Latest news with #Rule
The Hindu
5 hours ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Euthanasia of rabid dogs unlikely to succeed in Kerala, veterinarians call for State legislation
Euthanasia of diseased and rabid stray dogs, as proposed by the State government, is unlikely to deliver the desired results considering the legal hurdles and the health risk involved in the process, according to veterinary experts. The State government had on Wednesday permitted the local bodies to euthanise the rabid dogs by invoking the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Animal Husbandry Practices and Procedures) Rules 2023. As many as 3.17 lakh people sought treatment from government hospitals in the State in 2024 for dog bite-related cases. The first four months of the current year witnessed 16 rabies deaths and 1.31 lakh cases of dog bites, according to government data. The Rules state that any diseased animal that can spread disease shall be put to death if a registered veterinary practitioner certifies that it is mortally or severely injured or in a physical condition that it would be cruel to keep it alive. Euthanasia, say the Rules, shall be done after blindfolding the animal. It shall be handled and controlled humanely to minimise its fear, pain and distress. The animal shall be sedated if it's in an anxious state or fear or if there are concerns over the safety of the animal or the handler. It shall be put down by giving an overdose of anaesthetic to cause death, noted the Rule. Handling of rabid dogs as prescribed in the Rules could pose serious risks to the dog handlers and the veterinarians, who shall administer the drug to put the animal to death, pointed out V.K.P. Mohankumar, State general secretary of the Indian Veterinary Association, Kerala. The government shall go for legislation to facilitate the legal euthanising of rabid dogs without much hassle. The practice of administering one dose of anti-rabies vaccine to street dogs suspected of having been bitten by rabid dogs is unscientific. Such dogs shall be given the full course of vaccine and kept under supervision for 120 days before releasing them. Intensive Animal Birth Control measures during the breeding period and not euthanasia can help in bringing down the canine population, he suggested. Any deviation from the Rules while euthanising the dogs could land the veterinarians in legal trouble. Moreover, administering drugs to put the dogs to death is a risky task as there exists a high possibility of the animal attacking humans, feared a senior government veterinarian. Aggressive animals shall be kept in shelters and at least 150 ABC units shall be opened. Pet dogs, which are not kept for breeding shall be sterilised and their licensing made mandatory. Besides the reduction in dumping of waste, mobile surgery units and portable ABC units should be set up, the Association demanded.
RTÉ News
19 hours ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Trump moves to end crypto week legislation snag
US President Donald Trump has stepped in to broker an agreement among Republican lawmakers after a snag cast doubt on the fate of long-awaited cryptocurrency legislation that would mark a major victory for the digital assets sector. A failed procedural vote in the House of Representatives yesterday sent shares of crypto firms lower. But the Republican president said in a statement last night that he was meeting in the Oval Office with 11 of 12 members of Congress needed to pass the legislation. "After a short discussion, they have all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule," Trump said on his social media platform. House Republicans had billed this week as "Crypto Week," and were keen to advance numerous pieces of legislation aimed at providing clarity to the digital asset industry and long-sought legitimacy to the sector. Several conservative Republicans joined with Democrats in blocking a procedural vote to allow consideration of three crypto bills as part of a dispute over how the measures should be packaged and considered. Shortly after that vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he planned to continue discussing the matter with members and hoped to vote on it again shortly. Shares of crypto-related stocks including Circle Internet and Coinbase Global fell on the news of the vote but then pared losses. The House is attempting to pass a series of crypto-related bills, most notably a bill that would establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1-to-1 dollar peg, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. Their use has grown rapidly in recent years, and proponents say they could be used to send payments instantly. That bill - and another the House is considering that would define when a crypto token is a commodity - would be a huge win for the crypto industry. The House also was set to consider a bill that would prohibit the US from issuing a central bank digital currency. Republicans say there is a risk this could give the government too much control over Americans' personal finances. That bill has not been considered in the Senate and the Federal Reserve has not indicated a desire to develop a central bank digital currency.
Politico
a day ago
- Politics
- Politico
House GOP hard-liners agree to move ahead with crypto bills, Trump says - Live Updates
The conservative hard-liners who tanked a procedural vote to block the House from taking up a slate of cryptocurrency bills on Tuesday have agreed to flip their votes to 'yes' after meeting with President Donald Trump about the issue, he wrote on social media late Tuesday. The turnabout will likely clear the way for the House to pass the crypto bills as planned this week. Trump wrote on Truth Social that after a 'short' Oval Office discussion, the holdouts 'have all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule,' referring to the procedural measure that the House must adopt to begin debate on legislation. The post ends a brief rebellion by House conservatives who said they objected to the House accepting a Senate-passed stablecoin bill without changes. Some wanted to package a stablecoin bill with two other House crypto proposals that were slated for separate votes. 'Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was at the meeting via telephone, and looks forward to taking the Vote as early as possible,' Trump wrote.
a day ago
- Politics
The Latest: Trump administration orders 2,000 National Guard troops to leave LA, some will remain
President Donald Trump 's administration is ending the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops sent to Los Angeles to support immigration enforcement activities, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced Tuesday. The president ordered the deployment of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines in early June to respond to protests against immigration raids in and around LA. The troops were tasked with protecting federal buildings and guarding immigration agents, and the legality of their deployment was challenged in federal court by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. It was not immediately clear how long the remaining troops would stay in the city as immigration raids continue across the country, part of Trump's push for aggressive action against immigrants in the country illegally. Also Tuesday, Trump and Sen. David McCormick of Pennsylvania jointly announced tens of billions of dollars of energy and technology investments in Pennsylvania as the president traveled to Pittsburgh for a conference with dozens of top executives to promote his energy and technology agenda. Here's the latest: The president's intervention during a late-evening meeting with Republicans at the White House appeared to put the bills back on track. Trump posted on social media to say he won over lawmakers and expected votes on a procedural step as soon as Wednesday. 'I am in the Oval Office with 11 of the 12 Congressmen/women necessary to pass the GENIUS Act and, after a short discussion, they have all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule,' Trump said on social media. Trump said Speaker Mike Johnson attended via telephone 'and looks forward to taking the Vote as early as possible.' The trio of bills stalled earlier Tuesday after 13 Republicans unexpectedly joined all Democrats to prevent the legislation from coming up for debate and votes. The legislation includes a Senate-passed bill regulating a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, along with more sweeping measures aiming to address cryptocurrency market structure. Another bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. Republican senators advanced the request for the cuts to previously approved spending, overcoming concerns about what the rescissions could mean for impoverished people around the globe and for public radio and television stations in their home states. Vice President JD Vance broke the tie on the procedural vote, allowing the measure to advance, 51-50. A final vote in the Senate could occur as early as Wednesday. The bill would then return to the House for another vote before it would go to Trump's desk for his signature before a Friday deadline. Republicans winnowed down the president's request by taking out his proposed $400 million cut to a program known as PEPFAR, increasing the prospects for passage. The politically popular program is credited with saving millions of lives since its creation under then-President George W. Bush to combat HIV/AIDS. This isn't a joke. They've made that clear. CBS 'Late Show' host Stephen Colbert condemned parent company Paramount Global's settlement of of Trump's lawsuit over the editing of a '60 Minutes' interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris last fall, calling it a 'big fat bribe.' Colbert followed 'The Daily Show' host Jon Stewart's attack on the deal one week earlier. Stewart works for Comedy Central, also owned by Paramount, making the two comics the most visible internal critics of the $16 million settlement. Colbert's 'bribe' comment referenced the pending sale of Paramount to Skydance Media, which needs Trump administration approval. Critics suggested the settlement was primarily to clear a hurdle to the sale. 'I don't know if anything — anything — will repair my trust in this company,' Colbert said in his monologue Monday. 'But, just taking a stab at it, I'd say $16 million would help.' The ratings leader in late-night broadcast television is a relentless Trump critic. The antipathy is mutual: Trump called Colbert 'a complete and total loser' in a Truth Social post last fall, suggesting CBS was wasting its money on him. 'HE IS VERY BORING,' Trump wrote. Six months into a second term, he has gotten almost everything he has wanted from a Supreme Court he reshaped during his first. The justices, three of whom were appointed by Trump, have cleared the way for stripping legal protections from more than 1 million immigrants, firing thousands of federal employees, ousting transgender members of the military, removing the heads of independent government agencies and more. The legal victories are noteworthy on their own, but how Trump is achieving them is remarkable. Administration lawyers are harnessing emergency appeals, which were used sparingly under previous presidencies, to fast-track cases to the Supreme Court, where decisions are often handed down with no explanation. Trump's use of the emergency docket reflects his aggressive approach to governing in his second term, with fewer voices of caution within his administration and party. He regularly seeks any possible leverage to advance his agenda, regardless of past practices or tradition. The result is a series of green lights from the high court without any clarity on how the law should be interpreted in the future. ▶ Read more about Trump and the court The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has moved to detain far more people than before by tapping a legal authority to jail anyone who entered the country illegally without allowing them a bond hearing. Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, wrote employees on July 8 to say the agency was revisiting its 'extraordinarily broad and equally complex' authority to detain people and, effective immediately, people would be ineligible for a bond hearing before an immigration judge. Instead they cannot be released unless the Homeland Security Department makes an exception. The directive signals wider use of a 1996 law to detain people who had previously been allowed to remain free while their cases wind through immigration court. Asked Tuesday to comment on the memo, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, 'The Biden administration dangerously unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into the country — and they used many loopholes to do so.' She added that Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem 'are now enforcing this law as it was actually written to keep America safe.' Russian President Vladimir Putin has sacrificed an estimated 1 million of his soldiers, killed and wounded, in a three-year campaign to crush Ukraine. Now Trump is betting that his go-to economic weapon — tariffs — can succeed where Ukrainian drones and rockets have not and finally persuade Putin to end the war. Trump said Monday that he would impose 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, natural gas and other products unless there is a peace deal in 50 days. The levies are meant to cause Russia financial pain by making its trading partners think twice before buying its energy. He did not spell out exactly how these 'secondary″ tariffs would work, and trade analysts are skeptical they will be effective. Senators voted 52-46 Tuesday to confirm the retired U.S. brigadier general as the defense undersecretary for personnel. Tata, a staunch Trump supporter, was criticized for the social media posts from 2018. They called Islam the 'most oppressive violent religion I know of' and referred to former President Barack Obama as a 'terrorist leader' and a Muslim. Tata's nomination to be defense undersecretary for policy in 2020 was stalled when senators canceled the hearing after a furor over the posts. They were taken down, and Tata told senators he regretted some of his comments. Asked by a reporter if that would be grounds for getting rid of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, Trump answered affirmatively. 'I think it sort of is, because if you look at his testimony ... he's not talking about the problem,' Trump said. 'It's a big problem.' Trump has repeatedly demanded that Powell cut the short-term interest rate that the central bank controls, in part because the president believes it will lower the government's borrowing costs. Powell asked an inspector general Monday to review the cost of the central bank's building renovations after coming under attack from White House officials. The Fed has been renovating two office buildings in Washington for several years at a current cost estimate of about $2.5 billion, $700 million more than originally expected. The project was first approved by the Fed's governing board in 2017. A trio of cryptocurrency bills that were expected to pass this week stalled Tuesday after 13 Republicans unexpectedly joined all Democrats to prevent the legislation from coming up for debate and votes. The procedural snafu brought the House's so-called crypto week to a standstill and dealt a blow to the president, who strongly urged Republicans to pass the bills as part of his push to make the U.S. the ' crypto capital of the world.' Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters it was just part of the 'legislative process' and negotiations were underway between the House, Senate and White House. He suggested they could try again Tuesday evening. But just hours later, House leadership canceled votes for the remainder of the day. The stalled legislation includes a Senate-passed bill regulating a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, along with more sweeping measures aiming to address cryptocurrency market structure. Another bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. Democrats sensed an opening after the Justice Department said last week that no additional evidence would be released in the case. Now they are demanding records be released and trolling Republicans on social media, on news shows and in the House as they revel in a rare fissure between the president and his fiercely loyal base. They are highlighting the dramatic about-face by some Republicans, which has divided the MAGA movement and could weaken a critical following for Trump. The in-your-face approach also may help Democrats appease elements of the party's own base, who are hungry for a more aggressive confrontation with the other side. ▶ Read more about Democrats trolling Trump and the GOP The president said such an announcement could come at the 'end of the month.' Trump said he would start out at a lower tariff rate and give companies a year to build domestic factories before they face higher import tax rates. He said computer chips would face a similar style of tariffs. 'We'll probably set one tariff for all of them,' Trump said, adding that it could be 'a little over 10%' on goods from at least 100 nations. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interjected that countries with goods taxed at these rates would be in Africa and the Caribbean, places that generally do relatively modest levels of trade with the U.S. and would be relatively insignificant for Trump's goals of reducing trade imbalances with the rest of the world. 'I don't understand why they would be so interested,' the told reporters after Air Force One landed in Maryland following his trip to Pittsburgh. 'He's dead for a long time,' Trump said. 'He was never a big factor in terms of life.' The president added that he couldn't understand 'what the interest or what the fascination is' and even suggested that the case was 'boring.' Conspiracy theories over Epstein's death in prison and potential evidence in his sex trafficking case, including an alleged 'client list,' have largely been a fixation for the right, once egged on by Trump himself. Now, though, he would like to move on from the case. But some of his most influential allies have refused, dividing the MAGA movement. CEO Jensen Huang says the technology giant has won approval from the Trump administration to sell its advanced H20 computer chips, used to develop artificial intelligence, to China. The news came in a company blog post saying the government 'assured' Nvidia that licenses would be granted and the company 'hopes to start deliveries soon.' Shares of the California-based chipmaker were up over 4% by midday Tuesday. Huang also spoke about the matter on China's state-run CGTN television, in remarks shown on the social platform X. He also noted that half the world's AI researchers are in China: 'It's so innovative and dynamic here in China that it's really important that American companies are able to compete and serve the market here.' Huang recently met with Trump and other U.S. policymakers and is in Beijing this week to attend a supply chain conference and speak with Chinese officials. The rule, finalized in the Biden-era by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, would have removed medical debt from credit reports. U.S. District Court Judge Sean Jordan of Texas's Eastern District, who was appointed by Trump, found on Friday that the rule exceeded the CFPB 's authority. Jordan said that the CFPB is not permitted to remove medical debt from credit reports according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which protects information collected by consumer reporting agencies. Removing medical debt from consumer credit reports was expected to increase the credit scores of millions of families by an average of 20 points, the bureau said. The CFPB states that its research has shown outstanding health care claims to be a poor predictor of an individual's ability to repay a loan, yet they are often used to deny mortgage applications. The CFPB estimated the rule would have removed $49 billion in medical debt from the credit reports of 15 million Americans. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the decision Tuesday in a statement. Roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines had been deployed. It was not immediately clear how long the rest would stay. The troops were tasked with protecting federal buildings and guarding immigration agents as they carry out arrests. The president ordered the deployment of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines in early June to respond to protests against immigration raids in and around Los Angeles. Their deployment went against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sued to stop it. A district court judge initially said Trump acted illegally in deploying the Guard over Newsom's opposition, but an appeals court said the administration could keep control of the troops. The case is ongoing. Newsom said the National Guard's deployment to L.A. has pulled troops away from their families and civilian work 'to serve as political pawns for the President in Los Angeles.' The lights are on at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and employees still get paid. But in practice the bureau has been mostly inoperable for nearly six months. CFPB employees say they essentially spend the workday sitting on their hands, forbidden from doing any work by a White House directive. The bureau is supposed to help oversee banks and financial services companies and take enforcement action in case of wrongdoing. During its 15-year existence, the CFPB has returned roughly $21 billion to consumers who were cheated by financial services companies. Instead its main function now seems to be undoing the rulemaking and law enforcement work that was done under previous administrations, including in Trump's first term. One employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the directive forbids staffers from discussing their jobs publicly, said outsiders would be amazed at how little work is being done. Employees are reluctant even to talk to one another, for fear a conversation would be considered a violation of the directive. Another worker described the drastic shift in mission, from trying to protect consumers to doing nothing, as 'quite demoralizing.' MP Materials announced a new $500 million deal with the tech giant Tuesday to produce more of the powerful magnets used in iPhones as well as other high-tech products like electric vehicles. The news follows last week's announcement that the Defense Department would invest $400 million in shares of the Las Vegas-based company, establish a floor for the price of key elements and ensure that all magnets made at a new plant in the first 10 years are purchased. That unusual direct investment makes the government MP Materials' largest shareholder. 'This is the kind of long-term commitment needed to reshape global rare earth supply chains,' Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analyst Neha Mukherjee said in a research note on the Pentagon deal. Rare earths are a key concern in ongoing trade talks. China dominates the market and imposed new limits on exports after Trump announced widespread tariffs. When shipments dried up, the two sides sat down in London. Seventeen immigration court judges have been fired in recent days, according to the union that represents them, as the administration pushes forward with its mass deportations of immigrants. 'It's outrageous and against the public interest that at the same time Congress has authorized 800 immigration judges, we are firing large numbers of immigration judges without cause,' said Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents the judges. The firings come as the courts have been increasingly at the center of the administration's hard-line immigration enforcement efforts, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting people as they appear for court proceedings. A spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which is the part of the Justice Department that oversees the courts, said via email that the office would not comment on the firings. U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle said in his ruling late Monday that the president's June order banning entry by people from 12 countries 'expressly states' that it does not limit the ability of people to seek refugee status. The order includes a provision that says nothing in it 'shall be construed to limit the ability of an individual to seek asylum, refugee status, withholding of removal, or protection under the CAT, consistent with the laws of the United States.' In his ruling, Whitehead said 'by its plain terms, the Proclamation excludes refugees from its scope.' Barring refugees from entering would limit their ability to seek refugee status and therefore run counter to the order, the judge added. He ordered the administration to immediately resume processing 80 'presumptively protected refugees' who were rejected based on the travel ban. The State Department did not immediately have comment Tuesday. The appeals court decision temporarily delayed the department from removing protections from some Afghans living in the U.S. DHS said in May that it was ending Temporary Protected Status for 11,700 people from Afghanistan in 60 days. That status had allowed them to work and meant the government couldn't deport them. It was supposed to expire Monday, but an appeals court stepped in late in the day and issued a one-week stay while it hears arguments from both sides. Reacting Tuesday, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: 'Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet it has been abused as one for decades.' 'The Trump administration is restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,' it continued, 'and we have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.' Senate Republicans worked Tuesday to slightly scale back the president's request for the cuts in previously approved spending as they tried to build momentum before a key test vote. The amended package removes proposed cuts to a program known as PEPFAR that is credited with saving millions of lives since its creation under then-President George W. Bush to combat HIV/AIDS. The change could help the bill's prospects. Congress has until Friday to get a bill to Trump's desk for his signature or the spending stands. The president is looking to claw back money for foreign aid programs targeted by his Department of Government Efficiency and for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The change preserving about $400 million for PEPFAR takes the total savings in the measure down to about $9 billion. The attorney general is seeking to press ahead with a business-as-usual approach in the face of right-wing outrage that has plunged the Justice Department into turmoil. Pressed by reporters during an announcement about drug seizures, Bondi sidestepped questions about the fallout of the administration's decision not to release more records related Epstein investigation. Amid calls from some members of Trump's base for her resignation, Bondi made clear she has no plans to step down. 'I'm going to be here for as long as the president wants me here,' Bondi said. 'And I believe he's made that crystal clear.' Bondi was also asked about Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, with whom she clashed last week over the Epstein files. Bondi would not answer whether she believes he should remain in his role, saying only that she would not discuss personnel matters. Trump falsely claimed that China is lacking in wind farms, despite its role in their production. 'China makes windmills. But how many wind farms do you see in China?' he asked. 'I haven't seen any lately. Sort of crazy.' China is the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines, producing more than half of the supply. However, it is also installing them in China at a record pace. In total, China has 1.3 terawatts of utility-scale wind and solar capacity in development, which could generate more electricity than neighboring Japan consumed in all of 2023, according to a report from the Global Energy Monitor released last week. The president boasted during a summit on energy and AI that the U.S is far ahead of China when it comes to developments in artificial intelligence. 'We believe America's destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in technology,' he said. Congressional Democrats are criticizing the Trump administration's budget and personnel cuts at the State Department, saying they rob the country of massive expertise and institutional knowledge and damage America's standing abroad in the world. Top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee took issue with defenses of cuts offered by the deputy Secretary of State for Management Michael Rigas, who argued that the budget and personnel reductions were needed to streamline diplomacy and make it more efficient. Rigas' testimony was the first from a senior department official since Friday when more than 1,300 career civil servants and foreign service officers were fired as part of the administration's broader revamp of the executive branch of government. 'This is a dark time for American diplomacy,' said the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York. 'President Trump continues to isolate the United States, alienate our allies and create space for our adversaries like Russia and China to fill the void.' Rigas said a proposed roughly 50% cut in the department's budget is intended not to punish diplomats but rather to 'make the State Department a more efficient and effective organizations better able to advance the core interests of the American people.' House Speaker Mike Johnson appears to be breaking with Trump over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein criminal investigation and is calling for the Justice Department to 'put everything out there and let the people decide.' The Louisiana Republican said Attorney General Pam Bondi needs to come forward and explain what happened. Bondi earlier this year had made claims that officials were reviewing a 'truckload' of evidence, but last week the Justice Department concluded that Epstein did not leave behind a 'client list' and that public disclosure of more information would not be appropriate. The lack of revelations has angered many MAGA loyalists, particularly after some had expected more transparency and accountability based on previous comments from Trump during the campaign. 'The White House and the White House team are privy to facts that I don't know. This isn't my lane. I haven't been involved in that, but I agree with the sentiment to put it out there,' Johnson told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. Trump announced a $92 billion investment from 20 technical, agricultural, and energy companies in Pennsylvania. He described it as the 'biggest private investment in Pennsylvania history,' calling it a 'triumphant day for the people of the commonwealth and the United States of America.'
BBC News
a day ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Anglian Water will not rule out summer hosepipe ban
A water company said it would not rule out a future hosepipe ban, despite recent rain and river and reservoir levels "delaying the need for restriction". Anglian Water, which supplies a large part of the East of England, said "uncertainty over the future forecast meant a hosepipe ban could still be needed this summer".Four other water firms have introduced hosepipe restrictions following the unseasonably hot and dry weather, with a drought declared for parts of England. In an update on the water situation facing the region, Anglian Water said the last few months had been exceptionally dry, and it had been focusing on tackling leaks to prevent water loss. Ian Rule, director of water services, said: "The East of England is the driest part of the country, so we're used to seeing a lack of rainfall in our region and we plan accordingly. "Our focus on leakage, and the investment we've put in place to give us resilience in the face of climate change, has helped to delay the need for restrictions, but the last few months have been exceptionally dry, even by our standards."Mr Rule confirmed river levels had been low following a lack of rain in spring, "but they have responded better than expected to recent rainfall". He added, with the forecast "far from certain", the water company was "closely monitoring" the Rule said its decisions over a hosepipe ban centred on a "careful balance" between protecting the environment and the region's agricultural sector. Anglian Water also said it had invested more in tackling leaks, with 250 people dedicated to the task, adding it was spending £10m this year on reducing leakage and renewing pipes."However, the dry ground we're seeing at the moment means our water pipes are at greater risk of shifting and breaking, so we're seeing an increase in issues being reported to us, and it's an area we are continuing to focus resources on," he added. The privately-owned water firm urged people to use water carefully. Although there is not currently a drought in England, the Environment Agency previously said there was a "medium risk" of one this Met Office, meanwhile, reported parts of the region saw their sunniest March on record, with the UK experiencing its driest March conditions since drier temperatures left farmers concerned that their crops would struggle to grow, with some taking drastic action to mitigate the April, Elveden Farms, close to the border between Suffolk and Norfolk, said it was in the process of building its third water reservoir, costing about £3m. The country's changing weather patterns mean the UK now experiences a "notably different" climate to what it was just a few decades ago, the Journal of Climatology's State of the UK Climate report change was expected to lead to drier summers on average, while more intense heatwaves meant more water could be lost via evaporation. Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks, BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex, BBC Norfolk, BBC Northamptonshire or BBC Suffolk.
