottingham and Marco Rivera, University of Talca.

Find out more

Read about the 2017 Newton Prize winners: India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam

Read our latest blogs from Newton Prize winning projects

Follow the Newton Fund on Twitter

Contacts

Mark Gardner – Senior Communications Manager

Alvaro Cabrera – Newton Fund Manager Chile

Equine viral encephalomyelitis is a disease which can be caused by several viruses (known as equine encephalitis viruses). They include, but are not limited to:

• Japanese encephalitis
• Western equine encephalomyelitis virus
• Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus
• Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus
• West Nile virus

Encephalomyelitis means inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

Equine viral encephalomyelitis can be fatal, although some animals will recover from the disease.

Animals affected by the disease

Equine viral encephalomyelitis mainly affects members of the equid family, such as:

• horses
• donkeys
• mules
• zebras

Other animals can also be affected, such as:

• cattle, sheep and goats
• pigs
• birds, including poultry
• dogs
• rodents

Humans can also be affected.

How to spot equine viral encephalomyelitis in equid species

Clinical signs can be different depending on which virus the animal has. Some animals will not show any signs at all.

You may spot these signs soon after infection:

• fever for several days
• lack of appetite
• loss of weight and condition
• depression
• stiffness and weakness

You may spot these signs in the later stages of infection:

• behavioural changes – such as circling, head pressing or aimless wandering
• hyperexcitability
• blindness
• lack of coordination and balance
• inability to move
• staggering or standing with an open stance
• seizures

Infections that have similar signs

You may also see similar clinical signs if your animal is infected with one of the following:

• rabies
• tetanus
• African horse sickness
• bacterial meningitis
• toxic poisoning
• leucoencephalomalacia (Fusarium intoxication)

You must report these signs even if you think your animal does not have equine viral encephalomyelitis.

How equine viral encephalomyelitis spreads

The viruses that cause equine viral encephalomyelitis are mainly spread by mosquitoes. Other animals, including wild birds or rodents, can also carry the virus between different areas.

Only some types of mosquito can spread the virus. This means that if an infected horse did enter the UK, the possibility of the disease spreading would be low.

There has never been an outbreak of equine viral encephalomyelitis in the UK.

Risk to humans

Humans can be infected by equine encephalitis viruses if they are bitten by an infected mosquito. Most people have no symptoms.

An infected person or horse cannot pass the virus directly to others.
In rare cases, the virus can be spread during surgical interventions, such as a blood transfusion.

If your animal displays signs of infection and you are worried about your health, contact your GP for advice.

Prevent and control equine viral encephalomyelitis

If you import animals, you must follow the rules to make sure they are free from disease and fit to travel.

You can help prevent the disease by:

• being familiar with the clinical signs of equine viral encephalomyelitis
• practising strict biosecurity on your premises

If the disease is confirmed, the outbreak will be controlled in line with the contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases.

Find out what happens when a notifiable disease is suspected or confirmed.

Legislation

The main legislation covering the control of equine viral encephalomyelitis, is the Infectious Diseases of Horses Order 1987.

Elephants and rhinos have roamed the earth for millions of years. Yet, through a mix of human greed, ignorance and indifference they, along with many other species, could be lost in the wild within our lifetime. It does not need to be that way. The London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in October gathers leaders from across every sector to bring the surge in illegal trade to an end.

Corals, elephants, rhinos, rosewood, parrots and pangolins share something in common. They are amongst the 7,000 species of wild animals and plants being illegally traded according to the United Nations, fuelling a USD20 billion-dollar a year illicit market that is driving some of our most cherished species to extinction.

Conservation gains of the past decades are being unravelled, as is the case with the rhino in Africa. Illegal killing was well under control up until 2006 when around 60 animals were poached across the African continent. Since that time, we have seen levels of poaching skyrocket, with up to four rhinos now being killed every day for their horn to feed distant illicit markets.

Over the same period, we have seen a surge in illegal killing of the African elephant and trade in their ivory. With an estimated 100,000 elephants slaughtered for their ivory between 2010-2012, and high levels of killing continuing, some elephant populations are at imminent risk of extinction.

Collective international efforts to stop this surge have yielded some successes. Since reaching a peak in 2011, overall rates of elephant poaching across Africa fell for six consecutive years. Stronger laws and better enforcement saw poaching levels in Eastern Africa fall back to pre-2008 levels, but this is not reflected in other places, where poaching levels remain rampant.

Yet, it is perhaps the lesser known species, like the pangolin, the most heavily trafficked mammal on the planet, and rosewood, the most illegally traded timber by value, that are suffering the most and in need of greater attention, especially in consumer countries.

This surge in illegal trade is driven by transnational organised criminals who relentlessly target high-value wildlife without regard for animals or people’s lives. In their wake they leave injured and killed rangers, corrupted officials, impoverished communities, and depleted landscapes. Nowhere is outside of their deadly reach. By exploiting modern technology and open transport routes they plunder and transport wildlife to the four corners of the earth.

How we respond to this crisis reflects how we value our wildlife, the people who derive their livelihoods from it, and the kind of relationship we want to build with the natural environment we all depend upon.

The international community is fighting back, and a concerted global effort is underway to take on these criminals right across the illegal supply chain. Deploying the same tools and techniques used to combat other serious crimes, from human trafficking to the illicit arms trade, will make these wildlife crimes riskier and less profitable.

Over the past five years, the first ever resolutions of the United Nations, successive decisions taken by CITES, the global convention that regulates wildlife trade, amongst others, have seen cross border collaboration reach an all-time high.

However, governments and multilateral bodies cannot do it alone. Civil society has played a critical role. The private sector, especially finance, technology, transport, travel and tourism, is now coming on board, and deepening its engagement is a priority of the London Conference.

HRH the Duke of Cambridge led an initiative through his Transport Task Force that has seen airlines, courier and shipping companies take actions to educate customers and staff, and to disrupt the illegal supply chain at every point along the way.

The travel and tourism sector has recognised the role that wildlife-based tourism plays in fighting wildlife crime, including through generating a direct incentive for local people to protect wild places, especially through providing decent local jobs.

This is vital, as unlike some other transnational crimes, the damage is done at the source, in the wild. Once an animal or plant enters illegal trade the local community and ecosystem have suffered. Impoverished people are vulnerable to turn to poaching to feed their families yet providing them with alternative livelihoods can turn poacher to gatekeeper and lift entire communities out of poverty. And that’s why we must put greater emphasis on protecting wildlife at its source.

When deployed well, technology can be a game changer in tackling illegal wildlife trade. Modern forensics is snaring wildlife smugglers and their buyers, and some major e-commerce sites like Alibaba and eBay are taking a stand against the misuse of their sites to sell illegally sourced products as part of a Global Coalition.

New surveillance and tracking technology are enabling rangers to pinpoint the location of animals and people and detect intrusions in real time, giving them an upper hand against poachers. When combined with community engagement, this deters would-be poachers, as has been shown in Garamba in the DRC and the Northern Rangelands Trust in Kenya.

When places are secure for people and wildlife we can stop poaching, recover species and restore landscapes, as we have seen in parks stretching from Chad to Nepal to Rwanda. In Majete in Malawi there have been zero losses of high-value wildlife to poaching for the last 15 years. This is what’s possible with strong political will, effective on-the-ground management and adequate resourcing.

With the right conditions these successes can be sustained and replicated at scale.

In doing so, we are not just stopping wildlife from entering illegal trade, we are supporting development through conservation and enabling communities to better manage other emerging threats to wildlife and their livelihoods. As such, they warrant increasing support by development aid agencies.

Tackling the demand, often coming from distant shores, is critical for taking the pressure off front-line rangers.

China took a bold step when it closed its legal domestic markets for elephant ivory in 2017. The UK will close its markets in 2018, as will others, to hinder laundering of illegally sourced ivory, known as the ‘grey market’. It won’t stop all illegal trade, but it will close off one route.

We are seeing some signs of a turnaround, but these gains are fragile. Success requires us to bring new players to the table and fully capture the global momentum of recent years.

When we come together in London next month we can help turn around the disturbing trends of the past decade, and in doing so ensure our children do not talk of elephants, rhinos, lions, tigers, sharks or rays in the same way as we talk of dinosaurs and the Dodo.

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

• Operator name: Esso Petroleum Company Limited
• Installation name: Esso Refinery
• Permit number: EPR/BR6996IC/V007