Africa’s middle classes are the financial backbone of the continent with many creating the small and medium enterprises that drives job creation and economic development.

Yet many are only one emergency away from poverty and the idea of building wealth seems like an unattainable dream.

However, one woman says she has made it her life’s mission to empower Africa’s squeezed middle class.

Subomi Plumptre is a former brand consultant turned financial prosperity advocate from Nigeria. She is the co-founder of Volition Cap, an investment cooperative that aims to help Africans build wealth and financial stability.

Established in 2018, Volition Cap has initiated a $30 million fund dedicated to financing film, real estate, and agriculture projects in Africa. The fund employs a conventional cooperative investment approach with a specific focus on empowering the middle classes.

By facilitating individuals with limited financial resources to come together and form groups, the cooperative enables them to pool their investments and undertake more substantial collective ventures. Plumptre says the mission is to help the “honest and hardworking create purposeful wealth.”

Women creating more businesses

The middle class in Africa has experienced significant growth, reaching 34% over the last thirty years, according to figures from the The African Development Bank Group. This is in contrast to Europe and America where there has been a decline in middle-class populations, averaging 60% and 50%, respectively, figures from the International Labour Office shows.

Women are also a big focus of her work because she believes it is a key to uplifting and creating wealth in Africa.

“About half of our clients are women and according to the World Bank, Africa is the only region of the world where more women than men choose to become entrepreneurs. So, again, if we’re going to really uplift Africa in terms of the economy and in terms of small and medium scale businesses, women actually create more businesses in Africa than men so it is crucial to support them,” Plumptre said.

Turning tragedy into triumph

Her pivot into building a career in finance was born out of personal tragedy.

Plumptre spent 20 years climbing the corporate career ladder but midway through it, she was struck by a sobering truth.

“I was completely illiterate when it came to investments, so I didn’t have any investment knowledge and I didn’t have any investments of my own,” she added.

She also faced a watershed moment with the loss of both her parents within six months of each other.

“For those who know Nigeria … you pay out of pocket because we don’t have a really structured social welfare system. if you ever have to do any complicated surgery or any kind of complicated health emergency, if you don’t have the funds to fly abroad, you literally die. That was what happened to my parents.”

This tragedy made Subomi realize that she, like many middle class individuals, lacked a safety net when faced with critical emergencies.

This realization prompted her to take action and find a way to empower ordinary people like herself with the knowledge and tools to build wealth and financial security.

“I realized that there were a lot of people like me, and I decided I was going to do something about it … I knocked on doors, met private bankers and asked what is the pathway for creating wealth as a normal middle class person and nobody could answer my question,” Plumptre said.

Escaping the poverty trap

Determined to bridge this gap, she took matters into her own hands and created an online investment course – one of the first of its kind in Nigeria, according to Plumptre. The course was a repository of knowledge where she poured out everything she had learned about investing and wealth-building.

The investment course was made accessible to 10,000 people, with half of them accessing it for free, Plumptre said. By empowering people with the right information, she aimed to break the cycle of financial vulnerability and provide a way for individuals, especially women, to escape the poverty trap.

As Subomi’s vision grew, so did her impact.

“For me, it was just my way of democratizing investment knowledge. I wanted people to have this information and I realized that it wasn’t just enough to give people information. I also had to help them invest. And that’s how I started, first of all, an investment club, and then I became a SEC licensed fund manager.”

The investment club was a collective effort that allowed members to pool their resources and make more significant investments. Volition marked a significant milestone in her journey, allowing her to manage approximately $30 million in assets through her cooperative model, Plumptre said.

As the cost of living rises, particularly with Nigeria’s recent petrol subsiddy removal, Volition Cap has also shifted its focus from individuals to small businesses.

Small business owners within the cooperative are also offered loans as membership ensures that individuals have been vetted and recommended by other members and reduces the risk of bad loans.

“If the businesses go under, then it affects the people who depend on the businesses for their livelihoods, the employees, the suppliers, the contractors. It has such a multiplier effect. So when there’s a recession, as fund managers, we need to turn our attention to funding businesses, and that’s what we’re doing now.”

Here’s a look at the Taj Mahal, India’s most popular tourist attraction. The monument is located on the banks of the Yamuna River in Agra, India.

Facts

The Taj Mahal was built in the 17th century by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to honor his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth.

“Taj Mahal” means “crown of palaces” in Urdu and Persian.

In fiscal year 2021-2022, more than 3 million people visited the Taj Mahal, according to statistics from the Indian Ministry of Tourism.

The site is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, which has organized multi-year cleaning projects to restore discolored areas on the Taj Mahal’s facade caused by air pollution and excretions from insects coming from the adjacent Yamuna River.

Architecture

The most recognizable feature of the Taj Mahal is the large, white, domed mausoleum, which is surrounded by four tall minarets on each corner. The exterior is made of white marble.

The main building contains two cenotaphs memorializing Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. A cenotaph is a Greek word that means “empty tomb.” The couple is actually interred in sarcophagi underneath.

The cenotaphs and the screen surrounding them are covered in intricately designed mosaics made of semi-precious stones.

On either side of the Taj Mahal are two buildings made of red sandstone: a mosque and an assembly hall.

The grounds also include gardens and a long reflecting pool.

Timeline

1628 – Shah Jahan becomes emperor as part of the Mughal dynasty, ruling northern India.

1631 – His wife, Mumtaz Mahal, dies during childbirth.

1632 – Construction of the Taj Mahal begins. It is estimated that 20,000 workers helped build the structure.

1648 – The main mausoleum of the Taj Mahal is completed.

1653 – Additional features, including a mosque, guest house and courtyard are completed.

1666 – Shah Jahan dies and his remains are interred next to Mumtaz Mahal beneath the Taj Mahal complex.

1861 – The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is founded in order to help preserve and restore Indian monuments and historical sites.

1899-1905 – Britain’s Lord Curzon serves as the Viceroy of India. During his tenure, he orders the restoration of certain historic places, including the Taj Mahal.

1983 – UNESCO designates the Taj Mahal as a World Heritage site.

July 7, 2007 – The Taj Mahal is named one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World.” as part of an online marketing campaign.

April 1, 2018 – A three-hour limit for Taj Mahal visitors is implemented.

May 9, 2018 – India’s Supreme Court orders the ASI to do a better job with its restoration plan, as discoloration and stains on the Taj Mahal’s exterior have not been resolved as promised.

March 17, 2020 – The ASI orders all monuments and museums to close due to the threat of coronavirus, including the Taj Mahal.

June 14, 2021 – The ASI issues a statement that the monuments and museums closed due to the coronavirus pandemic will reopen June 16, with protective guidelines in place.

When thousands of people hit Israel’s streets to protest against the passage of the first law in the government’s controversial judicial overhaul plan last week, a smaller group of Israelis was celebrating.

Right-leaning Israelis who mostly identify with the country’s more conservative, religious and Jewish nationalist bloc make up much of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support base, experts say, and they are glad to see him push forward with the overhaul despite the lack of a broader consensus.

Though polls show that most Israelis oppose the government’s plan to weaken the courts, this right-wing minority sees it as a step toward, and not away from, democracy.

Eugene Kontorovich, a law professor and scholar at the conservative Kohelet Policy Forum, is among those who see the overhaul as long overdue.

Kontorovich believes the current judicial system in Israel is flawed, defined by “all checks and no balances” – a phrase echoed by Netanyahu and his supporters when defending the overhaul.

While critics of the judicial plan say it is a threat to Israeli democracy that risks severely curtailing the powers of the only body that has a check on the executive and legislative branches – the Supreme Court – those in Kontorovich’s camp see this very power as problematic.

“There are many checks on the legislative and executive branches, but there are simply no checks on the Supreme Court,” Kontorovich said, without citing examples. He added that the Supreme Court in Israel “wields far more power than in any other democracy.”

The Kohelet Forum, a right-wing think tank which has advocated for what it calls judicial reform in Israel for over a decade, has been accused by protesters of laying the ideological foundations for the government’s far-reaching proposals. Activists have more than once protested outside their offices.

Unlike many democracies, Israel does not have a written constitution. Instead, it relies on 13 Basic Laws, along with court ruling precedents, which were meant to be turned into a constitution one day, though that has not yet happened.

Last week Israel’s parliament passed an amendment to one of those Basic Laws, stripping the Supreme Court of the ability to reject some government decisions on the basis of the “reasonableness” standard. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition pushed the bill through by a narrow margin despite months of mass protests, public criticism from the White House and the opposition boycotting the vote.

Other parts of the overhaul which are yet to be voted on by the Knesset would give the government more control over the appointment of judges and would remove independent legal advisers from government ministries.

“This measure by itself is the most minor, most reasonable, shall we say, measure,” Kontorovich said, asserting that the opposition “was very close to agreeing on this measure if they got certain other guarantees that were unrelated.”

The country is at an inflection point, with more than half of Israelis saying they fear a civil war, according to a survey held in the wake of last week’s vote.

Carried out by Israel’s Channel 13 news outlet, the poll said 54% of respondents thought the judicial overhaul was harming Israel’s security, and that 56% were worried about potential civil war.

“Many of them have been caught in this spiral of fear,” he said.

The prime minster emphasized however that some Israelis do support his judicial plan, including 80,000 current or former military soldiers who oppose other reservists’ refusal to serve as a form of protest.

One resident at the Efrat settlement, in the occupied West Bank, Tommy Lamm said the court had long been “stacked with one direction” and needed to change to include all segments of Israeli society.

Another resident, Ronnie Lottner said “democracy is stronger now” in Israel, and that finally, “a decision has been made by the people and by the people voting in parliament.”

Who are the Israelis supporting the overhaul?

Experts say supporters of the overhaul lie mostly on the more conservative, religious end of the spectrum. While they are a minority in Israel, they have different reasons for backing the judicial plan.

These include unconditional loyalty to Netanyahu and a vehement desire to protect Israel’s Jewish, nationalist identity, along with years-long frustration on the right with Supreme Court decisions and disappointment with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s failed coalition, which analysts say contributed to the rise of today’s hardline government.

Those on the right also typically see the nation as “a family,” Hermann said, and so will typically support Netanyahu – the “father of the family” – despite mass protests against him and his government’s choices.

“You don’t turn your back on the father of the family even if they do things you don’t like,” Hermann said.

Supporters of Netanyahu’s plan also include, according to Rahat, many of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population, which has been significantly growing in recent years and playing a stronger role in Israeli public life.

“This time, after the election (2022), they got so much power because of this coalition’s very strange combination, that they started to make demands regarding the public sphere, not only in their neighborhoods,” Hermann said, adding that this marked “a point of departure in their relationship with the rest of the Israeli population.”

Rise of the right

Observers of Israeli politics have sounded alarms over the rise of the far-right.

When Netanyahu was re-elected last year, he formed the most right-wing coalition in Israel’s history. His re-election also followed four snap elections in two years, the last of which produced a wide-ranging and ultimately fragile coalition led by Bennett and Yair Lapid.

When the Bennett-Lapid government collapsed, triggering a fifth round of elections, the gap between left and right only widened, Hermann said.

Israeli Jewish voters have also shifted rightward in recent years, according to data published by the Israel Democracy Institue in August, as both the center and the left shrank.

Following backlash from the opposition, however, Netanyahu in a statement attempted to reassure the public, saying that Israeli governments “always respect” court decisions. But it stopped short of saying it would obey them.

The remains of a German mountain climber who went missing 37 years ago while hiking along a glacier near Switzerland’s iconic Matterhorn have been recovered, as melting glaciers lead to the re-emergence of bodies and objects thought to be long lost.

Climbers hiking along the Theodul Glacier in Zermatt on July 12 discovered human remains and several pieces of equipment, police in the Valais canton said in a statement Thursday.

“DNA analysis enabled the identification of a mountain climber who had been missing since 1986,” police said in a statement. “In September 1986, a German climber, who was 38 at the time, had been reported missing after not returning from a hike.”

Police said that searches for the disappeared climber at the time proved unsuccessful.

The climber’s remains underwent a forensic analysis at Valais Hospital, allowing experts to link them to the 1986 disappearance, police added Thursday.

Police did not provide additional information of the German alpinist’s identity nor on the circumstances of his death.

Authorities released a photograph of a lone hiking boot with red laces sticking out of the snow, along with some hiking equipment that had belonged to the missing person.

“The recession of the glaciers increasingly brings to light missing alpinists who were reported missing several decades ago,” police concluded in the statement.

The discovery of the remains of the German climber comes as scientists revealed earlier this week that this month is on track to be the planet’s hottest in around 120,000 years.

“As the glaciers retreat, any material – including people who have fallen into or onto them and have been buried by subsequent snow – will emerge. All glaciers are melting very fast and receding across the European Alps,” Nicholson said.

‘Long-term’ melting trend

Last year, Swiss glaciers recorded their worst melt rate since records began more than a century ago, losing 6% of their remaining volume in 2022, nearly double the previous record of 2003, Reuters reported.

The melt was so extreme in 2022 that bare rock that had remained buried for millennia re-emerged at one site while bodies and even a plane lost elsewhere in the Alps decades ago were recovered.

In 2015, the remains of two Japanese climbers who went missing on the Matterhorn in a 1970 snowstorm were found and their identities confirmed through the DNA testing of their relatives.

“The glaciers are undergoing a long-term trend of melting,” Nicholson said, adding the trend is expected to continue, with “low snow years” contributing to the problem.

“The reduced snow amount is also partly coupled to the change in temperatures, because what happens is some of the precipitation that … would have come in the form of snow, now comes in the form of rain. That does not help the glaciers, it works against them,” she added.

Even if ambitious climate targets are met, up to half of the world’s glaciers could disappear by the end of the century, according to recent research.

“If we continue with the emissions we are transmitting now, we are looking at a largely deglaciated Alps region for generations to come – and that is very sad,” Nicholson warned.

The disappearance of glaciers will have cascading impacts.

Glaciers play a vital role in providing fresh water for nearly 2 billion people and they are also a key contributor to sea level rise.

“Some regions of the world are much more dependent on the glacier mountains than we are here – in some cases they are much more vulnerable than the Alps,” Nicholson added.

Lionel Messi continued his impressive start with Major League soccer team Inter Miami as he scored twice in a 3-1 win against Orlando City in the Leagues Cup.

The Argentine star, playing his third game since moving to the United States from Paris Saint-Germain, opened the scoring on Wednesday with a lovely volley after a brilliant chip into the box from teammate Robert Taylor.

Orlando equalized 10 minutes later through César Araújo’s strike from a corner, but the home side pushed for a second goal in the first half and came close twice – first when Messi hit the post, then when his free-kick was tipped over the bar by Pedro Gallese.

A successful penalty kick from Josef Martínez early in the second half saw Miami regain the lead before Messi combined with Taylor and Martínez to score his second volley and complete the victory.

Araújo looked to have scored for Orlando in stoppage time with a simple finish at the back post but the goal was later ruled out for an offside.

Having also found the back of the net against Cruz Azul and Atlanta United, the brace took the 36-year-old Messi’s goal tally to five in three games since moving to the US.

It wasn’t a blemish-free evening for the forward, however, as he was yellow carded in the first half and later escaped a second booking for a challenge on Araújo.

The victory at DRV PNK Stadium means Messi and Miami will now face FC Dallas in the Leagues Cup round of 16 on Sunday.

Emma Raducanu has returned to the practice courts after missing both the French Open and Wimbledon due to injury.

In May, the 20-year-old said she would be out for “the next few months” as she recovered from surgery on both wrists and one of her ankles.

On Wednesday, the British star posted a video to Instagram of her gently rallying on a practice court at the National Tennis Centre in west London.

“August 2nd, THE FUN PART. 1st time back on court,” she wrote.

Raducanu has suffered a myriad of injuries since winning her maiden grand slam at the US Open in 2021.

As well as struggling through the various injuries, the youngster has also said she’s struggled mentally with the pressure and expectation.

In June, during her rehabilitation, Raducanu said she sometimes wishes she hadn’t won US Open at all.

While struggling to adapt to life on the senior tour, Raducanu has slipped from 10th in the world to her current ranking of 133.

She has played just 10 matches this calendar year but did compete at the Australian Open, reaching the second round before losing to Coco Gauff.

Raducanu is not on the entry list for the US Open – the final grand slam of the season – which starts later this month.

NFL great Tom Brady has joined a partnership to become a minority owner in second-tier British soccer team Birmingham City, it was announced on Thursday.

Brady, who is a seven-time Super Bowl champion, joins with Knighthead Capital Management LLC to purchase a stake in the club.

According to the press release, Brady will become the chairman of a new advisory board in which he will work in partnership with the club’s board and be part of the team’s leadership team.

“Birmingham City is an iconic club with so much history and passion and to be part of the Blues is a real honor for me,” Brady said in a press release.

“BCFC is built on teamwork and determination and I’m excited to work alongside the board, management and players to make our … club second to none. I’ve been part of some amazing teams in my day, and I’m looking forward to applying my perspective to create that same success here in Birmingham.”

The club announcement said that Brady will “apply his extensive leadership experience and expertise across several components of the Club, including working alongside the sports science department to advise on health, nutrition, wellness, and recovery systems and programs.”

Brady will also work closely with the Board and the management team on “global marketing efforts and the identification of new commercial partnership opportunities,” according to Birmingham City.

Away from his success on the field, Brady has become known for his business ventures and his other forays into the sports ownership realm.

In 2022, he joined the ownership group of a Major League Pickleball team and his clothing brand kitted out one of the team’s competing in the famous 24 hours Le Mans race.

Birmingham City finished 17th in the second-tier of English football’s pyramid, the Championship, last season.

“Tom Brady joining the Birmingham City team is a statement of intent. We are setting the bar at world class,” Tom Wagner, chairman of the club’s board, said. “Tom is both investing and committing his time and extensive expertise.

“As Chair of the Advisory Board Tom will have a direct impact on the Club. The Men’s, Women’s, and Academy teams are going to benefit from the knowledge. The goal that Tom has committed to own is to make Birmingham City a respected leader in nutrition, health, wellness, and recovery across the world of football.

“A commitment to Blues fans was made on Monday 8 May 2023, to add experts from the world of sport and football to the team, putting in place the building blocks for future success. With Garry Cook as CEO, Hope Powell as Women’s Technical Director and now Tom Brady we are off to a fast start. Success does not come overnight. It takes time. But when you have great leaders in place everything becomes possible.”

Birmingham City’s first game of the 2023/2024 season is away at Swansea on Saturday.

A BBC presenter has been told by the corporation that a comment he made toward a female Australian cricketer was “not appropriate” after he called her a “little Barbie” during a match interview earlier this week.

Presenter Chris Hughes made the comment to Maitlan Brown on Tuesday after the sportswoman said her Southern Brave team had bonded by playing a practice game and going to the cinema to see the “Barbie” movie.

Hughes responded: “You’re a little Barbie yourself with your blue eyes,” adding: “She’s blushing now.”

All-rounder Brown and the Braves eventually defeated the Trent Rockets by 27 runs in their opening match of “The Hundred,” a franchise cricket competition based in the UK.

Hughes, who rose to fame in 2017 as a contestant on the reality TV dating show “Love Island,” is part of the BBC’s presenting line-up for “The Hundred,” and has also contributed to ITV’s horseracing coverage.

His comments toward Brown were met with criticism on social media.

LBC presenter Nick Ferrari said that Hughes is “young enough to know better,” while one Twitter user commented: “Had to rewind to check id heard it right. Took a while to go back a few decades but yep, there it was (sic).”

There’s no shortage of ambition in commercial aviation — we wouldn’t have heavier-than-air flight without dreamers, after all — but Boom Supersonic is in its own category when it comes to setting the bar high.

The Colorado-based company aims to reintroduce commercial supersonic flight, which has been on hiatus since Concorde was retired in 2003. But unlike Concorde, an elitist engineering marvel that only a handful of airlines ever operated, Boom hopes its supersonic aircraft — called Overture — will democratize this type of travel, making it accessible to the masses.

Boom plans to introduce Overture to commercial service by 2029, and while that might prove challenging, the company has recently unveiled a series of new details about its technology and partners that, Scholl believes, bring that dream a few steps closer to reality.

A complex process

Overture is designed to carry between 64 and 80 passengers, at a speed of Mach 1.7 and an altitude of 60,000 feet. That’s twice the speed and 50% more altitude than leading widebody aircraft like the Boeing 787 or the Airbus A350 — as a result, Overture would travel between London and New York in about three and a half hours, cutting journey time in half.

The plane doesn’t exist yet — the first one is expected to roll out of the factory as early as 2026 — but three airlines have already placed orders for it. They are United Airlines, American Airlines and Japan Airlines, with a total of 130 orders, of which 35 come with non-refundable deposits, and 95 are pre-orders, meaning that money hasn’t changed hands yet.

Boom’s current timeline aims for a first flight in 2027 and certification of the aircraft in 2029, which would make it ready to enter service right after. Scholl admits that these targets are “aggressive” but he adds that he’s happy with the progress the company has made so far. “It’s a very complex process, but in contrast with electric aircraft or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, we don’t need an entirely new set of regulations in order to be certified,” he says. “This is another airliner. It just flies at a different speed. But from a regulatory perspective, it’s the same safety standards, the same rules that are already written — we just have to follow them and prove that we follow them.”

Earlier this year, Boom broke ground on the “Superfactory,” a 62-acre campus in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the planes will be built and tested, which will be ready in mid-2024. And in July, at the Paris Air Show, the company announced new agreements with suppliers that will build parts for the plane: Aernnova for Overture’s wings, Leonardo for the fuselage and wing box, and Aciturri for the tail section.

“The general audience might not know all those names, but they are the same people that work with large Boeing and Airbus aircraft,” Scholl says. “We’ve also taken the skin off the airplane, and shown people the engineering progress on the inside: the configuration of hydraulics, flight controls, landing gear, avionics, electrical power systems — all the guts of the airplane that make it work. We are designing everything to the highest possible safety standards to meet the stringent certification requirements.”

Sustainable fuel

Engines are among the most crucial components in a supersonic plane, as they need to propel the aircraft faster than normal airliners, requiring a different design. Boom’s engine is called Symphony, and it’s designed in collaboration with Florida Turbine Technologies, whose engineers have worked on the supersonic engines of fighter jets such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 and the F-35. Boom was previously working on the project with Rolls-Royce, one of the big names in engine manufacturing, but it pulled out last year.

Scholl says Symphony is designed with particular attention to noise, one of Concorde’s biggest drawbacks: “It’s meant to be efficient in supersonic flight, but also quiet for takeoff and landing,” he says. “That’s really, really important. And a big differentiator versus Concorde, that was famously unfriendly to airport communities. One of our goals is that when we bring supersonic service to an airport, the community is really excited to have this new connectivity and doesn’t have anything to be concerned about.”

The engine is also designed to work fully with SAF, or Sustainable Aviation Fuel, a type of jet fuel whose production methods promise to curb carbon emissions by up to 80%, according to the IATA, the International Air Transport Association. Boom is also committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

However, the SAF infrastructure is lagging behind and selling the idea that supersonic travel can be sustainable will be hard, since the engines will burn comparatively more fuel and the emissions per passenger, due to the limited capacity of Overture, will be far higher than on normal airliners.

Another problem is the sonic boom, which current regulations prohibit over land, meaning Overture will be able to go supersonic only over the oceans. NASA is currently working on a supersonic plane that will have a much quieter sonic boom, with the goal of updating these regulations. But none of that will happen in time for Boom to benefit from it: “Sonic boom mitigation is absolutely a part of the future,” Scholl says. “We will look to learn what we can from NASA’s effort, and it’s something that we expect not for our first airplane, because that would break our rule about no new regulations, but for our second one in the future.”

Turbulence ahead?

According to Richard Evans, a senior consultant at aviation consultancy firm Cirium, the chances of success for any airline that will operate Overture will rest on whether it will use it just as much as it would a conventional long-haul aircraft – meaning between 4,000 and 5,000 hours of flying time per year. “This is needed to amortize the huge ownership cost per seat of the type,” he says. “Concorde never achieved anything like those levels of utilization, with a figure of around 1,000 hours a year being more typical. Boom’s aircraft will presumably be limited to a relatively small number of high-yield routes, making such a target extremely challenging.”

Flying passengers as soon as 2029 will also be tricky, Evans adds, drawing a comparison to the delayed Boeing 777-9, a variant of an existing aircraft and not even an entirely new one, whose development will have taken 12 years once it enters service. Says Evans, “Even if Boom can attract the billions of dollars required, it will take much more than another six years to certify the type.”

Finally, he says it’s difficult to see how the supersonic sector will fit in with aviation’s goal to decarbonize. “It takes far more fuel per passenger, whether SAF or conventional, compared to flying the same route in a different aircraft type,” he says. “Even if 100% SAF can be used, it simply diverts that SAF from being used in a more efficient manner.”

The fact that no major engine manufacturer —such as General Electric, Rolls-Royce or Pratt & Whitney — is working with Boom is another reason for concern, according to Richard Aboulafia, managing director at aviation aviation consultancy firm AeroDynamic Advisory. “I regard Boom as a somewhat amusing experiment in seeing how much money people would invest in fun-looking drawings and models. Everything about it, from the lack of a serious engine to that weird and inexplicable massive redesign a few years ago speaks to a case of seriously overfunded wishful thinking.”

Speaking of that redesign, which lowered the cruise speed and increased the passenger capacity, Scholl says: “It’s about listening to customers, and about sustainability. Through wind tunnel testing, we learned that at Mach 1.7 versus Mach 2.2, we could be 40% more fuel-efficient. We’d also be able to cruise at lower altitudes, which is better from an emissions perspective. As for the passenger capacity, airlines told us that they wanted us to build the largest airplane that we could, because they think a lot of people are going to want this. That’s why we went from three engines to four, so we could carry more passengers.”

With a maximum of 80 passengers on board, Overture will still be short of Concorde’s 100, on average, but Scholl says the experience will be completely different. “Concorde was a marvelous technical accomplishment. But when I talk to passengers who flew in it, they say they loved the speed, but they don’t rave about the comfort,” he says.

“We want to build an airplane that has an outstanding level of comfort. The way we’ve approached that starts from the moment passengers walk on board: our boarding door is one inch taller than you’d find on a narrowbody aircraft, and 10 inches taller than Concorde. The front cabin has what I call cathedral ceilings — over two meters or eight feet tall. And there are two seats on each side of the aisle, with large windows.”

The fuselage will narrow towards the back, shrinking the cabin down to one seat on each side and turning overhead bins into underseat lockers. “I think the best seats in the plane are actually in the back,” Scholl says.

“We are putting a lot of care and attention into the passenger experience. We are constantly bringing in passengers of all shapes and sizes and flight crews to ask them what they like. We want to build an experience that’s inspiring, that’s comfortable, that works, whether you want to be productive or relax. It’s going to be just a fantastic way to fly.”

A massive fire burning through the desert in California and southern Nevada has scorched tens of thousands of acres in a biodiverse national preserve and torched its iconic Joshua trees.

The York Fire – already California’s largest fire of the year – has burned more than 82,000 acres as of Wednesday morning, fire officials said. It began Friday in the New York Mountains of California’s Mojave National Preserve and crossed state lines into Nevada on Sunday.

The fire is burning through and threatening groves of Joshua trees – the branching, spiky plants of the Mojave Desert that can live more than 150 years.

“We’re looking at sad outcomes for potentially millions of Joshua trees,” Hanford said. “The fire is dramatically affecting the vegetation landscape.”

It’s unclear exactly how many Joshua trees and other plant and animal life had been lost to the blaze, a Mojave Preserve spokesperson said. Preserve rangers will conduct surveys by air and ground once the fire is extinguished to determine the full scope of the damage.

When it first began, the fire was fueled by extreme conditions that spawned fire whirls and 20-foot flames which made it dangerous and difficult to control.

Now, after a few rounds of rain moved over the area from Monday night to Wednesday morning, firefighters have been able to make progress along the fire’s border and it was 30% contained as of Wednesday morning.

But the damage to the landscape will last long after the flames are put out.

“This is pretty devastating,” Cunningham said.

The Mojave National Preserve has been seeing an increase in fire frequency over the past decade due to a combination of wet winters and increasing levels of invasive grasses, fire officials say on Inciweb, a clearinghouse for US fire information.

“If an area with Joshua trees burns through, most will not survive and reproduction in that area is made more difficult,” the National Park Service says. “Wildfires could also result in the loss of irreplaceable resources in the park, like historic structures and cultural artifacts.”

In 2020, a 43,273-acre wildfire burned through the Joshua tree woodland of California’s Cima Dome, destroying as many as 1.3 million Joshua trees and leaving behind a plant graveyard, according to the National Park Service.

Firefighters braving intense desert heat to stop the York Fire’s spread in the Mojave National Preserve are among more than 11,000 wildland firefighters and personnel assigned across the country, the National Interagency Fire Center said Tuesday.

Sixty-seven active, large fires were burning in 11 states as hot and dry conditions persist throughout the US, the center said Tuesday. More than 1.1 million acres have burned across the US in 2023 as of Tuesday, the center said.

Emerging desert tortoises pose unique challenge

Firefighters were aided by a brief but heavy downpour early Tuesday and more rain on Wednesday as they worked to contain the York Fire.

But rain in the Mojave Desert, which is seasonal and scarce, “poses a unique challenge to firefighters,” the Mojave National Preserve said.

Desert tortoises – federally listed as a threatened species – become especially active on wet summer days, emerging from their burrows to drink rainwater.

“Fire crews carefully balance fire suppression with resource protection. They will be on the lookout for desert tortoises, making sure to avoid burrows and active individuals,” the Mojave National Preserve said.

The good news is that most desert wildlife can move to safety when fire approaches, park officials said.

“Resource staff at Mojave National Preserve anticipate that the York Fire has caused minimal damage to critical tortoise habitat and has likely affected few individuals since tortoise observations in the fire area are rare,” preserve staff said.