AFP

A Franco-US satellite is due for launch this week on a mission to survey with unprecedented accuracy nearly all water on Earth’s surface for the first time and help scientists investigate its impact on Earth’s climate.

For NASA and France’s space agency CNES, which have worked together in the field for 30 years, it’s a landmark scientific mission with a billion dollar budget.

French President Emmanuel Macron went to NASA’s Washington headquarters at the end of November alongside US Vice President Kamala Harris.

He highlighted the liftoff — scheduled for early Thursday on the US west coast — of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission to monitor the levels of oceans, lakes and rivers, including in remote locations.

Its predecessor, TOPEX/Poseidon, launched in 1992, was also a Franco-US joint venture that measured ocean surface to an accuracy of 4.2 centimeters (1.7 inches).

It aided the forecast of the 1997-1998 El Nino weather phenomenon and improved understanding of ocean circulation and its effect on global climate.

The 2.2-tonne SWOT mission will be put into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The satellite’s primary payload is an innovative instrument to measure the height of water called KaRin, or Ka-band radar interferometer. Its two antennas, separated by a big boom, create paralleled swaths of data.

“We’re going to get ten times better resolution than with current technologies to measure sea-surface height and understand the ocean fronts and eddies that help shape climate,” said NASA Earth Science Division Director Karen St. Germain.

“It’s like looking at a car number plate from space when before we could only see a street,” added Thierry Lafon, SWOT project leader at the CNES.

The stakes are high. While the impact of major ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream is known, more local flows and eddies covering dozens of kilometres remain more of a mystery.

But they too affect sea water surface temperatures and heat transfer as well as the absorption by the oceans of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

SWOT will improve weather and climate modelling, the observation of coastal erosion and help track how fresh and saltwater bodies change over time.

– Debris-free end of life –

With an “optimal” orbit of 890 kilometers (about 550 miles) above Earth, Lafon said SWOT will “take in all the components that affect water levels such as tides and the sun”.

NASA says SWOT will survey nearly all water on Earth’s surface for the first time.

It will monitor water levels, surface areas and quantities at more than 20 million lakes with shores of more than 250 metres. The entire length of rivers more than 100 metres wide will also be observed.

Water management, flood and drought prevention will be improved, said Lafon.

Flying the satellite to Vandenberg from the Thales Alenia Space (TAS) site in Cannes, southern France, proved a headache.

“Due to the conflict in Ukraine, there were no more Antonov 124s available and the 747 cargo is too small,” said TAS project leader Christophe Duplay.

“We decided to ask the USAF to provide one of its C-5 Galaxies.”

And that meant counting on NASA to have the US air force supply one of its rare giant aircraft to ship the huge payload.

SWOT has an estimated three-year lifetime — although Lafon said “nothing precludes the mission to last five to eight years” — and is set to become the first satellite to make a controlled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, reducing the amount of space debris, in line with the French space operations act.

Nearly 80 percent of the 400 kilos (880 pounds) of onboard fuel will be used to that end.

Wall Street pushed higher but European and Asian stock markets dropped Monday as investors looked ahead to interest rate decisions this week from major central banks including the Federal Reserve.

The dollar traded mixed against its main rivals, while oil prices rebounded following sharp falls last week.

Analysts are forecasting the Fed and the European Central Bank to announce smaller rate hikes at their meetings this week compared with recent decisions.

The Bank of England is meanwhile on course for a ninth increase in a row as policymakers try to bring down inflation from the highest levels in decades.

“Following a softer session in Asia, European markets are on edge, opening the week lower ahead of a critical few days for central bank action,” noted Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor. 

Wall Street opened higher, however, as bargain hunters moved in following losses at the end of last week.

“The ECB, the Fed and the Bank of England are expected to raise rates by 50 basis points each as the pace of tightening looks set to slow,” Scholar added.

The half-point jumps will still be steep rises, however, as central banks struggle to cool the pace of price increases, particularly regarding energy and food.

Ahead of the Fed’s policy meeting, investors were set to digest US inflation data due Tuesday.

“It will be a fitting hump day on Wednesday, because the (inflation) data and the Fed decision are big humps the market needs to get over if it wants to make a run at a year-end rally,” said market analyst Patrick J. O’Hare at Briefing.com.

“If either, or both, disappoint in a meaningful way, then a year-end rally becomes a more challenging proposition,” he added.

Traders were keeping an eye also on developments in China as it moves away from the zero-Covid policy that has hammered its economy, the world’s second largest after the United States.

The shift comes after widespread protests against the near three-year strategy, though there is concern about the expected spike in infections.

Uncertainty surrounding the strength of China’s demand recovery has hit oil prices hard, with crude futures shedding more than 10 percent last week.

“The gradual easing of Chinese Covid restrictions is… expected to lead to a further upswing in demand,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“However, concerns about the rapid spread of the virus remain, and China will have a tough fight on its hands, dealing with an expected explosion of infections while trying to open up the economy.”

– Key figures around 1430 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,446.42 points

Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 14,301.97

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,644.94

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,918.42

New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 33,597.24

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 27,842.33 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.2 percent at 19,463.63 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,179.04 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0559 from $1.0534 on Friday

Dollar/yen: UP at 137.04 yen from 136.57 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2284 from $1.2262

Euro/pound: UP at 85.96 pence from 85.90 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $71.88 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.4 percent at $76.37 per barrel

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Irish black comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” topped the Golden Globes nominations Monday, as the scandal-struck Hollywood award show attempts to rebuild its reputation following last year’s boycott by A-listers and studios.

The movie from Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures picked up a whopping eight nods, including nominations for its star Colin Farrell, director Martin McDonagh, and for best comedy or musical — the most achieved by any film since “Cold Mountain” back in 2003.

Surreal sci-fi “Everything Everywhere All at Once” earned six nominations, while raucous Hollywood Golden Age drama “Babylon” and Steven Spielberg’s deeply personal “The Fabelmans” took five each.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the film and television awards, has scrambled to reform itself since long-harbored criticisms of the group’s practices went public in early 2021.

Tinseltown completely distanced itself from the Globes last January over members’ lack of diversity, alleged corruption and lack of professionalism, and the show took place behind closed doors.

But broadcaster NBC has gambled that it is time to bring back the glitzy gala, which will take place in Beverly Hills on January 10.

Tinseltown is waiting to see which stars will show up. 

Brendan Fraser, who was nominated Monday for his starring role in “The Whale,” a drama about a morbidly obese man, has already said he will not attend the awards.

“It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite,” Fraser told GQ last month.

Fraser has alleged that a former HFPA president, Philip Berk, sexually assaulted him at an industry event in 2003. Berk denies the incident, and has since been expelled from the group for calling Black Lives Matter a “racist hate movement.”

Tom Cruise, who was widely seen as a strong contender in the acting categories this awards season for his lead role in “Top Gun: Maverick,” was overlooked by Globes voters Monday.

Cruise last year returned his three Golden Globes to the HFPA in protest at its behavior.

– Star power –

Nominations for the 80th Golden Globes were unveiled on NBC’s “Today” program Monday.

The Globes honor both film and television. Unlike the Oscars, the show divides its movies into “drama” and “comedy or musical” categories — hence boosting the star power by increasing the number of nominees.

Along with Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” other films nominated for best drama included Baz Luhrmann’s rock-and-roll biopic “Elvis,” and James Cameron’s eagerly awaited “Avatar” sci-fi sequel.

“Tar,” which stars Cate Blanchett as a ruthless classical conductor, took the final drama spot.

In comedy or musical “Banshees,” “Everything Everywhere” and “Babylon” were joined by whodunnit sequel “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and Cannes festival Palme d’Or-winner “Triangle of Sadness.”

No female movie directors were nominated this year. Spielberg, Cameron, Luhrmann and McDonagh will vie with “Everything Everywhere” directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

A-listers among the acting nominees included Daniel Craig (“Glass Onion”) Hugh Jackman (“The Son”) Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) and Olivia Colman (“Empire of Light.”)

Danielle Deadwyler’s powerful performance as the mother of 14-year-old lynching victim Emmett Till in “Till” was among the morning’s most surprising omissions.

On the television side, comedy “Abbott Elementary” led with five nominations, while Netflix’s British royals drama “The Crown” was among several shows earning four nods.

– ‘Not the old HFPA’ –

In response to last year’s controversy, the HFPA has expanded its voting body to include people with more diverse backgrounds, banned members from accepting gifts, and halted its in-person press conferences with stars, which were often derided for the improper behavior of some members.

“This is really not the old HFPA anymore,” president Helen Hoehne recently told The Hollywood Reporter.

“I respect Brendan Fraser’s decision… And I personally, sincerely hope there’s a way for us to move forward and we are able to regain Mr Fraser’s trust, along with the trust of the entire entertainment community,” she added.

Still, powerful Hollywood publicists remain divided over the Globes, with some expressing skepticism about the reforms — and a reluctance to return to the event with their stars.

A plan by US billionaire Todd Boehly to spin off the awards show into a for-profit entity and pay salaries to members has raised eyebrows.