Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
XIAMEN, FUJIAN PROVINCE, June 16 (Xinhua) — Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), has called for high-quality development of the cross-Strait integrated development demonstration zone in east China’s Fujian Province.
Wang Huning made this statement at a meeting held in Xiamen on Sunday.
Stressing the need to leverage Fujian Province’s unique advantages and its pioneering role in cross-Strait relations, Wang Huning called for greater innovation in policies and mechanisms to deepen economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.
He noted the importance of coordinating relevant policies to promote integrated development across the Strait, as well as creating a more favorable business environment to attract more Taiwanese and companies to develop on the Chinese mainland.
Wang Huning also stressed the need to push forward the normalization of cross-shore people-to-people contacts and exchanges, calling for efforts to optimize channels for Taiwanese youth to seek opportunities and development on the Chinese mainland. -0-
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
CHANGSHA, June 16 (Xinhua) — One person was killed, six were missing and nine were injured as of 5 p.m. Monday in an explosion at a fireworks factory in central China’s Hunan Province on the same day.
The blast occurred at Shanzhou Fireworks Co., Ltd. in Linli County, Changde City, at around 8:23 a.m., the county party committee said. All the victims have been given medical treatment and their condition is not life-threatening, it said.
The explosion occurred in a one-story reinforced concrete building. The company, founded in July 2017, employs more than 150 people, most of whom were outside the blast zone at the time of the accident.
Emergency rescue teams of various levels arrived at the scene immediately after the accident. The rescuers’ efforts are focused on searching for missing persons, providing assistance to victims, evacuating nearby residents and investigating the causes of the accident. -0-
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 16 (Xinhua) — At the upcoming second China-Central Asia Summit, the heads of state of China and Central Asian countries will jointly map out a new grand plan for future development and open up a wider space for jointly building the Belt and Road, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Monday.
He made this statement at a regular departmental press conference, answering a journalist’s question regarding the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” by China and the Central Asian countries.
The Central Asian region is not only the place where China first put forward the Belt and Road Initiative, but also an advanced area in its high-quality joint implementation, Guo Jiakun noted, adding that China has signed cooperation documents on jointly building the Belt and Road with all five Central Asian countries and implemented a number of landmark projects with them aimed at promoting development and improving people’s well-being.
According to him, in 2024, China’s foreign trade volume with Central Asian countries reached a record high of 674.15 billion yuan, an increase of 116 percent compared with 2013.
Guo Jiakun noted that the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline and the China-Central Asia gas pipeline have created a new model of win-win cooperation. The China-Tajikistan highway, China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan highway and China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway have taken regional connectivity to a new level. The digital economy and green transformation have expanded new areas of practical cooperation.
In addition, China has introduced a mutual visa-free regime with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Luban Workshop projects are being implemented at an accelerated pace, and humanitarian exchanges and people-to-people ties are gaining momentum, he added.
High-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road is becoming a key area of cooperation between China and Central Asia every day, the Chinese diplomat stressed.
According to Guo Jiakun, the second China-Central Asia Summit will be held in the near future, where the heads of state will jointly outline a new grand plan for future development, open up a wider space for jointly building the Belt and Road, and promote the building of a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future. -0-
Three organizations have been awarded funding under the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Project to address childhood obesity and chronic disease in the province.
The successful applicants are Acadia University, Upward Mobility Kitchens East Inc., and Wasoqopa’q First Nation. The total amount of funding is $1.05 million.
“Reducing childhood obesity and helping young people to establish healthy habits will help reduce the burden on our healthcare system and make a lasting impact on the overall health of our province,” said Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson. “These investments will provide more communities with the resources they need to raise healthy children.”
The three projects, with funding amounts, are:
$320,643 to Acadia University in Wolfville to create a self-sustaining farm-to-school initiative that includes a greenhouse. It will address childhood obesity, food insecurity and declining physical activity by integrating nutrition education, sustainable agriculture and mental health support directly into the school curriculum at Northeast Kings Education Centre in Canning.
$334,384 to Upward Mobility Kitchens East Inc. to transform The Nook on Halifax’s Gottingen Street into a hub for youth-focused cooking classes and food literacy education. The Sharpen Up initiative will give youth the skills to take control of their nutrition, improve health outcomes and host community-centred meal events.
The kitchen at the Nook (Province of Nova Scotia) Click or tap for larger image
$400,000 to Wasoqopa’q First Nation to create a space that fosters physical activity, mental resilience and community well-being through traditional Mi’kmaw teachings. The project includes an outdoor structure that supports traditional food sourcing, cleaning and preparation.
Ninety-seven organizations applied for funding; nine were invited to submit a proposal and eight were received.
The Nova Scotia Lighthouse Project is a partnership between the Province and Novo Nordisk Canada Inc. that brought together healthcare, academic and economic leaders to identify barriers and challenges that contribute to poor health outcomes. It invited businesses and academic and community organizations to submit proposals for funding to address them. The initiative is delivered in collaboration with the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub and Life Sciences Nova Scotia.
Quotes:
“At Novo Nordisk Canada, we are committed to engaging as a valuable and dedicated partner in improving the lives of Nova Scotians and fighting childhood obesity. We are proud to partner on this important issue and excited by this first round of funding announcements; these projects have the potential to drive change for a healthier Canada.” — Vince Lamanna, President, Novo Nordisk Canada Inc.
“Over the past two years, we’ve delivered more than half a million meals to people in need in HRM, and we’re just getting started. After 15 years of building kitchens with purpose and running Sharpen Up in communities from New York to Vancouver, I’ve learned the most powerful thing we can give youth is belief, and the tools to back it up. Sharpen Up is not just a cooking class. It’s skill-building with real chefs, instilling confidence in yourself, and a chance to see all the pathways food can create through our non-profit and entrepreneur network. In a time when one in four kids in the Maritimes is food insecure, this kind of education and support is essential. I was raised in Dartmouth, and it’s an honour to come home and create this opportunity for my community.” — Mark Brand, founder, Upward Mobility Kitchens & A Better Life Foundation
“When our Mi’kmaw youth are free to move, play and learn in culturally safe spaces, they build strength not only in body, but in spirit. When our Mi’kmaw families and community members have our own culturally safe spaces to learn through land-based knowledge and traditional food harvesting on our lands, we reclaim our health, our identity and our honour. We will build strong foundations for all our relations from our neighbouring communities and all Mi’kma’ki. That is true reconciliation.” — Melanie Robinson-Purdy, Director, Community Enhancement and Cultural Revitalization, Wasoqopa’q First Nation
“The best way to build a healthier tomorrow is to begin upstream – where good food, joyful movement and self-worth take root early. Grow & Go is how we nurture that growth: from greenhouse to classroom, from kitchen to community. This is more than a project – it’s a path forward, and we invite others to walk and grow it with us.” — Tavis Bragg, project lead, Grow & Go; adjunct professor, Acadia University, and teacher, Northeast Kings Education Centre
Quick Facts:
for profit, not-for-profit and public-sector organizations registered to do business in Canada were eligible to submit a proposal
the Province and Novo Nordisk Canada have each contributed $1.5 million toward the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Project, with another call for proposals to be announced later
the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Project is the result of a partnership with Denmark and is based on a concept from the Danish Business Promotion Agency; Danish Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs; Novo Nordisk; research institutions; and technology companies
Additional Resources:
Nova Scotia Lighthouse Project: https://www.lighthousens.ca/
News release – New Partnership Will Address Childhood Obesity, Chronic Disease: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2024/03/05/new-partnership-will-address-childhood-obesity-chronic-disease
News release – Nova Scotia Signs Health Agreement with Denmark: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2023/05/24/nova-scotia-signs-health-agreement-denmark
Other than cropping, Province of Nova Scotia photos are not to be altered in any way.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Wolfson, Assistant Director of Campus Partnerships for the Office of Public Scholarship, Washington University in St. Louis
Edward Gorey on the set he designed for the Broadway revival of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ in 1977. Jack Mitchell/Getty Images
The book reproduces, in stunning detail, a series of 50 elaborately illustrated envelopes Gorey created in the mid-1970s. But when I started reading “From Ted to Tom,” I felt confused – and a little let down.
The book makes no mention of Gorey’s queerness. To me, this is a missed opportunity to shed light on how being gay may have fueled some of his most personal work.
The master of macabre
Today, Edward Gorey is widely known for his sprawling, macabre-yet-humorous body of work, which spans nearly every medium.
His stories often feature adults and children alike who meet untimely ends through mostly hilarious, unlikely accidents – and, yes, the occasional straight-up murder. But they’re never gratuitous, nor do they glorify violence for violence’s sake.
As for his personal life, Gorey may have been what today we’d call asexual; Gorey himself used the term “undersexed,” but he also acknowledged, when asked directly about his sexuality, that he “supposed” he was gay.
Mark Dery’s 2018 Gorey biography, “Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey,” documents the artist’s participation in postwar gay life. The book details a handful of crushes Gorey had on various men, at least one of which – a brief affair with a man named Victor – involved some physical intimacy.
To whatever extent Gorey entertained sex or romance, it was with men. As Dery points out, however, this fact largely goes unaddressed in discussions of the artist’s work.
A chance encounter
“From Ted to Tom” reinforces this silence.
The “Tom” is Tom Fitzharris, the author of the book’s introduction and some commentary at the book’s end.
In the introduction, Fitzharris explains that before he met Gorey, he was already collecting the artist’s “small, exquisite books.”
After attending a gallery exhibit of Gorey’s work in 1974, Fitzharris mailed him one of the books from his collection to request Gorey’s signature, along with a cryptic inquiry about two of the book’s characters. Gorey obliged and returned the book with a similarly cryptic reply.
Soon after this exchange, Fitzharris spotted Gorey on the street and introduced himself. The two soon began meeting regularly “for dinner, the theater, coffee, and especially the ballet, his great passion,” one that Fitzharris shared. When Gorey left to summer on Cape Cod, he began sending Fitzharris the envelopes collected in “From Ted to Tom.”
Fitzharris shares almost no information about himself in the book, and he has never commented publicly about his own sexuality. However, even his dry, minimalist narration cannot conceal the intensity of their connection.
Describing his first visit to Gorey’s apartment, he writes: “I thought I’d be at Gorey’s for ten minutes, but I left two hours later.” Whether Fitzharris lost track of time as the two explored their “dozens of shared interests” or simply couldn’t tear himself away, when he finally made it back to work, he was surprised that he still had a job.
The envelope as canvas
Given this voracious drive to create, it is no surprise that Gorey saw an object as humble as a letter envelope as a creative opportunity. As Dery points out, Gorey was also making his illustrated envelopes as the mail art movement was becoming popular. Sparked by artist Ray Johnson in the 1960s – who, like Gorey, lived in New York City – it involved artists using the postal service to exchange works of art, using it as an alternative to the commercial galleries and museums that artists had largely depended on.
The 50 envelopes reproduced in “From Ted to Tom” was not Gorey’s first dalliance with the envelope as canvas; he’d experimented with it six years earlier, while in the midst of a collaboration with author and editor Peter Neumeyer, with whom he produced three children’s books.
In his drawings to Neumeyer, Gorey mostly seems to be having fun playing around with a new formal challenge: how to integrate drawings with the prerequisite address text in a satisfying way.
The Fitzharris series is poised and polished from the jump. Gorey’s distinctive hand-lettering is crisp, precise and perfectly straight, each envelope a complete scene. Some scenes are more complex than others, but each is a complete thought.
There’s another notable difference between the Neumeyer and Fitzharris envelopes. While the former features a revolving cast of real and imaginary creatures, the latter has two co-stars: two black-and-white dogs, sides emblazoned with matching, serifed T’s.
In his introduction to the book, Fitzharris confirms that the animals represent Gorey and him. Fitzharris is also clearly more than the lucky witness to a burst of creative genius. He is its muse.
‘Pen pal’ or something more?
Whatever Gorey’s artistic ambitions for the project, it is also a visual diary of sorts: an album of their shared experiences, their common interests and hobbies, and a document of Gorey’s goings-on while they were apart.
Take, for example, an envelope that depicts the canine duo standing amid a vast assemblage of blue bottles, with Fitzharris’ address displayed as labels.
“All the blue bottles are a recollection of a window full of them in one of the antique shops I stopped in after you left that Sunday,” Gorey wrote in the accompanying letter. “The sun coming through them is not reproducible, at least by me.”
In the same letter, Gorey struggles to convey the depth of his feeling upon receiving a recent letter from Fitzharris.
“I used to maintain that if it couldn’t be put into words it didn’t exist; if anything I believe rather the opposite now. All of which is rather a strangled attempt to say that I appreciated your letter of the 23rd very much, but that I don’t know how to say so directly. Yes.”
What did Fitzharris’ letter say that moved Gorey so much? What is the meaning of his singular, elliptical “yes”? Is it simply stylistic? Or is it a response?
We’ll likely never know. But evidently whatever Fitzharris said moved him deeply.
There are other poignant scenes. In his notes to “From Ted to Tom,” Fitzharris takes credit for introducing Gorey to the French phrase “heure bleue,” which translates to “the blue hour” and refers to the time of day just after the sun sets. Gorey’s delight is reflected in a lovely scene of quiet companionship.
Tom and Ted stand at a low fence or porch railing, sharing drinks and gazing up at a darkening sky as dusk settles over thick foliage. For once leaving nothing to the imagination, he inscribes “HEURE BLEUE” next to the image in thick, bold letters – a rare act of captioning.
This unusual relative directness continues into the accompanying letter. Though he can hardly bear admitting it, Gorey describes their recent visit as “a happy day,” immediately qualifying the comment as a “revolting phrase.”
One “cannot help but think how seldom in life one knows one is having one at the time,” he continues. The phrasing is somewhat innocuous. But I wonder how much pleasure Gorey must have felt – and how strong his need to convey it must have been – to overcome the force of his “revulsion.”
This push and pull between attraction to one another and repulsion at one’s own spontaneous emotion supplies the dynamism that make the drawings in “From Ted to Tom” so compelling.
Despite this powerful current, Fitzharris, who is credited as the book’s editor, leaves the topic of Gorey’s sexuality untouched in both his introduction to the book and its end notes, where he provides a guide to some of the personal and cultural references in Gorey’s drawings and letters. The book’s back cover refers to Fitzharris as the artist’s “pen pal.”
Denied access to the underlying details driving this dynamism, the reader loses the chance to reflect on the source of this electrical current, its impact on his art, and how Gorey’s struggles with intimacy and desire, which are all too universal, were also undoubtedly shaped by the challenge of being gay in a deeply homophobic society.
Rather than limiting the understanding of his work, accounting for Gorey’s queerness invites viewers of his art and readers of his work into deeper communion with the artist – and themselves.
Elizabeth Wolfson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jonathan Krasner, Associate Professor of Jewish Education Research, Brandeis University
Pro-Palestinian students pass the flag of Israel while walking out of commencement in protest at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on May 30, 2024.AP Photo/Charles Krupa
As commencement season comes to a close, many campuses remain riven by the Israel-Hamas war. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the undergraduate class president was banned from walking at her graduation after delivering a fiery – and unauthorized – speech accusing her school of complicity in Israel’s campaign to “wipe out Palestine off the face of the earth.” Anti-Israel protests broke out at graduation ceremonies across the United States, from Columbia to the University of California at Berkeley.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and Israel’s retaliatory invasion of Gaza, many American campuses have been punctuated by vigils, demonstrations and disruptions. But the loudest voices aren’t necessarily the most representative. Activists’ pronouncements on either side fail to capture the range of student opinion about the war and its reverberations at home, including the documented rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia.
This is certainly true for Jewish students – buffeted by the war, the hostage crisis, campus protests and federal politics. Since January 2025, the Trump administration has used campus antisemitism and anti-Zionism as a pretext to assaulthigher education and implement hard-line immigration policies.
Indeed, one of the most striking findings of my study
on Jewish undergraduate attitudes, published in May 2025, is how many students described themselves as conflicted, uncertain, disaffected and even detached. Interviews across the country convinced my research team that any attempt to gauge Jewish student opinion with either/or categories are reductive and misleading.
Moving beyond numbers
In the wake of Oct. 7, my office hours quickly became a refuge for distraught Jewish students as they processed their thoughts. Few were content with pat answers.
I began wondering how representative they were. Tufts researchers Eitan Hersh and Dahlia Lyss found that since Oct. 7, more students were valuing and prioritizing their Jewish identities, even while an increased number were hiding their Jewishness on campus.
My Brandeis colleagues Graham Wright, Leonard Saxe and their research team, meanwhile, found that a clear majority of Jewish students said they felt a connection to Israel but were sharply divided in their views of its government. While most considered statements calling for the country’s destruction to be antisemitic, they differed about where to draw the line between reasonable and illegitimate criticisms of Israel.
These findings were instructive. But I was interested in learning more about the “how” and the “why” behind the numbers. Over the spring 2024 semester, my team and I interviewed 38 students on 24 campuses across 16 states and the District of Columbia. Participants reflected the broad religious, political, economic, geographical, sexual and racial diversity within the American Jewish population, particularly among Jews under 30. Some of the campuses were relatively placid; others were hotbeds of protest.
The ‘missing middle’
As my team analyzed transcripts, we identified six categories.
About one-third of the Jewish students we spoke with were actively engaged on either side of the conflict, whether through demonstrations or online advocacy. “Affirmed” students’ connection to Israel deepened after Oct. 7. “Aggrieved” students, on the other hand, had joined anti-war protests and voiced anger at Jewish organizations for ignoring Israel’s culpability for Palestinian suffering.
Many more of our participants, however, were ambivalent, despondent or even apathetic. As journalist Arno Rosenfeld put it in an article about my research, the majority of Jewish students inhabit a “great missing middle” in Israeli-Palestinian discourse.
Two-thirds of the students we spoke with are in this “missing middle,” divided into four categories:
“Conflicted” students were inconclusively grappling with the moral and political complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Disillusioned” students struggled to reconcile their sentimental attachment to Israel with their disappointment – their sense that the country betrayed its own values in its treatment of Palestinians.
“Retrenched” students turned inward, fearful of being identified as Jewish on campuses they perceived as hostile to Jews.
The last category, “disengaged” students, were detached or actively steering clear of controversy.
The most straightforward of these categories is the “disengaged” students. Some, like Bella, on the West Coast – all of the names in this article are pseudonyms – knew little about the conflict before the war. What they learned since convinced them it was unsolvable and that they were powerless to promote change.
The distance that some students felt from events in Israel and Gaza made it all the more baffling and odious to them when peers protested in ways that implied Jewish Americans were complicit.
“I’m not personally doing anything,” complained Salem, a first-year student in the Midwest. “I don’t have anything to do with this.”
Students whom we classified as “retrenched” reported anxiety, loss of sleep and a sense of isolation. Many of them were concerned that rejecting Zionism – that is, the movement supporting the creation and preservation of Israel as a national homeland for the Jewish people – had become a litmus test in their progressive circles. That was untenable for these students, because they viewed Zionism as a constituent part of being Jewish.
Interviewees like Jack, a junior in the Pacific Northwest, spoke of removing their Star of David necklaces and censoring elements of their biography, because they perceived a social penalty for being Jewish.
By far, the largest group of Jewish students were struggling with mixed feelings about the war and its reverberations. What united these “conflicted” or “disillusioned” students was wariness of grand narratives and talking points that reduce the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a contest between good and evil, or the powerful and the powerless. They also eschewed labels such as “Zionist” or “anti-Zionist,” saying they lacked nuance.
Consider Elana, a “conflicted” sophomore in the mid-Atlantic, who told us she was uncomfortable in most Jewish spaces on campus because they effectively demanded that she declare her Israel politics at the door. It seemed to her that activists on both sides were more comfortable retreating into echo chambers than engaging in dialogue across differences.
Then there was Shira, a “disillusioned” first year in the Midwest who viewed Israeli-Palestinian coexistence, however implausible, as the only alternative to mutual destruction. She refused to participate in anti-war demonstrations on her campus because she couldn’t abide the organizers’ confrontational tactics – but also to avoid blowback from pro-Israel family and friends.
One unambiguous finding from our study was how often our interviewees used language prevalent in progressive discourse. They spoke repeatedly about the importance of “safe spaces,” and felt that listeners’ understandings mattered more than speakers’ intentions when evaluating “hate speech” and “microaggressions.”
Leo, a “conflicted” junior in the Deep South who uses they/them pronouns, acknowledged that some protesters who chant slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Globalize the Intifada” may not recognize how many Jewish students interpret them: as antisemitic calls for Israel’s destruction. But that was no excuse, they insisted. “What I’ve noticed is that the people who are at those demonstrations have created their own definition of antisemitism,” without input from the vast majority of Jews – something progressive protesters would not have stood for if another racial, religious or ethnic minority were being discussed.
The use of provocative and arguably antisemitic language was responsible for keeping Jews like Leo and Shira, who evinced deep sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians, from joining the protests.
Fundamentally, however, many of the Jewish students we spoke with said they’d welcome opportunities to discuss the war and the broader conflict. But the “groupthink” on campus was stifling, they complained, whether in Hillel centers that toe a reflexively pro-Israel line or student organizations that demand unquestioned buy-in to a set of progressive orthodoxies.
Joe, a “disillusioned” student in New England who just received his diploma two weeks ago, reflected, “When my friends complain that the ‘Free Palestine’ stickers on my campus are antisemitic, I think they just don’t want to be uncomfortable.” Discomfort can be productive, he added – as long as it is expressed in an environment that values intellectual risk-taking, dialogue across difference, and empathy.
Research discussed in this article was sponsored by the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University.
You stayed up too late scrolling through your phone, answering emails or watching just one more episode. The next morning, you feel groggy and irritable. That sugary pastry or greasy breakfast sandwich suddenly looks more appealing than your usual yogurt and berries. By the afternoon, chips or candy from the break room call your name. This isn’t just about willpower. Your brain, short on rest, is nudging you toward quick, high-calorie fixes.
While anyone can suffer from sleep loss, essential workers and first responders, including nurses, firefighters and emergency personnel, are especially vulnerabledue to night shifts and rotating schedules. These patterns disrupt the body’s internal clock and are linked to increased cravings, poor eating habits and elevated risks for obesity and metabolic disease. Fortunately, even a few nights of consistent, high-quality sleep can help rebalance key systems and start to reverse some of these effects.
Ghrelin, produced primarily in the stomach, signals that you are hungry, while leptin, which is produced in the fat cells, tells your brain that you are full. Even one night of restricted sleep increases the release of ghrelin and decreases leptin, which leads to greater hunger and reduced satisfaction after eating. This shift is driven by changes in how the body regulates hunger and stress. Your brain becomes less responsive to fullness signals, while at the same time ramping up stress hormones that can increase cravings and appetite.
These changes are not subtle. In controlled lab studies, healthy adults reported increased hunger and stronger cravings for calorie-dense foods after sleeping only four to five hours. The effect worsens with ongoing sleep deficits, which can lead to a chronically elevated appetite.
Sleep is as important as diet and exercise in maintaining a healthy weight.
In simple terms, your brain becomes more tempted by junk food and less capable of resisting it. Participants in sleep deprivation studies not only rated high-calorie foods as more desirable but were also more likely to choose them, regardless of how hungry they actually felt.
Your metabolism slows, leading to increased fat storage
Sleep is also critical for blood sugar control.
When you’re well rested, your body efficiently uses insulin to move sugar out of your bloodstream and into your cells for energy. But even one night of partial sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity by up to 25%, leaving more sugar circulating in your blood.
If your body can’t process sugar effectively, it’s more likely to convert it into fat. This contributes to weight gain, especially around the abdomen. Over time, poor sleep is associated with higher risk for Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a group of health issues such as high blood pressure, belly fat and high blood sugar that raise the risk for heart disease and diabetes.
On top of this, sleep loss raises cortisol, your body’s main stress hormone. Elevated cortisol encourages fat storage, especially in the abdominal region, and can further disrupt appetite regulation.
Sleep is your metabolic reset button
In a culture that glorifies hustle and late nights, sleep is often treated as optional. But your body doesn’t see it that way. Sleep is not downtime. It is active, essential repair. It is when your brain recalibrates hunger and reward signals, your hormones reset and your metabolism stabilizes.
So the next time you find yourself reaching for junk food after a short night, recognize that your biology is not failing you. It is reacting to stress and fatigue. The most effective way to restore balance isn’t a crash diet or caffeine. It’s sleep.
Sleep is not a luxury. It is your most powerful tool for appetite control, energy regulation and long-term health.
Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By H. Colleen Sinclair, Associate Research Professor of Social Psychology, Louisiana State University
Americans say the government and social media companies need to do something about misinformation and disinformation.Boris Zhitkov/Getty Images
Research on misinformation and disinformation has become the latest casualty of the Trump administration’s restructuring of federal research priorities.
Misinformation refers to misleading narratives shared by people unaware that content is false. Disinformation is deliberately generated and shared misleading content, when the sharer knows the narrative is suspect.
Americans also believe that consumers, the government and social media companies need to do something about it. Defunding research on misinformation and disinformation is, thus, the opposite of what Americans want. Without research, the ability to combat misleading narratives will be impaired.
The attack on misleading narrative research
Trump’s executive order claims that the Biden administration used research on misleading narratives to limit social media companies’ free speech.
Still, Trump and GOP politicians continue to demand disinformation researchers defend themselves, including in the March 2025 “censorship industrial complex” hearings, which explored alleged government censorship under the Biden administration.
The U.S. State Department, additionally, is soliciting all communications between government offices and disinformation researchers for evidence of censorship.
Trump’s executive order to “restore free speech,” the hearings and the State Department decision all imply that those conducting misleading narrative research are enemies of the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.
These actions have already led to significant problems – death threats and harassment included – for disinformation researchers, particularly women.
So let’s tackle what research on misinformation and disinformation is and isn’t.
Misleading content
Misinformation and disinformation researchers examine the sources of misleading content. They also study the spread of that content. And they investigate ways to reduce its harmful impacts.
For instance, as a social psychologist who studies disinformation and misinformation, I examine the nature of misleading content. I study and then share information about the manipulation tactics used by people who spread disinformation to influence others. My aim is to better inform the public about how to protect themselves from deception.
Sharing this information is free speech, not barring free speech.
Yet, some think this research leads to censorship when platforms choose to use the knowledge to label or remove suspect content or ban its primary spreaders. That’s what U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan argued in launching investigations in 2023 into disinformation research.
It is important to note, however, that the constitutional definition of censorship establishes that only the government – not citizens or businesses – can be censors.
So private companies have the right to make their own decisions about the content they put on their platforms.
Musk claimed the suppression of accounts on X was a result of the site’s algorithm reducing “the reach of a user if they’re frequently blocked or muted by other, credible users.” Truth Social representatives claim accounts were banned due to “bot mitigation” procedures, and authentic accounts may be reinstated if their classification as inauthentic was invalid.
Research shows that conservatives are more susceptible to misinformation than liberals. klevo/Getty Images
Is it censorship?
Republicans say social media companies have been biased against their content, censoring it or banning conservatives unfairly.
The “censorship industrial complex” hearings held by the House Foreign Affairs South and Central Asia Subcommittee were based on the premise that not only was misleading narrative research part of the alleged “censorship industrial complex,” but that it was focused on conservative voices.
When research does show that conservative authors have posts labeled or removed, or that their accounts are suspended at higher rates than liberal content, it also reveals that it is because conservative posts are significantly more likely to share misinformation than liberal posts.
This was found in a recent study of X users. Researchers tracked whose posts got tagged as false or misleading more in “community notes” – X’s alternative and Meta’s proposed alternative to fact checking – and it was conservative posts, because they were more likely to include false content than liberal posts.
Those accusing misleading narrative researchers of censorship misrepresent the nature and intent of the research and researchers. And they are using disinformation tactics to do so.
Here’s how.
The misleading information about censorship and bias has been repeated so much through the media and from political leaders, as evident in Trump’s executive order, that many Republicans believe it’s true. This repetition produces what psychologists call the illusory truth effect, where as few as three repetitions convince the human mind something is true.
Researchers have also identified a tactic known as “accusation in a mirror.” That’s when someone falsely accuses one’s perceived opponents of conducting, plotting or desiring to commit the same transgressions that one plans to commit or is already committing.
Similar anecdotal attacks are used to try to dismiss fact-checkers, whose conclusions can identify and discredit disinformation, leading to its tagging or removal from social media. This is done by highlighting an incident where fact-checkers “got it wrong.”
Examples include giving people the option, like on social media platform Bluesky, to turn misinformation moderation on or off.
But Trump’s executive order seeks to ban that research. Thus, instead of providing protections, the order will likely weaken Americans’ defenses.
H. Colleen Sinclair receives funding from a variety of government and foundation sources. The statements and opinions included in this The Conversation article are solely the author’s. Any statements and opinions included in these pages are not those of the Social Research and Evaluation Center, the College of Human Sciences & Education, the Louisiana State University, or the LSU Board of Supervisors.
Is Mars really as red as people say it is? – Jasmine, age 14, Everson, Washington
People from cultures across the world have been looking at Mars since ancient times. Because it appears reddish, it has often been called the red planet.
The English name for the planet comes from the Romans, who named it after their god of war because its color reminded them of blood. In reality, the reddish color of Mars comes from iron oxide in the rocks and dust covering its surface.
Your blood is also red because of a mixture of iron and oxygen in a molecule called hemoglobin. So in a way, the ancient connection between the planet Mars and blood wasn’t completely wrong. Rust, which is a common form of iron oxide found here on Earth, also often has a reddish color.
Iron oxide, found in rust on old metal machinery, is the compound that colors rocks and dust on Mars’ surface reddish brown. Lars Hammar/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
In my current research on exoplanets, I observe different types of signals from planets beyond Earth. Lots of interesting physics goes into how researchers perceive the colors of planets and stars through different types of telescopes.
Observing Mars with probes
If you look closely at pictures of Mars taken by rovers on its surface, you can see that most of the planet isn’t purely red, but more of a rusty brown or tan color.
You can see Mars’ rusty color in this photo taken by the Viking lander. NASA/JPL
Probes sent from Earth have taken pictures showing rocks with a rusty color. A 1976 picture from the Viking lander, the very first spacecraft to land on Mars, shows the Martian ground covered with a layer of rusty orange dust.
Not all of Mars’ surface has the same color. At the poles, its ice caps appear white. These ice caps contain frozen water, like the ice we usually find on Earth, but these ice caps are also covered by a layer of frozen carbon dioxide – dry ice.
This layer of dry ice can evaporate very quickly when sunlight shines on it and grows back again when it becomes dark. This process causes the white ice caps to grow and shrink in size depending on the Martian seasons.
This picture from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet with the same rusty color covering large parts of its surface. NASA, ESA, Zolt G. Levay (STScI)
Beyond visible light
Mars also gives off light in colors that you can’t see with your eyes but that scientists can measure with special cameras on telescopes.
Light itself can be thought of not only as a wave but also as a stream of particles called photons. The amount of energy carried by each photon is related to its color. For example, blue and violet photons have more energy than orange and red photons.
The rainbow of visible light that you can see is only a small slice of all the kinds of light. Some telescopes can detect light with a longer wavelength, such as infrared light, or light with a shorter wavelength, such as ultraviolet light. Others can detect X-rays or radio waves. Inductiveload, NASA/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Ultraviolet photons have even more energy than the photons you can see with your eyes. These photons are found in direct sunlight, and because they have so much energy, they can damage the cells in your body. You can use sunscreen to protect yourself from them.
Infrared photons have less energy than the photons you can see with your eyes, and you don’t need any special protection from them. This is how some types of night-vision goggles work: They can see light in the infrared spectrum as well as the visible color spectrum. Scientists can take pictures of Mars in the infrared spectrum using special cameras that work almost like night-vision goggles for telescopes.
The colors on the infrared picture aren’t really what the infrared light looks like, because you can’t see those colors with your eyes. They are called “false colors,” and researchers add them to look at the picture more easily.
When you compare the visible color picture and the infrared picture, you can see some of the same features – and the ice caps are visible in both sets of colors.
NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, launched in 2013, has even taken pictures with ultraviolet light, giving scientists a different view of both the surface of Mars and its atmosphere.
Astronomers are always looking for new ways to take telescope pictures outside of the regular visible spectrum. They can even make images using radio waves, microwaves, X-rays and gamma rays. Each part of the spectrum they can use to look at an object in space represents new information they can learn from.
Even though people have been looking at Mars since ancient times, we still have much to learn about this fascinating neighbor.
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.
And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.
David Joffe receives funding from the NASA Office of STEM Engagement through a grant from the Georgia Space Grant Consortium
Your DNA is continually damaged by sources both inside and outside your body. One especially severe form of damage called a double-strand break involves the severing of both strands of the DNA double helix.
Double-strand breaks are among the most difficult forms of DNA damage for cells to repair because they disrupt the continuity of DNA and leave no intact template to base new strands on. If misrepaired, these breaks can lead to other mutations that make the genome unstable and increase the risk of many diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration and immunodeficiency.
These insights could not only pave the way for new treatment strategies for genetic disorders, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, but also enhance gene-editing technologies.
Sealing a knowledge gap in DNA repair
I have spent the past two decades investigating the relationship between RNA and DNA in order to understand how cells maintain genome integrity and how these mechanisms could be harnessed for genetic engineering.
A long-standing question in the field has been whether RNA in cells helps keep the genome stable beyond acting as a copy of DNA in the process of making proteins and a regulator of gene expression. Studying how RNA might do this has been especially difficult due to its similarity to DNA and how fast it degrades. It’s also technically challenging to tell whether the RNA is directly working to repair DNA or indirectly regulating the process. Traditional models and tools for studying DNA repair have for the most part focused on proteins and DNA, leaving RNA’s potential contributions largely unexplored.
RNA plays a key role in protein synthesis.
My team and I were curious about whether RNA might actively participate in fixing double-strand breaks as a first line of defense. To explore this, we used the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to make breaks at specific spots in the DNA of human and yeast cells. We then analyzed how RNA influences various aspects of the repair process, including efficiency and outcomes.
We found that RNA can actively guide the repair process of double-strand breaks. It does this by binding to broken DNA ends, helping align sequences of DNA on a matching strand that isn’t broken. It can also seal gaps or remove mismatched segments, further influencing whether and how the original sequence is restored.
Additionally, we found that RNA aids in double-strand break repair in both yeast and human cells, suggesting that its role in DNA repair is evolutionary conserved across species. Notably, even low levels of RNA were sufficient to influence the efficiency and outcome of repair, pointing to its broad and previously unrecognized function in maintaining genome stability.
RNA in control
By uncovering RNA’s previously unknown function to repair DNA damage, our findings show how RNA may directly contribute to the stability and evolution of the genome. It’s not merely a passive messenger, but an active participant in genome maintenance.
These insights could help researchers develop new ways to target the genomic instability that underlies many diseases, including cancer and neurodegeneration. Traditionally, treatments and gene-editing tools have focused almost exclusively on DNA or proteins. Our findings suggest that modifying RNA in different ways could also influence how cells respond to DNA damage. For example, researchers could design RNA-based therapies to enhance the repair of harmful breaks that could cause cancer, or selectively disrupt DNA break repair in cancer cells to help kill them.
In addition, these findings could improve the precision of gene-editing technologies like CRISPR by accounting for interactions between RNA and DNA at the site of the cut. This could reduce off-target effects and increase editing precision, ultimately contributing to the development of safer and more effective gene therapies.
There are still many unanswered questions about how RNA interacts with DNA in the repair process. The evolutionary role that RNA plays in maintaining genome stability is also unclear. But one thing is certain: RNA is no longer just a messenger, it is a molecule with a direct hand in DNA repair, rewriting what researchers know about how cells safeguard their genetic code.
Francesca Storici consults at Tessera Therapeutics. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
If you’ve worried that AI might take your job, deprive you of your livelihood, or maybe even replace your role in society, it probably feels good to see the latest AI tools fail spectacularly. If AI recommends glue as a pizza topping, then you’re safe for another day.
But the fact remains that AI already has definite advantages over even the most skilled humans, and knowing where these advantages arise — and where they don’t — will be key to adapting to the AI-infused workforce.
AI will often not be as effective as a human doing the same job. It won’t always know more or be more accurate. And it definitely won’t always be fairer or more reliable. But it may still be used whenever it has an advantage over humans in one of four dimensions: speed, scale, scope and sophistication. Understanding these dimensions is the key to understanding AI-human replacement.
Speed
First, speed. There are tasks that humans are perfectly good at but are not nearly as fast as AI. One example is restoring or upscaling images: taking pixelated, noisy or blurry images and making a crisper and higher-resolution version. Humans are good at this; given the right digital tools and enough time, they can fill in fine details. But they are too slow to efficiently process large images or videos.
AI models can do the job blazingly fast, a capability with important industrial applications. AI-based software is used to enhance satellite and remote sensing data, to compress video files, to make video games run better with cheaper hardware and less energy, to help robots make the right movements, and to model turbulence to help build better internal combustion engines.
Real-time performance matters in these cases, and the speed of AI is necessary to enable them.
Scale
The second dimension of AI’s advantage over humans is scale. AI will increasingly be used in tasks that humans can do well in one place at a time, but that AI can do in millions of places simultaneously. A familiar example is ad targeting and personalization. Human marketers can collect data and predict what types of people will respond to certain advertisements. This capability is important commercially; advertising is a trillion-dollar market globally.
AI models can do this for every single product, TV show, website and internet user. This is how the modern ad-tech industry works. Real-time bidding markets price the display ads that appear alongside the websites you visit, and advertisers use AI models to decide when they want to pay that price – thousands of times per second.
Scope
Next, scope. AI can be advantageous when it does more things than any one person could, even when a human might do better at any one of those tasks. Generative AI systems such as ChatGPT can engage in conversation on any topic, write an essay espousing any position, create poetry in any style and language, write computer code in any programming language, and more. These models may not be superior to skilled humans at any one of these things, but no single human could outperform top-tier generative models across them all.
It’s the combination of these competencies that generates value. Employers often struggle to find people with talents in disciplines such as software development and data science who also have strong prior knowledge of the employer’s domain. Organizations are likely to continue to rely on human specialists to write the best code and the best persuasive text, but they will increasingly be satisfied with AI when they just need a passable version of either.
How AI is affecting the job market.
Sophistication
Finally, sophistication. AIs can consider more factors in their decisions than humans can, and this can endow them with superhuman performance on specialized tasks. Computers have long been used to keep track of a multiplicity of factors that compound and interact in ways more complex than a human could trace. The 1990s chess-playing computer systems such as Deep Blue succeeded by thinking a dozen or more moves ahead.
Modern AI systems use a radically different approach: Deep learning systems built from many-layered neural networks take account of complex interactions – often many billions – among many factors. Neural networks now power the best chess-playing models and most other AI systems.
Chess is not the only domain where eschewing conventional rules and formal logic in favor of highly sophisticated and inscrutable systems has generated progress. The stunning advance of AlphaFold2, the AI model of structural biology whose creators Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were recognized with the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2024, is another example.
This breakthrough replaced traditional physics-based systems for predicting how sequences of amino acids would fold into three-dimensional shapes with a 93 million-parameter model, even though it doesn’t account for physical laws. That lack of real-world grounding is not desirable: No one likes the enigmatic nature of these AI systems, and scientists are eager to understand better how they work.
But the sophistication of AI is providing value to scientists, and its use across scientific fields has grown exponentially in recent years.
Context matters
Those are the four dimensions where AI can excel over humans. Accuracy still matters. You wouldn’t want to use an AI that makes graphics look glitchy or targets ads randomly – yet accuracy isn’t the differentiator. The AI doesn’t need superhuman accuracy. It’s enough for AI to be merely good and fast, or adequate and scalable. Increasing scope often comes with an accuracy penalty, because AI can generalize poorly to truly novel tasks. The 4 S’s are sometimes at odds. With a given amount of computing power, you generally have to trade off scale for sophistication.
Even more interestingly, when an AI takes over a human task, the task can change. Sometimes the AI is just doing things differently. Other times, AI starts doing different things. These changes bring new opportunities and new risks.
For example, high-frequency trading isn’t just computers trading stocks faster; it’s a fundamentally different kind of trading that enables entirely new strategies, tactics and associated risks. Likewise, AI has developed more sophisticated strategies for the games of chess and Go. And the scale of AI chatbots has changed the nature of propaganda by allowing artificial voices to overwhelm human speech.
It is this “phase shift,” when changes in degree may transform into changes in kind, where AI’s impacts to society are likely to be most keenly felt. All of this points to the places that AI can have a positive impact. When a system has a bottleneck related to speed, scale, scope or sophistication, or when one of these factors poses a real barrier to being able to accomplish a goal, it makes sense to think about how AI could help.
Equally, when speed, scale, scope and sophistication are not primary barriers, it makes less sense to use AI. This is why AI auto-suggest features for short communications such as text messages can feel so annoying. They offer little speed advantage and no benefit from sophistication, while sacrificing the sincerity of human communication.
Many deployments of customer service chatbots also fail this test, which may explain their unpopularity. Companies invest in them because of their scalability, and yet the bots often become a barrier to support rather than a speedy or sophisticated problem solver.
Where the advantage lies
Keep this in mind when you encounter a new application for AI or consider AI as a replacement for or an augmentation to a human process. Looking for bottlenecks in speed, scale, scope and sophistication provides a framework for understanding where AI provides value, and equally where the unique capabilities of the human species give us an enduring advantage.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
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Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) Major General Mokhtar Abdel Latif.
Spokesman for the Presidency, Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy, said the President was briefed on the activities and projects undertaken by factories and companies affiliated with the Arab Organization for Industrialization across various fields. Major General Abdel Latif noted that the AOI operates according to a comprehensive strategy aimed at deepening local manufacturing, increasing export rates, and enhancing the industrial and technological capabilities of its factories. This is in addition to cooperating with the private sector to establish joint projects, leveraging the AOI’s advanced industrial capabilities.
President El-Sisi affirmed the AOI’s significant role in various sectors, particularly with regard to the improvement of local manufacturing ratios, the localization of industry, and the increase of exports, which contributes to reducing the import bill and providing foreign currency, thereby supporting the national economy.
President El-Sisi was also updated on the existing frameworks of cooperation between the AOI and several major international companies operating in the automotive industry. The President inspected a number of “Citroën C4X” models, which are locally manufactured with a 45% component ratio in the factories of the Arab Organization for Industrialization, in partnership with the Arab American Vehicles Company (AAV) and the French “Stellantis” Group.
AOI Chairman, Major General Abdel Latif, said planning for the production of this model began in August 2023, adding that technical and logistical preparations were undertaken, leading to the production of initial prototypes in March 2025. He noted that approximately 7,000 cars are scheduled for annual production over four years, totaling 28,000 vehicles. Furthermore, preparations are underway for the production of a new car in cooperation with the “Stellantis” Group, with production set to begin in late 2026. This new model will see a total of 240,000 cars manufactured exclusively in AOI factories, and will not be manufactured in any of the Group’s other global facilities.
President El-Sisi gave directives to further strengthen cooperation with private sector companies, both locally and internationally. This is in alignment with the state’s strategy aimed at localizing the automotive industry, increasing the percentage of local components, and maximizing exports of products manufactured in Egypt.
– on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved a €19.6 million financing package to support the Cabeólica Phase II Expansion Project in Cabo Verde.
The project is the country’s first renewable energy initiative to integrate wind power generation and battery energy storage systems (BESS) at scale.
The financing includes a loan of approximately €12.6 million from the African Development Bank, and €7 million in concessional loan financing from the Bank Group-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).
Building on the success of the original Cabeólica power project commissioned in 2012, Phase II will add 13.5 megawatts of wind generation capacity and 26 megawatt-hours of grid-connected battery energy storage. The expansion is expected to generate over 60 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, eliminating expensive thermal generation and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 50,000 tonnes annually.
“This project is a testament to Cabo Verde’s long-term vision to decarbonize its power sector and enhance its resilience. It also demonstrates how private sector investment, facilitated by catalytic concessional financing, can deliver cost-effective, sustainable energy solutions for small island economies,” said Wale Shonibare, Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulations at the African Development Bank.
Daniel Schroth, the Bank Group’s director for Renewable Energy and Efficiency said: “SEFA’s support for the integration of battery storage into Cabo Verde’s power system enhances power security and grid reliability while reducing generation costs in Cabo Verde.” He noted that the project highlights the added value of the right mix of financing and technology to strengthen long-term power sector sustainability.
Ayotunde Anjorin, Chairman of Cabeólica and Senior Director and CFO at Africa Finance Corporation, said: “As the first renewable energy commercial scale PPP in sub-Saharan Africa, Cabeólica is again proud to lead this transformative expansion project comprising additional wind capacity and battery energy storage. This project underscores Cabeólica’s deep commitment to delivering reliable, clean energy infrastructure in line with national goals and priorities and continues to set a replicable model for the region.”
Cabeólica Phase II entails five installations across four islands: a wind expansion on Santiago and BESS deployments on Santiago, Sal, Boa Vista, and São Vicente. Battery storage will support ancillary grid services such as frequency response and voltage regulation, enabling more efficient use of intermittent wind power and reducing curtailment. With Cabo Verde’s electricity system still heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels, these upgrades are expected to reduce system costs and enhance energy security.
Owned by Africa Finance Corporation, A.P. Moller Capital, and Cabo Verdean public entities, Cabeólica S.A. is the country’s first independent power producer (IPP). Phase II of the project will be underpinned by a 20-year power purchase and storage services agreement with the national utility Electra S.A., at tariffs significantly lower than the national average generation cost.
The project advances Cabo Verde’s goal of generating 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2030 as well as its Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement.
It aligns with the African Development Bank’s ‘Light Up and Power Africa’ High-5 priority, its Ten-Year Strategy, and SEFA’s Green Baseload pillar.
– on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
Media Contact: Olufemi Terry Communication and External Relations Department media@afdb.org
About the African Development Bank Group: The African Development Bank Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the Bank contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
Export bar placed on £8 million Rubens work
A temporary export bar has been placed on an oil sketch, titled Cimon Falling in love with Efigenia, by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens
The work has been valued at £8.4 million
The export bar will allow time for a UK gallery or institution to acquire the oil sketch for the nation
An export bar has been placed on an oil sketch by Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens, which is at risk of leaving the UK.
Rubens was an exceptionally successful painter and is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens was born in Siegen, Germany in 1577 and is mostly known for his vibrant style emphasising movement, colour, and sensuality. Some of his most famous paintings include The Elevation of the Cross and Judgement of Paris.
Cimon Falling in love with Efigenia is a remarkable example of one of Rubens’ authentic oil sketches created entirely by his own hand.
Oil sketches by Rubens have been eagerly collected in the UK and there is a strong British connection to this piece, as George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham (1592–1628), was an admirer of his artistic talent and displayed works by Rubens in his home at York House. This included the finished painting of Cimon and Efigenia for which the current oil sketch is a preparatory work.
The sketch is a marvellous encapsulation of Rubens’ working methods at a relatively early stage in his career. It would enhance the representation of such works in the UK if saved for the nation by a cultural institution.
Arts Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:
This work is the perfect example of Rubens’ artistic talent and gives us greater insight into Flemish art during the 17th century.
I hope that a UK gallery is able to save it so that the public can enjoy it for generations to come.
Mark Hallett, Committee Member said:
This is a picture that gives us the opportunity to appreciate a great artist’s creative process in full flow. Produced on panel as the primary sketch for a monumental oil painting that now hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Cimon falling in Love with Efigenia is entirely the product of Rubens’s own hand, rather than one that – as is the case with the final picture – contains the contributions of his studio assistants. In the sketch, we see Rubens exploring the artistic possibilities of an ethically and erotically charged scene from early Renaissance literature, and experimenting with the established pictorial conventions of the female nude. The longer one looks at and thinks about this picture, the more complex and challenging it becomes: the mark of all truly significant works of art. For these reasons, Cimon falling in Love with Efigenia demands to be found a permanent home in the UK, where it can be enjoyed and reflected upon for decades to come.
The RCEWA made its recommendation on the basis that the painting met the second and third Waverley criteria for its outstanding aesthetic importance and its outstanding significance to the study of Rubens’ preparatory studies and sketches and their influence, as well as the treatment of the female nude in art.
The decision on the export licence application for the painting will be deferred for a period ending on 15 September 2025 inclusive. At the end of the first deferral period owners will have a consideration period of 15 Business Days to consider any offer(s) to purchase the painting at the recommended price of £8,440,000. The second deferral period will commence following the signing of an Option Agreement and will last for six months.
Notes to editors:
Organisations or individuals interested in purchasing the painting should contact the RCEWA on 02072680534 or rcewa@artscouncil.org.uk.
Details of the painting are as follows: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) Cimon Falling in love with Efigenia, c. 1616–17. Oil on panel, 29.8 x 43.5 cm. The painting is on a narrow wooden panel with vertical grain. The painting is in generally good condition.
Provenance: Probably the painter and dealer Jeremias Wildens (1621-53), son of Jan Wildens (1586 – 1653) who collaborated with Rubens on the Vienna picture in which he painted the landscape; His estate: inventory drawn up 30 January 1653 and 11 January 1654, no. 528 ‘Eenen Thimon met Naeckte vrouwkens van Rubbens’ (A Thimon [Cimon] with naked women by Rubens); Philippe Panné, Esq., Great George Street, Hanover Square, London (d. 1819); His sale: Christie’s, London, A catalogue of the very capital, valuable and highly important collection of Italian, French, Flemish and Dutch pictures, of the late Ph. Panné, Esq. of Great George Street, Hanover Square, deceased, 27 March 1819 (including 350 lots), lot 17, as ‘Rubens, Cymon and Iphigenia. panel, 12’ x 17’ [sic.] (sold 26-5 pounds); William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick (1773-1842); His sale: Christie’s, London, 1 December 1827, lot 73, as ‘Rubens’ School, Cymon and Iphiginia’ (“17 guineas”, “”bought in”); Sir Matthew Wilson,1st Baronet of Eshton Hall (1802-1891), Gargrave, 1877; Private Collection, U.K. by 1886; Private collection, purchase, 2024
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is an independent body, serviced by Arts Council England (ACE), which advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance under specified criteria.
Based in London’s thriving White City Innovation District, the Janus Accelerator will support a new cohort of cutting-edge companies developing dual-use technologies that enhance NATO’s technological edge while addressing critical defence challenges.
The selection comes as DIANA launched its 2026 Challenge Call on 2 June, with Phase 1 of the accelerator programme scheduled to begin in early 2026.
Sharpening NATO’s technological advantage
NATO DIANA was formally established in 2023 to identify and accelerate dual-use innovation across the Alliance. The initiative provides innovators with vital resources, networks and guidance to develop deep technologies that solve pressing defence challenges – from operating in denied environments to countering threats to collective resilience.
Emerging and disruptive technologies have become increasingly crucial for maintaining NATO’s competitive edge in collective defence and security. Through a transatlantic network spanning 23 accelerators and 182 test centres, DIANA connects military end-users with innovative start-ups, researchers and technologists across all 32 NATO nations.
John Cunningham, Director of Defence Innovation, said:
The selection of the Janus Accelerator as an activated site for NATO DIANA’s 2026 programme represents a significant vote of confidence in the UK’s defence innovation ecosystem. This partnership will help unlock the potential of our most promising dual-use technologies, accelerating groundbreaking solutions to strengthen NATO’s capabilities while creating high-skilled jobs and economic growth here in Britain.
State-of-the-art innovation hub
Launched in January 2025 and supported by the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), the Janus Accelerator is delivered by the Janus Consortium and collocated with the NATO DIANA Regional Office at Imperial College London’s Innovation Hub.
Companies participating in the DIANA accelerator programme gain unparalleled exposure to government and military buyers, investors and end users across the Alliance – creating pathways to scale innovative solutions that address NATO’s most pressing security challenges.
Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration analysis based on Vortexa tanker tracking Note: 1Q25=first quarter of 2025
The Strait of Hormuz, located between Oman and Iran, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The strait is deep enough and wide enough to handle the world’s largest crude oil tankers, and it is one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints. Large volumes of oil flow through the strait, and very few alternative options exist to move oil out of the strait if it is closed. In 2024, oil flow through the strait averaged 20 million barrels per day (b/d), or the equivalent of about 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. In the first quarter of 2025, total oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz remained relatively flat compared with 2024.
Although we have not seen maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz blocked following recent tensions in the region, the price of Brent crude oil (a global benchmark) increased from $69 per barrel (b) on June 12 to $74/b on June 13. This piece highlights the importance of the strait to global oil supplies.
Chokepoints are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes that are critical to global energy security. The inability of oil to transit a major chokepoint, even temporarily, can create substantial supply delays and raise shipping costs, potentially increasing world energy prices. Although most chokepoints can be circumvented by using other routes—often adding significantly to transit time—some chokepoints have no practical alternatives. Most volumes that transit the strait have no alternative means of exiting the region, although there are some pipeline alternatives that can avoid the Strait of Hormuz.
Between 2022 and 2024, volumes of crude oil and condensate transiting the Strait of Hormuz declined by 1.6 million b/d, which were only partially offset by a 0.5-million b/d increase in petroleum product cargoes. The decline in oil transit through the strait partially reflects the OPEC+ decision to voluntarily cut crude oil production several times starting in November 2022, which lowered exports from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, disruptions in 2024 to oil flows around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea, led Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Aramco to shift seaborne crude oil flows from the Strait of Hormuz, instead sending it over land through its East-West pipeline to ports on the Red Sea. Also, more refining capacity in the Persian Gulf states increased regional demand for crude oil and shifted some flows to local markets within the Persian Gulf.
Flows through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 made up more than one-quarter of total global seaborne oil trade and about one-fifth of global oil and petroleum product consumption. In addition, around one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade also transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2024, primarily from Qatar.
Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, June 2025, and U.S. Energy Information Administration analysis based on Vortexa tanker tracking Note: World maritime oil trade excludes intra-country volumes except those volumes that transit the Strait of Hormuz. LNG=liquefied natural gas. 1Q25=first quarter of 2025
Based on tanker tracking data published by Vortexa, Saudi Arabia moves more crude oil and condensate through the Strait of Hormuz than any other country. In 2024, exports of crude and condensate from Saudi Arabia accounted for 38% of total Hormuz crude flows (5.5 million b/d).
Alternative routes Saudi Arabia and the UAE have some infrastructure in place that can bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which may somewhat mitigate any transit disruptions through the strait. The pipelines do not typically operate at full capacity, and we estimate that about 2.6 million b/d of capacity from the Saudi and UAE pipelines could be available to bypass the Strait of Hormuz in the event of a supply disruption.
Saudi Aramco operates the 5 million-b/d East-West crude oil pipeline, which runs from the Abqaiq oil processing center near the Persian Gulf to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea. Aramco temporarily expanded the pipeline’s capacity to 7.0 million b/d in 2019 when it converted some natural gas liquids pipelines to accept crude oil. In 2024, Saudi Arabia pumped more crude oil through the East-West pipeline to avoid the shipping disruptions around the Bab al-Mandeb.
The UAE also operates a pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. This 1.8 million-b/d pipeline links onshore oil fields to the Fujairah export terminal in the Gulf of Oman. In 2024, crude oil and condensate volumes originating in the UAE and traversing Hormuz were 0.4 million b/d less than in 2022 because refinery upgrades allowed more heavy crude oil to be refined locally. These upgrades also allowed the UAE to increase exports of its lighter crude oil grades, and use of the pipeline to the Fujairah export terminal increased. Increased use of the pipeline for day-to-day operations has limited the excess capacity available to reroute additional volumes around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran inaugurated the Goreh-Jask pipeline and the Jask export terminal on the Gulf of Oman (avoiding the Strait of Hormuz) with a single export cargo in July 2021. The pipeline’s effective capacity remains around 300,000 b/d. However, during the summer of 2024 Iran exported less than 70,000 b/d from ports (Bandar-e-Jask and Kooh Mobarak) using the Goreh-Jask pipeline and stopped loading cargoes after September 2024.
Destination markets We estimate that 84% of the crude oil and condensate and 83% of the liquefied natural gas that moved through the Strait of Hormuz went to Asian markets in 2024. China, India, Japan, and South Korea were the top destinations for crude oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz to Asia, accounting for a combined 69% of all Hormuz crude oil and condensate flows in 2024. These markets would likely be most affected by supply disruptions at Hormuz.
Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration analysis based on Vortexa tanker tracking Note: 1Q25=first quarter of 2025
In 2024, the United States imported about 0.5 million b/d of crude oil and condensate from Persian Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuz, accounting for about 7% of total U.S. crude oil and condensate imports and 2% of U.S. petroleum liquids consumption. In 2024, U.S. crude oil imports from countries in the Persian Gulf were at the lowest level in nearly 40 years as domestic production and imports from Canada have increased.
Principal contributors: Candace Dunn, Justine Barden
DURHAM, N.C., June 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ServiceTrade, Inc., the industry-leading provider of field service management solutions that enable commercial service contractors to build stronger, more profitable businesses, today announced ServiceTrade InspectionsTM. ServiceTrade Inspections is the only solution for fire inspection and compliance management that is fully integrated within a field service management platform. The expanded functionality streamlines every aspect of the inspection workflow through a single, mobile user interface, enabling greater efficiency, increased revenue, and superior customer service.
“We’ve been in the trenches with commercial fire service providers for over a decade––we understand their challenges, and we know how integrated inspections functionality can streamline operations and add efficiency to improve their business performance,” said William Chaney, CEO of ServiceTrade. “We’re excited to bring the next generation of inspection technology to them within ServiceTrade.”
Fully integrated within ServiceTrade’s field service management platform, the new functionality consolidates essential inspection management capabilities in a seamless experience that accelerates inspections and maximizes technician productivity. Rather than dealing with administrative paperwork, technicians can focus on performing inspections, testing, and maintenance work. ServiceTrade captures inspection data once and puts it to work everywhere—automating deficiency creation, updating asset information, and creating polished customer-ready reports in less time. ServiceTrade Inspections includes:
A Unified Mobile App for Service and Inspections: Technicians perform inspections via the ServiceTrade mobile application, designed specifically to meet the demands of fire protection work—streamlined, accurate, and easy to use in the field. The app boosts speed, reduces training time, and improves field adoption.
A Comprehensive Mobile Inspection Forms Library: ServiceTrade Inspections offers an extensive library of NFPA and AES forms. The library includes forms required by joint commission-accredited organizations, such as major healthcare providers, hospitals, schools, Class A office buildings, apartment complexes, high-rises, and industrial facilities.
Intelligent Inspection Report Generation: Inspection results are automatically transformed into polished, customer-ready compliance reports that can be reviewed, approved, and delivered without delay.
Automated Deficiency Management: ServiceTrade streamlines the entire lifecycle of deficiency management—from the moment a technician in the field identifies an issue, to generating revenue from the repair. Technicians can easily document deficiencies, which are instantly added to the NFPA report and converted into ready-to-quote records in ServiceTrade. Duplicate data entry is eliminated, enabling quicker customer approvals, ensuring full compliance, and accelerating repair revenue.
Integrated field-to-office workflow: ServiceTrade Inspections improves field-to-office coordination with real-time status tracking, transparent revision history, and seamless in-platform form editing.
“Inspection and deficiency repair work is an engine of predictable revenue and growth for fire protection contractors,” said Brook Bock, CPO at ServiceTrade. “ServiceTrade’s new built-in inspections functionality makes it easier for contractors to take advantage of this desirable work without compromising on capabilities or implementing multiple software products to support both inspections and operations. ServiceTrade’s all-in-one service capabilities include inspections, quotes, repairs, and compliance reporting. It is purpose-built to help fire service contractors build stronger, more efficient, and more profitable businesses.”
ServiceTrade Inspections combines state-of-the-art technology with deep expertise in the fire protection industry in a single, complete solution. ServiceTrade enables contractors to:
Win and retain premium customers by delivering superior, code-compliant inspection services.
Drive additional revenue by identifying more deficiencies and performing more repairs.
Mitigate risk through accurate inspections and a comprehensive digital record.
Streamline technician workflows with fingertip access to digital, code-compliant inspection forms.
Eliminate manual data entry and lost paperwork.
Boost technician productivity and confidence with intuitive digital tools and AI assistants that enable every technician to sound like a professional.
Simplify cross-organizational workflows, including sales, field service delivery, and office operations.
Provide end-customer with proactive and detailed information that fosters trust and strengthens customer satisfaction.
Unlike general inspection management solutions, which often lack industry-specific features, forms, and integrations, ServiceTrade Inspections is specifically designed for fire protection contractors.
Joshua Gilbert, Vice President of Operations of Desert Fire, commented: “ServiceTrade does three things simultaneously – it creates the report and maps everything for compliance, tracks all deficiencies so we can generate quotes and send work acknowledgments to customers, all from one mobile interface. Once we started tracking how quickly we moved from deficiency to quote to job to invoice, our revenue skyrocketed because nothing was getting missed anymore.”
ServiceTrade Inspections is now available for purchase, with implementations beginning this Fall.
To learn more about ServiceTrade:
ABOUT SERVICETRADE
ServiceTrade helps commercial service contractors build stronger, more profitable businesses. With over a decade of category leadership and more than 1,300 customers, ServiceTrade’s end-to-end platform streamlines operations from the field to the back office, improves technician productivity, and strengthens customer relationships from contract to invoice. ServiceTrade powers the modern commercial contractor. Learn more at www.servicetrade.com.
COLUMBIA, Md., June 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tenable®, the exposure management company, today announced that Tenable Vulnerability Management has been recognized with a prestigious 2025 Globee® Award for AI-Powered Vulnerability Management. This latest accolade underscores Tenable’s market leadership, delivering advanced exposure management solutions that revolutionize the way organizations identify, prioritize and remediate cyber risk.
“This achievement is a testament to Tenable’s commitment to innovation and to helping customers secure modern and emerging attack surfaces,” said Eric Doerr, chief product officer, Tenable. “We’re arming cyber defenders with innovative AI-powered exposure management solutions to get ahead of the risks before they can be exploited.”
Tenable Vulnerability Management uses AI and the power of Nessus technology to analyze threat intelligence, asset criticality and vulnerability data. The enhanced visibility, predictive insights, and intelligent prioritization from Tenable enable organizations to rapidly identify emerging threats and effectively reduce risk.
In addition to using AI to power its exposure management solutions, Tenable is also accelerating its ability to help customers safely innovate by securing the AI they use and the AI they build. This month, Tenable acquired Apex Security, a breakthrough innovator in securing the rapidly expanding AI attack surface. Building on the foundation set with Tenable AI Aware and embedded AI security posture management (AI-SPM) capabilities, the acquisition will strengthen the Tenable One exposure management platform by providing deeper visibility and control, and the ability to govern usage, enforce policy and control exposure across all AI initiatives.
About Tenable Tenable® is the exposure management company, exposing and closing the cybersecurity gaps that erode business value, reputation and trust. The company’s AI-powered exposure management platform radically unifies security visibility, insight and action across the attack surface, equipping modern organizations to protect against attacks from IT infrastructure to cloud environments to critical infrastructure and everywhere in between. By protecting enterprises from security exposure, Tenable reduces business risk for approximately 44,000 customers around the globe. Learn more at tenable.com.
BURLINGTON, Mass., June 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS), the trusted provider of AI-powered digital experience and infrastructure software, today announced that it will release financial results for its fiscal second quarter of 2025 after the market close on Monday, June 30, 2025. Progress will host a conference call to review and discuss the results at 5:00 p.m. ET the same day. The company’s second quarter of fiscal year 2025 ended on May 31, 2025.
Conference Call Details A live webcast of the call will be available using this link.
To access the conference call by phone, please use this link to retrieve dial-in details. To avoid delays, we encourage participants to dial into the conference call 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time.
An archived version of the conference call and supporting materials will be available on the Progress Investor Relations webpage after the live conference call.
About Progress Software Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS) provides software that enables organizations to develop and deploy their mission-critical applications and experiences, as well as effectively manage their data platforms, cloud and IT infrastructure. As an experienced, trusted provider, we make the lives of technology professionals easier. Over 4 million developers and technologists at hundreds of thousands of enterprises depend on Progress. Learn more at www.progress.com.
Progress is a trademark or registered trademark of Progress Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Any other names contained herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cloudera, the only true hybrid platform for data, analytics, and AI will be hosting its annual series of data and AI conferences across the globe. Spanning four continents, Cloudera’s EVOLVE25 conference will gather industry visionaries, customers, and partners to explore how a unified hybrid data platform can power AI-driven innovation and transform customer experiences across industries.
Cloudera is helping enterprises make the most of AI by combining the power of trusted data and AI analytics to drive business value. Through keynote presentations, industry sessions, interactive hands-on-labs and ‘meet the experts’ meetings, attendees will explore how to leverage AI for innovative transformation. Sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS) , the events will also include breakout sessions focused on:
Enterprise AI— how organizations are scaling AI to transform operations, improve decision-making, drive innovation, and explore the latest tools for productivity, collaboration, security, and governance.
Hybrid cloud—strategies for optimizing hybrid and multi-cloud environments to support AI workloads while maintaining security, compliance, and cost efficiency.
Modern data architecture— how next-generation data architectures can support the unique requirements of AI applications and use cases.
There will also be an expo zone showcasing some of the industry’s most ground-breaking solutions for scalable and secure data management – enabling business-critical AI applications and real-time analytics at scale. Additionally, Mike Walsh, CEO of Tomorrow— designing companies for the 21st century—will be delivering a presentation on the intersection between disruptive technology and business leadership, translating deep tech into pragmatic recommendations for leaders.
Cloudera’s Data Impact Awards will also be announced at EVOLVE25. These prestigious awards recognize outstanding data-driven projects that have made a significant business impact within their organizations, across industries, and globally.
Learn more about EVOLVE25 events here. The schedule is as follows:
Singapore, August 7
São Paulo, September 3
New York, September 25
London, October 9
Washington, D.C, October 22
Dubai, November 20
“As AI and data analytics become an undeniable necessity across enterprises, it’s important to showcase the successful use-cases and offer hands-on training to understand the full benefits of the technology,” said Charles Sansbury, CEO of Cloudera. “EVOLVE25, one of the world’s most comprehensive data and AI event series, provides a unique opportunity for customers, partners, and innovative leaders to collaborate and network, looking ahead to what’s next in data management, analytics, and AI.”
Register for EVOLVE25 and inquire about sponsorship opportunities here.
About Cloudera
Cloudera is the only true hybrid platform for data, analytics, and AI. With 100x more data under management than other cloud-only vendors, Cloudera empowers global enterprises to transform data of all types, on any public or private cloud, into valuable, trusted insights. Our open data lakehouse delivers scalable and secure data management with portable cloud-native analytics, enabling customers to bring GenAI models to their data while maintaining privacy and ensuring responsible, reliable AI deployments. The world’s largest brands in financial services, insurance, media, manufacturing, and government rely on Cloudera to use their data to solve what was once impossible—today and in the future.
To learn more, visit Cloudera.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X. Cloudera and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cloudera, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
HERE demonstrates progress in responsible AI, emissions reductions and workforce inclusion.
New partnerships and customer solutions deliver measurable sustainability results.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – HERE Technologies, the leading location data and technology platform, today released its fifth annual Sustainability Report highlighting the company’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) progress and the growing role of location intelligence in global sustainability efforts.
The 2024 report outlines the company’s advancements in helping customers decarbonize and electrify transportation, improve operational efficiency and plan more sustainable infrastructure. HERE also advanced internal goals around emissions reduction, workforce inclusivity and the responsible use of AI.
“As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, we’re proud of the real-world impact our technology delivers, both in reducing emissions and helping our customers meet ambitious sustainability goals,” said Denise Doyle, Chief Product Officer and Sustainability Executive Sponsor at HERE Technologies. “Location technology plays an essential role in achieving global decarbonization targets and we’re committed to building solutions that move the world forward sustainably.” Highlights from HERE’s 2024 Sustainability Report include:
Enabling the EV future. HERE is helping to ease the shift to electric vehicles globally by partnering with automakers, such as Lotus, to deliver accurate, real-time EV range information. Location data is essential to tackling “range anxiety” and making EV adoption more practical for drivers. Together, Lotus and HERE are using leading edge technology to reduce carbon emissions and improve the driver experience.
Additionally, HERE and industry analyst firm SBD Automotive co-published the second annual EV Index, which offers critical insights to consumers, automakers and policymakers developing charging infrastructure worldwide.
Helping customers achieve sustainability goals. From optimizing truck and fleet operations to smarter vehicle routing, HERE solutions are used to reduce environmental impact. PSA Singapore, which operates the world’s largest transshipment hub, has developed OptETruck, a cloud-based transport management solution with features like automated scheduling and asset pooling for truck drivers within the port. Powered by HERE Tour Planning and Location Services, OptETruck allocates jobs to drivers based on their location, offering real-time optimization of routes and truck assignments. OptETruck has the potential to cut empty truck runs within the Port of Singapore by 50%, equivalent to an estimated annual reduction of 10,000 metric tons of CO2, or planting 300,000 trees.
Using AI in a responsible way. In 2024, HERE launched a Responsible AI Office and published a Responsible AI Policy to guide the ethical use of emerging technologies. These initiatives reinforce the company’s commitments to data privacy, transparency and accountability as AI becomes more central to HERE applications and its work in supporting more sustainable transportation systems.
Furthering commitment to reduce environmental impact. HERE remains focused on its aggressive decarbonization goals, marking progress against all emissions reduction targets in 2024. Additionally, the Chicago office joined offices in The Netherlands, Germany and Finland in transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy and HERE reduced its environmental footprint at industry events like CES.
Strengthening employee purpose and workforce inclusivity. HERE continues to strengthen its commitment to employee engagement and inclusivity. In 2024, the company hosted Purpose Week, its largest internal activation in a decade, connecting more than 600 employees across 31 global sites in volunteer efforts with 19 nonprofit partners. HERE also launched a new employee resource group, Grace, to support colleagues with diverse disabilities, and made measurable progress toward gender parity in leadership and workforce representation.
For more information on HERE Technologies’ sustainability initiatives and to access the full 2024 Sustainability Report, please visit https://www.here.com/about/sustainability.
About HERE Technologies HERE has been a pioneer in mapping and location technology for 40 years. Today, HERE’s location platform is recognized as the most complete in the industry, powering location-based products, services and custom maps for organizations and enterprises across the globe. From autonomous driving and seamless logistics to new mobility experiences, HERE allows its partners and customers to innovate while retaining control over their data and safeguarding privacy. Find out how HERE is moving the world forward at here.com.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and GRENOBLE, France, June 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Applied Materials, Inc. and CEA-Leti today announced the next phase of their longstanding collaboration to accelerate innovation in specialty semiconductors. Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU), the organizations plan to expand their joint lab and develop materials engineering solutions to address emerging infrastructure challenges in AI data centers.
The joint lab is focused on device innovations for chipmakers serving ICAPS markets (IoT, Communications, Automotive, Power and Sensors). These specialty chips are used in a wide range of applications – from industrial automation to electric vehicles – and they play a critical role managing data and power distribution within data centers. Growing resource demands in AI infrastructure have highlighted the need for a new wave of innovation in ICAPS chips to enable more energy-efficient computing.
Under the new arrangement, Applied and CEA-Leti plan to expand the lab with new equipment and capabilities that move beyond individual process steps to include full-flow development of specialty devices. Additionally, the lab would be equipped with state-of-the-art advanced packaging tools to support heterogeneous integration of chips across different wafer types and process nodes – enabling entirely new classes of specialty devices for a range of next-generation applications.
The joint facility features several Applied Materials wafer processing systems together with CEA-Leti’s world-class capabilities for evaluating performance of new materials and device validation. The upgraded lab is expected to strengthen the chipmaking ecosystem in France by further expanding the technology hub in Grenoble, a leading site for collaborative innovation across government, academia and industry. The lab also marks an extension of Applied’s global EPIC Platform, a new high-velocity innovation model designed to accelerate commercialization of new chip technologies. Applied and CEA-Leti will be able to leverage the R&D work taking place across Applied’s global innovation centers to drive progress in specialty semiconductor technologies.
“Applied Materials and CEA-Leti have a long history of successful collaboration, and we are excited to strengthen our capabilities for accelerating innovation and commercialization of next-generation specialty chips,” said Aninda Moitra, corporate vice president and general manager of Applied Materials’ ICAPS business. “Our combined expertise will help foster breakthroughs and push the boundaries of semiconductor innovation, contributing to sustainable advancements in a range of critical applications for the AI era.”
Sébastian Dauvé, CEO of CEA-Leti, said the first phase of the expanded collaboration laid important groundwork for addressing materials-engineering challenges of specialty semiconductor devices.
“Building on this momentum, the joint lab’s new focus on energy-efficient solutions for AI data-center infrastructure reflects our shared commitment to making technological progress that meets both industrial and societal needs. The extended collaboration also leverages our complementary strengths to accelerate innovation at the system level, while supporting sustainable growth in France’s semiconductor ecosystem,” he said.
AboutApplied Materials Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) is the leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. Our expertise in modifying materials at atomic levels and on an industrial scale enables customers to transform possibilities into reality. At Applied Materials, our innovations make possible a better future. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.
About CEA-Leti (France) CEA-Leti, a technology research institute at CEA, is a global leader in miniaturization technologies enabling smart, energy-efficient and secure solutions for industry. Founded in 1967, CEA-Leti pioneers micro-& nanotechnologies, tailoring differentiating applicative solutions for global companies, SMEs and startups. CEA-Leti tackles critical challenges in healthcare, energy and digital migration. From sensors to data processing and computing solutions, CEA-Leti’s multidisciplinary teams deliver solid expertise, leveraging world-class pre-industrialization facilities. With a staff of more than 2,000 talents, a portfolio of 3,200 patents, 11,000 sq. meters of cleanroom space and a clear IP policy, the institute is based in Grenoble, France, and has offices in Silicon Valley, Brussels and Tokyo. CEA-Leti has launched 75 startups and is a member of the Carnot Institutes network. Follow us on www.leti-cea.com and @CEA_Leti.
Technological expertise CEA has a key role in transferring scientific knowledge and innovation from research to industry. This high-level technological research is carried out in particular in electronic and integrated systems, from microscale to nanoscale. It has a wide range of industrial applications in the fields of transport, health, safety and telecommunications, contributing to the creation of high-quality and competitive products.
India has secured a prestigious position in global animal health with the designation of the ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal as a Category A Rinderpest Holding Facility (RHF) by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The recognition was The achievement highlights India’s commitment to international disease control standards and reinforces its pivotal role in safeguarding global animal health.
At the 92nd General Session of WOAH in Paris on May 29, 2025, where Alka Upadhyaya, Secretary of the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) and India’s WOAH Delegate, received the certificate from WOAH’s Director General.
Rinderpest, historically known as “cattle plague,” was a devastating livestock disease eradicated globally in 2011. To prevent its re-emergence, WOAH and FAO restrict the storage of Rinderpest Virus-Containing Material (RVCM) to a select few high-security laboratories worldwide. ICAR-NIHSAD, a Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) facility and WOAH reference laboratory for avian influenza, was designated as India’s RVCM repository in 2012. Following a rigorous evaluation in March 2025 by international experts, the institute earned Category A RHF status for one year, affirming its robust biosafety measures, effective inventory management, and preparedness for emergencies.
This milestone places India among an elite group of six global facilities tasked with securely managing rinderpest virus material, underscoring the nation’s leadership in animal health, biosecurity, and the One Health framework. “India’s role in eradicating rinderpest was historic, and today, preserving that legacy is equally critical. This recognition reflects our responsibility and readiness,” said Ms. Alka Upadhyaya. The international committee also urged India to pursue Category B designation by focusing on vaccine seed material, further strengthening its global standing.
srael and Iran kept up their attacks, killing and wounding civilians and raising concern among world leaders at a G7 meeting in Canada this week that the biggest battle between the two old enemies could lead to a broader regional conflict.
The Iranian death toll in four days of Israeli strikes, carried out with the declared aim of wiping out Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, had reached at least 224, with 90% of the casualties reported to be civilians, an Iranian health ministry spokesperson said.
Early on Monday, the Israeli military said it had detected more missiles launched from Iran towards Israel.
“At this time, the (Israeli Air Force) is operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat,” the Israeli Defence Forces said. Live video footage showed several missiles over Tel Aviv and Reuters witnesses said explosions could be heard there and over Jerusalem.
At least 10 people in Israel, including children, have been killed so far, according to authorities there.
Group of Seven leaders began gathering in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be a top priority.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his goals for the summit include for Iran to not develop or possess nuclear weapons, ensuring Israel’s right to defend itself, avoiding escalation of the conflict and creating room for diplomacy.
“This issue will be very high on the agenda of the G7 summit,” Merz told reporters.
Before leaving for the summit on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump was asked what he was doing to de-escalate the situation. “I hope there’s going to be a deal. I think it’s time for a deal,” he told reporters. “Sometimes they have to fight it out.”
Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday.
FIRST DAYLIGHT ATTACK ON ISRAEL
Explosions shook Tel Aviv on Sunday during Iran’s first daylight missile attack since Israel’s strike on Friday. Shortly after nightfall, Iranian missiles hit a residential street in Haifa, a mixed Jewish-Arab city, and in Israel’s south.
In Bat Yam, a city near Tel Aviv, residents braced on Sunday evening for another sleepless night after an overnight strike on an apartment tower.
“It’s very dreadful. It’s not fun. People are losing their lives and their homes,” said Shem, 29.
Images from Tehran showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against Iran’s oil and gas sector – raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state.
Brent crude futures were up $1.04, or 1.4%, to $75.39 a barrel by 0115 GMT, having jumped as much as $4 earlier in the session. While the spike in oil prices has investors on edge, stock and currency markets were little moved in early trading in Asia on Monday.
“It’s more of an oil story than an equity story at this point,” said Jim Carroll, senior wealth adviser and portfolio manager at Ballast Rock Private Wealth. “Stocks right now seem to be hanging on.”
TRUMP VETOES PLAN TO TARGET KHAMENEI, OFFICIALS SAY
In Washington, two U.S. officials told Reuters that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
When asked about the Reuters report, Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: “There’s so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I’m not going to get into that.”
“We do what we need to do,” he told Fox’s “Special Report With Bret Baier.”
Israel began the assault with a surprise attack on Friday that wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will escalate in the coming days.
The intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in attacks on Tehran on Sunday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
Iran has vowed to “open the gates of hell” in retaliation.
TRUMP WARNS IRAN NOT TO ATTACK
Trump has lauded Israel’s offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the U.S. has taken part and warning Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include U.S. targets.
Two U.S. officials said on Friday the U.S. military had helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel.
The U.S. president has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but which Western countries and the IAEA nuclear watchdog say could be used to make an atomic bomb.
The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S., due on Sunday, was scrapped after Tehran said it would not negotiate while under Israeli attack.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
News story
Dounreay helps Caithness retrieve its past
A Pictish stone believed to date back 1,700 years has been retrieved and preserved for future generations with financial help from Dounreay’s operators.
David Calder, NRS Dounreay Head of Sustainability and Socio-economics, Lord Thurso and Dave Wilson, NRS Dounreay Managing Director (left to right) at the stone’s unveiling. Copyright: High Life Highland
Dounreay isn’t the only site in Caithness where relics of the past are being retrieved and made safe for the future.
Thirty miles south-east of the site, a Pictish stone believed to date back 1,700 years has been retrieved and preserved for future generations, with financial help from Dounreay’s operators.
The stone was discovered in 2022 by Fiona Begg Wade who alerted archaeologists when she was clearing up the burial ground at St Martin’s, Ulbster, where some of her relatives are buried.
It was found lying horizontally on the ground, in a line with other plain stones, and probably used as a grave marker in recent times. It is weathered but several typical Pictish symbols – the double disc and z-rod, the mirror, and the comb – can be made out.
A project to remove, restore and place the stone on public display came to fruition when it was unveiled at the North Coast Visitor Centre in Thurso.
Among those attending the unveiling by Lord Thurso, the land-owner who has loaned the artefact to High Life Highland who run the centre and museum, was Dave Wilson, managing director of Nuclear Restoration Services Dounreay.
He said:
We’re in the business of retrieving the past to make it safe for the future, and I’m delighted we can help the visitor centre do the same with a long-lost legacy of previous generations.
The Caithness and North Sutherland Fund has contributed £5,500 towards the cost of the project. The Fund was established by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Dounreay to provide community benefit from the construction and operation of the site’s low-level waste vaults.
A total of £4 million has been invested in the fund to date, supporting a range of community projects with a combined value of £15 million.
Dounreay also part-funds the running costs of the North Coast Visitor Centre with High Life Highland.
Work to construct a new crossing over Cot Hill in Plympton will get under way on Monday 14 July.
The crossing, near the Marshall Road junction, will help people (including those with disabilities) to walk and cycle across this busy road.
It will create a safer pedestrian and cycle route between Saltram Park and Plympton St Mary playing field, further enhancing the National Cycle Network.
In addition to the crossing, the scheme will include a dropped kerb crossing point on Marshall Road, a raised table crossing on Dudley Road and a wider, shared-use path on Cot Hill.
Double yellow lines will also be introduced on the eastern (uphill) side of Cot Hill between Marshall Road and Dudley Road to help prevent obstructive parking.
The improvements are entirely grant-funded by National Highways through Sustrans.
Councillor John Stephens, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport, said: “We’re looking forward to starting work on these improvements, which will not only make a big difference for people walking and cycling between Saltram and other parts of Plympton, including the playing field but also alleviate some of the problem parking in the area. Helping people to walk and cycle more improves health and wellbeing, while also reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions.”
The first phase of works, programmed to run from Monday 14 July to Sunday 5 October, will require temporary signals at the junction of Cot Hill and Marshall Road. There will also be no parking along a stretch of Marshall Road and Cot Hill.
The second phase is planned to begin on Monday 6 October and will require temporary signals on Cot Hill between the Marshall Road and Underlane junctions.
To help minimise disruption on the network during this second phase, Dudley Road will be temporarily one-way (eastbound only), with traffic only allowed to access at Cot Hill and exit at Linketty Lane. The no parking restriction on Cot Hill will remain in place, as well as on a short stretch of Dudley Road.
The final week will include overnight closures for resurfacing, with all work expected to be complete by Friday 14 November.
Dates may change due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. The latest updates will be published on our Cot Hill crossing web page.
Banbridge town centre was filled with the sound of live music and the buzz of community spirit as Buskfest 2025 welcomed performers and visitors for a relaxed and enjoyable day of entertainment – despite the rain!
With over eighty acts taking part and a prize fund of £3,500 up for grabs, the annual busking competition attracted a wide mix of musical talent, from solo acoustic artists to lively bands. The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming, with visitors enjoying performances across the town between 2pm and 5pm.
This year’s winners, 4AM Club, were announced during the evening concert in the town centre, which also featured performances from last year’s champions Banshee, popular local act The Reillys, and headliners The Nooks.
Alongside the music, an artisan market offered a range of local food, crafts, and handmade products, while a family funfair at Solitude Park, added to the day’s relaxed, family-friendly feel.
Alderman Stephen Moutray ,Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough, commented: “Buskfest continues to provide a fantastic showcase for emerging and established performers and is a much-loved highlight in the borough’s events calendar. The atmosphere in Banbridge was brilliant, with the town centre buzzing with music, family fun, and a real sense of community. Events like this not only celebrate our local talent but also support our businesses and hospitality sector.”
The judging panel, including BBC Radio Ulster’s Ralph McLean, noted the diversity and quality of talent on show, with many returning acts and new faces adding to the variety. This year’s event was supported by several valued sponsors including Banbridge Chamber of Commerce, The Boulevard Outlet Shopping, Game of Thrones Studio Tour, and Eats and Beats Festival, Newcastle, whose contributions helped ensure a vibrant and well-supported day for performers and visitors alike.
Police are investigating a death at Gilberton this evening.
Just after 7pm on Monday 16 June, police received a report of a person collapsed inside a unit on Walkerville Terrace.
When police arrived, they found a person deceased at the property.
Detectives from Eastern District attended the scene with the assistance of Major Crime officers and Investigators have determined the death to be suspicious.
A woman has been detained and is assisting police in relation to the incident.
PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)
(b)Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a): The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.
N/A
(c)Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree
MARLOWE PLC
(d)If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:
N/A
(e)Date position held/dealing undertaken: For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure
13 JUNE 2025
(f)In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”
NO
2.POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE
If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.
(a)Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)
Class of relevant security:
50p ORDINARY
Interests
Short positions
Number
%
Number
%
(1)Relevant securities owned and/or controlled:
3,107,216
3.9571
(2)Cash-settled derivatives:
(3)Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:
TOTAL:
3,107,216
3.9571
All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.
Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).
(b)Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)
Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:
Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:
3.DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE
Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.
The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.
(a)Purchases and sales
Class of relevant security
Purchase/sale
Number of securities
Price per unit
50p ORDINARY
SALE
920
442.52p
(b)Cash-settled derivative transactions
Class of relevant security
Product description e.g. CFD
Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position
(d)Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)
Class of relevant security
Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion
Details
Price per unit (if applicable)
NONE
4.OTHER INFORMATION
(a)Indemnity and other dealing arrangements
Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer: Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”
NONE
(b)Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives
Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to: (i)the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or (ii)the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced: If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”
NONE
(c)Attachments
Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached?
NO
Date of disclosure:
16 JUNE 2025
Contact name:
MARK ELLIOTT
Telephone number:
01253 376539
Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.
The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.
Source: US Congressman Gabe Amo (Rhode Island 1st District)
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Gabe Amo (D-RI)andCongressman Seth Moulton (D-MA)introduced a resolution to establish “Vets Get Outside Day” to support veterans struggling with mental health challenges. Nearly 460,000 veterans were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries between 2020 and 2022, and there were 6,146 veteran suicide deaths in 2020.
U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA)andAngus King (I-ME)introduced a companion resolution in the Senate.
“Veterans were willing to lay it all on the line for our country, but service often comes with sacrifice,” saidCongressman Amo.“Many veterans struggle with their mental health. Getting outside in a meaningful way can help ease the transition back to civilian life, which is why I am proud to work alongside colleagues in both the Senate and the House to introduce a bipartisan resolution designating June 14th, 2025, as Veterans Get Outside Day, and encouraging veterans to experience all the natural beauty Rhode Island has to offer.”
“Resuming civilian life can be isolating. When veterans stay active and connected with their community, their mental health and quality of life improve. That is what today is all about,”saidSenator Cassidy.
“From beach walks on the rocky coast to a challenging hike in the woods, Maine’s extraordinary outdoor spaces can bring moments of calm during the most difficult times,” saidSenator King.“I hope that ‘Vets Get Outside Day’ will encourage Maine veterans to find a relaxing outdoor space that helps them process their daily stressors. It’s a simple way to promote two of Maine’s greatest treasures — the great outdoors and our brave veterans.”
“Veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, and many face unique, lifelong health challenges as a result of their service. As a Marine veteran, I know firsthand how healing simply spending time outdoors can be. The moments where I can go on a long run or spend time on the water are sacred,” saidCongressman Moulton. “I’m proud to partner with my House and Senate colleagues to designate Vets Get Outside Day. This is a great way to remind every veteran to do something healing for themselves; and it’s another important step toward destigmatizing the national conversation around mental health. We are all in this together, and together we can build a community that leads the way on changing how we talk about mental health.”
Veterans in crisis can dial 9-8-8 and then press 1 to be connected with the Veterans Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
