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Poll of the day: Should lynx be reintroduced to the British countryside?
Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, has voiced support for renewed conversations around lynx reintroduction, calling for more public engagement to understand the potential impact on communities, landowners, and wildlife.
The comments follow a proposal by the Lynx UK Trust to bring the animals back to Kielder Forest in Northumberland, using individuals rescued from culls in Sweden.
Lynx, which have been extinct in Britain for over 1,000 years, are elusive forest-dwellers that prey on deer and rabbits.
Conservationists argue they could play a vital role in controlling deer populations, helping restore damaged woodlands and boosting biodiversity.
But opposition remains strong in some quarters, particularly among farming groups, with concerns over livestock safety, legal barriers, and public accountability.
Readers are already divided on the issue. Templer commented: 'I would imagine sheep farmers in the area are thrilled at the prospect. I also wonder why lynx were hunted to extinction. Maybe there was a reason for that!'
Uriba, however, countered: 'In areas where lynx have been reintroduced, like parts of Switzerland, Germany, and Slovenia, predation on livestock is extremely rare. In fact, lynx are more useful than harmful to farmers, as they help control deer populations that damage crops and young trees.'
As debate grows over whether Britain should welcome back once-extinct species – and who should decide – we want to know what you think.
Should the UK reintroduce animals like the lynx as part of a wider nature recovery strategy? Or are the risks and uncertainties still too great?
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Times
5 hours ago
- Times
What exactly is a flat white? 30 coffee questions answered
Since coffee has overtaken tea in Brits' affections, what was once considered a functional drink is now seen as more fun — but a bit more confusing too. Here, the former world champion barista James Hoffmann cuts through the froth on telling your arabica from your robusta, whether you really need to keep coffee in the fridge — and the truth about flat whites. Coffee beans are the seed of a tropical plant. The ripe fruit — called a cherry but actually about the size of a small grape — is harvested, then the seeds are extracted, fermented, dried and shipped, usually to be roasted in the country where the coffee will be drunk. Those beans are then ground and hot water is used to pull the flavour from them to create the drink we love (need, even). It all depends on what kind you're after. For instance, the strongest cup of coffee is an espresso from a proper machine. If you want to make a longer, less intense drink, you're better off using a filter-coffee maker or a pour-over brewer. These are basically the same thing, except the pour-over is done by hand and typically used to brew one or two cups at a time rather than a whole pot. Coffee made in a moka pot — a stovetop brewer that uses steam pressure to push hot water through reasonably finely ground coffee, a staple of many European homes — sits somewhere in the middle. The filter makes a big difference. Metal filters — in a cafetière, moka pot or espresso machine — produce a richer coffee with more body, because tiny particles of coffee make their way into the cup. But one man's mouthfeel is another man's siltiness. Paper filters, which are used in filter-coffee makers or pour-overs, produce a coffee that might have less body but comes with nice clarity of flavours. A cloth filter, which is reusable but more faff, keeps the particles out but allows more oils through, so you get a good balance of texture and clarity. The AeroPress, invented by Alan Adler (who also created the Frisbee-ish Aerobie Flying Ring), is a brewer with two main plastic parts: a cylindrical brewing chamber with a paper filter and a plunger that presses the water through the grounds. They're hugely popular for good reason: they are relatively inexpensive, portable and robust, easy to clean — and they make great-tasting coffee. You can use one to brew many styles of coffee, from short espresso-strong cups to more classic filter-coffee brews. You might think they're for geeks only but for my money coffee scales are really helpful. They are more precise than kitchen scales (accurate to 0.1g) and many have a built-in timer function to help you follow brewing recipes. You can spend a lot but for most people a cheap set such as those by Maestri or MiiCoffee is just fine. Brewing coffee, especially espresso, is not unlike baking — small changes in ingredients and ratios can have a big impact on the end result. Scales help remove the guesswork if, like me, you're much better at coffee-making after you've actually had a coffee. • A dash of water could give your coffee an extra spark To brew the widest range of coffee, you want a machine that's designed to work well with pods from smaller speciality companies and independent businesses. Nespresso machines can have issues with pods from other brands. Opal is best if you don't need milk-steaming built in (standalone foamers from Nespresso, Dualit and others do a great job). Coffee, particularly the arabica species, first flourished in Ethiopia thousands of years ago. At some point it made its way to Yemen, the first country to cultivate it as a crop. It spread into Europe meaningfully in the 1600s via the Dutch, who had a monopoly on its export from Yemen. London's first coffee house was founded in 1652 and as the city fell in love with the drink, hundreds more sprang up in the Square Mile. Over the next hundred years London would become one of the greatest coffee-drinking cities on the planet, until tea usurped coffee's place. It wasn't until the early 2000s that we really started drinking much more coffee again — now Brits drink it more than tea. • The best coffee machines and kit for chic at-home brewing Any country between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn has a suitable environment, if there's enough altitude. I'm hesitant to generalise about styles, but if you're looking for something interesting and maybe a little fruity, explore the coffees produced in east Africa — Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and so on. Latin American countries are a good place to start for sweet, complex coffees with good body and mouthfeel. Coffee is seasonal and many roasters only have products available for a month or so at a time, but look out for coffees that come from Huila in Colombia, Nyeri (Kenya), Yirgacheffe (Ethiopia), Minas Gerais (Brazil) and Mandailing (Indonesia). Brazil produces the most — it has enough flat land at higher altitudes, so the farms can industrialise and mechanise processes such as harvesting. That makes its coffee a little cheaper than those harvested by hand on steep hillsides. In terms of value, it's always worth remembering there's a human cost to cheap coffee and the premium you pay for excellent coffee is pretty small. Spend two or three times what supermarket coffee costs and you can get something truly exceptional — you can't say the same about wine or whisky. We're still not totally sure! It's a common occurrence — one that many rely on — but what has confused and challenged researchers is the speed with which it happens. For many people it is only a matter of minutes between drinking coffee and needing to go to the lavatory. The coffee is still in the stomach at this point, so it's thought that it must trigger something in your nervous system. The modern-day flat white has become something of a calling card for the speciality coffee movement. It is, in essence, a small, strong latte. Usually it is 6-8oz in volume; a double espresso with a thin layer of microfoamed milk on top. Australia and New Zealand continue to argue about which country invented it and I'm certainly not going to get in the middle! Its history can probably be traced back to the 'sea-foam' cappuccinos that were popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Increasingly frustrated at the dry, milky air on top of their coffee, customers began asking for a 'flat' (ie foamless) white coffee. As Antipodean youngsters travelled to the UK and other places, their coffee culture came with them. Between 2007 and 2010, seeing a flat white on a British coffee shop menu was a pretty good sign. Now that they are more common, their presence has less significance. No! The most important thing about the coffee you drink is that you enjoy it. For a while the speciality coffee industry did a pretty good job of making people feel bad for liking coffee with milk and sugar, even though it's a delicious combination. But with expensive coffee you might want to hold back since milk and sugar can mask the complexity. These are the two most commonly grown varieties of coffee. It is broadly agreed that arabica is superior, with a smoother taste, so it commands higher prices. Robusta can grow in more diverse environments and at lower altitudes — the biggest producers are in Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia — and is more disease-resistant. It is more bitter-tasting and has about twice the caffeine content as arabica, though for some that is a plus. This is a deeply philosophical question that coffee people argue about a lot. However, I'd have to come down on the side of the roast. The darker you roast coffee, the more you begin to obscure the flavour of the beans and their characteristics. Sometimes coffee roasters take advantage of this to mask lower-quality coffee. However, roasting can't create complexity or flavours that weren't present in the raw beans. Absolutely! The smell of freshly ground coffee is one of life's great pleasures and you can tailor the size of the grounds to the brewer you are using (for a single pour-over brew you want a finer grind than for a pot; an espresso needs the finest grind of all). Coffee beans are also better value: they often cost the same as ground but last longer and bring more delight. Yes, but the reason you don't see them much is the price. Speciality instants such as those from Hard Lines, Colonna or Common Coffee are made with higher-quality beans but lower yields, so one kilogram of coffee beans makes about half as much instant as you'd get from a commercial brand. This means they end up costing about five times as much as your standard Nescafé or Kenco. Which? recently rated M&S Fairtrade Gold top in a taste test of popular 'gold blend' instants. Coffee bags, essentially teabags full of ground coffee, have improved over recent years but technical challenges prevent them producing top-tier brews: the coffee is ready-ground, so won't be as fresh, and the bag prevents the water from extracting the ground coffee fully. The brews are typically good but not great. However, they are very easy. Two speciality roasters that offer them are Extract and Artisan — give them a try. In Italy there are very strongly held opinions about drinking cappuccinos after 11am. This comes from a combination of factors: three quarters of Italians have some degree of lactose intolerance and many also have a healthy interest (or obsession) with digestion. Most adults worldwide are lactose-intolerant, but a single small cappuccino is unlikely to cause harm or discomfort. A second one, though, mighttip you over the edge. However, in the UK we consume more butter in our diet, so may not lose our ability to digest lactose. If you enjoy a cappuccino after lunch — and your digestion agrees — go ahead and enjoy it. First, baristas can only pour 'latte art' with properly steamed milk, so it is a good indicator of quality. Second, it highlights that the drink is being made to order. It's also about job satisfaction — they enjoy it! • Seven of the UK's best coffee shops in unexpected places Oat milk is probably the most popular but seek out products labelled as specifically suited to coffee — something designed to be steamed and foamed like dairy milk. Non-coffee products tend to taste sour or curdle. While the UK's chains do offer different styles of coffee — Starbucks excels at the coffee-based dessert-style drinks; Caffè Nero is a little more traditional; and McCafé and Greggs keep prices more affordable — none of them has really overcome the challenge of scaling up consistently excellent coffee-making. Instead, look for independent speciality businesses. Prices will be a little higher but you get a lot more for your money. This is a tricky question to answer because there is such astonishing variation from one cup of coffee to another. But a good rule of thumb with freshly ground or whole-bean arabica coffee is that you'll get 10mg of caffeine per 1g of coffee. A single 30ml shot of strong, Italian-style espresso might use 7g of coffee, so it will actually contain way less caffeine (about 70mg) than the 150mg in 225ml of filter coffee brewed using 15g of grounds. A cup of instant contains less caffeine than a cup of freshly brewed coffee, because less ground coffee goes into the granules for one cup. So it might taste intense, but it's actually surprisingly weak. The Food Standards Agency guidelines suggest 400mg of caffeine a day for adults. However, there's a huge variance in people's response to caffeine and our ability to metabolise it. If it is impacting your sleep in any way, try dialling back for a week or two to see if you notice any difference. NHS advice is to limit caffeine intake to 200mg a day (it says a mug of filter coffee has 140mg), or risk complications including miscarriage. Not everyone agrees, but you might want to err on the side of caution. Decaf is considered safe during pregnancy. A tiny amount: to be sold as decaf, coffee beans must be 99.9 per cent caffeine-free and instant coffee must be 99.7 per cent caffeine-free. Caffeine is removed before roasting — essentially the beans are first steamed, then soaked in a solvent that pulls out caffeine but not much else. After any solvent is removed, the beans are dried and sent for roasting. All the solvents used now are safe, though some drinkers prefer the use of water or CO2 in place of the solvent (a good decaf will list the process on the bag). There is some impact on the flavour but less than people think. I think ethyl acetate (a by-product of molasses fermentation) is another great solvent, often sold as the 'sugar-cane process' decaf. Black coffee doesn't really contain much in the way of calories — usually less than five in an espresso or cup of filter coffee — but it does contain a surprising amount of fibre. A cup of coffee might contain up to 1.5g of fibre, as well as the phenolic compounds that gut bacteria seem to love. Fairtrade is a certification that relates to the way coffee is grown and by whom, ensuring that a minimum price is guaranteed at or above the market rate and that premiums are paid to the growers to fund community development projects. In the UK the Fairtrade certification can only go to coffee-growing co-operatives from low-income countries, not coffee grown on a single estate, however ethically run. As for whether the coffee trade is currently fair and equitable — that's a much more complex question. I tend to look for traceable coffee, coming from a single farm or particular group of producers. These coffees are often higher quality and the producers will have been paid more for them. If packaged and sealed properly, coffee is safe to drink for a very long time. I've drunk 50-year-old coffee with no ill effects — though it tasted awful. Ground supermarket coffees usually display a best-before date that's 18-24 months from the date it was roasted. I'd avoid the stuff — it's almost guaranteed to be stale. Once you grind coffee you expose a lot of the bean's surface area to the air. Although packaging has improved over the years, once you open that bag of ground coffee the flavour goes downhill very rapidly. Coffee beans last a lot longer but, even so, try to buy beans with a roast date on them. While lighter roasts age a little slower than medium or dark roasts, I'd still say you've got a couple of months to enjoy it if it's properly stored. Keep it dark, dry and air-tight. The freezer is great for long-term storage if the coffee is sealed well (just let it defrost in the cupboard), but I'd avoid keeping your coffee in the fridge — it will go stale just as quickly and you risk contamination with other odours. A container or a bag with a seal strip is fine. Instant coffee lasts a lot longer because there's less to it. Instant starts with ground coffee brewed in massive extraction columns, usually from cheap and low-quality coffee beans. This is then dried and portioned into jars for you to reconstitute later with hot water. It's a technical marvel of convenience, but gives you only a fraction of the delight that fresh coffee can. Yes, broadly speaking. Coffee consumption is associated with slower cognitive decline and reductions in 'all-cause' mortality, cardiovascular disease and incidences of some cancers. It is not fully understood why — it may have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties — but there is good evidence that moderate coffee-drinking is beneficial for many people. • Is coffee good for you? How it works and when to drink it There are some downsides. Culturally we're beginning to understand the importance of good-quality sleep to health and longevity, and allowing caffeine to disrupt your sleep may undo any benefits. For many people caffeine can heighten anxiety too. There is also a concern that coffee may impact blood pressure. If you're worried, consult a medical professional. Some schools in Brazil give pupils coffee in the morning, but I'd be wary of giving it to anyone younger than a teenager. Caffeine works by stopping a hormone called adenosine from lowering your heart rate and making you feel sleepy. But not everyone metabolises caffeine at the same rate. You might metabolise food quickly but caffeine slowly, in which case you'll want to stop drinking coffee earlier in the day so the caffeine levels in your blood don't cause issues at bedtime. The half-life of caffeine is five to eight hours. So if your body is slow to metabolise caffeine, you could drink an espresso at 1pm but still have half the caffeine in your system at Hoffmann is a coffee expert, former world champion barista, author and co-founder of Square Mile Coffee. A revised edition of his book The World Atlas of Coffee is out in October (Mitchell Beazley pp272 £26). To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Telegraph
Selfie-taking TikTok pilots ‘putting passengers in danger'
Airline pilots who take in-flight and airside selfies and videos risk putting their passengers in danger, industry associations have warned. The use of cameras and mobile phones in cockpits has been linked to a number of serious incidents in which 'personal devices have impacted flight safety'. Some pilots are attracting thousands of followers on social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, by posting pictures and videos of themselves while flying or manoeuvring the aircraft. But, two separate reports have highlighted growing concerns, including an account of how a camera jammed up against flight controls, causing a 'rapid descent' of the plane which injured passengers. Complaint to whistleblower website A UK whistleblowers' website used by the aviation industry to report concerns received a complaint about an unnamed British pilot 'making a selfie-style video on the ramp while performing safety inspections'. The anonymous report, sent to the CHIRP (Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme) website complains the pilot posted multiple videos filmed during critical phases of flight, including taxiing, entering the runaway and landing, which ti said 'introduces inevitable distraction to the operation' of the plane. That complaint came after the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) published a position paper that catalogued cases in which mobile phones had 'presented a significant source of distraction from flight deck duties' and affected flight safety. IFALPA, which represents 148,000 pilots in nearly 100 countries, said many passengers were injured on one unidentified flight 'after a pilot's camera pushed the side-stick as he moved his seat forward, causing a rapid descent of the aircraft'. In another incident, it said, a plane's thrust levers were jammed by a device being used for filming and could not be moved. In a third case, 'a mobile phone used by a pilot for personal reasons during the flight' was dropped between the seat and the pedestal and began to generate fumes in the cockpit. Some airlines tolerate pilots' use of social media because it serves as a good form of publicity for both the industry and the companies. However, the latest revelations highlight how the use of mobile phones to make online 'content' could pose real risks, including revealing sensitive airside security information. CHIRP, which campaigns to improve air and sea safety, explained: 'Such 'selfie' activities are very common these days and there is a difficult balance to be struck between beneficially promoting the airline/industry and negatively impacting safety. 'Filming or taking photos when conducting aviation tasks at the same time has clear risks of distraction and lack of situational awareness.' Its report says consideration should be given by pilots when 'pulling out a personal mobile when airside or airborne' to ensure that they are not breaking any rules and that 'any published videos could stand up to scrutiny in the court of public opinion'. It is not illegal for a pilot to film or take photographs from the cockpit, but it is a criminal offence to endanger the operation of any aircraft. Most airlines prohibit cabin crew from using mobile phones or cameras during critical stages of any flight, including taxiing, take-off and landing. 'Pilot egos are huge' One senior air traffic controller, who asked not to be named, told The Telegraph the use of social media was 'narcissism, pure and simple'. 'Some pilot egos are just so huge, there's barely room for any crew on the plane,' she said. 'They should be totally focused on flying the aircraft, but love putting on their Aviators and filming themselves at the controls. It's the little boy in them.' Joji Waites, the director for flight safety at BALPA, the pilots' union, said it endorses the IFALPA report, adding: 'We recognise the vast majority of pilots behave in a professional and responsible manner and appreciate the risks associated with inappropriate use of personal devices whilst on duty. 'However, the aviation industry is not immune to the popularity of posting social media content and the risk of unintended consequences is real.' A UK Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said: 'As the UK's aviation safety regulator it is our role to ensure that airline operators are managing their risks appropriately. 'There is a responsibility on operators to manage risks that they can prevent, and we expect the 'secure flight deck' to be adhered to, which removes distractions from the pilots during critical phases of flight.'
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Fire breaks out at Shanklea Primary School in Cramlington
Firefighters are tackling a blaze at a primary school, which started in the solar panels on the Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) said the fire began shortly before 14:00 BST at Shanklea Primary School in Cramlington and five crews were sent to the said the solar panels on the west side of the building were ablaze but no-one had been County Council could not confirm whether the school would open on Monday but said it would support "any arrangements that need to be made". Pictures taken from the scene show large plumes of black smoke billowing out of the building.A spokesperson for NFRS said: "Crews used two hose reel jets and a covering jet to attack the fire, along with four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus."The fire service was supported by Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service. Northumbria Police and the North East Ambulance Service were also in crews remain at the scene. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
