Nashville, TN, Sept. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AREB) (“American Rebel” or the “Company”), the creator of American Rebel Beer (www.americanrebelbeer.com), and branded safes, personal security and self-defense products and apparel, announced they are the primary sponsor of Tony Stewart’s National Hot Rod Association (“NHRA”) Funny Car, driven by Matt Hagan, at the Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, MO the weekend of September 27 – September 29.
“We’re excited to be sponsoring the Tony Stewart NHRA racing team and having Matt Hagan, who won last year at this event in St. Louis, as the driver of the American Rebel Light Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car,” said Andy Ross, Chief Executive Officer of American Rebel. “The American Rebel Light Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car is quickly becoming a fan favorite within the NHRA racing community. The NHRA events allow us to engage with the fans throughout the weekend and we are excited to be able to introduce the millions of viewers on television to American Rebel Light Beer. We’ve got a winning team with Tony and Matt and we’re looking forward to the race weekend, celebrating their success while promoting American Rebel Light, America’s Patriotic, God-Fearing, Constitution-Loving, National Anthem-Singing, Stand Your Ground Beer.”
Hagan is currently fourth in the Funny Car championship standings, 153 points behind leader Austin Prock. Hagan is a four-time season-long champion (2011, 2014, 2020 and 2023) and is the defending event winner at St. Louis. “We have some good luck at St. Louis, so hopefully we can continue our momentum from Charlotte with the final-round appearance,” said Matt Hagan, driver of the American Rebel Light Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car. “We’re going to have a few Dodge executives there and our friends from American Rebel Beer, so I’d really like to have good performance and put on a good show for them to show them what we’re capable of.”
American Rebel Light is produced in partnership with AlcSource, the largest integrated provider of beverage development, sourcing, and production solutions in the U.S. American Rebel Light Beer just completed its first production run and is now available in 12oz and 16oz cans in several states across the USA.
American Rebel Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AREB) has operated primarily as a designer, manufacturer and marketer of branded safes and personal security and self-defense products and has recently transitioned into the beverage industry through the introduction of American Rebel Beer. The Company also designs and produces branded apparel and accessories. To learn more, visit www.americanrebel.com and www.americanrebelbeer.com. For investor information, visit www.americanrebel.com/investor-relations.
PARK CITY, UT, Sept. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EQV Ventures Acquisition Corp. (“EQV” or the “Company”) announced today that, effective immediately, holders of the units sold in the Company’s initial public offering may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and warrants included in the units. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants that are separated will trade on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbols “EQV” and “EQVW,” respectively. Those units not separated will continue to trade on NYSE under the symbol “EQVU.” Holders of units will need to have their brokers contact Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the Company’s transfer agent, to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The offering was made solely by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from BTIG, LLC, 65 East 55th Street, New York, New York 10022, Attn: Syndicate Department, BTIGSyndicateCoverage@btig.com. Copies of the registration statement relating to the offering are also available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov.
About EQV Ventures Acquisition Corp.
EQV is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. EQV is led by Chief Executive Officer Jerry Silvey and President and Chief Financial Officer Tyson Taylor, and is sponsored by an affiliate of the EQV Group, a group of companies focused on the acquisition, management and optimization of predictable cash-flowing asset bases across the traditional energy spectrum. While the Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region in its identification and acquisition of a target company, the Company seeks to effect a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with an oil and gas exploration and production company in North America or Europe. The Company expects to benefit from its affiliation with the EQV Group through access to corporate relationships, industry sector expertise and value creation capabilities. For more information, please visit www.eqvventures.com.
This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements,” including with respect to the search for an initial business combination. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company’s registration statement and prospectus for the Company’s initial public offering filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Copies are available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Government reappoints Professor Sir Steve Smith as its International Education Champion, supporting the promotion of UK education excellence around the world.
Sir Steve will continue to support the government’s international education work
His work will promote UK excellence in education around the world
Officials will conduct a review of the International Education Strategy
Sir Steve Smith has been reappointed as the UK Government’s International Education Champion.
Reappointed by Minister for Exports, Gareth Thomas, and the Skills Minister, The Rt Hon Baroness Smith, Sir Steve’s tenure as International Education Champion (IEC) has been extended for one year from 1 October..
Under a commitment made in the UK Government’s International Education Strategy, published in 2019, Sir Steve was originally appointed as IEC in June 2020 for a four-year term.
In his role as IEC, Sir Steve will continue to support the government’s international education work, including engaging with governments around the world and promoting UK excellence and partnerships in all education sub-sectors.
More widely, with the change in government, officials will conduct a review of the International Education Strategy, which will ensure that it continues to be an effective tool in increasing the value of education exports, promote policy dialogue and reflect the priorities of education stakeholders, businesses and Ministers.
Sir Steve was previously Vice-Chancellor of University of Exeter for 18 years and brings vast experience to the IEC role, where he has played a pivotal role in developing deep relationships, including at Ministerial level internationally.
In his role as IEC, he has already supported significant progress across priority countries including:
Leading over 500 meetings with stakeholders and 22 visits overseas , which has helped open the door for education exports, now amounting to more than £28bn.
Taking forward the relationship with education ministers in particular with Saudi Arabia, to develop the pipeline of opportunities for UK education suppliers relating to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030; and Nigeria, where the UK has co-written the country’s guidelines for Transnational Education, opening up opportunities for UK universities to provide their offer in Nigeria.
Leading a delegation of 31 UK higher education institutions to India, where a range of partnership opportunities have been progressed.
On his re-appointment, Prof. Sir Steve Smith said:
“I am absolutely delighted to be continuing in my role as the UK’s International Education Champion, working with the government, both at home and overseas, to ensure that the UK makes the very most of international opportunities, across the breadth of the UK’s world-leading education sector.
“It’s a critical time for the education sector and I look forward to building on the trusting relationships we have with our partners around the world.”
Exports Minister Gareth Thomas said:
“The UK is an international powerhouse when it comes to our education services, and I’m very pleased that Sir Steve will be continuing in his role to champion the country around the world.
“I want to see more UK educators exporting their brilliant services around the world, and promoting our high standards, that’s why Sir Steve’s work is so important.”
Baroness Smith, Minister for Skills, said:
“Sir Steve has a wealth of experience in showcasing our brilliant education sector, and I am thrilled that he will continue in this role for a further year.
“The UK is rightly regarded as an education powerhouse and Sir Steve’s vital work will continue to strengthen that reputation around the world, driving economic growth and boosting our global prestige.”
NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP), a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions, advisory, and data services, today announced the final close of StepStone Secondary Opportunities Fund V, L.P. (“SSOF V”) and related separate accounts (together, “Fund V”) with $7.4 billion of capital commitments. With $4.8 billion of aggregate capital commitments, SSOF V more than doubled in size relative to its predecessor fund.
The Firm’s secondaries strategy leverages StepStone’s broader platform to utilize its sponsor relationships, differentiated data, and information access to create opportunities that may generate strong risk-adjusted returns. Since inception, StepStone has deployed over $14 billion into over 210 private equity secondaries transactions, focusing on a balanced mix of LP-led and GP-led opportunities.
SSOF V is over 50% committed to investments and will continue to focus on the less efficient segments of the secondaries market where StepStone believes its relationships and information advantages present key differentiators in isolating high-quality assets managed by best-in-class private equity sponsors.
The fund is supported by a globally diversified set of institutional investors that include sovereign wealth funds, public and corporate pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices and various others.
The fund is managed by Thomas Bradley and Mark Maruszewski, Co-Heads of Private Equity Secondaries, and Adam Johnston and John Kettnich. They are supported by a dedicated 37-person team, with a broader network of over 1,000 professionals based throughout StepStone’s 27 offices across 16 countries.
Mr. Bradley commented, “We are extremely pleased to have received such strong investor support, which we attribute to the strength of our track record, the compelling secondaries market opportunity, and the value our platform brings to those seeking secondary liquidity. This newly raised capital will allow us to continue to take advantage of the best risk-adjusted opportunities while partnering with best-in-class managers among an increasing desire for liquidity from global private equity investors.”
Regarding SSOF V, Mr. Johnston said, “We are incredibly grateful for the trust and support from existing and new investors around the world. Our team and platform has never been stronger and we believe we are well-positioned to capitalize on the substantial and growing opportunities in the private equity secondaries market.”
About StepStone Group StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP) is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions. StepStone has one of the largest secondary liquidity solutions platforms globally, providing an important source of capital to sophisticated investors and general partners across private equity, venture capital & growth equity, real estate, infrastructure, and private debt. As of June 30, 2024, StepStone was responsible for approximately $701 billion of total capital, including $170 billion of assets under management and $27 billion dedicated to secondary solutions. The Firm’s secondaries strategy leverages StepStone’s broader platform to utilize its sponsor relationships, differentiated data, and information access to create opportunities that may generate strong risk-adjusted returns. Since inception, StepStone has deployed over $14 billion into over 210 private equity secondaries transactions, focusing on a balanced mix of LP-led and GP-led opportunities.
Minister Khera will explain the details on Canada’s first-ever Action Plan on Combatting Hate and Canada Community Security Program
BRAMPTON, Ontario – The Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities, will be in Brampton to explain the details of Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate and Canada Community Security Program on Sunday.
Please note that all details are subject to change. All times are local.
The details are as follows:
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 2024
TIME: 11:00 a.m.
Journalists wishing to attend the announcement in person must confirm their participation by submitting their full name and the name of their organization to media@pch.gc.ca by 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 28. Information on how to attend will be provided afterward.
Waleed Saleem Press Secretary Office of the Honourable Kamal Khera Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities waleed.saleem@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
Gabriel Brunet Press Secretary Office of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs gabriel.brunet@iga-aig.gc.ca
Over 530 high EPC-rated homes, with 20% designated for affordable housing, seven acres of vibrant green space, and a range of commercial amenities will bring about the transformation of the site, which has lain derelict for 15 years. Designed by Glancy Nicholls Architects, the low-rise development plans emulate the surrounding conservation area and maximise the canalside setting. The scheme will also open up a new pedestrian route to the city core, reducing the previous walk time by 20 minutes, and igniting investment into a commercial corridor.
The waterfront development site sits on the eastern edge of the city centre and is made up of the Canal & River Trust-owned former Crane Foundry site, and the Council’s former British Steel site and land off Qualcast Road.
Councillor Stephen Simkins, Leader of City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “Wavensmere Homes submitted a quality and comprehensive planning application that will deliver for Wolverhampton. This project is fundamental to our brownfield first strategy, driving investment into the Green Innovation Corridor, and it will also fulfil a key objective of our Canalside Delivery Partnership with the Canal & River Trust.
“We can now look forward to work starting on site. Bringing life back to the redundant sites along our canal network is critical to boosting footfall into our city centre. As one of the largest new housing developments in the Midlands, Wavensmere’s £150m investment will enable Wolverhampton residents to benefit from superb connectivity, amenities, and health and wellbeing opportunities at this wonderful heritage location.”
Wavensmere Homes will construct 378 two-and three-bedroom townhouses, designed to target an EPC-A rated specification, together with 145 one-and two-bedroom apartments. A building of 10 co-living units – each containing six bedrooms – will deliver affordable living typologies to young professionals. 54 houses and 80 apartment and co-living bedrooms will benefit from waterside views. The multi-award-winning urban regeneration specialist will also be reanimating the disused railway arches on the site into 1,338sqm (14,400 sq ft) of lettable commercial space.
James Dickens, Managing Director of Wavensmere Homes, said: “The experience of working with this City Council – and in particular the planning department – has been unprecedented. Wolverhampton is a city that is open for business.
“As a timeline, Wavensmere was announced as the new developer for this nationally significant project last December, and we are now in a position to confirm that we will be starting work at Canalside South before the year is out. This scheme will be a catalyst for a new wave of ambitious city living, which is vital to see the Wolverhampton Pound spent locally.
“It’s the level of proactivity and can-do approach that made this happen, which has been brought about through a shared vision, great people, and the Council’s strong leadership team at the helm. As a result of this positive and efficient experience, we are committed to invest a lot more in the City of Wolverhampton.”
Wavensmere Homes will future-proof the new homes by installing electric only heating systems. A range of technologies will be utilised across the development, consisting of air source heat pumps, solar panels and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR). There will also be EV charging to each house or parking space, alongside an array of EV chargers for visitors.
The overall vision for the Wolverhampton Canalside masterplan is the delivery of around 1,000 homes to meet both the city and wider region’s housing needs, with sustainability and place-making at its heart.
Andrew Chandler, Development Manager at the Canal & River Trust, added: “We are delighted to be working collaboratively with City of Wolverhampton Council and Wavensmere Homes to bring forward this transformational, high quality canalside residential-led scheme which will deliver generous well-connected walkways and public open spaces. This scheme will transform derelict brownfield land, while connecting more people to the local canal network and its rich biodiversity.
“Canalside South will positively influence the quality of future development around our canals. It will also demonstrate the positive impact that water has on those who live and use the waterways, encouraging more people to engage with their local canal and at the same time help support what we do as a charity and show that life really is better by water.”
Birmingham-headquartered Wavensmere Homes has 3,500 homes on site, or currently in planning. The firm is in the final phase of the £175m Nightingale Quarter, which is the redevelopment of the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary into 925 energy-efficient houses, apartments, and community amenities. The company is constructing two other major brownfield regeneration schemes, located in central Birmingham and Ipswich, and has further projects – including four additional landmark schemes in Derby and Cheltenham – in the immediate pipeline.
Lilongwe – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a US$ 5.2 million contribution from the Government of Norway to support 544,000 Malawians adversely impacted by the El Niño-induced drought.
Norway’s timely contribution will support WFP’s El Niño Response Plan which, in coordination with the Government of Malawi, aims to assist 2.1 million food-insecure people in Malawi. WFP will procure and distribute 3,200 metric tons of maize and ninety-eight metric tons of fortified corn soya blend for the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition. In addition, 256,000 learners in some two hundred schools will receive a hot and nutritious meal.
Senior officials from Malawi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), and WFP joined the Norwegian Ambassador to Malawi, Ingrid Marie Mikelsen, to celebrate this timely collaboration, which is set to bolster Malawi’s efforts in addressing one of its most pressing challenges—widespread hunger.
“The Government of Malawi sincerely appreciates Norway’s generous contribution which comes at a crucial time, as we strive to meet the needs of 5.7 million individuals facing food insecurity” said Reverend Moses Chimphepo, Director of Disaster Response and Recovery, Department of Disaster Management Affairs in Malawi. “Norway’s support will help us address the resource gap to assist food-insecure people as much as we can until the end of the lean season in March.”
While WFP typically prioritises cash-based food assistance, current maize shortages and rising food prices in Malawi have made direct food distributions essential. This approach focuses on alleviating food insecurity, particularly for pregnant and breastfeeding women, young children through nutrition treatments, and learners benefiting from emergency school meals.
“Norway’s commitment is a significant step toward addressing the urgent food security challenges exacerbated by the dry spell,” said Paul Turnbull, WFP Country Director and Representative in Malawi. “By supporting general food distributions, treatment of malnutrition and emergency school meals, we are alleviating hunger and malnutrition, helping the most vulnerable populations.”
Ambassador Ingrid Marie Mikelsen, reaffirmed Norway’s dedication to assisting Malawi: “Norway is committed to improving food security and nutrition in Malawi. This is particularly important in these challenging times. We are working hand-in-hand with the Government of Malawi and WFP to ensure that the most vulnerable populations receive nutritious food now but at the same, we need to think ahead to the next time extreme weather hits. That is why we also support initiatives aimed at increasing local food production in Malawi and making people more resilient to climate change.”
This partnership underscores the vital role that international collaboration plays in addressing food crises brought on by climate extremes. Through this contribution, Norway, WFP, and the Government of Malawi are providing essential relief during a critical time.
About WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
MOGADISHU – Millions of Somalis are at risk of falling deeper into hunger as below-average rainfall between October and December 2024 linked to the La Nina weather phenomenon threatens to reverse recent gains in food security. United Nations agencies are warning that without urgent funding for humanitarian action, the country – which in late 2022 was pushed to the brink of famine – could once again be plunged into a hunger crisis caused by severe drought.
The warning from theFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) follows the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis which reveals that 3.6 million people (19 per cent of the population) are currently experiencing crisis-levels of hunger in Somalia (IPC3+).
This is expected to rise to 4.4 million between October and December this year when below averageDeyrrains are anticipated. Additionally, 1.6 million children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition until July 2025, including 403,000 likely to suffer from severe malnutrition.
“We are at a pivotal moment and must sound the alarm. Without swift action, Somalia risks slipping back into the hunger crisis that nearly led to famine in recent years,” said Elkhidir Daloum, WFP’s Country Director in Somalia. “Despite some progress in food security, many families are still at risk of hunger as food prices surge and crop yields dwindle. Our focus must be on providing immediate assistance while fostering long-term resilience. At WFP, we are ramping up efforts to protect communities before disaster strikes. By combining proactive strategies with early recovery initiatives, climate-smart solutions, and social protection measures, we can break the cycle of vulnerability.”
The IPC findings reflect global weather forecasts which indicate an 80 per cent probability of La Niña conditions, which could lead to drought in Somalia. The forecasts indicate the likelihood of a below-normalDeyrrainy season and above-normal temperatures which could cause severe soil moisture loss, poor crop and fodder productivity, and worsen food insecurity in vulnerable communities.
FAO Somalia Country Representative, Etienne Peterschmitt, stressed the urgency of early action given the La Niña forecast and the potential for drought. “La Niña’s impact on Somalia’s agrifood systems could be devastating, with degraded soil and water resources, disrupted planting seasons, and reduced crop yields. The loss of livestock will further threaten rural livelihoods, pushing millions deeper into hunger and poverty. Anticipatory action is essential to mitigate these impacts and prevent a worsening food security crisis.”
“High levels of acute malnutrition among children are widespread and persistent. We are likely to see water sources depleting and malnutrition among children rising,” said UNICEF Representative Wafaa Saeed. “While the number of acutely malnourished children has reduced and more people had access to safe water, these gains are fragile, and risk being eroded. We need to sustain provision of life-saving assistance while simultaneously scaling up investments in resilience so that communities can respond and recover positively to recurrent shocks.”
FAO, OCHA, UNICEF and WFP are deeply concerned about the grim food security outlook for the next three months and beyond. Amid funding gaps, unfavorable rainfall forecasts, ongoing security challenges, and rising food prices, the agencies are urgently calling for additional funding to expand humanitarian and resilience programmes to mitigate the impacts of the expected drought in Somalia. As of 24 September, the 2024 Somalia Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan was only 37 per cent funded.
LUANG NAMTHA – After the devastating floods brought by Typhoon Yagi, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Lao PDR has initiated emergency food distributions to support the most affected communities in the country.
Following an official request for assistance from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, WFP has begun rice distributions in the Luang Namtha province today, where temporary food shortages are compounded by the loss of rice crops and agricultural land. In coordination with the Government of Lao PDR and the Lao Red Cross, WFP is distributing 100 metric tonnes of rice to 14,000 severely affected people.
“We are coordinating with the National Disaster Management Committee and other humanitarians for efficient and effective response and recovery actions. These food distributions will provide some relief for people that have lost so much in Luang Namtha,” said Marc-Andre Prost, WFP Representative and Country Director in Lao PDR. “We will continue working with local communities to restore livelihoods, improve food security, and strengthen disaster preparedness in the face of future climate-related shocks.”
Since June, Lao PDR has experienced a series of floods, landslides and storms that have impacted an estimated 145,000 people around the country. Super Typhoon Yagi, that made landfall on 9 September, caused additional heavy rains, severe flooding and landslides, temporarily displacing 33,000 people in two districts of Luang Namtha province.
“The impact of Typhoon Yagi on our province has been severe, and we are committed to get help to those in need. We value the collaboration with WFP and the Lao Red Cross, because it helps us to raise support from the donor community and provide assistance to our people on the ground,” said Sivilay Pankeo, Provincial Vice Governor and Chair of the Provincial Disaster Prevention and Control Committee.
# # #
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
Like WFP on Facebook @WFPlaopdr Follow us on Twitter @WFPLaoPDR_CD View WFP on Youtube @WORLDFOODPROGRAMME
Source: United Kingdom National Police Chiefs Council
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills responds to HMICFRS, IPOC and College of Policing’s findings into a super-complaint on stalking.
Today (27 September), His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, the Independent Office for Police Conduct and College of Policing have published their findings into a super-complaint on stalking. The report makes recommendations for policing and wider criminal justice agencies to improve the response to victims of stalking.
In 2022, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, on behalf of the National Stalking Consortium, submitted a super-complaint that raised concerns around the police response to stalking in England and Wales, including identifying and investigating stalking behaviours and ensuring protections for victims.
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for stalking, said: “We welcome the recommendations made in the super-complaint and remain committed to doing everything possible to improve the policing response for victims of stalking.
“Stalking and harassment can have a devastating impact on victims. Our criminal justice system must recognise the damage and harm perpetrators cause and protect victims at the earliest opportunity.
“To effectively do this, policing must respond as part of a wider system approach. As the report highlights, police forces that have integrated multi-agency models to respond to reports of stalking have seen the best success at disrupting perpetrator behaviour and safeguarding victims.
“We must continue to drive best practice nationally across forces and ensure that police officers and staff have the right skills and resources to identify and investigate reports and provide support for victims through the criminal justice process.
“We are carefully working through the recommendations made for policing and will work closely with our partners across the criminal justice system and beyond to further improve and standardise the service victims receive.”
Policing is working hard to improve its response to stalking and harassment, which accounts for 40% of all offences related to violence against women and girls.
Each force has a dedicated stalking lead, and many have specialist advisors to support victims through the reporting stage and investigative process.
Updated training and guidance for officers and staff has been implemented nationally, which focuses on better understanding stalking and harassment behaviours, the impact on victims and maximising existing police powers to effectively pursue offenders and safeguard victims.
The introduction of a national stalking screening tool for front line officers – following a period of trial in selected forces – this new tool has been designed to support police responders to better identify whether a stalking crime is being presented, as opposed to a harassment, coercive and controlling behaviour, or malicious communications, to initiate urgent investigative action, implement safeguarding measures and safety planning processes, and to ensure referrals to the most appropriate support services are offered.
We have been working with the Home Office to further embed Stalking Protection Orders with updated statutory guidance in relation to the standard of proof thresholds and improve the access to official SPO data on a more regular basis.
Working with Chief Constables and PCC’s to share the learning from multi-agency perpetrator programmes.
Working in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to improve prosecution rates by refreshing the joint protocol on the appropriate handling of stalking or harassment offences between the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the CPS and supporting the development of the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan principles to improve the response to both domestic and non-domestic stalking.
Improving the available data concerning the incidence of stalking, to help target further improvement activity.
We are working closely with stalking charities to better understand the experience of victims and drive improvements in the police response.
Minister Khera to unveil details of Canada’s first-ever Action Plan to Combat Hate and Canada’s Community Safety Agenda
BRAMPTON, ON – The Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities, will be in Brampton on Sunday to unveil details of Canada’s Action Plan to Combat Hate and Canada’s Community Safety Agenda.
Please note that information is subject to change without notice and all times are local.
Here are the details:
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 2024
TIME: 11 a.m.
Journalists who wish to attend the announcement in person are requested to confirm their participation by submitting their full name and the name of the media outlet they represent to media@pch.gc.ca by 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 28. Information on how to attend will be provided at a later date.
Waleed SaleemPress SecretaryOffice of the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilitieswaleed.saleem@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
Media RelationsCanadian Heritage819-994-91011-866-569-6155media@pch.gc.ca
Gabriel BrunetPress OfficerOffice of the Minister of Public Security, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairsgabriel.brunet@iga-aig.gc.ca
Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hosts a Ministerial of the Foreign Ministry Channel for Global Health Security in New York City, New York, on September 27, 2024.
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Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.
The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.
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Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3
The UK’s Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, gave a statement during Kazakhstan’s first WTO Trade Policy Review.
Location:
Geneva
Delivered on:
(Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)
Thank you very much, Chair. First of all, let me offer a really warm welcome to the Minister and all his team from Astana. Great to have you here. Great to have you back, Ambassador Zanar Aitzhan, really lovely to see you. Let me thank you, Chair, as ever, for your introduction, the WTO Secretariat for your report and, of course, our Ambassador Sophia Boza Martinez, Ambassador and, of course, Professor. Thank you for your presentation this morning.
As this is the first Trade Policy Review since Kazakhstan’s accession 10 years ago, obviously, today, this week, indeed offers a really unique opportunity to reflect upon Kazakhstan’s trade policies over the last decade. And thank you, Minister, for your presentation to kick us off this morning, but also for the role that trade policy has played not just in Kazakhstan’s development, which you explained, but also in this organisation and in our work over the last 10 years.
Chair, I think probably is not a surprise to you or to most of the people in this room, but the UK is a great believer in the virtues and benefits of WTO accession. And I think they’re demonstrated by Kazakhstan’s economic performance over the last 10 years: trade growth from 57% of GDP back in 2017 to 62% last year, Most Favoured Nation tariff decrease from almost 8% in 2016 to 6% now.
During that same period, again, as the Minister related at the beginning, Kazakhstan has faced the shock, political, economic shock of the pandemic, but showed significant broad-based economic resilience. And we think that is, in part, the fruit of being a member of this organization. We particularly recognize the success of the ‘Digital Kazakhstan’ programme, which has facilitated the growth of so many Kazakh SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises).
The UK is, again, both the Minister and Sophia mentioned, a strong believer in the Kazakhstan’s economy. We are one of Kazakhstan’s top six investors, with an annual trade turnover of almost £ 3 billion, which reflects, in our view, a strategic partnership which we have nurtured since Kazakhstan’s independence back in 1991. And that partnership stretches across many areas, from business and education to climate and biodiversity and all the way from Astana and the Caspian Sea to the shores of Lake Geneva here in Switzerland.
For instance, Kazakhstan’s national airline Air Astana was successfully floated on the London Stock Exchange earlier this year; British universities, including Coventry and De Montfort, have opened campuses in Kazakhstan and offered dual degree programmes; British companies have made significant investments in flagship oil and gas projects and Kazakhstan’s mining sector. And here in Geneva, we are close partners, not just here in this organization, but also in the Human Rights Council, where we are proud to work with Kazakhstan as an elected member of that body.
We welcome Kazakhstan’s commitment to continue broadening and deepening that bilateral relationship. We look forward to hosting our annual Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Investment in London this autumn, and that 11th session of the Commission will provide an important opportunity to discuss how we can further strengthen that relationship for the future, with the first meeting since we signed the UK-Kazakhstan Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.
Our engagement with this Trade Policy Review has been motivated by a desire to build upon that bilateral progress. Kazakhstan’s constructive answers to our Advanced Written Questions, thank you, should provide clarity, and we hope ease trade for UK and Kazakh businesses.
Most of all, Chair, Minister, we’d welcome progress in tackling one key Market Access Barrier that is faced by British businesses, and that is the use of subsidies favouring domestic agricultural machinery over imported “like” machinery. We fully understand the importance of increasing domestic manufacturing for Kazakhstan’s economy, but we do believe that those subsidies negatively impact Kazakhstan’s agricultural sector development, responsible for over 4% of GDP, pricing, we’d argue, the best technology out of the market. We’d also venture to suggest that those subsidies are not compliant with WTO rules. So, going forward, we would really like Kazakhstan to comply with those rules and take steps to modify or eliminate those subsidies.
We would also, I have to say, welcome Kazakhstan’s accession to the Government Procurement Agreement, as it suggested it would do during the WTO accession process. We maintain an offer of bilateral assistance, should you desire to take forward that process of accession.
More generally, let me pay tribute, as so many others have done this morning, to the role that Kazakhstan has played within this organisation since its accession. Minister, you touched on it, as did Sophia, most significantly the pivotal role you played in chairing the MC12 negotiations, even if we were denied the opportunity, sadly, by the Pandemic of a visit to Astana. It was a great privilege to work with Ambassador Aitzhan, who led the charge for the delivery, not just of that Ministerial Conference, but also for the Services paragraph, and it has been a great tribune for services in trade in this organisation as Chair of the Council for Trade in Services in Special Session. Your work is not being left unfinished. We need to push forward with ensuring that we give due recognition in this organization to the rapidly growing global services in trade, which offer such opportunities for countries in both the developed and developing world.
We also welcome Kazakhstan’s participation within a whole range of other plurilateral initiatives, as others have said this morning, including those on Investment Facilitation for Development, E-commerce and Services Domestic Regulation, all really important initiatives which we wish to see brought within the framework of this organisation.
And it would be remiss of me as one of the co-chairs of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, not to mention, as my Ukrainian colleague did, Kazakhstan’s commitment not just to that Working Group, but to the cause of trade and gender equality, particularly through enhancing women’s employment and entrepreneurial skills. So, I would really love Kazakhstan to come to that Working Group to share its experiences in supporting women in trade, including the Business Roadmap 2020-25 initiative, at one of our future meetings.
Finally, let me commend the Minister and is delegation, who had to face the WTO internal deadline of the 30th of August for submitting Advanced Written Questions, coinciding with their most important national holiday, the Constitution Day. I hope that they found time to have their own belated celebrations, if they haven’t done so far. And I hope that, at the end of this week, they will celebrate in style in this fair city.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
The Environment Agency is investigating the deaths of endangered native white clawed crayfish.
An image of a Crayfish.
Around 70 crayfish from the internationally important River Wansbeck population – one of the last remaining strongholds of the species – have been found dead.
Testing has already ruled out the listed diseases white spot syndrome virus as well as crayfish plague, and water quality testing has ruled out pollution.
Further testing is being carried out by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) on crayfish taken from affected locations to understand if an infectious aquatic animal disease has caused the deaths.
An Environment Agency officer surveying for Crayfish.
All evidence presently points to the mortalities only affecting white clawed crayfish. As such, it is unlikely to cause a risk to humans, pets or other wildlife.
People are now being urged to play their part to help limit the spread of any potential infection to currently unaffected areas.
The Environment Agency – supported by other members of the Northumberland Crayfish Partnership – is working to minimise the impact on the crayfish population.
The public and especially river users are being urged to follow advice to prevent any potential infection from spreading across the catchment, and to other nearby catchments such as the Tyne and Blyth, which also have healthy populations of the native species.
Public urged to check, clean, dry
Sarah Jennings, Environment Agency Area Environment Manager, said:
The Wansbeck is such a great home for the white clawed crayfish, which play a really important role in the river’s ecosystem. It’s one of the most abundant populations of the species in Europe, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands or more.
Everyone has a part to play to limit the spread of any infection which may be affecting them. Advice includes thoroughly cleaning boots and equipment and anything else that has been in or around the river and its tributaries.
If you see any crayfish, alive or dead, leave it where it is and report it immediately to the Environment Agency.
Over the past five years since its launch, the Northumberland Crayfish Partnership, which includes the Environment Agency, Northumberland Rivers Trust, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Northumberland Zoo and the National Trust, has already done a significant amount of work to safeguard the future of this population.
This includes creating secure breeding areas and safe ‘ark’ sites across Northumberland to support conservation efforts and ensure the crayfish survives into the future.
Field surveys are currently being carried out by Environment Agency officers to understand the extent of the deaths across the catchment.
The Environment Agency is calling on people to play their part by making sure they Check, Clean and Dry to prevent the spread of any infection.
Check clothing and equipment for mud, aquatic animals or plant material. Remove anything found and leave it at the site.
Clean everything thoroughly as soon as possible, paying attention to areas that are damp or hard to access and using hot water if possible.
Dry everything for as long as possible before using elsewhere. Waterbourne diseases can remain on damp footwear and equipment for 48 hours.
Rosie Hails, National Trust Director of Science and Nature said:
We are saddened to hear of the recent deaths of native white clawed crayfish in the River Wansbeck in Northumberland. The river flows through the Wallington estate cared for by the National Trust, where we’ve been undertaking a significant conservation project to protect the species, which has included the creation of two ‘Ark’ sites since 2022.
Whilst we wait to hear the cause of these deaths and the impact on the population, the work that has been undertaken alongside other organisations in the Northumberland Crayfish Partnership has put us in a strong position to react and respond effectively.
We will continue to work closely with the Environment Agency and partners to help limit the spread of infection and safeguard the future of this vital crayfish population. We ask that anyone visiting the Wallington estate follows the CHECK-CLEAN-DRY set of principles if you have been in water.
New Changing Places toilets are opening across Sunderland helping to make sports, leisure, libraries and parks more accessible for people with disabilities.
The venues and work programme for the toilets were backed by the City Council and the full list of more than a dozen Sunderland facilities is at: Changing Places Toilets (changing-places.org)
All the toilets are designed for people with disabilities and complex needs who require extra facilities that are not offered by standard accessible toilets. Changing Places toilets are bigger with room for one or two carers, and include equipment and support that is needed by people who may have limited mobility, such as a hoist, privacy screens and an adult-sized changing bench.
Sunderland City Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Safer Communities, Councillor Kelly Chequer said: “Getting the funding, completing the fitting-out work, plus of course opening and registering the toilets has all been very important work.
“The new facilities show how much we as a City Council are determined to have opportunities and access for all. Changing Places aligns to our ongoing plans for a healthier, vibrant city and to make public venues more accessible to all our residents and visitors. I know how these are greatly welcomed and appreciated.”
Money came from the national Changing Places funding programme that granted £330,000 for the works. The new facilities are at:
Herrington Country Park
Hetton Community Pool and Wellness Centre (Everyone Active)
Houghton Sports and Wellness Centre (Everyone Active)
Raich Carter (Everyone Active)
Roker Park
Silksworth Community Pool Tennis and Wellness Centre (Everyone Active)
Washington Library and Customer Service Centre
A facility at the Elemore Park Garden and Visitor Centre was also completed last year.
Everyone Active’s contract manager, Ian Bradgate, said: “We aim to serve people across the local community and want to ensure everyone feels welcome and included at our centres. These accessible toilets will ensure those with disabilities and complex needs who require extra facilities are fully catered for.”
It’s been estimated that there are around quarter of a million people in the UK who cannot use standard accessible toilets.
Cllr Chequer added: “Changing Places is about opening up more public places for children or adults with complex needs who need carer support, appropriate equipment and more space. Standard accessible toilets cannot meet these needs and were designed for people who can use them independently. As we increase the number of Changing Places toilets, we are living up to its name and bringing very positive change to places all across our city.”
Karen Hoe, MDUK Changing Places Manager, said: “Changing Places toilets are life-changing facilities required by over a quarter of a million people in the UK – not including their family carers. The new Changing Places toilets in Sunderland will make a huge difference to disabled people and their families and will mean that they can enjoy all that the venues and area has to offer.”
Personal income increased $50.5 billion (0.2 percent at a monthly rate) in August. Disposable personal income (DPI)-personal income less personal current taxes- increased $34.2 billion (0.2 percent). Personal outlays-the sum of personal consumption expenditures (PCE), personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments-increased $48.3 billion (0.2 percent) and consumer spending increased $47.2 billion (0.2 percent). Personal saving was $1.05 trillion and the personal saving rate-personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income-was 4.8 percent in August. Full Text
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam today promoted Hong Kong’s legal services as he continued a visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as part of a tour of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states.
Mr Lam met Deputy President of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry of Malaysia Ng Yih Pyng this morning to learn more about the country’s need for cross-jurisdictional legal services, and briefed him on Hong Kong’s diversified professional services.
He then received a lunch briefing from Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Saadiq Malaysia Bilal Parvaiz, gaining a better understanding of Malaysia’s business landscape and the demand from its financial sector for legal and dispute resolution services.
That was followed by a meeting with Vice-President of the Malaysian Bar Anand Raj, which entailed a discussion about legal co-operation and exchanges between Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Mr Lam also took the opportunity to visit the Malaysian International Mediation Centre, which was launched in January under the auspices of the Malaysian Bar Council.
In addition, he met Chief Executive Officer of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) Almalena Sharmila Johan to learn about its provision of institutional support for domestic and international arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution proceedings.
Upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur yesterday afternoon, Mr Lam had a meeting with Attorney General of Malaysia Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin bin Mohd Salleh.
He also met representatives from Malaysia’s legal and business sectors at a seminar titled Hong Kong: The Common Law Gateway for Malaysian Businesses to China and Beyond. This was followed by an evening networking reception co-organised by the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Jakarta and the National Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Malaysia.
Attendees were briefed on various topics, including Hong Kong’s unique advantages under “one country, two systems”, and its latest lawtech services for resolving cross-border disputes.
During the seminar, Mr Lam witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), facilitated by the DoJ, between the South China International Arbitration Center (HK) and the AIAC, and a supplementary MoU between the eBRAM International Online Dispute Resolution Centre and the AIAC.
Yesterday’s itinerary ended with a dinner meeting between Mr Lam and Malaysia’s Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said.
Mr Lam will conclude his ASEAN tour and return to Hong Kong tomorrow.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
CHP investigates case of human infection of rat Hepatitis E virus CHP investigates case of human infection of rat Hepatitis E virus *****************************************************************
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (September 27) said that it is investigating a case of human infection of rat Hepatitis E virus (HEV) and urged members of the public to be vigilant against Hepatitis E infection and to strictly observe good personal, food and environmental hygiene. If the public developed compatible symptoms, they should consult a doctor early. The case involves a 61-year-old woman with underlying illnesses and immunosuppression. She had dark urine since early September and was found to have a persistently deranged liver function during her follow-up consultation in Union Hospital. Her blood sample tested positive for rat HEV upon laboratory testing. The patient is now in stable condition. The CHP’s epidemiological investigations revealed that the patient resides in Hung Hom. She claimed that she did not have direct contact with rodents or rats, and had no travel history during the incubation period, indicating that this is a locally acquired infection. The CHP does not rule out the possibility that the patient may have been indirectly exposed to places or food contaminated by rodents or their excreta during the incubation period, leading to the infection. Investigating personnel of the CHP and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) conducted a site visit to the place where the patient lives to inspect the rodent infestation and environmental hygiene. Some traces of rodents were found during the inspection. The property management of the patient’s residence will set up thermal imaging cameras at the concerned places to conduct rodent activity survey. The Pest Control Advisory Section of the FEHD will carry out rodent control measures as appropriate and necessary. The CHP’s investigation is still ongoing. Possible routes of transmission of rat HEV to humans include ingestion of food or water contaminated by rodents or their excreta, exposure to environments or objects contaminated by rodents or their excreta and direct contact with rodents or their excreta. The usual HEV causing human infection is transmitted mainly through the faecal-oral route. To prevent Hepatitis E infection, members of the public should maintain good personal, food and environmental hygiene. For example, they should wash hands thoroughly before eating, store food properly or in the refrigerator, not leave food at room temperature for a long time, and use 1:99 diluted household bleach for general household cleaning and disinfection as household detergent may not be able to kill HEV. High-risk individuals, such as elderly persons with a major underlying illness (especially those who have undergone organ transplantation), pregnant women, patients with chronic liver disease and patients with Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency (also known as G6PD Deficiency), who are infected with HEV may develop a serious illness, so they should exercise extra caution. The Five Keys to Food Safety should be adopted when handling food, i.e. Choose (choose safe raw materials), Clean (keep hands and utensils clean), Separate (separate raw and cooked food), Cook (cook thoroughly) and Safe Temperature (keep food at a safe temperature), to prevent food-borne diseases.
Drink only boiled water from the mains or bottled drinks from reliable sources. Avoid drinks with ice of unknown origin. Purchase fresh food from hygienic and reliable sources. Do not patronise illegal hawkers. Clean and wash food thoroughly. Cook food, especially seafood (e.g. shellfish), pork and pig offal, thoroughly before consumption. Avoid raw food or undercooked food. Slice raw meat and offal into thin strips to allow thorough cooking, especially during hotpot or congee cooking. For sliced pig liver, depending on the thickness and quantity, boil at 100 degrees Celsius or stir-fry in a hot skillet/wok for at least three to five minutes. Heating to an internal temperature of 90 degrees C for 90 seconds is required for cooking of molluscan shellfish. If possible, remove the shells before cooking as they impede heat penetration. Otherwise, boil at 100 degrees C until their shells open; boil for a further three to five minutes afterwards. Discard any shellfish that do not open during cooking. For meat and offal, make sure that juices are clear, not red, and blood is not visible when cutting the cooked meat and offal. When having hotpot, use separate chopsticks and utensils for handling raw and cooked foods to prevent cross-contamination.
???In general, rodents (such as rats) can transmit multiple diseases to humans directly and indirectly. The public are advised to adopt the following measures:
Eliminate sources of food and nesting places for rodents in the living environment. Store food in covered containers and handle pet food properly to prevent it from becoming food for rodents; Store all refuse and food remnants in dustbins with well-fitted covers. Dustbins must be emptied at least once a day; Keep premises, especially refuse rooms and stairways, clean. Avoid accumulation of articles; Inspect all flower beds and pavements for rodent infestation regularly; and Avoid the high-risk activities below to reduce rodent contact:
– Avoid rodent contact and places dirtied with rodent excreta; – Avoid handling rodents with bare hands; – Wash hands with liquid soap and water immediately after handling animals, and disinfect contaminated areas; and – If a wound appears, clean the broken skin immediately and cover it properly with waterproof adhesive dressings.
Ends/Friday, September 27, 2024Issued at HKT 20:10
The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) today announced that starting October 1, Hong Kong identity (HKID) card holders completing real-name registration for pre-paid SIM (PPS) cards via telecommunications service providers’ online registration platforms can by default register and verify their identities through the iAM Smart mobile application.
According to the Telecommunications (Registration of SIM Cards) Regulation, Hong Kong residents must use HKID cards for real-name registration.
If people choose not to use iAM Smart for real-name registration, telecommunications service providers will manually verify registration information submitted. PPS cards will only be activated after completion of real-name registration procedures.
To help the public understand more about the enhancement, the OFCA and the Digital Policy Office jointly conducted publicity and education activities in Mong Kok today, with mobile registration teams assisting people in registering for iAM Smart on-site.
Additionally, the OFCA has requested that telecommunications service providers step up their inspection of user information in relation to PPS cards and refer suspicious cases to Police for follow-up to assist in combating phone deception.
As of the end of August, telecommunications service providers had rejected around 3 million registration requests due to applicants failing to provide information in compliance with the registration requirements. Around 2.64 million non-compliant PPS cards had been deregistered.
The Biophysical Society announced Leslie M. Loew, R.D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, is named a 2025 Biophysical Society Fellow for inventing fluorescent sensors of membrane potential and leadership in the development of computational cell biology.
The Biophysical Society, founded in 1958, is a professional, scientific society established to lead an innovative global community working at the interface of the physical and life sciences, across all levels of complexity, and to foster the dissemination of that knowledge.
The Society promotes growth in this expanding field through its Annual Meeting, publications, and outreach activities. Its 7,000 members are located throughout the world, where they teach and conduct research in colleges, universities, laboratories, government agencies, and industry.
This award honors the Society’s distinguished members who have demonstrated excellence in science and contributed to the expansion of the field of biophysics. The Fellows will be honored at the Biophysical Society’s 69th Annual Meeting, being held in Los Angeles, California from February 15-19, 2025.
“The Biophysical Society Annual Meeting is where I discuss science every year and its flagship publication, The Biophysical Journal, is where I send most of my scientific papers. So I am truly honored to receive this recognition by my peers in the BPS,” says Loew.
Loew is Professor of Cell Biology, Boehringer-Ingelheim Chair in Cell Science and University of Connecticut Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor at the UConn School of Medicine. Throughout his career his work has focused on quantitative mechanistic investigation of cell and tissue biology. He is known for inventing biophysical methods to investigate these systems, including both microscope imaging technologies and fluorescent sensors. Loew pioneered the synthesis of fluorescent dyes to probe the electrical activity of cells and tissue. For the last 25 years he has been leading the UConn team that develops the “Virtual Cell”, comprehensive software to model and simulate cell biology with 26,000 registered users worldwide.
During his 40 year career at UConn he has been awarded research grants amounting to approximately $70M. He established the Richard D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling (CCAM) in 1994 to consolidate research in new optical, photonic, image processing and computational techniques for the investigation of the behavior of living cells.
MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –
Source: Swiss Canton of Vaud – news in French
Even though there are still some two years of work and preparation to go, everything will now move very quickly for the Lausanne tramway project, which is expected to transport some 13 million passengers per year between Lausanne-Flon and Renens-Gare on this 4.6-kilometre line.
The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore returned 60 migrants to the Dominican Republic between Wednesday and Thursday, following two separate interdictions of irregular, unlawful maritime migration voyages in Mona Passage waters near Puerto Rico. Two of the interdicted migrants remain in U.S. custody to face federal prosecution by the U.S. District Court of Puerto Rico on separate charges including attempted reentry into the United States subsequent to an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. 1326(b)(2), and failure to heave to under 8 U.S.C. 2237.
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The Reserve Bank today held a Conference in Bengaluru for the Directors on the Boards of Small Finance Banks (SFBs). Shri Swaminathan J, Deputy Governor inaugurated the Conference. The event, with the theme ‘Governance in SFBs – Driving Sustainable Growth and Stability’, is part of a series of supervisory engagements that the Reserve Bank has been organising with the Directors of its Supervised Entities in recent past. Earlier, the Conferences for Directors on the Boards of Public Sector Banks and Private Sector Banks were held in May 2023 and for UCBs in August 2023 and June 2024.
Executive Directors Shri S C Murmu, Shri Rohit Jain and Shri R L K Rao along with other senior officials representing the Supervision, Regulation, and Enforcement Departments of the Reserve Bank also participated in the Conference.
Deputy Governor Shri Swaminathan J., in his keynote address, underscored the significant role of Governance in guiding SFBs towards sustainable growth with stability. He also exhorted the Directors to be vigilant and proactive in identifying and mitigating emerging risks and highlighted the importance of sustainable business models. He emphasised the need for strengthening cybersecurity to safeguard against digital threats, and urged a stronger focus on financial inclusion, customer service and grievance redressal to ensure a broader reach of banking services.
The Conference also included technical sessions conducted by senior officials of RBI in the areas of ‘Governance and Assurance Functions’, ‘Business Risk – Regulatory & Supervisory Expectations’ and ‘IT Systems & Cybersecurity’. The technical sessions were followed by a talk by an external Expert on ‘Board Conduct in Banks’ and a panel discussion by Independent Directors of select SFBs on the topic – ‘SFBs Prospects & Challenges’.
The Conference concluded with an open house interactive session of the participants with the Executive Directors of the Reserve Bank.
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, September 27, 2024/APO Group/ —
Next Engineers, a global college-and career-readiness programme working to increase the diversity of young people in engineering, celebrated the graduation of its first-ever Engineering Academy learners in Johannesburg, South Africa on Friday, September 27. The graduation ceremony marked the programme’s contribution towards bridging the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills gap in the country through exposing learners to hands-on engineering experiences and career pathways.
The 37 learners from 15 high schools across Johannesburg who completed the programme, many of whom plan to study towards an engineering-related qualification at university or technical higher learning institutions, were joined by their families at University of Witwatersrand, Sturrock Park Sports Hall, to celebrate their achievements. Launched in 2022, PROTEC, University of Witwatersrand, and Kutitiva Foundation are the educational partners for the local Next Engineers programme, and local GE Vernova engineers and employees actively engage with Academy participants through hands-on, skill-based volunteering.
“We are proud to see our first cohort of learners graduating and wish them all a successful learning trajectory in the next stage of their education journey,” said Matsi Eseu, South Africa HR Director for GE Vernova. “At GE Vernova, we believe education is a significant driver of economic inclusion and it’s inspiring to see the positive impact the Next Engineers programme is having, not just in empowering tomorrow’s engineers who will solve society’s most pressing challenges but also in increasing the diversity of young people, particularly females, in the engineering sector. We extend our gratitude to all those involved in the Engineering Academy.”
Learners who complete the Engineering Academy program and enroll in a qualified engineering or engineering-related degree programme receive financial aid to support them as they continue on their paths to becoming engineers.
Balan Moodley, CEO of PROTEC, said, “I extend my heartfelt congratulations to each and every graduate in this programme. Their commitment and hard work inspire us all, and I have every confidence they will continue to make a positive impact in the field of engineering and beyond. I also want to express my sincere gratitude to GE Vernova in Johannesburg for their unwavering support and partnership throughout this journey. Together, we have laid the groundwork for a brighter future in engineering, and I am excited to see the continued success of Next Engineers in empowering young minds.”
The Next Engineers: Engineering Academy is a transformative learning experience designed for learners aged 15 to 18. Through a rigorous curriculum, immersive design challenges, and career coaching, participants learn to think and act like engineers.
Key programme highlights:
Dedication: The Engineering Academy spans three years, with learners dedicating 220 hours outside of regular school hours to participate.
Design challenges: In small teams, learners tackle increasingly complex design challenges, mastering the engineering design process.
Foundational skills: Beyond technical knowledge, learners develop essential skills such as communication, teamwork, persistence, time management, and presentation abilities.
Education and career exploration: Workshops and activities prepare learners for their next steps, including university campus tours and interactions with company volunteers.
Scholarships: Learners who complete the program and enroll in post-secondary engineering degree programs receive partial scholarships. Next Engineers anticipates granting at least $2 million in scholarships to the inaugural classes of Engineering Academy learners worldwide.
Johannesburg, South Africa, was among the first four locations to launch Next Engineers, with a $2.5 million (R44.6 million) investment from the GE Foundation in 2021. To date, Next Engineers, which also includes programming for learners in grades 8-12, has reached more than 3,500 learners across Johannesburg.
STEM training and education, such as Next Engineers, is helping to solve global challenges while also lifting up communities through economic opportunities. Next Engineers is not the only way GE Vernova in South Africa has committed to supporting the next generation of STEM talent. GE Vernova’s South Africa External Bursary Programme has offered comprehensive bursaries to the tune of $5.4 million (R95.6 million) to support over 648 beneficiaries pursuing a Bachelor of Science, Commerce or Arts qualification from 2020 to date. The bursaries are aimed at alleviating the financial strain of tertiary students and covers the tuition, accommodation, textbook costs, and a monthly stipend over the period of study.
For more information about Next Engineers and the Engineering Academy, visit http://apo-opa.co/3BmFfKp.
The upcoming release of Disney’s live action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, currently scheduled for March 2025, has been surrounded by controversy – so much so that the film’s trailer has received over 1 million dislikes on YouTube. In particular, many fans have taken umbrage with the fact that computer-generated imagery (CGI) will be used for the characters of the seven dwarfs, now renamed the “miners”, rather than having them played by dwarf actors.
To my mind, unless changes are made, it would be better not to release a live action remake of Snow White in the first place. My doctoral research has shown that it’s common for people with dwarfism to experience mockery influenced by the representation of dwarfism in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But if the film is to go ahead, CGI is a better choice than to cast real people with dwarfism.
Fans lamenting on social media the fact that they will no longer be able to see a film featuring “real dwarfs” ignore the parallels with the Victorian freak show. Frequently their disappointment is masked as supposed concern for the welfare of “actors” with dwarfism who will lose the “opportunity” to play these characters.
But people with dwarfism who play these characters are rarely seen as serious actors. Alice Lambert, an actress with dwarfism, was interviewed for a chapter in my new book, Dwarfism Arts and Advocacy (2024). In it, she recalls that during her time in pantomime, people “would come to the stage door after the show, but I realised that they just wanted to meet ‘a dwarf’ … you are not being represented as a performer, but rather your dwarfism is being paraded for the amusement of others”.
The trailer for Disney’s live action remake of Snow White.
My research has also found that many people still believe that people with dwarfism only work in the entertainment industry. It is not unusual for people to ask someone with dwarfism if they work in pantomime, particularly as one of the seven dwarfs. I have personally lost count of the amount of people who snigger and ask me if I am “Grumpy” or “Happy” (names of two of the dwarf characters) or if I know where Snow White is. If people cannot tell the difference between fiction and reality, then fictional representations need to change to minimise abuse.
Of those people with dwarfism who are actors, many have long refused to play roles that are considered derogatory, including the seven dwarfs. That is because people with dwarfism are capable of so much more.
Many of the fans expressing disappointment that the dwarfs will now be CGI fail to realise how the role impacts people with dwarfism in public. For example, in 2012 German lawyer Silke Schönfleisch-Backofen, who has dwarfism, successfully sued a man after he started laughing and singing Hi Ho, the song the dwarfs sing in the original Disney film, at her in court.
If people cannot tell the difference between fiction and reality, then fictional representations need to change to minimise abuse. Instead of reproducing outdated attitudes, films – and the tales that inspire them – can change with the times to produce stories that are inclusive of everyone.
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Erin Pritchard works for Liverpool Hope University and previously consulted for Disney.
Addressing his party conference as prime minister for the first time, Keir Starmer made it clear that moving people into work is a priority for his government. He said even the long-term sick should be looking for a job where possible.
In the last fourteen years, progressively more demands have been made on UK benefit claimants to prove that they are looking for a job. This approach is not based on evidence but rather rooted in an ideology with international reach. (Similar approaches have been seen in places like Australia and Ireland).
This involves a simplistic carrot-and-stick model of human motivation to work, and a “work-first” doctrine of getting people into the first available job irrespective of its appropriateness or sustainability.
But as a new report makes clear, looking at people’s lives in a more holistic, long-term way, with a sensitivity to the barriers they face is more likely to get results. Rather than work-first, we need a career-first approach.
Since the start of the COVID pandemic, levels of economic inactivity
in the UK have grown significantly. Fewer workers are entering the labour market and more older people are leaving the workforce early. The number of people not working because of long-term illness has also risen substantially.
This isn’t great news for the new Labour government that is counting on economic growth to get the country into better financial health. It is hard to grow the economy with improved efficiency because that requires investment. A much easier route is to increase the size of the workforce.
Recognising the risks of economic inactivity, the Commission for the Future of Employment Support was launched in December 2022 by the thinktank the Institute for Employment Studies to review the public services that help people to find a job and employers to find staff.
Its newly released report places employment support in the wider context of the challenges in the UK labour market and its effect on economic growth. With the UK government ruling out raising the three main taxes, it must prioritise economic growth. This is why economic inactivity in the workforce really matters.
The commission reserves its strongest criticism for the extent to which employment support has become entangled with welfare conditionality. That is, making behavioural demands on claimants, using surveillance to ensure they comply, and using sanctions – typically withholding benefit payments.
Adults lead complicated lives, and they are unemployed for a reason (or more often, for multiple reasons). This may be to do with skills, confidence, health, local geography, the needs of dependants or many other factors. These issues will not go away if a service fails to address them. So effective career support must consider the whole person and pathways to sustainable work.
A jobs and careers service
The report’s recommendations are aligned with the Labour party promise to create a jobs and careers service, one of its manifesto pledges to kickstart economic growth. Labour has suggested bringing the Jobcentre Plus network together with the National Careers Service.
The commission recommends three modes of delivery: local offices, an online service and outreach for those facing the most significant barriers. It also recommends entitlement-to-employment advice, and drawing a clearer distinction between employment support and welfare benefit administration.
But will it work? It is hard to disagree with the recommendations – the rationale is sound and well argued. It is based on historical experience, international comparison, economic analysis and service evaluation. If a reimagined jobs and career service was provided along the lines described by the commission, then its success will probably depend on sticking closely to this vision.
To make it happen, there are three inter-related problems to overcome. The first is financial pressures on the UK government, which limit its ability to invest.
Second, if service users are seen as a reserve pool of labour that the government can activate in pursuit of economic growth, this may undermine reform.
Third, career development is a professional service involving person-centred counselling and an educational approach. This requires staff trained to a professional level, with a code of ethics, who put the service user first. Previous experience of integrating career guidance in public employment services in Europe suggests that their professionalism can be undermined by the host agency.
Now, the ball will be in the court of the Department for Work and Pensions, specifically work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall and minister Alison McGovern.
The devolved governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland may also have a role, as these matters are at least partially in their remit. The report argues for a more complete and consistent devolution of powers for employment support to the UK nations.
Local labour market partnerships in England are also part of this vision. This means bringing the jobs and career service together with local government, skills agencies, employers, trade unions, voluntary and community organisations and health services. Given the enormous geographical variation in labour markets, it makes sense for local areas to develop their own structures for cooperation between services.
The main issue is that employment support policy has tended to see unemployed people as units that could and should be contributing to the economy. This needs to be flipped so that services become about helping people to get the economy to work for them, and to build a decent life with some dignity in the process. Unless this is deep in the DNA of the new service, it won’t be that new after all.
Pete Robertson is the President of the Career Development Institute (CDI). This is the UK professional body for career development practitioners.
Small plastic particles are everywhere: in the soil where our food is grown, in the water we drink and in the air we breathe. They got there from the plastic we throw away, which ends up in landfill sites, rivers and seas. There the plastic waste slowly breaks down, releasing tiny particles called microplastics and even tinier nanoplastics into the environment.
Microplastics are also increasingly being found throughout the human body. We are not sure how they got there, though there are three probable routes. We may ingest microplastics when we eat and drink, or breathe them into our lungs, or absorb them through our skin. Another route has recently been suggested, whereby microplastics get up our noses and from there into our brains.
For a long time, it was thought that the human brain existed in splendid isolation from the rest of the body. The so-called blood-brain barrier, a special layer of cells, protects the brain from all manner of pathogens and harmful substances. However, we now know that the blood-brain barrier can be breached because small plastic particles have been found in the human brain.
New research has suggested that the blood-brain barrier has at least one vulnerable spot where microplastics may be able to get into the brain. This potential entry point was suggested by researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin and the University of São Paulo. It is in the nose, where there are special nerves, the olfactory nerves, that detect smells.
The olfactory nerves run from the inside of the nose, through the skull, and then directly into part of the brain called the olfactory bulb. The researchers suggest that microparticles breathed into the nose may somehow get transported along the olfactory nerves and into the brain.
The researchers came to their conclusions by analysing tissue samples from residents of São Paulo who had died and undergone routine coroners’ autopsies. They removed the olfactory bulbs from these brains and analysed them using a variety of techniques.
Eight out of the 15 brains studied had microplastics in their olfactory bulbs. However, these eight samples had only 16 microplastic particles between them, which is perhaps some comfort.
Those 16 plastic particles included fragments, spheres and fibres, and were made of polypropylene, nylon and other plastics. Some of the fibres could have come from clothing. This makes sense because laundering clothes made from synthetic fibres is a significant source of microplastics in the environment.
Some of our small plastic particles are missing
The new study is just one of many that has reported the presence of small plastic particles in the human body. Most of these studies are about microplastics, which are particles up to five millimetres in size. Very few studies have looked for nanoplastics in the human body.
Nanoplastics are less than one-thousandth of a millimetre in size – so tiny that it is difficult to detect them without special equipment, and few scientists have easy access to this equipment.
The reason nanoplastics are important is that, unlike microplastics, they are well-documented to be harmful to living cells. This is because nanoplastics are small enough to get inside cells. Once inside, they can kill the cell.
Fortunately, there is no evidence that humans have suffered any great increase in birth defects in recent years. Maybe the placenta is able to stop microplastics and nanoplastics from reaching the foetus.
We need to know much more about the presence of microplastics – and especially nanoplastics – in the human body. And we need to know how they get there in the first place.
This makes the new Berlin-São Paulo study so interesting. It suggests a potential entry point, from the nose into the brain. This leaves us with the question: what potential risks are posed to our health by microplastics and nanoplastics? The jury is out, but perhaps feeling a little more nervous than before.
Michael Richardson receives funding from the Netherlands Scientific Organization (NWO) of the Netherlands Government.
Meiru Wang 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.
Thousands of genes from deep-sea marine life are being used to create new commercial products ranging from pharmaceuticals to cosmetics. Genes are segments of DNA that provide instructions for making other molecules that are essential for the structure and function of living organisms.
In a paper we recently published with other colleagues, we investigated how bioprospecting – the search and discovery of potential products from animals, plants and microbes – could serve as a less destructive alternative to deep-sea mining.
Notably, all of the largest companies using marine genes have sourced them from deep-sea organisms in some capacity. Deep-sea animals possess unique genes that allow them to live in an environment unlike anything else on Earth, with its intense cold, crushing pressure and total darkness.
What are these organisms? Most are microbes that have evolved over millions of years to thrive in extreme conditions. Among the most uniquely adapted are those found around hydrothermal vents, where mineral-rich seawater, superheated by magma, erupts from cracks in the ocean floor.
Deep-sea enzymes, a type of molecule encoded by the genes of organisms that live in extreme environments, are stable in conditions that other enzymes often cannot function. Their ability to catalyse chemical reactions under high pressure and a wide range of temperatures makes them commercially valuable for making industrial and consumer products, including drugs, food, detergents and biofuels.
Bioprospecting in the deep sea
One remarkable example involves the bacteria that live in very salty habitats. This microbe was isolated from marine sediments collected at a depth of 1,050 meters near the Iheya ridge, 130 kilometers offshore from Iheya Island, Japan.
Deep-sea shrimp in the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean. NOAA
One of its enzymes has been shown to enhance the conversion of farm waste into glucose by helping break down cellulose into easily degradable pulp. This is a crucial step for converting biomass into ethanol, a renewable biofuel.
Another enzyme extracted from a bacterium that exists under extremely high temperatures has been found to be highly efficient in completely removing lactose from milk.
Some organisms contribute to multiple inventions, like a deep-sea worm collected at a depth of 2,625 meters from a hydrothermal vent on the East Pacific Rise, about 600 km off the Mexican coast. The worm hosted a bacterium that produces a molecule that was used to develop a skin cream, as it helps make skin less susceptible to damage from the sun and pollution. The unusual ability of this bacterium to live at temperatures above 100°C also made it a model organism for overcoming overheating in small satellites in Earth’s orbit.
This is just a few examples among over 16,000 proteins derived from deep-sea species and used in technology, catalogued in this database.
The potential for innovation from deep-sea species has not been fully explored. As of 2024, only a quarter of the seabed has been mapped and most deep-sea species remain undiscovered.
The dangers of mining
But the essential role of deep-sea life in the functioning of Earth’s systems may be far greater than previously understood.
Researchers recently discovered an unusually high concentration of oxygen on the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean, referred to as “dark oxygen”. This oxygen may be being produced by electrolysis – when an electric current separates water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Where might an electrical charge be generated at the bottom of the ocean? Perhaps on the surfaces of polymetallic nodules, rock-like formations composed of lots of different metals which can create differences in electrical potential when interacting with seawater. The formation of these metals is influenced by the activity of microbes living on them, which in turn affects the chemical properties of the surrounding environment. The production of dark oxygen could be vital for the respiration of other species living in the ocean where there is no sunlight.
Unfortunately, deep-sea ecosystems are under threat from seabed mining for minerals. Polymetallic nodules are considered potential resources for manganese, nickel, and rare earth elements – materials used to make electronics and computers. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a Pacific region where dark oxygen was recently discovered, has already been divided into 16 mining claims.
Researchers and campaigners have warned that deep-sea mining could severely damage marine ecosystems and have highlighted the lack of scientific consensus on the long-term consequences of these operations. Once disturbed, the evolutionary history these ecosystems represent could be lost forever.
The International Seabed Authority oversees the management of mining activities in international waters. Although it has not yet authorised any commercial mining, it has faced criticism for allegedly dismissing environmental concerns. The recent election of the new ISA secretary-general, Leticia Carvalho, offers an opportunity to safeguard vital areas of the world’s oceans, crucial for both nature and human wellbeing.
We must rethink the true value of the deep sea and consider what losing it may mean for the rest of the world.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
It’s party conference season in Britain, a chance for members to meet and talk through their successes and failures from the election campaign – and start talking strategy for the next.
Perhaps inevitably after it suffered such a crushing defeat and the resignation of its leader, the Conservative party conference in Birmingham risks taking on the air of a wake. Quite a contrast, then, with the Lib Dem bash down in Brighton, which, complete with jet skis and beach volleyball, was very much a celebratory affair.
Admittedly, Labour’s get-together in Liverpool, plagued as it was by newspaper stories about supposedly dodgy donations and the row over winter fuel allowances, wasn’t quite as upbeat as one might expect from a party that has just won a sizeable majority.
Whatever the outcome, many (though by no means all) members of all the parties worked hard to help deliver MPs to parliament. True, the evidence that campaigning by party members makes much of a difference to election results is hardly overwhelming.
But it can obviously make a difference in the closest of constituency contests. Examples in 2024 would surely include Hendon, won by Labour by just 15 votes, Basildon and Billericay, won by the Tories by 20, South Basildon and East Thurrock, won by Reform by 98, and even Ely and East Cambridgeshire, won by the Lib Dems by 495.
The party members project, run out of Queen Mary University of London and Sussex University, has been surveying party members about their activities after every election since 2015 and has just completed the 2024 exercise. And it appears that, following a decline in election campaigning in 2017 and 2019, there was a slight uptick overall this time round.
A simple way of looking at this is to note the proportion of respondents who told us they’d spent no time at all campaigning for their party (see Table 1). This rose considerably in 2017 and even more so in 2019 but dropped noticeably this year, suggesting the grassroots are getting a little more active, even if they’re still spending way less time campaigning for their parties than they were a decade ago.
Table 1: Percentage of party members saying they spent no time campaigning during the 2024 general election:
Party members who didn’t campaign. NB: Figures in the Reform column cover Reform in 2024, UKIP in 2015 and 2017 and the Brexit Party in 2019. Party Members Project, CC BY-ND
However, the uptick was due largely to the time put in by members of the smaller parties rather than by those belonging to the Conservatives or Labour – although it should be said that members almost certainly tend to overestimate the time they put in.
Indeed, worryingly for Keir Starmer, Labour members actually appear to have been no more active (and in some respects perhaps somewhat less active) than they were five years ago. This is possibly owing to the departure of many of those fired up by Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership in 2017 and 2019.
On the other hand, if we dig into the type of activities members got involved in, a slightly different picture emerges. Members of the smaller parties may be putting in the work, but they’re doing it from the comfort of their homes rather than pounding the pavements.
If we exclude the admittedly large number of party members who told us they either did nothing for their party or just hit “don’t know”, a whopping 71% of Reform members and 67% of Green members who were active said they spent time campaigning on social media in 2024. Just 45% of Conservative members who had done at least something for their party during the campaign said the same.
However, Reform and to some extent Green members too, were less likely than members of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties to do some of what, in the jargon, is known as high-intensity activity – the stuff that involves direct contact with voters (or at least their letterboxes).
Table 2: What active party members got up to in the 2024 election campaign (percentages):
What members got up to. Party Members Project, CC BY-ND
Interestingly, the members of the “old” parties appear to have done less on social media than they did in 2019. Instead they put their efforts into activities that, research suggests, do sometimes make a difference, such as leafleting. The Lib Dems (as ever) emerged as the champions when it came to this activity, with 59% of members who did something for the party during the election stuffing campaign literature through British households’ letterboxes. Whether it got read on its journey from front door to recycling bin, of course, is another matter.
But what also comes through strongly is that, worryingly for whoever takes over as leader from Rishi Sunak, Conservative members seem to be lagging further and further behind their main rivals – Labour and (especially) the Lib Dems – on campaign activities overall (see Table 3).
Table 3: Average number of activities (out of a total of nine) done by all members of each party during the 2024 general election campaign:
Lib Dems come out on top for average number of activities. Party Members Project, CC BY-ND
Now, nobody would argue, of course, that this was the main reason the Conservatives lost the election so badly. Nor should anyone imagine that simply recruiting and enthusing more members – something each of the candidates vying to become Tory leader has vowed to do – will rapidly reverse the epic defeat the party suffered this summer. But it certainly wouldn’t do it any harm in the long term.
After all, the Tories almost certainly have a very long and very hard road ahead of them in opposition. Persuading more people to join the party, and encouraging as many of those who do join to get out “on the doorstep” (or even just to go online if that’s all they feel up to), might not make that road much shorter. But it might make it feel just that little bit easier.
The Party Membership Project received Talent and Stabilization funding from Research England, via QMUL, for this survey research.
Paul Webb has previously received funding from the ESRC to conduct research on political parties.
Stavroula Chrona 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 Daniel Read, Professor of Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
The Fyre music festival and its well-publicised failure are widely seen as a mixture of incompetence and fraud, embodied in Billy McFarland, its chief architect. People paid thousands of dollars for what was advertised as a luxury music festival but they were served simple cheese sandwiches and the entertainment was cancelled. McFarland spent almost four years in prison for fraud.
But now McFarland is out and promoting Fyre Festival II. He claims that he has already sold 100 tickets at the early bird price of £499.
Why would anyone give the Fyre Festival a second chance? Research shows that people’s mental shortcuts can give them confidence in someone who has let them down before.
Prices for Fyre Festival II range from US$1,400 and $1.1 million (£1,050 and £824,000). Nothing specific has yet been offered, other than an indefinite location (a private island off the Caribbean coast of Mexico), some activities including scuba diving with McFarland himself, and an approximate date (April, 2025).
McFarland’s former business partner Andy King has said that Fyre Festival II raises “a lot of red flags.”. Yet even King, who lost US$1 million on the original Fyre Festival, admitted he met McFarland for Fyre Festival II talks before becoming wary.
There is little research on this topic, but I found some help in The Big Con, written in 1940 by David Maurer, a professor of linguistics who dedicated his career to studying the language and culture of those leading a criminal lifestyle, including con artists.
The Big Con was the inspiration for the 1973 Paul Newman movie The Sting. You may remember that (spoilers) Newman and Robert Redford and his team fleece Robert Shaw using a con in which the mark is persuaded that he can bet on horse races after they are run because of a delay in messages received by a betting shop.
A central factor is ambiguity. It is hard to be certain from accounts of Fyre Festival whether McFarland set out to be a con man, or is simply a persuasive person who took on more than he could handle. Perhaps McFarland has learned his lessons and will not make the same mistakes. In The Big Con, the grifters tried to make their marks unsure whether they were really being scammed, even after the money changed hands. In The Sting, Robert Shaw’s character never learns that he was conned.
Maurer documents many cases of marks coming back for more, convinced that the original failure was due to bad luck that won’t be repeated. A typical example comes from a con artist named the Big Alabama Kid, who tells Maurer about a mark they had conned out of US$50,000 in Miami. After he had lost all his money in a gambling con they offered him a chance to try again. But he did not return.
Three months later, “who should come in smiling but Mr. Bates with a lot of apologies for keeping me waiting so long. He said that his banker had tried to tell him that this deal was a swindle, and wouldn’t let him have his money. So he waited until things had cooled off at home and the banker had forgotten all about it. Then he went to the bank, drew out his money, and caught the first train for the south.”
Giving the right impression
It is sometimes hard to persuade even the victims of a con that they are victims.
Another factor is confidence, both on the part of the grifter and the mark. People often follow the confidence heuristic (or mental shortcut) when judging whether to believe others. The confidence heuristic is that people are confident when they believe they are right, and this confidence makes them persuasive. Such an ability to exude confidence is one of the key skills that all con men must have.
The mark also has to be confident. That is, to be able to rely on their own ability to discern a good opportunity when they see it. Maurer finds the mark is typically someone who has achieved high social status, and sees themselves as having “some inherent superiority, especially as regards matters of sound judgment in finance and investment … as a person of vision and even of genius”.
It is not hard to see the potential Fyre Festival attendee or investor here, someone who has money to spare, and who hopes to discover the new Burning Man or invest in it.
Scarcity, time pressure and the fear of missing out are also powerful psychological motivators likely to make people susceptible to being conned – especially if the essence of the con is that the opportunity is one time only. If we think something is difficult to get, we want it more.
This is what US psychologist Robert Cialdini refers to as the scarcity principle, and is a motivation that emerges early in life. A 2018 study I co-authored found children as young as six preferred scarce goods compared to abundant ones.
Maurer’s studies of con artists showed that they carefully craft the set up so that the mark has an exclusive one time only opportunity to make his big score.
McFarland claims to have 5,000 unique requests for tickets, but only 3,000 slots available. If you go to the Fyre Festival website you cannot buy tickets. Applicants receive the message “Thank you for your application. If approved, the FYRE concierge will be in touch.”
I am currently in the queue for one of these tickets, and so far the concierge has not been in touch. Will I be lucky enough to be one of the chosen few?
Daniel Read 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.
