ADVISORY – CLINTON COUNTY – Shapiro Administration to Launch Pilot Project to Improve Care for Mothers and Babies
Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen will join UPMC and local organizations at DOH’s State Health Center in Lock Haven to launch a new pilot project focused on improving care for pregnant women and babies in Clinton County.
State Health Center staff are partnering with UPMC of North Central Pennsylvania and other local partners for a two-year, $1.3 million pilot project. The project’s goal is to develop a model for providing a variety of physical, mental, emotional, and social health resources for women in regions with limited access to pre- and post-pregnancy care.
Since taking office, Governor Josh Shapiro has charged his Administration with finding ways to improve the health of the Commonwealth’s mothers and babies. The Governor’s 2024-2025 bipartisan budget secured a $2.6 million increase for work to address and prevent maternal mortality, especially among Black mothers, who are disproportionately affected.
WHO: Department of Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen UPMC in North Central Pennsylvania President Patti Jackson-Gehris Lycoming County Chief Deputy Coroner Kathryn Kiessling
WHEN: TUESDAY, January 28, 2025, at 2:00 PM
WHERE: Clinton County State Health Center 300 Bellefonte Ave. Suite 100 Lock Haven, PA 17745
MEDIA RSVP: Media interested in attending must RSVP with the name of the reporter and photojournalist to ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov.
TULSA, Okla. – Today, U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill sentenced Jeannie Rene Romero, 25, for Child Abuse and Child Neglect in Indian Country. Judge Hill ordered Jeannie to serve 60 months, followed by five years of supervised release.
In October 2022, Jeannie was taking care of her three-week-old baby. While changing the baby’s diaper, Jeannie admittedly used unreasonable force, breaking the baby’s femur in half. She failed to seek medical attention for more than 48 hours. Doctors noted that the baby had additional injuries consistent with abuse.
In June, Judge Hill sentenced Jeannie’s husband, Jacob Alejandro Romero, 24, for Child Neglect in Indian County. Jacob was at work when the abuse occurred. However, the infant’s injury was noticeable, and he failed to seek help. Judge Hill ordered Jacob to serve 24 months imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release.
The baby and its sibling were removed from the home and placed in the care of the family members. Jeannie and the baby are citizens of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Jeannie will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Jacob was previously released on bond and taken into custody following his sentencing in June.
The FBI and Sapulpa Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie N. Ihler prosecuted the case.
Louisville, KY – Today, a Louisville man was sentenced to 20 years and 5 months in federal prison for a carjacking which resulted in the death of teenage motorist.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Stansbury of the FBI Louisville Field Office, Chief Paul Humphrey of the Louisville Metro Police Department, and Shelby County Sheriff Mark Moore made the announcement.
According to court documents, Michael Dewitt, 31, was sentenced to 20 years and 5 months in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for carjacking resulting in death. Dewitt committed a carjacking at gunpoint on March 1, 2021, and stole a 2011 Ford F350 from its owner in Simpsonville, Kentucky. During the immediate flight from the carjacking, and while still in possession of the stolen truck, Dewitt collided with a vehicle on Dixie Highway in Louisville, causing the death of a minor victim. Dewitt had controlled substances in his system at the time.
There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the FBI Louisville Field Office, the Louisville Metro Police Department, and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Bonar and Mac Shannon prosecuted this case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
If you’ve ever made kombucha, you will be familiar with the term SCOBY – a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. It’s impossible to miss – it’s the floating biofilm on top of your delicious drink.
While a SCOBY looks gross, it is remarkably versatile. If you feed it on sugar and tea or coffee in large vats, it grows rapidly. The reason you need tea or coffee is because caffeine contains nitrogen, which stimulates microorganism growth. Species of bacteria in the SCOBY such as komagataeibacter xylinus have the curious ability to eat sugars and produce bacterial cellulose.
The reason we and other researchers are focused on this unusual substance is because cellulose is extremely useful. Cotton is largely cellulose, as is flax, which we use to produce linen. Cellulose from bacteria has the advantage of being about ten times stronger than cotton.
Traditional methods of making the world’s clothes comes at a large environmental cost. If we can scale up production of bacterial cellulose using common materials such as sugar and tea, we might produce a new kind of versatile, sustainable textile. In our new research, we use this cellulose to make wallets and canvases for painting.
What’s so good about bacterial cellulose?
Deriving cellulose from bacteria isn’t new. It was first discovered back in 1886. Since then, the main use we’ve found for it has been in food and drink.
Kombucha – sometimes known as tea-mushroom – is thought to have been invented in China. In the Philippines, people have long fermented pineapple juice or coconut water to produce enough SCOBY to make chewy, gelatinous desserts. But this source of cellulose could be used for much more.
In recent years, researchers have looked into using food waste to make this cellulose.
Bacterial cellulose is made by cultivating a SCOBY in sugared tea, just like kombucha. But instead of the drink, what we are after is the SCOBY itself. As the microbes feed on the sugar, they spin out cellulose fibre and form a dense mat able to be harvested and processed.
Despite not being from plants, the bacterial cellulose is remarkably similar to cellulose from cotton. In some ways, it might be better – it is incredibly pure, highly absorbent and boasts impressive tensile strength. It’s natural, nontoxic, has a low environmental footprint and is biodegradable.
These traits make it potentially suitable for a range of uses, from clothing through to biomedical use in gauze bandages due to natural antibacterial properties. It can be dyed, sewed and treated to make different textures. It can be used to replace leather in clothing, footwear and accessories.
But clothing is the main game. Researchers have found ways of growing this cellulose in moulds shaped like pieces of clothing to avoid the 15-20% of material wasted by cutting fabric.
Bacterial cellulose might offer a way to reduce our reliance on the fibres we use to make clothes, which come with substantial environmental costs regardless of whether they are natural or synthetic.
Farming cotton requires huge volumes of water and plentiful pesticides and insecticides. To make one kilo of cotton fibre requires between 8,000 and 22,000 litres of fresh water. Synthetic fabrics such as polyester and nylon are made from oil, a fossil fuel.
The textile industry is highly polluting, consuming vast amounts of water and energy. As fashion gets ever faster, many of these clothes have a short lifespan before becoming waste. Synthetic fibres shed huge volumes of microplastics at every step of their lifespans.
The challenge of fermentation
In recent years, there’s been great interest in precision fermentation – using the rapid growth rate of microbes to produce foods and materials we want, such as milk grown without cows.
One of the big challenges with these approaches is scale. Bacterial cellulose is a similar form of fermentation. As a result, it faces similar challenges around scalability and efficiency. While the material has promise, the question is whether it can be produced cheaply and at scale.
To date, we haven’t yet found how to scale bacterial cellulose up to the level needed to meet the demand of large clothing manufacturers. And at present, the fermentation process is water intensive. Fermentation makes the water acidic, meaning it can’t be easily reused.
This fibre could readily replace cotton, but doesn’t have the same extreme durability and elasticity as some synthetic fibres.
Which way forward?
The way we currently make clothes comes at a huge environmental cost. Bacterial cellulose could offer one way to make clothes at vastly lower cost to the planet.
While there are still questions over whether it’s possible to make it competitive, researchers in several countries – including our research group – are coming at the problem from different angles. If they succeed, we might one day see a future where clothes and shoes come from sugar and tea.
Rajkishore Nayak works for RMIT University Vietnam. We received Tier II funding from the the office of Research & Innovation at RMIT University Vietnam & CSIRO Australia.
Donna Cleveland works for RMIT University Vietnam. She received funding from a Tier II grant from the the office of Research & Innovation at RMIT University Vietnam & CSIRO Australia..
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben White, Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology
Voluntary assisted dying is lawful in all Australian states. This allows terminally ill adults who are suffering and have decision-making capacity to choose to receive help to die.
Victoria’s law was the first, coming into effect in 2019. New South Wales was the last state, with its voluntary assisted dying law beginning in late 2023.
While the vast majority of Australians now live in jurisdictions where voluntary assisted dying is permitted, accessing voluntary assisted dying depends on knowing it’s a legal option. But our new research suggests many Australians don’t know this.
A study in Queensland
Voluntary assisted dying became legal in Queensland on January 1, 2023. We conducted an online survey of 1,000 Queensland adults in mid-2024 to find out if the community knew about this new end-of-life choice.
We set quotas for age, gender and geographical location to ensure the people we surveyed represented the overall Queensland population.
First, we asked whether people thought voluntary assisted dying was legal in Queensland. Only one-third (33%) correctly identified it was. Of the 67% who didn’t, 41% thought voluntary assisted dying was illegal and 26% said they didn’t know.
People who did know voluntary assisted dying was legal had generally found out in one of three ways:
from the media
from professional experience (for example, working in health care)
from personal experience (for example, knowing someone who had asked about, requested or accessed voluntary assisted dying).
We then told our survey participants voluntary assisted dying was legal in Queensland and asked if they would know how to go about accessing it if they wished to. Only one-quarter (26%) answered yes.
The survey also asked people where they might look for information about voluntary assisted dying. Most people said they would seek this information online, but asking health practitioners, especially doctors, was also important.
Perhaps it’s not surprising so few members of the surveyed public know voluntary assisted dying is a legal choice. It’s still a relatively new law. But there are specific barriers in Australia that can prevent people finding out about it.
One major barrier is health practitioners are often not able to freely discuss voluntary assisted dying with their patients. The laws in all states control how conversations about voluntary assisted dying can occur.
For example, in Queensland, only doctors and nurse practitioners can raise voluntary assisted dying and only if they also discuss available treatment and palliative care options and their likely outcomes.
But the most problematic are Victorian and South Australian laws which prohibit health practitioners from raising the topic with patients altogether. Many people rely on their doctor to tell them about treatment options, so it’s a problem if the onus is on the patient to bring it up first.
Conscientious objection is another significant barrier. Some doctors are opposed to voluntary assisted dying and even if they practise in a state where they can legally raise it, may choose not to tell their patients about it. This is another reason patients may not know voluntary assisted dying could be a choice for them.
It’s important to note our study was only done in Queensland, so we can’t be confident the findings represent the wider Australian population. But given these barriers to knowing about voluntary assisted dying, it’s reasonable to anticipate similar trends in other states.
A national challenge
Raising community awareness of voluntary assisted dying is a challenge around the country. Voluntary assisted dying oversight boards from five states (Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia) have all discussed this issue in their most recent annual reports.
In addition, Western Australia recently reviewed its voluntary assisted dying laws, identifying lack of community knowledge as a problem. The review called for a strategy to fix this.
We see this challenge as one of “voluntary assisted dying literacy”. Greater voluntary assisted dying literacy will enable members of the public to know the options available to them, and how to make the choices they want.
Raising community awareness about voluntary assisted dying is a challenge nationally. Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock
What can we do about this?
We need community awareness initiatives to increase knowledge that voluntary assisted dying is legal and ensure people know where to find information about this option. Information about voluntary assisted dying is already available from all state government health departments, but more action is needed to ensure it reaches more people.
Respondents in our survey suggested using social media campaigns, advertising, and sharing information through Centrelink, health clinics and other trusted community channels.
We also propose targeted information for particular patient groups who may be eligible for voluntary assisted dying, such as people with cancer or neurodegenerative diseases. This means they will know voluntary assisted dying may be one of the treatment options available to them, and how to navigate the process should they wish to.
These initiatives would need to be designed sensitively with a focus on providing information to avoid any perception that people could feel induced or directed to access voluntary assisted dying.
Training for health practitioners is also important. This is particularly needed for GPs and specialists working in end-of-life care. Training will support health practitioners to facilitate informed discussions with patients and families.
Strong community support was a key argument in legalising voluntary assisted dying in Australia. The public wanted this as an end-of-life choice. But that choice is only a real one if people know it exists.
Our online resource End of Life Law in Australia has more information about voluntary assisted dying and contact points for accessing it in each state.
Ben White has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, Commonwealth and state governments, and philanthropic organisations for research and training about the law, policy and practice relating to end-of-life care. In relation to voluntary assisted dying, he (with colleagues) has been engaged by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland governments to design and provide the legislatively mandated training for health practitioners involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. He (with Lindy Willmott) has also developed a model bill for voluntary assisted dying for parliaments to consider. Ben is a recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (project number FT190100410: Enhancing End-of-Life Decision-Making: Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying) funded by the Australian government. He is also a Chief Investigator on a current Australian Research Council Linkage Project on voluntary assisted dying (partnering with Voluntary Assisted Dying (Review) Boards and/or Departments of Health in five Australian States. The research this article discusses was funded by Queensland Health.
Lindy Willmott receives or has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council and Commonwealth and state governments for research and training about the law, policy and practice relating to end-of-life care. She is a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Linkage Project on voluntary assisted dying (partnering with Voluntary Assisted Dying (Review) Boards and/or Departments of Health in five Australian States. She (with colleagues) has been engaged by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland governments to design and provide the legislatively mandated training for health practitioners involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. She (with Ben White) has also developed a model bill for voluntary assisted dying for parliaments to consider. Lindy Willmott is also a member of the Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board, but writes this piece in her capacity as an academic researcher. She is a former board member of Palliative Care Australia.
Rachel Feeney receives funding from the Australian Research Council for research about voluntary assisted dying. Rachel has been employed on multiple research projects as a research fellow at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research. She is also employed on End of Life Law for Clinicians, a training program for clinicians about end of life law, funded by the Commonwealth government. Rachel was previously engaged as a clinical consultant for the Voluntary Assisted Dying Training Education Module for Healthcare Workers in Queensland.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marian Sawer, Emeritus Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University
In December 1972, the same month the Whitlam government was first elected, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1975 as International Women’s Year (IWY). This set in train a series of world-changing events, in which Australia was to play a significant part.
The aim of IWY was to end discrimination against women and enable them to participate fully in economic, social and political life. Fifty years later, such participation has become an indicator of development and good governance. But the full promise of International Women’s year has yet to be fulfilled, hampered by pushback and the scourge of gender-based violence.
‘The greatest consciousness-raising event in history’
Dubbed “the greatest consciousness-raising event in history”, the UN’s first World Conference on Women took place in Mexico City in June 1975. Consciousness-raising had been part of the repertoire of women’s liberation. Now it was taken up by government and intergovernmental bodies.
The Mexico City conference was agenda-setting in many ways. The Australian government delegation, led by Elizabeth Reid, helped introduce the world of multilateral diplomacy to the language of the women’s movement. As Reid said:
We argued that, whenever the words “racism”, “colonialism” and “neo-colonialism” occurred in documents of the conference, so too should “sexism”, a term that had not to that date appeared in United Nations documents or debates.
Reid held the position of women’s adviser to the prime minister. In this pioneering role, she had been able to obtain government commitment and funding for Australia’s own national consciousness-raising exercise during IWY.
A wide range of small grants promoted attitudinal change – “the revolution in our heads” – whether in traditional women’s organisations, churches and unions, or through providing help such as Gestetner machines to the new women’s centres.
IWY grants explicitly did not include the new women’s services, including refuges, women’s health centres and rape crisis centres. Their funding was now regarded as an ongoing responsibility for government, rather than suitable for one-off grants.
IWY began in Australia with a televised conversation on New Year’s Day between Reid and Governor-General John Kerr on hopes and aspirations for the year. On International Women’s Day (March 8), Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s speech emphasised the need for attitudinal change:
Both men and women must be made aware of our habitual patterns of prejudice which we often do not see as such but whose existence manifests itself in our language and our behaviour.
The Australian postal service celebrated the day by releasing a stamp featuring the IWY symbol, showing the spirit of women breaking free of their traditional bonds. At Reid’s suggestion, IWY materials, including the symbol, were printed in the purple, green and white first adopted by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1908 and now known as the suffragette colours.
Author supplied
Policy power
Inside government, Reid had introduced the idea that all Cabinet submissions needed to be analysed for gender impact. After the Mexico City conference, this idea became part of new international norms of governance.
Following the adoption at the conference of the World Plan of Action, the idea that governments needed specialised policy machinery to promote gender equality was disseminated around the world.
Given the amount of ground to be covered, IWY was expanded to a UN Decade for Women (1976–85). By the end of it, 127 countries had established some form of government machinery to advance the status of women. Each of the successive UN world conferences (Copenhagen 1980, Nairobi 1985, Beijing 1995) generated new plans of action and strengthened systems of reporting by governments.
The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing was a high point. Its “platform for action” provided further impetus for what was now called “gender mainstreaming”. By 2018, every country recognised by the UN except North Korea had established government machinery for this purpose.
The global diffusion of this policy innovation was unprecedented in its rapidity. At the same time, Australia took the lead in another best-practice innovation. In 1984, the Commonwealth government pioneered what became known as “gender budgeting”. This required departments to disaggregate the ways particular budgetary decisions affected men and women.
As feminist economists pointed out, when the economic and social division of labour was taken into account, no budgetary decision could be assumed to be gender-neutral. Governments had emphasised special programs for women, a relatively small part of annual budgets, rather than the more substantial impact on women of macro-economic policy.
Standard-setting bodies such as the OECD helped promote gender budgeting as the best way to ensure such decisions did not inadvertently increase rather than reduce gender gaps.
By 2022, gender budgeting had been taken up around the world, including in 61% of OECD countries. Now that it had become an international marker of good governance, Australian governments were also reintroducing it after a period of abeyance.
Momentum builds
In addition to such policy transfer, new frameworks were being adopted internationally. Following IWY, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted in 1979. CEDAW became known as the international bill of rights for women, and has been ratified by 189 countries. This is more than any other UN Convention except that on the rights of the child.
All state parties to CEDAW were required to submit periodic reports to the UN on its implementation. Non-government organisations were encouraged to provide shadow reports to inform the questioning of government representatives. This oversight and dialogue relating to gender equality became part of the norm-building work of the UN.
However, this very success at international and regional levels helped fuel “anti-gender movements” that gathered strength after 1995. No more world conferences on women were held, for fear there would be slippage from the standards achieved in Beijing.
In Australia, the leveraging of international standards to promote gender equality has been muted in deference to populist politics. It became common to present the business case rather than the social justice case for gender-equality policy, even the cost to the economy of gender-based violence (estimated by KPMG to be $26 billion in 2015–16).
The battle continues
Fifty years after IWY, Australia is making up some lost ground in areas such as paid parental leave, work value in the care economy, and recognition of the ways economic policy affects women differently from men.
However, all of this remains precarious, with issues of gender equality too readily rejected as part of a “woke agenda”.
The world has become a different place from when the Australian government delegation set out to introduce the UN to the concept of sexism. In Western democracies, women have surged into male domains such as parliaments. Australia now has an almost equal number of women and men in its Cabinet (11 out of 23 members).
But along with very different expectations has come the resentment too often being mobilised by the kind of populist politics we will likely see more of in this election year.
Marian Sawer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Whether with crumbled feta or poached eggs, you’d be challenged to find a cafe in Australia or farther afield that doesn’t have avocado somewhere on the menu.
This fruit (yep, it’s a fruit from a tree, not a vegetable) is widely associated with brunch culture and other trendy eating habits.
The Australian avocado industry developed in the 1960s, 30 years after the start of the first large-scale production in California. Orchards producing avocados now span all parts of Australia, except Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
Avocados are considered a monoculture crop: they’re grown on the same land each year, making them more susceptible to pests and creating a need for increased fertiliser use. The carbon footprint of avos is almost twice as high as that of apples, but much lower than many animal food sources.
There are now over 50 different avocado types globally, but only a few are grown commercially.
Not all avos are the same
You may not notice a difference when you get your avocado toast at a cafe. But at the shops or the market, a striking difference occurs each year in Australia.
In autumn, the familiar dark purple Hass avocado disappears and is replaced with the lighter green Shepard variety. In Australia, this typically happens between February and May.
If you don’t know the difference between the two, you may expect Shepard avos to perform the same way as Hass – and be left disappointed. There are some important differences.
Hass avocados are known for their dark, pebbly-looking skin that appears almost black when ripe. They have an ovoid shape with a slight pear-like appearance. The thick skin can be a challenge to peel, often requiring a sharp knife or avocado slicer.
Hass avocado flavour is rich, creamy and buttery, with nutty undertones. Their texture is ideal for mashing, blending and spreading, creating a creamy texture in dips, guacamole and smoothies.
Hass avocados ripen – and darken in colour – slowly over several days. They remain firm to the touch when ripe, and will feel squishy when overripe. A slight give when pressed confirms Hass avos are ready to eat.
Available in Australia from May to January, Hass are the dominant variety of commercially grown avocado worldwide. They were cultivated by horticulturalist Rudolph Hass in California in the 1920s.
Shepard avocados
Shepard avocados have smooth, green skin that remains green even when they are fully ripe. They are round to slightly oblong in shape and have a slightly milder and sweeter taste, with less pronounced nutty undertones.
Shepard avocados ripen more quickly than Hass, but you won’t be able to tell that by the colour. Instead, check for softness – Shepard avocados are very soft when ripe. What might feel overripe when handling a Hass will likely be ideal ripeness if it’s a Shepard. The thin, smooth skin makes them easy to peel by hand or with a gentle squeeze.
Their buttery soft texture is firm and creamy, and they hold their shape well when cut, making them ideal for slicing, dicing and spreading despite being structurally firm.
Interestingly, Shepard avocados brown much more slowly than Hass, making them perfect for garnishes. Their milder flavour also makes Shepard avos well suited to sweet dishes, such as chocolate mousse.
Shepard avos account for approximately 10–15% of Australian avocados and are in season from February to April each year while there is a gap in the Hass season.
We now know that a majority of this fat is oleic acid, a monounsaturated (healthy) fat that helps to reduce cholesterol and improve heart health.
Additionally, only 1% of an avocado is made up of carbohydrates, making the fruit popular with people following a ketogenic (keto) diet of low carbs and high fat.
People who consume avos also tend to follow a better pattern of eating in general. They eat more whole grains, fruit and vegetables and fewer discretionary or takeaway foods.
As an energy-dense food, consuming a whole avocado is about the same as eating 2.5 whole apples. Per 100 grams, avocado actually gives you less energy than an equivalent amount of cooked white rice.
As avocado dishes are visually appealing and often featured in food photography, they have become a symbol of modern eating habits.
Yasmine Probst receives funding from Multiple Sclerosis Australia and has previously received funding from various industry groups including the Hass Avocado Board. She is presently affiliated with the National Health and Medical Research Council, Multiple Sclerosis Plus and Multiple Sclerosis Limited.
Source: United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)
The Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act would provide competitive grants for states to train child care workers and build or renovate child care facilities
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) reintroduced their bipartisan legislation to lower child care costs and address the nationwide shortage of affordable child care. The Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act would provide competitive grants for states to train child care workers and build or renovate child care facilities. Families across the country are struggling to access available child care, with rural communities increasingly becoming “child care deserts” due to the noticeable decline in the number of child care providers. Companion legislation in the House of Representatives is led by Representatives Josh Harder (D-Calif.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa).
“For far too many families, the struggle to find high-quality, affordable child care serves as a barrier to children’s early development and to parents entering the workforce,” said Klobuchar. “Our bipartisan legislation will train more child care workers and build and expand facilities in child care deserts, so families in all parts of the country can afford and access the child care they need.”
“Access to quality, affordable child care is key to healthy families and a thriving economy,” said Sullivan. “I hear repeatedly from working Alaska parents that the lack of affordable child care is among their top concerns, and those concerns are overwhelmingly confirmed by the data. Unfortunately, this problem disproportionately impacts parents striving to re-enter the workforce. Our bipartisan legislation will help by offering grants focused on states hardest hit, like Alaska, to enhance workforce development among child care professionals, and improve facilities that serve families in child care deserts, particularly in our rural communities.”
“As a dad to two young daughters, my wife and I know firsthand how expensive child care has gotten. Parents are left in a very tough spot trying to find safe, quality child care centers,” said Harder. “Parents should be able to pay a reasonable price to drop their little ones off at daycare and know they will be safe. This bill is a must-pass for every working parent – we need to get this done.”
“American families should never have to choose between affordable childcare and the quality their children deserve,” said Fitzpatrick. “Our bipartisan and bicameral Child Care Workforce Facilities Act directly confronts the untenable challenges facing childcare in our nation by establishing competitive grant programs that strengthen caregiver education, expand childcare facilities, and bolster the dedicated workforce at the heart of our children’s development. This targeted investment will address shortages in our PA-1 community and nationwide, building a stronger foundation for America’s children, families, and future.”
The Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act would:
Address the shortage of affordable child care and qualified child care professionals, particularly in rural areas;
Provide competitive grants to states to support the education, training, or retention of the child care workforce;
Provide competitive grants to states to build, renovate, and expand child care facilities in areas experiencing shortages;
Require grant applicants to demonstrate how their projects would increase the availability and affordability of quality child care, and help child care workers continue advance their careers; and
Enhance retention and compensation of quality child care professionals.
The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Gillibrand (D-NY), King (I-Maine), Merkley (D-Ore), Shaheen (D-NH), and Whitehouse (D-RI).
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Emis Akbari, Adjunct Professor, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development at Ontario Institute for the Study of Education (OISE) and Senior Policy Fellow at the Atkinson Centre, University of Toronto
This provincial inaction is particularly troubling in a federal election year. While federal maintenance funding is to continue post-2026, without the benefits of the child care plan widely realized and apparent to voters, future governments could easily scale back any gains.
Our recent study, conducted in collaboration with regional governments tasked with implementing Ontario’s early learning and child-care agreement, shows how staffing shortages have created long wait-lists for care. Children are ageing out of child care before a space becomes available. The unmet demand, regional officials told us, is eroding public confidence in the program as parents become frustrated in their search for affordable care.
While other provinces have enacted comprehensive compensation reforms — including pensions, benefits and wage increases of up to 50 per cent — to attract and retain qualified educators, Ontario’s support for trained early childhood educators tops out at $24.86 per hour, well below the federal poverty line for a family of four.
Low wages, staffing shortfalls
Low wages deter new graduates from entering the child-care field and drive away those already employed. Of the 4,200 early childhood educators that Ontario colleges graduate annually, fewer than 60 per cent enter licensed child care, and only 40 per cent remain after five years.
Small wonder for the exodus. One in five child-care staff responding to our survey told us they hold a second job to make ends meet. Over 55 per cent of couple families, and 83 per cent of lone parent families, are concerned about their housing.
The province acknowledges a shortfall of 8,500 educators needed to meet its expansion goal of 86,000 new spaces. Yet the issue runs deeper. Staff shortages mean existing child-care rooms are empty. A single absence can force centre directors to abruptly close rooms, leaving parents scrambling for alternatives.
The human costs
The consequences extend beyond empty classrooms. Staff shortages compromise the quality and inclusivity of early childhood programs. Our report found that children with disabilities are often sent home or denied admission altogether due to insufficient staffing.
Ontario’s requirement for qualified staff is among the lowest in Canada, mandating that only half of a centre’s staff hold a college diploma in early education. The use of ministry “approvals,” a stop-gap measure allowing untrained staff to fill roles until qualified educators are found, has become standard practice.
Our research found entire programs, particularly those in northern regions and those serving francophone and Indigenous families, operating without a single qualified early childhood educator.
Educator shortages not only exclude children from child care, but degrade the quality of care. While less than one per cent of the province’s almost 28,000 early childhood educators working in licensed child care are reported to authorities, incidents involving the improper handling of children have seen an uptick.
This may partly reflect the COVID-19 pandemic’s aftermath, but it also may signal staff burnout and the prevalence of untrained workers.
Equally alarming, 14 per cent of respondents in our study indicated they would be reluctant to recommend their own centre to a family member or friend seeking child care.
Quality and staffing challenges vary significantly across Ontario’s child-care network of over 5,700 centres. Publicly operated centres and established community providers, where wages and benefits are higher, report fewer staffing shortages or quality problems.
In contrast, for-profit centres, where wages are significantly lower, experience the highest staff turnover and lowest levels of job dissatisfaction.
Ontario’s challenges are not insurmountable. Other provinces and territories are showing that fair compensation tied to qualifications and responsibilities can help to stabilize the child-care workforce.
Ontario must urgently follow suit. The CWELCC program isn’t just about child care; it’s a highly effective economic strategy. The province’s Financial Accountability Office estimates that the national plan could enable 98,000 more Ontario mothers to join the workforce.
However, this potential can only be realized if sufficient child-care spaces are created. Without early childhood educators new spaces are wasted infrastructure. This represents squandered economic development, children denied quality early education and families left to struggle financially.
The time to act is now. Ontario must seize the promise of CWELCC before it becomes another missed opportunity.
Emis Akbari receives funding from the Atkinson Foundation, the Lawson Foundation, and the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation.
Kerry McCuaig receives funding from the Atkinson Foundation, the Lawson Foundation and the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation.
The Highland Council’s In-house bus team are introducing a new service to make it more convenient for people living in and around the city to visit two retail parks.
To be known at the “108 Shopper Bus”, the new service will run every Tuesday and Thursday starting at Torvean Park and Ride. The route will be going through all the housing areas along Sir Walter Scott Drive (Distributor Road) to include Holm Dell, Culduthel Mains, Slackbuie, Miller Street, Boswell Road. It will then pass through the back of Inshes Retail Park and then go through the UHI Campus to the Inverness Shopping Park.
The request for the service came from local residents who have been physically unable to catch the service bus as they live too far away from the active bus stops.
Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Ken Gowans said: “This is another example of us listening to the community and taking action to provide a service specifically tailored to make it more convenient for people to get to two popular shopping areas of the city.
“I am sure this new direct service aimed at shoppers will attract passengers who currently find it difficult to get to the two retail parks without having to first go into the city centre.
The 108 Shopper Bus service starts on Tuesday 4 February. Details of the timetable will shortly be available on the Highland Council Buses dedicated webpage and Facebook page.
The 2023/24 Annual Accounts and Final Monitoring reports for Cromarty, Fortrose and Rosemarkie, Invergordon and Tain Common Good Funds have been approved by Members of the Black Isle and Easter Ross Area Committee.
Committee Chair Cllr Lyndsey Johnston said: “The Highland Council administers 13 Common Good Funds across the region of which we have four in our Area. It’s important that Members have regular updates and opportunities to scrutinise the funds which can be used for projects that benefits our communities. The importance of this scrutiny is not only reflected by the outstanding value of the Bouchardon Bust but is also significant across all Common Good Funds that these assets are managed effectively for future generations.”
Revenue surpluses for each of the Common Good Funds 2023/24 reports were noted by Members with the following being added to reserves:
Cromarty Common Good Fund £4,202
Fortrose and Rosemarkie Common Good Fund £27,779
Invergordon Common Good Fund £1,090
Tain Common Good Fund £19,962.
Members also approved proposed budgets for the same 4 Common Good Funds for 2025/26 with the Forecast Year End Reserves for each as follows:
Cromarty Common Good Fund £55,098
Fortrose and Rosemarkie Common Good Fund £248,806
Invergordon Common Good Fund £88,940
Tain Common Good Fund £261,619.
In addition, Councillors agreed to delegate to the Council’s Community Support and Engagement Team the power to approve expenditure of up to £10,000 in relation to Fortrose and Rosemarkie Common Good within the annually set budget and following consultation with relevant Ward Members. This delegated power will be reviewed annually as part of the budget setting process.
Members welcomed an update in an Invergordon Common Fund report on the progress of the disposition and sale of the Bouchardon Bust. They were informed that the ongoing process will continue to take around 8 months or longer and that Members would continue to be updated in future reports to committee.
The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and reiterates his strongest condemnation of the M23 armed group’s ongoing offensive and advances towards Goma in North Kivu with the support of the Rwanda Defence Forces.
In the last 48 hours, two MONUSCO peacekeepers from South Africa and one peacekeeper from Uruguay were killed while implementing the mandate entrusted upon them by the Security Council. Eleven peacekeepers sustained injuries and are being treated in the UN hospital in Goma.
The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers as well as to their Governments and the people of South Africa and Uruguay, and wishes a swift recovery to the injured. He pays tribute to the bravery of all the United Nations peacekeepers while implementing their mandate to protect civilians and defend them against armed group violence, in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC).
The Secretary-General reminds all parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law. He recalls that attacks against United Nations personnel may constitute a war crime. He calls on the appropriate authorities to investigate this incident and swiftly bring those responsible to justice.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call to respect the ceasefire agreement. He calls on the M23 to immediately cease all hostile actions and withdraw from occupied areas. He further calls on the Rwanda Defence Forces to cease support to the M23 and withdraw from DRC territory. He reaffirms the United Nations’ support to the Luanda process and calls for an immediate resumption of negotiations in this framework.
Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the General Assembly of the International Science Council, in Muscat today:
Uniting through science is key to tackling our common challenges — from addressing the climate crisis, to combating global pandemics, to taking on the untold risk posed by emerging technologies.
The International Science Council is an indispensable bridge between science and policy, connecting researchers to the work of global decision-makers.
Your crucial role is the reason I invited the Council to contribute to the work of the United Nations through the Scientific Advisory Board. By uniting experts across disciplines, the Board connects UN leaders to global networks representing thousands of scientists and academics, especially in developing countries. And it helps ensure that science shapes policy solutions for people and planet.
This spirit is central to the Pact for the Future, adopted at the United Nations by Member States last September. The Pact recognizes the crucial role of science and technology cooperation to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and supercharging progress around the world.
We need your insights and expertise in this important task. Together, let’s harness the power of science to build a more peaceful, sustainable and healthy future for all.
Memphis, TN – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) captured a Memphis murder fugitive, Samuel Sipes, 22, in Olive Branch, Mississippi.
In January of 2023, a 17-year-old male was found dead of an overdose in a home on Wrenwood Street in Memphis. It is alleged that he died of a fatal dose of fentanyl. In April of the same year, Samuel Sipes was charged with second degree murder in connection to this crime and released on a $100,000 bond; however, he failed to return for his court date.
A failure to appear warrant was issued on November 12, 2024. The case was adopted for a fugitive investigation by the USMS Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task (TRVFTF) in Memphis.
On January 27, 2025, the TRVFTF and Desoto County (Mississippi) Sheriff’s Deputies went to an apartment complex in Olive Branch. Deputy marshals and task force officers found Sipes inside an apartment. He was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Desoto County Jail where he awaits extradition to Tennessee.
The U.S. Marshals Service Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force is a multi-agency task force within Western Tennessee. The TRVFTF has offices in Memphis and Jackson, and its membership is primarily composed of Deputy U.S. Marshals, Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, and Gibson County Sheriff’s Deputies, Memphis and Jackson Police Officers, Tennessee Department of Correction Special Agents and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Since 2021, the TRVFTF has captured approximately 3,000 violent offenders and sexual predators.
FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ConeCraft, LLC (“ConeCraft”), a premier designer, engineer, and fabricator of custom processing equipment for the biopharmaceutical industry, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with T&C Stainless, LLC and Preferred Stainless Holdings, LLC (collectively “T&C”).
Headquartered in Mount Vernon, Missouri, T&C provides a full range of custom-designed bioprocessing equipment, specializing in product-contact mixers, holding tanks, bioreactors, and fermenters. T&C offers equipment across the biopharmaceutical production chain and serves a global base of leading biopharmaceutical producers, engineering firms, and custom module fabricators.
The combination of ConeCraft and T&C forms a comprehensive bioprocessing solutions platform, with engineering capabilities encompassing single-use and product contact production vessels from 10L to 15,000L, heat exchangers, tube-management solutions, carts, and mobile workstations. With deep experience designing equipment for both new facility buildouts and existing process retrofits, ConeCraft possesses the engineering and fabrication expertise to service a full range of bioprocessing projects at any scale.
“T&C is a respected leader in the bioprocessing industry, committed to high-quality, product-contact vessels, creating an ideal complement to ConeCraft’s single-use offering”, said ConeCraft CEO Jim Austin. “The addition of T&C’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities meaningfully augment’s ConeCraft’s portfolio of solutions, allowing us to offer our customers a single source for equipment throughout the entire drug production process.”
About T&C
T&C was founded in 1994 with a singular focus on designing and manufacturing high-quality, custom tanks and other equipment for the biopharmaceutical industry. With a commitment to engineering and fabrication excellence, T&C’s deep expertise across the product-contact equipment spectrum has allowed it to grow consistently over the past 30 years. From its three facilities totaling 48,000 SF in Mount Vernon, Missouri, T&C has built a diverse base of blue-chip biopharmaceutical and food and beverage customers. For more information, visit T&C at www.tcstainless.com
About ConeCraft
ConeCraft was founded in 2003 with a shared vision of creating better equipment for the single-use biopharmaceutical industry. The Company has over 100,000 SF of engineering and production space across three facilities in Fort Worth, Texas, all of which maintain ASME code certification. ConeCraft strives to design equipment that improves the experience for the end users and holds several patents to key features that make single-use systems safer, more reliable, and easier to operate. All equipment provided by the Company is available for Factory Acceptance Testing at their facility in Fort Worth. For more information, visit ConeCraft at www.conecraft.com.
Media Contact: Babbett Tidwell P: (817) 922-9200 btidwell@conecraft.com
PANAMA CITY, Jan. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Xpanse, a groundbreaking decentralized perpetual exchange created by Horizon Protocol, is thrilled to announce the launch of its AI-powered perpetual futures platform on the MODE Mainnet. This marks a significant leap forward in trading innovation, expanding into a unified liquidity system, pioneering AI-driven trading, and evolving into a multi-chain ecosystem.
What is Xpanse?
Xpanse is an AI-powered, multi-layered liquidity perpetual exchange designed to empower traders of all levels.
AI-Enabled Trading Signals and Indicators
As part of the Phase One launch, Xpanse introduces three cutting-edge AI-enabled trading signals and indicators: ViperAI, WaveML, and Minima/Maxima. These tools provide traders with actionable insights to enhance their strategies across various markets:
ViperAI: The flagship full trading strategy designed to maximize profits by accurately predicting directional momentum. It delivers long/short market-neutral signals, real-time entry and exit notifications, and built-in stop-loss features, ensuring comprehensive trade management.
WaveML: An indicator that identifies market inefficiencies by spotting opportunities when prices deviate from fully efficient conditions. WaveML highlights these “waves” in the market, enabling traders to capitalize on temporary price movements.
Minima/Maxima: A scalping tool that identifies peaks (resistance) and valleys (support) in real-time, helping traders make informed decisions on temporary tops or bottoms in the market.
These AI-driven tools, available directly within Xpanse’s Perpetual Futures platform, empower traders to execute sophisticated strategies with precision and confidence.
Multi-Layered Liquidity Models
Xpanse integrates three distinct liquidity models to cater to diverse trading strategies and requirements:
Intent-based Liquidity: Live now, offering seamless execution with gasless trading, instant open/close functionality, and exclusive AI-powered indicators.
Oracle-based Liquidity: Enhancing pricing accuracy and execution precision.
Order Book Liquidity: Coming soon to provide traditional order book trading dynamics.
This unique structure ensures traders have access to flexibility, precision, and advanced AI tools that maximize capital efficiency and optimize returns.
Xpanse on MODE Mainnet
The launch of Xpanse on MODE Mainnet begins with Intent-based liquidity, supported by SYMMIO’s cutting-edge infrastructure and Orbs’ liquidity solutions. Key features of this initial release include:
Over 340 tradable markets.
Up to 60x leverage with cross-margin capabilities.
Ultra-competitive fees ranging from 3 to 4 basis points.
Exclusive indicators like AI signals and the Fear & Greed indicator.
This first-of-its-kind integration on MODE leverages the platform’s AI-powered financial ecosystem, bringing advanced AI-driven trading to Layer 2 networks. The second phase of the integration will introduce enhanced AI signals and additional proprietary trading indicators.
Redefining Trading for the Next Generation
By combining AI technology with multi-layered liquidity models, Xpanse is setting a new standard for decentralized trading. Traders can look forward to an elevated experience that prioritizes speed, precision, and innovation while maintaining competitive costs.
What’s Next?
To celebrate this milestone, Xpanse will soon launch trading competitions and exciting campaigns. Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to explore the future of AI-powered, multi-liquidity perpetual trading.
Disclaimer: This content is provided by Xpanse. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the content provider. The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities. Please conduct your own research and invest at your own risk.
EATONTOWN, N.J., Jan. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Climb Channel Solutions, an international specialty technology distributor and wholly owned subsidiary of Climb Global Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLMB) is proud to announce the promotion of two visionary leaders who have been instrumental in shaping the company’s growth and success. Kim Stevens has been elevated to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), while Charles Bass assumes the newly created role of Chief Alliances Officer (CAO).
These promotions mark a pivotal moment for Climb Channel Solutions as the company kicks off 2025 with unparalleled momentum, bolstered by more than 12 internal promotions announced during the recent Sales Kickoff, themed “Run With Us.”
As the former Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Kim Stevens has been the driving force behind groundbreaking marketing strategies that have transformed Climb’s global presence. Her promotion to CMO is a natural progression, reflecting her exceptional ability to innovate, inspire, and deliver results. Kim’s leadership will ensure that Climb remains agile and adaptable, aligning marketing strategies with the company’s ambitious goals while empowering resellers and partners to achieve new heights.
“Kim’s proven track record and vision for the future make her the ideal leader to take our marketing strategy to the next level,” said Dale Foster, Climb’s CEO. “Her commitment to excellence is a testament to the talent and dedication we nurture within Climb.”
Charles Bass, who has served as CMO for the past four years, has been instrumental in identifying and onboarding emerging brands, connecting them with resellers to accelerate business growth. In his new role as Chief Alliances Officer, Charles will focus on fostering high-impact partnerships and expanding Climb’s strategic alliances, ensuring the company continues to lead in the ever-evolving technology landscape.
“Charles has been a cornerstone of Climb’s success, and his transition to CAO is a game-changer for our approach to partnerships,” said Dale Foster, Climb’s CEO. “His ability to build relationships and bring the best emerging brands into our ecosystem has positioned Climb as a trusted partner for growth.”
With these leadership advancements, Climb Channel Solutions reaffirms its commitment to innovation, agility, and excellence. Dale Foster continues, “Our pack is growing, becoming more focused, and moving faster than ever. Kim and Charles embody the best of Climb’s values, and their promotions reflect our belief in empowering talent to drive us forward.”
These leadership promotions symbolize Climb’s dedication to evolving with the industry and investing in its greatest asset—its people.
Those interested in distribution services and solutions should contact Climb by phone at +1.800.847.7078 (US), or +1.888.523.7777 (Canada), or by email at Sales@ClimbCS.com.
About Climb Channel Solutions and Climb Global Solutions
Climb Channel Solutions is a global specialty technology distributor focusing on Security, Data Management, Connectivity, Storage & HCI, Virtualization & Cloud, and Software & Application Lifecycle. What sets Climb apart is our commitment to transform distribution by providing emerging and established IT technologies, flexible financing, real-time quoting, best of breed channel operations, speed to market, and exceptional service to our partners worldwide. Climb Channel Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Climb Global Solutions (NASDAQ: CLMB). Experience the Climb difference and learn how our people-first approach empowers VARs and MSPs to grow, scale, and accelerate their business. Visit www.ClimbCS.com, call 1-800-847-7078, and connect with us on LinkedIn!
For Media & PR inquiries contact: Climb Channel Solutions Media Relations media@ClimbCS.com
Investor Relations Contact: Elevate IR Sean Mansouri, CFA T: 720-330-2829 CLMB@elevate-ir.com
Source: United States Senator John Kennedy (Louisiana)
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to review its decision to allow a company backed in part by foreign money and billionaire Democratic donor George Soros to obtain licenses for more than 200 American radio stations. The requested review by the FCC would include making certain that all required steps were followed according to FCC procedures and taking a closer look at the national security ramifications of the sale.
Key excerpts of the speech are below:
“Mr. George Soros is buying WWL AM radio in New Orleans. WWL AM radio is practically an institution in my state.”
. . .
“Any time a broadcast license—as is the case with Audacy—is transferred, the FCC has to approve it. So, Mr. Soros’s purchase of WWL Radio and the 219 other radio stations had to go before the FCC, and it did. And it went—the approval for Mr. Soros—went through the FCC like green grass through a goose. It was a party-line vote. It was last September. All three Democrats—there are five people on the FCC—all three Democrats said let it go, and [it has been alleged that] they short-circuited the normal process. . . . What happened was what some members of the media have called the ‘Soros shortcut.’ They just got together and rammed it through.”
. . .
“Mr. Soros—both George and [his son] Alex—believe that America would be better off if we had open borders. They believe that America would be better off, in my opinion—this is how I read their writings—if we ended jails and if we ran our government like the Communist Party of China. I don’t agree with that, but Mr. Soros—both of them—are entitled to their opinion. But my people in Louisiana are entitled to know whose opinion they are hearing on the radio.”
. . .
“I hope the new FCC revisits this issue. These licenses and these airwaves do not belong to me or to the FCC or to Audacy or to WWL. They belong to you and you and you—the American people. We are supposed to make sure through our FCC—that is why God created the FCC—that these licenses are not just given to anybody.”
Background:
Audacy is the second-largest owner of radio stations in the U.S. In total, Audacy owns roughly 220 stations in more than 45 media markets throughout the country.
In Jan. 2024, Audacy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and offered to trade shares of the company to lenders who would take on debt. George Soros took on $400 million in Audacy’s debt for 50 cents on the dollar and became the largest shareholder in the restructured company. Several foreign entities also took on some of Audacy’s debt, leaving the company with more than 20% foreign ownership.
The FCC restricts the ability of companies with significant foreign ownership to obtain radio licenses. The agency is supposed to investigate foreign-backed companies to make sure they would operate in the American people’s interests before approving the transfer of any radio licenses.
According to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the Democrat-led FCC rushed the approval process to allow the transfer of licenses to the Soros-backed Audacy without conducting the standard investigations. Carr said the FCC had never previously used the “Soros-shortcut” procedure to approve licenses to a firm with significant foreign ownership.
Carr—who is now chairman of the FCC—has said he would take “a very hard look” at a petition to reconsider the license transfer to the Soros-backed company.
Soros has donated billions of dollars to leftist causes in recent years. Soros has called the U.S. “the main obstacle to a stable and just world,” and claimed that China has a “better functioning government than the United States.”
Shortly before leaving office, President Biden gave Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Watch Kennedy’s full speech here.
Source: United States Senator John Kennedy (Louisiana)
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in The Telegraph arguing that the United Kingdom was right to consult the Trump administration before ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, including the key U.S.-U.K. military base on Deigo Garcia, to Mauritius.
Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:
“Sir Keir Starmer appears to have had a change of heart when it comes to working with the Trump administration—and that’s a good thing.
“Just a few weeks ago, the Prime Minister was poised to sign away the fate of a joint U.K.-U.S. military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
“According to reports, Starmer and members of the outgoing Biden administration wanted to finali[z]e the agreement to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands—including Diego Garcia—to Mauritius before President Trump could take his oath.
“Fortunately, cooler—and perhaps wiser—heads prevailed. Prime Minister Starmer agreed to welcome President Trump to the negotiating table. This is great news. Friends don’t strike deals behind each other’s backs, especially when our shared security is on the line.”
. . .
“The idea that the U.K. must hand over the islands to atone for whatever perceived wrongs Britain’s forefathers may have committed is nonsense. The [United Nations] does not care about what is best for the Chagossian, British or American people. They only care about furthering a misguided anti-Western agenda.
“The U.K. is our ally, and Mauritius is our friend, but this is a matter of national security for the U.S. Anyone who expects the Trump administration to elevate the sensitivities of U.N. militants above the best interests of America and our allies is writing a [check] that can’t be cashed.
“The Chagossian, American and British people would all be safer if this deal with Mauritius found its way into the shredder for good.”
Background
On Jan. 15, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he wanted President Trump and his administration to weigh in on any deal struck between the U.K. and Mauritius regarding the transfer of the Chagos Islands, including the transfer of the U.S.-U.K. shared military base on the island of Diego Garcia.
The U.K. had previously announced on Oct. 3, 2024, that it had reached a deal with Mauritius to cede the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands. The decision to consider ceding sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius followed a years-long pressure campaign from the United Nations.
On Oct. 23, 2024, Kennedy wrote to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking answers about the Biden administration’s involvement in the deal between the U.K. and Mauritius.
Kennedy also penned this op-ed in Oct. arguing that the Biden administration owes the American people an explanation for its decision to allow this deal between the U.K. and Mauritius to move forward.
Former Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), President Trump’s nominee for National Security Advisor, has criticized the deal, saying, “Should the U.K. cede control of the Chagos to Mauritius, I have no doubt that China will take advantage of the resulting vacuum.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has similarly condemned the deal and said it “poses a serious threat to our national security interests in the Indian Ocean and threatens critical U.S. military posture in the region.”
Read Kennedy’s full op-ed here.
On January 25, 2025 police and other emergency services responded to a report of a submerged vehicle in Lake Laberge, Yukon. Three occupants were in the vehicle and only two were able to make it out of the vehicle safely.
Although it was anticipated that the recovery operation would take several days, British Columbia RCMP Under Water Recovery Team arrived to the Yukon and were able to locate and recover the person from the vehicle late in the afternoon on January 26, 2025.
Whitehorse RCMP would like to thank all of the first responders including volunteer first responders who attended the incident for their support.
Out of respect for the privacy of the family, no information will be released by the police about the deceased.
This matter is still under investigation and as such, no further information will be provided at this time.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A Shenandoah, Virginia man pled guilty today to wire fraud for stealing over $200,000 from his former employer.
Vernon Fisher, 66, pled guilty today to two counts of wire fraud. At sentencing, Fisher faces up to 20 years in prison.
According to court documents, from approximately 2017 and continuing through 2021, Fisher was employed by ‘Victim Company,’ a plastics company located in Elkton, Virginia. Fisher served as an accountant and controller and his responsibilities included filing taxes, running payroll, managing cash, bank deposits, and paying company bills on behalf of Victim Company.
Fisher admitted to engaging in a multi-year scheme to steal from and defraud Victim Company by linking his personal bank accounts to the Victim Company bank accounts. Through a series of over 300 financial transactions, Fisher funneled over $200,000 of company money to his own accounts and used it for personal expenses at Neiman Marcus, Kay Jewelers, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and other high-end retailers.
Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division made the announcement.
The FBI is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sally J. Sullivan is prosecuting the case.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ming Gao, Research Scholar of East Asia Studies, Gender and Women’s History Research Centre, Australian Catholic University
Red envelopes, known as hongbao in Mandarin, are a cherished cultural tradition in China and many other parts of Asia.
In China, the vibrant red colour symbolises good fortune and joy. Hongbao can be given during many various festive and joyful occasions, and they are a prominent feature of Lunar New Year.
Receiving a hongbao is something most Chinese people, particularly children, eagerly anticipate every Lunar New Year. It was also one of my fondest childhood memories. But what’s the history behind this tradition?
A historical tradition
The origins of hongbao can be traced back to the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) when amulet-like items in the shapes of coins were worn.
Early practices resembling money giving took place in the Tang dynasty court (618–907 CE), where coins were scattered in springtime as part of celebrations.
Giving children money during celebrations became an established custom during the Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368). In the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911/12), this tradition evolved further with money being given to children threaded on red string.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties money was given to children threaded on red string. Nataliia K/Shutterstock
The modern concept of hongbao emerged in early 20th-century China. Elders would give money wrapped in red paper to children during the Lunar New Year as a talisman against evil spirits, known as sui (祟).
The red envelopes given to children, or in some cases unmarried adults, during Lunar New Year are also called ya sui qian.
Colloquially, ya sui qian translates to “suppressing age money”, as sui (岁) also means age. Ya sui qian reflects the belief this money could ward off misfortune and slow ageing.
In traditional contexts, the amount of money inside the envelope carries symbolic meaning.
Even numbers, except for the number four (considered unlucky due to its phonetic similarity to the word for “death” in Chinese), are regarded as lucky. Six (symbolising smooth progress) and eight (symbolising prosperity) are particularly favoured.
Beyond monetary value, the act of giving and receiving hongbao represents a gesture of goodwill, reinforcing social bonds and conveying respect and care.
The digital revolution
Today, hongbao straddle the worlds of tradition and modernity, adapting to societal changes while preserving their cultural essence.
Super-apps like WeChat and AliPay have transformed this age-old practice from a physical tradition into a digital, virtual experience.
Red packet designs available on WeChat. Screenshot/Ming Gao
WeChat popularised the concept of “digital red envelopes” in 2014, incorporating gamified elements such as randomised monetary amounts and group exchanges.
In 2017, WeChat recorded a staggering 14.2 billionhongbao transactions on the eve of Lunar New Year alone. While the initial excitement around the digital hongbao has waned over time, the practice remains popular. On Lunar New Year’s Eve in 2024, WeChat users recorded approximately 5.08 billion digital hongbao transactions.
The shift to digital formats aligns with our increasingly cashless society, making it easier for people to participate in the custom, even across great distances. Families separated by migration can partake in this tradition in real time, maintaining connections that might otherwise weaken over long distances.
My child doesn’t get to see my parents very often, but my mother promised to send a “large” hongbao to her grandchild on the eve of the Lunar New Year this year. Despite the geographical distance spanning the ocean between Australia and China, the tradition of giving hongbao transcends borders, connecting our family members across continents every Lunar New Year.
Societal significance
The enduring popularity of hongbao highlights its importance in Chinese culture. It serves not only as a means of giving but also as a way to uphold tradition amid rapid modernisation.
The act of giving hongbao, whether physical or digital, reinforces intergenerational ties and preserves cultural heritage. Parents and grandparents giving hongbao to children during Lunar New Year continue to embody the traditional values of family and unity.
The act of giving hongbao reinforces intergenerational ties and preserves cultural heritage. SeventyFour/Shutterstock
But the digitisation of hongbao has sparked debates about its impact on traditional values. Some argue the ease of sending digital hongbao reduces the personal touch and thoughtfulness inherent in the physical exchange.
Others view it as an evolution that keeps the practice relevant and accessible in a fast-paced world.
Regional variations
While hongbao is most closely associated with Chinese culture, similar traditions exist across Asia, each with notable regional variations.
In Korea, during the Lunar New Year (Seollal), elders give money to young or unmarried adults after receiving their New Year’s bow (sebae). One legend suggests the Korean tradition originates from China. However, unlike the red envelopes used in Chinese culture, the money in Korea can be presented in white envelopes, as whiteness in Korean culture symbolises purity and new beginnings.
Similar traditions exist across Asia. These red envelopes are hanging in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Marie Shark/Shutterstock
In Singapore, where a diverse population blends Chinese, Malay and Indian traditions, the giving of hongbao (also known as ang bao or ang pow in Hokkien) is a common practice. This tradition has extended beyond the Chinese population, reflecting the cultural influence of Chinese diasporic communities.
While red envelopes are traditional, envelopes in other colours, such as pink or gold, are also considered acceptable.
The Future of hongbao
As technology continues to shape societal norms, the practice of giving hongbao is likely to further evolve.
The enduring appeal of hongbao lies in its core values: the celebration of relationships, the sharing of blessings, and the preservation of cultural heritage.
As the Lunar New Year of the Snake approaches, it’s wise to have some hongbao ready, whether digital or physical, to avoid being caught off guard by a playful youngster cheerfully exclaiming, “May you be prosperous, now hand over the red envelope!” (“gong xi fa cai, hong bao na lai”). This light-hearted and catchy greeting cleverly combines good wishes with a cheeky request for a hongbao.
Ming Gao does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Returning to work after a summer break can be jarring, especially for the many workers dissatisfied with their jobs. Almost half report high levels of job-related stress.
Dissatisfaction can be tied to an unhealthy, even toxic workplace where negative behaviour and poor leadership harm employee wellbeing and productivity.
Key indicators include bullying, harassment, lack of trust, poor communication and high job strain.
The impact of toxic workplaces
If you think your workplace is toxic, it is worth considering the impact it is having on your mental health. You might also consider how committed your organisation is to supporting its employees’ mental health.
Toxicity can develop gradually through subtle patterns of micromanagement, exclusion, or eroding morale. These dynamics create a draining environment that undermines individual wellbeing and business success.
According to Safe Work Australia, mental health-related workers’ compensation claims have increased by over a third since 2017-2018.
In 2021-2022, there were 11,700 accepted claims relating to mental health conditions. These cases proved highly costly for employers, with the median compensation paid being A$58,615.
The International Standards Organisation released a global standard in 2021 to help manage psychological health and safety risks in workplaces.
A number of countries, including Canada and Australia, have introduced laws and standards making employers responsible for preventing and managing work-related stress.
To support a safe workplace, some researchers (including one of the authors) have recommended an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to ensure companies respond appropriately to mental health risks.
What your employer is doing in the following three areas can show how committed they are to protecting mental health.
1. Preventing, minimising or managing the negatives
Most work, health and safety legislation and standards in Australia relates to protecting employees from physical hazards, including slips, trips and falls.
More recently, attention has turned to psychosocial hazards.
Safe Work Australia and Comcare, as well as state and territory regulators, keep a list of common hazards.
These include bullying, excessive workloads, low job control, lack of role clarity and exposure to traumatising events, for example, witnessing an accident.
These lists are not exhaustive and there are some problems unique to specific jobs. For instance, teachers are often isolated from their colleagues, face big administrative loads and sometimes have to deal with abusive students and/or parents.
Most employers can make necessary improvements including creating fairer workloads, redefining job roles and providing more support to individual employees.
2. Responding to employee mental health issues
Despite efforts to minimise the impact of psychosocial hazards, some employees will nonetheless experience mental health issues.
Employers should not try to treat an employee’s mental health problems. They should support them and direct them to appropriate mental health care.
Managers can also help by identifying signs of distress, having sensitive conversations with workers about the impact of mental illness and making reasonable changes to their roles.
Giving employees access to support services through employee assistance programs, which can offer confidential short-term counselling, can also help.
Making counselling available to employees can help staff mental health and workplace morale. kmpzzz/Shutterstock
Establishing a critical incident investigation procedure for events that have compromised employee mental health can help identify the cause of incidents and shape responses.
3. Promoting the positive
As well as managing the negative aspects of work, organisations can create conditions that promote employee mental health and wellbeing.
One approach for doing this is to provide flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid work, which can offer employees greater choice in work location and scheduling.
The SMART model suggests employees will be most satisfied in jobs that provide stimulation (for example, solving meaningful problems), mastery (receiving mentoring or constructive feedback), autonomy (creative freedom), social relationships (supportive colleagues) and tolerable demands (lack of psychosocial hazards).
Should I stay or should I go?
Making the decision to leave a workplace requires careful consideration.
In addition to your own wellbeing, you should consider whether your organisation prioritises mental health and how comfortable you would feel initiating a discussion about mental health.
Remember while changing jobs is a big step, staying in a toxic workplace can have serious long-term consequences for both mental and physical health.
Whatever you decide, prioritising your mental health and wellbeing should be central to your decision making.
Timothy Colin Bednall holds a part-time appointment as Head of Data Science with FlourishDx, a consultancy focused on workplace mental health. He receives funding from the National Mental Health Commission.
Kathryn Page has previously received research funding from WorkSafe Victoria, SuperFriend, VicHealth, and the NHMRC in the areas of workplace mental health. In addition to her Adjunct Professor role at Swinburne University she works full time as a Leadership Partner with ByMany. ByMany is a leadership consultancy. It does not do psychosocial risk assessments.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Leslie, Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy with a focus on Educational Psychology, University of Southern Queensland
It’s back-to-school season around Australia. While many students will be excited to reunite with friends, or have some nerves about the first day, others may feel an overwhelming sense of dread about school.
This can be confusing and worrying for parents.
We are researching child and parent perspectives about what is making school too stressful to attend. We have found it is useful to think about school attendance as a spectrum that may look like reluctance at one end and emotional distress at the other.
Understanding the difference can help you to know which supports to seek for your child.
School attendance in Australia
Last week, new national figures showed school attendance continues to be an issue in Australian schools post-COVID.
In 2024, school attendance rates (the number of days students attend) for Years 1–10 was 88.3%. This is down slightly from 88.6% in 2023. Student attendance levels (the percentage of students who go for more than 90% of the time) was 59.8% in 2024, down from 61.6% in 2023.
In 2019, national attendance rates were 91.4% and attendance levels were 73.1%.
While these reports don’t tell us why the figures are dropping, we know school refusal is a common and growing issue. A 2023 Senate inquiry heard how family requests for support to groups such as School Can’t Australia have almost doubled every year since 2014.
A 2023 Greens-commissioned survey of 1,000 families found 39% said their child had been unable to attend school in the past year because of anxiety or stress.
What is school reluctance?
Sometimes children and young people will not want to go to school but it is not school refusal.
When this is temporary and tied to a specific stressor, such as a test, social conflict, sports lesson or event like a camp or swimming carnival, it can be described as “school reluctance”.
Signs can include clinginess in younger children or teenagers, as well as complaints of seemingly minor ailments such as a tummy ache, headache or “feeling sick”.
In these cases, it is important for parents to validate a child’s feelings. Using phrases such as “I can see you’re nervous about starting a new class” can make children feel seen and heard.
Families should also set up predictable morning routines to help children build self-regulation skills. If you celebrate small wins, such as completing the day, or getting to school on time, you can help boost motivation and confidence.
These early interventions can help avoid escalation into more significant school-related distress.
But at other times, a child’s issues with school are more serious and a child feels overwhelmed by stressors that make attending school feel threatening, unsafe and impossible. This is what is seen as “school refusal”, although some families and researchers are now using the term “school can’t” to reframe the issue and avoid blaming children in these situations.
Some signs this could be happening to your child include:
spending significant portions of the school day in the office or sick bay
extreme difficulty in getting ready in the morning, even with basic tasks such as dressing or making breakfast
physical symptoms such as nausea or dizziness that worsen on school days, but may also be evident on weekends
persistent absences from school, even with encouragement and support
If your child is refusing or can’t go to school, they need your empathy and support. Listen to them and be their advocate. Remember, you know them best. You can also:
seek professional help. A psychologist may help uncover and address the root causes of their distress
work with the school. Talk to teachers and staff about accommodations such as flexible schedules or sensory breaks, and how else they may offer inclusive, affirming and supportive learning environments
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
Rachel Leslie is affiliated with the Queensland Guidance and Counselling Association of Queensland and the Australian Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools association. She is working with family support and advocacy organisation School Can’t Australia as part of her research.
Annette Brömdal receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund; Queensland Mental Health Commission; Queensland Sexual Health Research Fund; the Department of Education, Queensland; and the Australian Association of Gerontology. Annette is affiliated with Lifeline Darling Down and South West QLD Ltd as a volunteer Board Director. She is working with family support and advocacy organisation School Can’t Australia as part of her research.
Cris Townley is working with family support and advocacy organisation School Can’t Australia as part of their research. They are also a member of the the School Can’t Australia support network, and of the advocacy network Parents for Trans Youth Equity (P-TYE).
Glenys Oberg is working with family support and advocacy organisation School Can’t Australia as part of her research.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ritchie Williamson, Director of Research, Associate Professor in Therapeutics, University of Bradford
An inert and unreactive gas may not seem like an obvious candidate for treating Alzheimer’s disease, yet a new study in mice suggests that xenon might just be the breakthrough we need.
Xenon is one of the six noble gases. Its name derives from the Greek word for “strange”. In medicine, it has been used as an anaesthetic since the early 1950s and, more recently, to treat brain injuries. It is also being tested in clinical trials for several conditions including depression and panic disorder.
The new study from Washington University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (the teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School) in the US, has investigated the potential of xenon to treat the brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s.
These changes, which can be found in all brains of people with dementia, include clumps of the proteins amyloid and tau. The connections between neurons, called synapses, are also lost in Alzheimer’s disease and it is these connections between neurons that allow us to think, feel, move and remember.
A final common feature found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s is inflammation. This is the body’s response to injury or disease and triggers the immune response to heal the damaged tissue.
Usually, inflammation disappears once the tissue is healed. In Alzheimer’s, the inflammation does not go away and the immune responses triggered can then damage healthy brain cells.
All of the above changes give rise to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, such as memory loss, confusion and mood swings.
We don’t know what causes Alzheimer’s disease, but a leading theory suggests that a build up of amyloid triggers the process that then gives rise to the subsequent changes. So targeting amyloid seems like an obvious approach to treating the disease.
Just over two years ago, we learned of the success of one of these treatments called lecanemab in slowing the rate of decline.
The increase in clumps of proteins and the loss of synapses occur over decades, and it remains to be seen if directly targeting a single protein (either amyloid or tau) would be able to halt disease progression or have a measurable effect on all the characteristic harms.
The brain has several types of cell that work together to support brain function. Neurons are the cells responsible for everything – walking, talking, thinking and breathing. Astrocytes provide energy to the neurons as well as structural support and protective functions.
Other important cells found in the brain are microglia. They are immune cells that help remove pathogens and dead cells, among other activities. However, if they are overactive, they can cause chronic inflammation in the brain.
Microglia explained.
Microglia have different states depending on the environment they find themselves in, from an inactive state through to an active state. The difference in these states can be determined both by their appearance and importantly by the functions they perform. For example, active microglia can help clear the accumulated debris, such as unwanted proteins, cells and infections.
The scientists in this latest study used mice that have the same brain changes seen in Alzheimer’s to investigate the role of microglia. A specific active state of microglia that was associated with inflammation was identified. The scientists gave the mice xenon gas to inhale, which changed the state of their microglia.
This altered state allowed the microglia to surround, engulf and destroy amyloid deposits. It also changed the function of these microglia so that they didn’t drive further inflammation.
The researchers also found a reduction in the number and size of amyloid deposits found. All these changes were associated with the altered microglial state.
But what of the other changes seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s? The study also suggested Xenon inhalation could reduce brain shrinkage (a common feature of Alzheimer’s disease) and lead to an increase in support of the connections between neurons. And in all the mice studied, markers of the excessive inflammatory response were reduced.
So, overall, the research suggests that inhaling xenon triggers the active microglia to change from an Alzheimer’s disease-type active state to a pre-Alzheimer’s state. This pre-Alzheimer’s disease state promotes the clearance of amyloid deposits and reduces the cell messengers that cause excessive inflammation.
New hope
There are no drugs that target microglia in Alzheimer’s and inroads have been made in addressing amyloid accumulation. Current drugs aimed at reducing amyloid in the brain offer a modest reduction in amyloid deposits and rate of decline.
Amyloid treatment will improve over time, but what of the other changes that occur in the brain, such as the deposits of tau, brain shrinkage and loss of synapses?
The new research opens up the possibility of targeting a cell type that has the innate potential to affect all of these characteristic harms.
Clinical trials in healthy volunteers are expected to begin this year. If these findings hold up, xenon could offer a completely new approach to this mind-robbing disease. It would be a treatment that doesn’t directly target amyloid, but rather aims to reset the brain’s immune response to counteract all of the disease’s destructive changes. Stranger things have happened.
Ritchie Williamson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By David Amigoni, Professor of Victorian Literature, Editorial Board Chair, Keele University
In Ian McEwan’s Atonement (2001), aspiring writer 13-year-old Briony Tallis glimpses a world of opaque “adult emotion”. Holding a pen and blank paper before her, she feels a powerful impulse to write in order to impose order and meaning on adulthood’s slippery uncertainties.
Earlier on that hot summer’s day in 1935, she had witnessed a perplexing scene of seeming “ugly threat”. Her older sister, Cecilia, undressed in front of their cleaning lady’s son (and fellow Cambridge graduate) Robbie Turner. She then plunged, in her underwear, into an ornamental fountain.
Briony’s urge to write is triggered when she reads the private note she had been tasked with delivering from Robbie to Cecilia. Within, she is shocked to discover Robbie’s desire for Cecilia, expressed through use of the unutterable “c” word. Later, looking through the door of their darkened library, Briony mistakenly believes she sees Robbie committing a violent assault on her sister.
This article is part of Rethinking the Classics. The stories in this series offer insightful new ways to think about and interpret classic books, films and artworks. This is the canon – with a twist.
McEwan’s novel presents a privileged English country house setting that descends into a chaos of mistakes, class resentment, educational ambition and sex, expressed both as desire and power. The latter is evident in the rape of Briony’s cousin Lola.
Convinced that she has seen, and now read, the truth about “evil” Robbie’s “disgusting” obsession with her sister, Briony believes he is the culprit. She is confident that her writing will expose a “maniac’s” guilt. However, her urge to write upon the blank page is stronger than her sense of what precisely to say.
In fact, what she writes at this crucial moment – “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly” – feels entirely strange. But just as the old lady of the nursery rhyme fatally bites off ever more that she can chew in swallowing a fly, a spider, a bird, a cat, so Briony’s tragically mistaken ideas about Robbie ends in his incrimination and incarceration.
Robbie is free only when released to fight for the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940. He strives to return to Cecilia via the horrors and heroism of that most resonant of British stories, Dunkirk.
Life stages, ageing and creativity are important themes in Atonement. It is as an older lady writer herself that Briony atones for the incriminating stories that her juvenile writer self swallowed and multiplied.
Putting age and later life front and centre urges the reader to reassess McEwan’s renowned “twist”. That is, the moment readers discover that key scenes in the novel – meetings between Briony, Cecilia and Robbie following the latter’s evacuation from Dunkirk – never happened.
As we are told on the penultimate page, the truth is that Robbie died of septicaemia in the dunes of Dunkirk and Cecilia was killed in the direct hit of a bomb on the Balham tube station in 1940.
At this moment, we realise that what we have been reading is the final draft of the atoning conclusion to a work by now 77-year-old Briony. Like so many late stylists (a writer who, in later life, returns to earlier preoccupations and themes), Briony, an established author with a reputation for “amorality”, revisits her early work on her 77th birthday party. It’s an event that brings her back to the estate of her childhood, now converted into a hotel.
Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.
Briony’s later life shapes the closure of the story, but McEwan’s imaginative engagement with ageing affects every aspect of the novel. He presents readers with story-shaped anticipations of mid- and later life, even when the character will not live to see that age.
Robbie, working-class protégé of Mr Tallis’s educational philanthropy, with a first in English literature from Cambridge, consciously awakens into his unacknowledged love for Cecilia while thinking about his age and future.
The feelings coincide with his developing aspiration to train in medicine, and his imaginary anticipations of his life course.
He thought of himself in 1962, at 50, when he would be old, but not quite old enough to be useless, and of the weathered, knowing doctor he would be by then, with the secret stories, the tragedies and successes stacked behind him”
These will be embodied in books – more writings – “possessed in the thousands”. Briony and Cecilia’s migraine-suffering mother Emily, meanwhile, sees her ageing self grow “stiffer in the limbs and more irrelevant by the day”.
Through the character of Briony, McEwan contests the ageism and invisibility that can be the fate of older women. McEwan may take her to the brink of a terminal neurological decline in 1999 – she is diagnosed with vascular dementia – but Briony resists the othering that ageism imposes on older people: “we may look truly reptilian, but we’re not a separate tribe”.
The end of the novel presents readers with a view of active, meaningful later life as a creative time of collaborative, curatorial story telling.
The older Briony was played by Vanessa Redgrave in the 2007 adaptation of Atonement.
Readers become aware of the “sources” of the dramatic story of Robbie’s trek across northern France in the company of Corporals Mace and Nettle. Seventy-seven-year-old Briony donates the “dozen long letters from old Mr Nettle” to the archives of the Imperial War Museum, where she has been researching.
This act of memory preservation returns readers to the meaning of the horrors, carnage and heroism of the Dunkirk evacuation which McEwan presents through that powerful central episode in the novel. The evacuation of more than 300,000 troops from Dunkirk, including a small proportion of volunteer boats, makes Dunkirk a nationally resonant story.
Briony’s collaborative, later-life storytelling captures the heroism and sacrifice inherent in the perspectives of the wounded evacuee combatants. But so, too, their more sceptical, critical accents.
They “were bitter about the newspaper celebrations of the miracle evacuation and the heroism of the little boats. ‘A fucking shambles,’ she heard one of them mutter.” Or more precisely, the older lady recalled hearing, and then wrote.
Beyond the canon
As part of the Rethinking the Classics series, we’re asking our experts to recommend a book or artwork that tackles similar themes to the canonical work in question, but isn’t (yet) considered a classic itself. Here is David Amigoni’s suggestion:
Paul Bailey, who died in October 2024, was an excellent but under-acknowledged writer who deserves to be more widely read.
His writing went against the grain is subtle ways. He was experimenting with ways of writing about later life at the beginning of his career in 1967, with the publication of At the Jerusalem, set in a home for older women. He was then in his early 30s.
The Prince’s Boy (2014) was written when he was 77 – the same age as McEwan’s fictional Briony Tallis when she completes Atonement. It revisits key themes in Bailey’s earlier work: sexuality (he was a gay man), love, Proust, Romania and Europe.
David Amigoni received funding from RCUK (now UKRI) for his work on ageing and late-life creativity. He is affiliated with The Conversation UK as Chair of its Editorial Board.
Donald Trump’s recent statement describing Gaza as a “demolition site” – and his suggestion to “evacuate” Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and Jordan to “clean out that whole thing” – has sent shockwaves across the region.
Trump reportedly told journalists travelling with him on Air Force One at the weekend that he had spoken with King Abdullah of Jordan and planned to talk with Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” he said.
He added that relocating Palestinian civilians to “some of the Arab nations, and build[ing] housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change” could be “done temporarily or could be long term”.
But it has been widely criticised across the region as a potential “second Nakba” – referring to the violence and displacement of Palestinians after Israel’s unilateral declaration of statehood in 1948. The proposal has also been outright rejected by Egypt and Jordan. It has also been strongly condemned by the Palestinians.
It remains unclear to what extent this aligns with US policy and diplomacy, but such rhetoric risks undermining the pivotal regional diplomatic efforts. These efforts, led by Qatar and Egypt in close coordination with Washington, are focused on continuing the negotiations on the ceasefire, monitoring progress, and verifying compliance.
So it’s far from certain if this is an official US policy position or another example of the US president simply airing his thoughts. But what is clear is that his latest pronouncement will further complicate the ceasefire deal agreed on January 17.
The deal already faces significant challenges and uncertainties, not least the mutual distrust between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships. History tells us that this lack of trust has developed, in part, because of the numerous times ceasefires have been used for purposes other than pursuing long-term settlement, such as opportunities to regroup, rearm or reposition strategically.
So the staged nature of the current deal carries considerable risks, as it creates opportunities for “spoilers” on both sides to derail the process. The recent violence of Jewish settlers on the West Bank and Hamas’s active encouragement of confrontation there are other examples of things that could derail the ceasefire.
The negotiation process is further complicated by dynamics tied to the political survival of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. One party (Jewish Power) has already left his coalition government in protest against the ceasefire. Meanwhile the leader of the Religious Zionist party, Bezalel Smotrich, has threatened to do the same if the military operation against Hamas is not resumed.
Hamas, in turn, has attempted to reassert its control in Gaza. We’ve seen examples of that during the hostage exchange process when Hamas fighters conspicuously present at the handovers. Hamas may have been severely weakened, but it still controls significant parts of Gaza’s bureaucracy and policing and wants the world to know it.
Challenges ahead
If any part of the agreement falters there is a substantial risk that each side will blame the other of breaching the terms of the ceasefire. Two of the most contentious issues in the second phase are determining who will govern Gaza and how to implement a full Israeli withdrawal.
While Israel continues its security cooperation with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, it vehemently opposes any PA role in Gaza. There is also considerable doubt as to whether Israel will agree to any long-term solution which involves complete withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from Gaza.
The recent resignation of the IDF’s chief of staff Herzl Halevi, as he took responsibility for the IDF’s failures on October 7, has further destabilised the political and military dynamics in Israel. A lot will depend on his successor.
Recent geopolitical shifts have reshaped regional dynamics. This presents challenges and opportunities for any diplomatic initiatives surrounding Israel and Palestine. The weakening of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance”, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon – and the now-collapsed Assad regime in Syria – may provide an opportunity for the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
This in turn will offer an opportunity to reshape the Middle East’s geopolitical landscape. This potential breakthrough builds on the Abraham accords, which was one of Trump’s foreign policy initiatives. It’s a transactional approach to diplomacy, which prioritises pragmatic and results-oriented negotiations.
The new US Middle East envoy, former real estate developer Steve Witkoff, has emphasised “courageous diplomacy”, as well as strong leadership and what he called “reciprocal actions” from the parties to the peace deal. Whether the new US administration will revive the 2020 Trump plan for a Palestinian state remains uncertain.
That plan proposed granting 70% of the West Bank and Gaza to Palestinians while allowing Israel to retain sovereignty over Jerusalem. It also included US approval for Israeli annexation of territories with Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
For Israel, normalisation with Saudi Arabia would be a major diplomatic victory. Washington is playing a crucial role here, offering incentives such as sale of advanced American weapons systems to Riyadh. But Saudi Arabia has reportedly demanded concrete steps toward establishing a Palestinian state as part of the deal. Trump’s latest gambit, if it becomes official US policy, would make that a non-starter.
Karin Aggestam has received research funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Australian Reseach Council, Wallenberg Foundation and others.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michael Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Economics and Finance, University of East London
Addressing the climate crisis was one of the key themes at the World Economic Forum in Davos.Rustam Zagidullin/Shutterstock
Every year, leaders from politics and business come together with economists, investors and even celebrities at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos. One of the five key themes of this year’s event was safeguarding the planet. The forum’s own figures suggest that human-caused climate change has cost the planet US$3.6 trillion (£2.9 trillion) in damage since 2000 alone.
Many of the sessions at Davos focused on climate change, which was especially pertinent after US president Donald Trump’s decision to abandon for a second time the Paris Agreement – a framework to keep the warming of the planet to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.
In an online address to Davos delegates, Trump even argued that the oil-producers’ group Opec should reduce the price of oil. This is in stark contrast to the views of many other governments – exemplified by UK energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband’s assertion that net zero is “unstoppable”.
But one of the less discussed elements of the path to net-zero by the year 2050 (a key target to keep the Paris Agreement on track) is the role of the financial sector.
As economists, we believe that banks and financial institutions should play a key role in making the green transition happen. Companies that produce goods and services will need to invest in equipment and technology – either to make new greener products or to ensure that they pollute less.
But this will cost money – likely money that firms do not actually have on their balance sheet or under their mattress. When banks assist in providing funding for this type of investment, it is known as green finance.
Green finance from banks can take two forms. Either the banks underwrite corporate bonds, which means they sell bonds to investors in exchange for a fee. Or they become involved in the provision of a syndicated loan, which is when they collaborate with other banks to lend money.
But both options are constrained by the rule that a bank will only provide finance out of self-interest. This means they act only when the profit they earn is proportional to the credit risk they take on. But this was in contrast to the message from Davos that businesses should take the lead, with the aid of finance from banks, in mitigating the risks of climate change.
With easier access to finance, more firms could invest in innovative ways to go green like this car park with inbuilt solar panels in Leeds. Clare Louise Jackson/Shutterstock
Sources of credit for businesses to make green investments include philanthropists, public finance and the private sector (that is, commercial banks). However, it is arguable that charity and public money are best used in partnership with private banks, to finance projects that are perceived high risk and low return. Banks alone would not support these because of their promotion of self-interest.
However, philanthropy can be limited and inconsistent in providing funds for green projects. And the public sector has so many demands on its purse that its ability to support is also limited. This is where the private sector plays a key role in mitigating climate change and where partnerships between these three sectors could offer a way forward.
This pathway was discussed at Davos but the speakers were not clear on what effective partnerships would look like. As academics who have researched the factors that influence green finance provision across multiple European countries, we would suggest a partnership structure between the public sector and the private sector, based on risk-sharing.
In these cases where banks perceive the risk to be unbearable (and therefore not in their self-interest), governments could partner with banks in offering finance and so share the consequences of a bad project outcome. In other words, they would form a partnership with the bank to share the downside risk.
A bank may consider an investment to be higher risk where a project has less certain outcomes, or requires funding for a longer period of time. Both of these factors are comparatively common in green financing deals. This could be because a firm is investing in new or untested tech or production methods – for example car manufacturers exploring new electric vehicle battery technologies.
The struggle for smaller businesses
This partnership approach could especially benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make up 99% of Europe’s companies. But these businesses can struggle to access finance from banks due to their lack of capital, which can make banks see them as a high risk. And this of course is challenging for SMEs, which mostly have no other sources of external finance.
Research shows that medium-sized firms often rely on loans for finance. Our work focuses on how companies in Europe and the UK source green financing. It has highlighted that larger companies, as well as more liquid and more profitable firms, tend to raise finance via bonds (issued by banks and bought by investors) rather than loans (from a bank or other financial institution).
In fact, our research shows that in some European countries (including Latvia, Malta and Romania), domestic banks have no record whatsoever of providing green finance to companies.
This means it is much easier for larger businesses to get green finance compared to their smaller peers. And smaller companies tend to obtain relatively lower amounts of green financing, creating a real risk that SMEs may not get what they need in order to play their part in reducing their emissions.
Without a significant shift in allowing SMEs to get the finance they need to become greener, governments will struggle to get close to their net-zero goals. But, along with financial regulators, governments could lead the way to create partnerships with banks and other financial institutions to overcome the barriers that SMEs face.
Sharing the risk would ensure banks continue their green lending activities and accelerate progress toward meeting government climate targets.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Record-breaking crowds at the Australian Open have served up a welcome spending boost to Melbourne’s economy with accommodation the big winner over the last fortnight.
International tourists and domestic visitors booked out hotels, motels and serviced apartments, spending more than $111 million on accommodation across Melbourne. Accommodation group Ascott Australasia highlighted a 16% jump in demand during the 2025 tournament.
Transaction data from Australia’s largest business bank, NAB, reveals a grand slam in consumer spending over the fortnight:
More than $275 million was spent at Melbourne’s pubs, bars and restaurants over the fortnight.
Melbourne’s bars experienced a 3% uplift in spending compared to the 2024 Australian Open.
Businesses immediately surrounding the Melbourne Park precinct experienced a $74 million spending injection, up 2% on last year.
Clothing and apparel spending at businesses surrounding Melbourne Park was up by 3% year on year.
NAB Business Banking Executive Julie Rynski said the Australian Open’s marquee event status drove positive economic benefits across the inner city and surrounds.
“Visitors from interstate and overseas flock to Melbourne for the tennis and take the opportunity to enjoy the best of the city’s vibrant culinary and cultural scene over the fortnight,” Ms Rynski said.
“We’re seeing crowd records broken and consumer spending growing year-on-year, cementing the event’s status as an all-important launchpad for businesses into the year ahead.
“The continued growth in spending translates to a real vibe which you can see and feel with booked out eateries and hotels, packed pubs and bars, lines for take away coffee and busier taxis and public transport.
“Major events like the Australian Open not only generate direct spending but also create a ripple effect with flow through benefits for the wider economy, retailers, transport services and tourism operators.
“This is a welcome boost to businesses given cost-of-living concerns. It’s clear people are making thoughtful spending changes through the year to save up, visit Melbourne and enjoy the city and the tennis,” Ms Rynski said.
Managing Director, Ascott Australasia and Chair of Accommodation Australia David Mansfield said the tournament was a boom for accommodation providers.
“The Australian Open has once again proven to be a transformative event for Melbourne’s hospitality and accommodation sectors, driving occupancy rates to record levels and surpassing the strong demand seen in previous years,” Mr Mansfield said.
Ascott’s Melbourne properties which include Quest Apartment Hotels, Citadines on Bourke, Oakwood Premier, and lyf Collingwood experienced a significant 16% increase in demand during this year’s tournament. Additionally, revenue per available room (RevPAR) saw a 13% increase compared to 2024, underscoring the event’s growing significance in driving revenue for the accommodation sector.
“The Australian Open doesn’t just fill hotels; it powers the entire tourism ecosystem. Every visitor who arrives in Melbourne spends on local bars, restaurants, attractions, and small businesses,” Mr Mansfield said.
“For the accommodation industry specifically, the event has highlighted the vital role our sector plays in supporting large-scale tourism and economic growth.
“As Chair of Accommodation Australia, I am thrilled to see how events like the Australian Open highlight the resilience, importance, and potential of the hospitality and tourism sectors.
“With each passing year, the Australian Open continues to grow in scale and influence. Its success reminds us of the importance of ongoing investment destination marketing, infrastructure, workforce development, and collaborative efforts between industry and government to ensure the tourism and accommodation sectors thrive well into the future,” Mr Mansfield said.
Notes to editors
* Estimates taken from spend at NAB merchant terminals surrounding Melbourne Park and across Melbourne between 12 January and 26 January 2025.
Pre-settlement data has been used to indicate trends and % movements. Final, exact figures are subject to change.
BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom, Jan. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DDB Miner, a global pioneer in cryptocurrency mining, proudly announces its revolutionary platform that empowers individuals to achieve financial freedom through cutting-edge cloud mining solutions. Since its establishment in 2017, DDB Miner, headquartered in Birmingham, UK, has grown to serve over 9 million members worldwide and now contributes approximately 3.8% of the global cryptocurrency mining computing power.
Cloud mining is reshaping the future of cryptocurrency income generation by eliminating the complexities and high costs traditionally associated with mining. With DDB Miner’s advanced technology and environmentally sustainable operations powered by renewable energy, users can enjoy consistent profits without the need for hardware or maintenance.
What Makes Cloud Mining a Game-Changer?
Cloud mining allows users to participate in cryptocurrency mining remotely by leveraging the computing power of platforms like DDB Miner. This innovative approach removes barriers such as expensive equipment and technical expertise, enabling anyone to earn cryptocurrency with ease.
Why DDB Miner Stands Out
DDB Miner delivers unparalleled advantages that set it apart in the cloud mining industry:
State-of-the-Art Equipment: Utilizes hardware from top manufacturers like Bitmain and Antminer for optimal efficiency and reliability.
Legitimacy and Global Reach: Registered in the UK and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority, with a user base spanning over 9 million globally.
User-Friendly Platform: Designed for both beginners and experienced miners.
Wide Cryptocurrency Support: Mines popular cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, DOGE, USDC, USDT, BCH, LTC, and SOL.
Reliable Returns: Offers daily earnings on contracts, with automatic principal reimbursement at contract expiration.
Round-the-Clock Support: Backed by a professional IT team and 24/7 customer service.
Lucrative Referral Program: Earn bonuses of up to $22,000 by inviting friends to join.
Choose a Contract Tailored to Your Goals
DDB Miner offers diverse investment options to match your financial strategy:
Experience Contract: Invest $100, gross income $106.
Classic Contract: Invest $1,000, gross income $1,130.
Premium Contract: Invest $10,000, gross income $18,750.
Super Contract: Invest $30,000, gross income $57,750.
Getting Started with DDB Miner
Register: Sign up and receive a $12 bonus, plus $0.50 daily for sign-ins.
Select Your Contract: Choose a mining plan that suits your budget and goals.
Earn Seamlessly: Activate your contract and let DDB Miner handle the rest. Monitor and withdraw earnings directly from the platform.
Why Join Now?
With operations powered by renewable energy sources like solar and wind, DDB Miner ensures reduced costs and increased profitability. Whether you are a beginner seeking a stable income or an investor looking to diversify your portfolio, DDB Miner offers a reliable and eco-friendly solution.
Join the Financial Revolution Today
For more information, visit the official DDB Miner platform at https://ddbminer.com. Download the mobile app from Google Play or the Apple Store to manage your mining activities on the go.
Media Contact: Katerina Audrey DDB Miner Media Relations Email: info@ddbminer.com Website: https://ddbminer.com
Disclaimer: This press release is provided by “DDB Miner”. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in cloud mining and related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Do your own research before doing any investments.
