WASHINGTON, D.C.– On July 16, 2025, U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (NM-02)issued the following statement on the 80th anniversary of the Trinity Test:
“For 80 years, generations of New Mexican Downwinders have endured the Trinity Test’s devastating legacy while the government looked the other way,” said Vasquez. “Today, I’m proud that Congress has finally reauthorized and expanded the Radiation Expansion Compensation Act, delivering long overdue justice for the New Mexican families that were exposed to harm without their consent, knowledge, or recourse. This moment is about honoring the lives lost, the voices ignored, and the communities left behind — making sure they are never forgotten.”
Reviewer 1: “This manuscript is a timely and important contribution to the field, with clear methodology and compelling results. I recommend publication with only minor revisions.”
Reviewer 2: “This manuscript is deeply flawed. The authors’ conclusions are not supported by data, and key literature is ignored. Major revisions are required before it can be considered.”
These lines could be pulled from almost any editorial decision letter in the world of academic publishing, sent from a journal to a researcher. One review praises the work, while another sees nothing but problems. For scholars, this kind of contradiction is common. Reviewer 2, in particular, has become something of a meme: an anonymous figure often blamed for delays, rejections or cryptic critiques that seem to miss the point.
But those disagreements are part of the peer-review process.
A world of memes – like this one shared on Reddit – has sprung up about the ridiculous feedback provided by a mythical Reviewer #2. Reddit/r/medicalschool
As a clinical nurse specialist, educator and scholar who reviews studies in nursing and health care and teaches others to do so critically as well, I’ve seen how peer review shapes not just what gets published, but what ultimately influences practice.
Peer review is the checkpoint where scientific claims are validated before they are shared with the world. Researchers and scholars submit their findings to academic journals, which invite other scholars with similar expertise – those are the peers – to assess the work. Reviewers look at the way the scholar designed the project, the methods they used and whether their conclusions stand up.
The point of peer review
This process isn’t new. Versions of peer review have been around for centuries. But the modern form – anonymous, structured and managed by journal editors – took hold after World War II. Today, it is central to how scientific publishing works, and nowhere more so than health, nursing and medicine. Research that survives review is more likely to be trusted and acted upon by health care practitioners and their patients.
Millions of research papers move through this process annually, and the number grows every year. The sheer volume means that peer review isn’t just quality control, it’s become a bottleneck, a filter of sorts, and a kind of collective judgment about what counts as credible.
In clinical fields, peer review also has a protective role. Before a study about a new medication, procedure or care model gains traction, it is typically evaluated by others in the field. The point isn’t to punish the authors – it’s to slow things down just enough to critically evaluate the work, catch mistakes, question assumptions and raise red flags. The reviewer’s work doesn’t always get credit, but it often changes what ends up in print.
So, even if you’ve never submitted a paper or read a scientific journal, peer-reviewed science still shows up in your life. It helps shape what treatments are available, what protocols and guidelines your nurse practitioner or physician uses, and what public health advice gets passed along on the news.
This doesn’t mean peer review always works. Plenty of papers get published despite serious limitations. And some of these flawed studies do real harm. But even scholars who complain about the system often still believe in it. In one international survey of medical researchers, a clear majority said they trusted peer-reviewed science, despite frustrations with how slow or inconsistent the process can be.
What actually happens when a paper is reviewed?
Before a manuscript lands in the hands of reviewers, it begins with the researchers themselves. Scientists investigate a question, gather and analyze their data and write up their findings, often with a particular journal in mind that publishes new work in their discipline. Once they submit their paper to the journal, the editorial process begins.
At this point, journal editors send it out to two or three reviewers who have relevant expertise. Reviewers read for clarity, accuracy, originality and usefulness. They offer comments about what’s missing, what needs to be explained more carefully, and whether the findings seem valid. Sometimes the feedback is collegial and helpful. Sometimes it’s not.
Here is where Reviewer 2 enters the lore of academic life. This is the critic who seems especially hard to please, who misreads the argument, or demands rewrites that would reshape the entire project. But even these kinds of reviews serve a purpose. They show how work might be received more broadly. And many times they flag weaknesses the author hadn’t seen.
Review is slow. Most reviewers aren’t paid, with nearly 75% reporting they receive no compensation or formal recognition for their efforts. They do this work on top of their regular clinical, teaching or research responsibilities. And not every editor has the time or capacity to sort through conflicting feedback or to moderate tone. The result is a process that can feel uneven, opaque, and, at times, unfair.
It doesn’t always catch what it is supposed to. Peer review is better at catching sloppy thinking than it is at detecting fraud. If data is fabricated or manipulated, a reviewer may not have the tools, or the time, to figure that out. In recent years, a growing number of published papers have been retracted after concerns about plagiarism or faked results. That trend has shaken confidence in the system and raised questions about what more journals should be doing before publication.
Imperfect but indispensable
Even though the current peer-review system has its shortcomings, most researchers would argue that science is better off than it would be without the level of scrutiny peer review provides. The challenge now is how to make peer review better.
These efforts are promising but still in the early stages of development and adoption. For most fields, peer review remains a basic requirement for legitimacy, while some, such as law and high-energy physics, have alternate methods of communicating their findings. Peer review assures a reader that a journal article’s claim has been tested, scrutinized and revised.
Peer review doesn’t guarantee truth. But it does invite challenge, foster transparency, offer reflection and force revision. That’s often where the real work of science begins.
Even if Reviewer 2 still has notes.
Joshua Winowiecki does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi, PhD Student in Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Pick up a button mushroom from the supermarket and it squishes easily between your fingers. Snap a woody bracket mushroom off a tree trunk and you’ll struggle to break it. Both extremes grow from the same microscopic building blocks: hyphae – hair-thin tubes made mostly of the natural polymer chitin, a tough compound also found in crab shells.
Filaments called hyphae are a mushroom’s support structures both above and below ground, and the mycelium network links multiple mushrooms together. Milkwood.net/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
Yet even within a single mushroom family, the strength of a mycelium network can vary widely. Scientists have long suspected that how the hyphae are arranged – not just what they’re made of – holds the key to understanding, and ultimately controlling, their strength. But until recently, measurements that directly link microscopic arrangement to macroscopic strength have been scarce.
I’m a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student at Binghamton University who studies bio-inspired structures. In our latest research, my colleagues and I asked a simple question: Can we tune the strength of a mushroomlike material just by changing the angle of its filaments, without adding any tougher ingredients? The answer, it turns out, is yes.
2 edible species, many tiny tests
In our study, my team compared two familiar fungi. The first was the white button mushroom, whose tissue uses only thin filaments called generative filaments. The second was the maitake, also called hen-of-the-woods, whose tissue mixes in a second, thicker type of hyphae called skeletal filaments. These skeletal filaments are arranged roughly in parallel, like bundles of cables.
The two types of mushrooms used in the study: The white button mushroom is monomitic, shown on the left, meaning it has only one type of hyphae. The maitake is shown on the right, and is dimitic, meaning it has two types of hyphae. Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi
After gently drying the caps and stems to remove any water, which can soften the material and skew the results, we zoomed in with scanning electron microscopes and tested the samples at two very different scales.
First, we tested macro-scale compression. A motor-driven piston slowly squashed each mushroom while sensors recorded how hard the sample pushed back – the same way you might squeeze a marshmallow, only with laboratory precision.
Then we pressed a diamond tip thinner than a human hair into individual filaments to measure their stiffness.
The white mushroom filaments behaved like rubber bands, averaging about 18 megapascals in stiffness – similar to natural rubber. The thicker skeletal filaments in maitake measured around 560 megapascals, more than 30 times stiffer and approaching the stiffness of high-density polyethylene – the rigid plastic used in cutting boards and some water pipes.
But chemistry is only half the story. When we squeezed entire chunks, the direction we squeezed in mattered even more for the maitake. Pressing in line with its parallel skeletal filaments made the block 30 times stiffer than pressing across the grain. By contrast, the tangled filaments in white mushrooms felt equally soft from every angle.
A digital mushroom and twisting the threads
To separate geometry from chemistry, we converted snapshots from the microscope into a computer model using a 3D Voronoi network – a pattern that mimics the walls between bubbles in a foam. Think of ping-pong balls crammed in a box: Each ball is a cell, and the walls between cells become our simulated filaments.
We assigned those filaments by the stiffness values measured in the lab, then virtually rotated the whole network to angles of 0 degrees, 30 degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees and completely random.
Horizontal (0 degrees) filaments flexed like a spring mattress. Vertical (90 degrees) filaments supported weight almost as firmly as dense wood. Simply tilting the network to 60 degrees nearly doubled its stiffness compared with 0 degrees – all without changing a single chemical ingredient.
The researchers modeled structures with different fiber orientations to see which are the strongest: (a) represents a horizontal fiber orientation, (b) a 30-degree fiber orientation, (c) a 60-degree fiber orientation, (d) a vertical fiber orientation, and (e) a random fiber orientation. Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi
Basically, we found that orientation alone could turn a mushy sponge into something that stands up to serious pressure. That suggests manufacturers could make strong, lightweight, biodegradable parts – such as shoe insoles, protective packaging and even interior panels for cars – simply by guiding how a fungus grows rather than by mixing in harder additives.
Guiding fungi to lay their filaments in strategic directions could push performance much higher, opening doors in sectors where strength-to-weight ratio is king: think sporting goods cores, building-insulation panels or lightweight fillers inside aircraft panels.
The same digital tool kit also works for metal or polymer lattices printed layer by layer. Swap the filament properties in the model, let the algorithm pick the best angles, and then feed that layout into a 3D printer.
One day, engineers might dial up an app that says something like, “I need a panel that’s stiff north-south but flexible east-west,” and the program could spit out a filament map inspired by the humble maitake.
Our next step is to feed thousands of these virtual networks into a machine learning model so it can predict – or even invent – filament layouts that hit a targeted stiffness in any direction.
Meanwhile, biologists are exploring low-energy ways to coax real fungi to grow in neat rows, from steering nutrients toward one side of a petri dish to applying gentle electric fields that encourage filaments to align.
This study taught us that you don’t always need exotic chemistry to make a better material. Sometimes it’s all about how you line up the same old threads – just ask a mushroom.
Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Headline inflation increased from 1.9 percent in May to 2 percent in June 2025, remaining below the lower bound of the medium-term objective range of 3 – 6 percent and was lower than the 2.8 percent recorded in June 2024. The marginal increase in inflation between May and June 2025 was mainly on account of the acceleration in the rate of annual price changes of a few categories of goods and services, notably Transport and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & other Fuels. Similarly, the 16 percent trimmed mean inflation and inflation excluding administered prices increased from 1.8 percent and 3.7 percent to 2 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively, between May and June 2025.
Inflation for domestic tradeables decreased from 4.5 percent to 4.3 percent between May and June 2025, mainly on account of the deceleration in the rate of annual price changes of some food items in this category, including sorghum meal, white bread flour, and samp. Conversely, inflation for imported tradeables increased from 0.8 percent to 1.1 percent over the same period, mainly on account of the increase in the price of most alcoholic beverages and vehicles. Overall, all tradeables inflation increased from 1.8 percent to 2 percent between May and June 2025. Meanwhile, inflation for non-tradeables was unchanged at 2 percent in the same period.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
News story
Apply for the 2026 Criminal Defence Direct Contract
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is inviting tenders for Criminal Defence Direct (CDD) Contracts to deliver 24/7 telephone-based legal advice.
The LAA is inviting tenders for two new CDD Contracts to deliver 24/7 telephone-based legal advice from 4 May 2026. These services support individuals detained at police stations in England and Wales for non-indictable offences.
Key Dates
Tender opens: 16 July 2025
Deadline for questions: 30 July 2025 (5pm)
TUPE data request deadline: 30 July 2025 (5pm)
Tender submission deadline: 28 August 2025 (11:59pm)
Who Can Apply
The tender is open to any organisation that meets the LAA’s Conditions of Participation.
How to Apply
Applicants must submit a complete tender via two platforms:
Central Digital Platform (CDP) for supplier registration and core information,
LAA eTendering System for the CDD Tender Response. A share code linking the CDP response must be included in the Qualification envelope of the CDD Tender Response.
overnor Kathy Hochul today announced $1 million in grants to 16 veterans organizations across New York State through the third round of the Veterans’ Nonprofit Capital Program. These grants will support capital improvements to facilities that serve the state’s veterans, service members and their families.
“Our veterans, who have courageously served to protect our country, need and deserve to have access to safe, quality facilities to gather with family and loved ones,” Governor Hochul said. “This investment will not only allow for critical infrastructure upgrades, but it will also allow veterans to come together and bond with their community and families.”
The grants, administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) in partnership with the Department of Veterans’ Services, provide reimbursement for capital improvement projects ranging from $25,000 to $75,000. Veterans organizations will use the funding for critical infrastructure upgrades including new roofs, HVAC systems, electrical improvements, ADA-compliant modifications and renovations to kitchens and common areas.
Recipients are located across six regions: Capital Region (4), Central New York (1), Finger Lakes (4), Long Island (2), Mid-Hudson (1) and Western New York (4). Projects include roof replacements, parking lot reconstruction, generator installations and facility accessibility improvements. A list of awards is located here.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York President and CEO Robert J. Rodriguez said, “DASNY is proud to administer this program alongside our partners at the Department of Veterans’ Services, delivering on Governor Hochul’s continued commitment to supporting veterans. These capital improvements will help ensure that veterans have access to safe, modern facilities where they can gather, receive services, and maintain the important connections forged through their service to our nation.”
New York State Department of Veterans’ Services General Counsel Jonathan Fishbein said, “Round three of the Veterans’ Nonprofit Capital Program was one of our strongest to date, both in the quality of applications received and in the range of services supported across the state. These grants are making a real difference on the ground. DVS remains deeply committed to ensuring that Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families in every corner of New York have access to strong, stable, and growing networks of support. Governor Hochul continues to deliver much-needed support for all who served.”
The Veterans’ Nonprofit Capital Program provides funding for architecture, design, engineering, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation or expansion of eligible facilities, and purchase of eligible furnishings or equipment. Since its inception, the program has awarded $4.6 million to veterans organizations statewide.
About the NYS Department of Veterans’ Services
The New York State Department of Veterans’ Services proudly serves New York’s Veterans, Service Members and Military Families, connecting them with benefits, services and support. All who served should contact the Department at 888-838-7697 or via its website — veterans.ny.gov — to meet in-person or virtually with an accredited Veterans Benefits Advisor to receive the benefits they have earned. Follow DVS on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.
About DASNY
Founded in 1944, DASNY is New York State’s capital project development authority. It finances and constructs sustainable and resilient science, health and education institutions that help New York thrive. It is one of the largest issuers of tax-exempt bonds in the nation with an outstanding bond portfolio of approximately $60.1 billion as of March 31, 2025. DASNY is also a prolific public builder with a construction pipeline of approximately 1,000 projects valued at more than $13 billion as of March 31, 2025. To learn more about DASNY, visit www.dasny.org.
Three alleged members of the notorious gang La Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, made their initial appearance in the District of Maryland yesterday for their role in a racketeering conspiracy, including murder and drug trafficking.
“As alleged, the defendants are MS-13 members who carried out a brutal and senseless murder in exchange for promotions within the gang and drugs,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Their actions furthered MS-13’s reign of terror across communities in Maryland. The Criminal Division will continue to pursue charges against MS-13 members and associates and will not relent until this dangerous gang is eradicated from our streets.”
“The brutal retaliatory murder of this victim is a chilling reminder of the MS-13 gang’s callous disregard for human life,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland. “Those who assault and kill others must be brought to justice and ultimately held accountable for their actions. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland will continue to work relentlessly with our law enforcement partners to dismantle violent criminal organizations that terrorize our communities.”
“The FBI and our partners are committed to using every tool available to prevent violent criminals from terrorizing the communities they live in,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “We will not let up. We will relentlessly pursue those who engage in violent activity like murder and drug trafficking until they are held accountable.”
According to court documents, on July 4, 2024, Maxwell Ariel Quijano-Casco, 24, of El Salvador; Daniel Isaias Villanueva-Bautista, 19, of El Salvador; and Josue Mauricio Lainez, 21, of Hyattsville, Maryland, allegedly killed a homeless man as part of their involvement with MS-13. On July 5, 2024, a passerby called 911 after seeing the victim sitting in a blue 2008 Dodge Caravan that was parked in a used car lot in Hyattsville, Maryland. When the police arrived, they found the deceased victim, who appeared to have been stabbed in the neck. Investigators obtained video surveillance from a nearby business that captured the incident.
The surveillance video shows that at approximately 11:35 p.m Quijano-Cascoand another person approach the victim. The video shows the victim wielding what looks like a metal pole at Quijano-Casco, at which point Quijano-Casco and the other person flee on foot and the victim returns to the Dodge Caravan. About 15 minutes later, Quijano-Casco returns with co-defendants Villanueva-Bautista, Lainez, and another person. At approximately 11:48 p.m., the video surveillance shows all four of them approaching the blue Dodge Caravan.
The surveillance video then shows Quijano-Casco, Villanueva-Bautista, Lainez, and the unnamed person opening the van’s rear sliding driver’s side door, reaching inside, and moving as if striking someone.
The victim does not exit the blue Dodge Caravan after the attack.
On Aug. 23, 2024, Prince George’s County Police arrested Quijano-Casco and Villanueva-Bautista. Quijano-Casco was in possession of a black Ruger P95DC semi-automatic handgun and about eight grams of cocaine at the time of his arrest. Quijano-Casco and Villanueva both admitted that they were present for the altercation where the victim was murdered. Quijano-Casco allegedly admitted to Prince George’s County Police to stabbing the individual.
Quijano-Casco, Villanueva-Bautista, and Lainez are each charged with racketeering conspiracy, including the July 4, 2024, murder. If convicted, Quijano-Casco, Villanueva-Bautista, and Lainez face a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI and Prince George’s County Police Department are investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Christina Taylor of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Crespo for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Independence, Mo., attorney has been sentenced to federal prison for evading payment of $794,540 in income taxes, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey P. Ray today.
John C. Carnes, 70, pleaded guilty to tax evasion on Nov. 25, 2024, and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs. Carnes was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $794,540.
According to court documents, Carnes admitted that he willfully attempted to evade paying his personal income taxes for tax years 2012 through 2018. Carnes kept his income in his attorney trust accounts, then withdrew cash from his attorney trust accounts to pay for personal and business expenses. An attorney trust account is a bank account in which a lawyer has a fiduciary duty to hold property of clients or third persons, including prospective clients. It is for funds that are in a lawyer’s possession in connection with representation, separate from the lawyer’s own property.
Carnes had two trust fund accounts. He withdrew $444,527 in cash from one account from 2016 through 2019, and he withdrew $144,364 from the second account from 2013 through 2015. Carnes used the cash to gamble and pay personal expenses.
Carnes deposited $232,000 in fees received for services provided in the sale of the former Rockwood Golf Course property in November 2017 and the Missouri City Power Plant project, and other income, into his attorney trust accounts.
The total tax loss to the IRS for tax years 2012 through 2018, because of Carnes’s tax evasion, totaled $618,949. In addition, relevant conduct consists of unpaid federal income tax for the tax years 1990-1993, 1996-2003, and 2005, totaling $175,590. The total relevant conduct is $238,513, resulting in a total tax loss of $794,540.
From 2009 to 2020, the IRS continuously engaged in various forms of investigative and enforcement activity regarding Carnes’s outstanding tax liabilities.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rudolph R. Rhodes IV and Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for unlawfully possessing a firearm.
Michael G. Caldwell, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Bough to 95 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
Caldwell pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon on Aug. 29, 2024.
On April 2, 2024, officers with the Springfield Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a Dodge Charger driven by Caldwell. As the Charger slowed to pull over, officers observed Caldwell making furtive movements and reaching near the center console.
The officers removed Caldwell from the vehicle and Caldwell physically resisted arrested. After a brief struggle, the officers were ultimately able to detain him. When detectives searched the Charger, they found a Ruger pistol between the center console and front passenger seat. Officers also seized $1,610 in cash from Caldwell.
The Ruger pistol linked Caldwell to a shooting that occurred in the Springfield, Missouri area, on March 21, 2024, in that the shell casings from that shooting were a presumptive match to the shell casings from the Ruger seized from Caldwell. In addition, cell site data from a cell phone seized from Caldwell on April 2, 2024, confirmed that Caldwell’s cell phone was at the shooting.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who is convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Caldwell has prior felony convictions for robbery, possession of a controlled substance, and delivery of a controlled substance.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Wan. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ramon Arambula, 44, was indicted by a federal grand jury for possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Today’s indictment alleges that on July 9, 2025, Arambula possessed cocaine with the intent to distribute. This charge stems from a vehicle stop conducted on a vehicle being operated by Arambula on July 9. After a drug detection K-9 gave a positive alert on the vehicle, officers recovered 5 brick-shaped packages that contained cocaine. The total amount of cocaine seized was approximately 5,892 grams.
The charge contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan A. Baker. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kansas City Missouri Police Department, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Jackson County Drug Task Force and Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
KC Metro Strike Force
This prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Co-located Strike Forces Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations against a continuum of priority targets and their affiliate illicit financial networks. These prosecutor-led co-located Strike Forces capitalize on the synergy created through the long-term relationships that can be forged by agents, analysts, and prosecutors who remain together over time, and they epitomize the model that has proven most effective in combating organized crime. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Bolivar, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for unlawfully possessing a firearm.
Timothy E. Parker, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Bough to 48 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
On Sept. 25, 2024, Parker pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On Sept. 23, 2023, deputies with the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a U-Haul that Parker was driving. Instead of stopping, Parker initially fled the area. Eventually, Parker pulled the vehicle over and when contacted and searched, the deputies located a loaded Taurus G3C pistol concealed in a chest sling holster. Deputies also seized a backpack belonging to Parker that contained a 50-round box of ammunition, a Kydex style gun holster, a lock picking set, and 2.42 grams of methamphetamine during the stop. Police records indicated that the pistol and holster had been reported as stolen earlier that month.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who is convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Parker has prior felony convictions for property damage, forgery, burglary, driving stolen motor vehicles, and resisting arrest.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Scientists comment on the Government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan.
David Seymour, Director of Data Partnerships, Health Data Research UK, said:
“The ambition in these new government plans is much needed, but it is colliding with a system full of potholes that disrupt, delay and damage vital health data research.
“Our life sciences sector holds the key to faster discovery of treatments, better patient care, prevention of diseases and the essential economic growth required to fund a revitalised NHS. Yet in access to health data, researchers and innovators are gridlocked by legal, governance and contractual complexity, coupled with a lack of people with the capacity and authority to unblock barriers and make decisions. This is the harsh reality that undermines our boldest plans.
“While major investments in the genomics revolution and Health Data Research Service are welcome, there is a real danger of ‘planning blight,’ where the focus on designing the future system stops us from improving the performance of the current system. The most radical thing we can do is get the basics right. This means a relentless focus on maximising the value of our existing world-class data assets – the likes of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) research service, UK BioBank, Genomics England and Our Future Health – enriched through data linkage and novel data collection.
“Fixing today’s ‘potholes’ isn’t a distraction from the long-term vision – it’s the only way to make it happen. Anything less holds back the UK’s global competitiveness and fails patients and the public.”
Prof Bryan Williams, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, British Heart Foundation, said:
“A thriving life science sector is key to unlocking the next generation of treatments and cures for some of the UK’s biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease. It’s great to see the Government recognising this in today’s plan, which will help researchers grasp this moment of immense scientific opportunity.
“We welcome the pledge to continue investing in science which drives life-changing discoveries in medicine, whilst ensuring that patients benefit quickly from those discoveries. The commitment to shift health research funding towards making advances in prevention is also very encouraging.
“As key funders of UK research and development, charities like the British Heart Foundation are vital in helping to achieve this plan’s vision. We look forward to working in close partnership with Government and the wider sector to fully deliver the improvements needed.”
Prof Patrick Chinnery, Executive Chair, Medical Research Council, said:
“The new Life Sciences Sector Plan sets out a bold vision to transform how one of the UK’s most dynamic and globally competitive sectors delivers for our economy and for people around the world.
“The Medical Research Council is committed to playing a central role in realising this vision by accelerating the translation of curiosity-driven research into innovations that support disease prevention, earlier diagnosis and better treatments.
“In partnership with researchers, charities and industry, we will help more people live healthier, more productive lives, and attract further investment to strengthen the UK’s life sciences sector.”
Nicola Perrin MBE, Chief Executive, Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), said:
“We’re pleased to see life sciences recognised as a priority sector for the UK. This is a triple win for the economy, for the NHS and for patients. It will benefit people across the country and unlock new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease.
“We welcome the positioning of research at the heart of the Life Sciences Sector Plan, from the earliest stages of discovery science and beyond. We also welcome the focus on ensuring that the NHS embraces new discoveries and innovations – these will only have an impact if they get to patients quickly and effectively.
“It’s reassuring to see a clear focus on implementation and accountability in the plan. This will help to ensure urgent action and real change. Medical research charities must be key delivery partners – they support R&D that focuses on patients, addresses areas of unmet need and accelerates impact.”
Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation, Cancer Research UK, said:
“The Life Sciences Sector Plan sets out promising ambitions to make the UK a global leader in science, but it doesn’t do enough to tackle the challenges holding back clinical research.
“We need government, industry and charities to work together so that people get faster access to the most promising new cancer treatments.
“The Plan rightly highlights the delays in setting up commercial clinical trials in the UK, but it overlooks the fact that non-commercial trials – often led by charities or the NHS – are facing the same issues. These trials are being held back by slow and complicated processes, excessive red tape, and a lack of capacity across the system.
“Government action is needed to strip away these barriers and build more time for research in NHS staff contracts.”
Prof Andrew Morris CBE FRSE PMedSci, President, Academy of Medical Sciences, said:
“The Government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan delivers a robust framework that industry, academia and the NHS have long needed to help unlock the full potential of one of the UK’s most important sectors.
“As we highlighted in our Future-proofing UK Health Research report, a coordinated and people-centred approach is essential to secure a sustainable future for life sciences research and deliver maximum health benefits for people everywhere. With over £2bn of funding and clear accountability mechanisms, this plan provides actionable commitments that can drive economic growth, improve the UK’s standing on a world stage and transform health equity.
“The six headline actions align closely with priorities the Academy of Medical Sciences has consistently championed, including cutting clinical trials times, strengthening health data infrastructure, and streamlining regulation and procurement. These measures have the potential to transform how we develop and deploy new treatments, placing people at the heart of the UK health research system whilst maximising discovery science and the research potential of the NHS.
“Recognising that the NHS must become a thriving site of research is key to improving health and prosperity in the UK and driving health outcomes globally. The plan’s effectiveness will depend on sustained coordination across all sectors and funders, and engagement with patients and the public, to enable the UK’s life sciences sector to flourish and deliver health benefits for people everywhere.”
The nature of this story means everyone quoted above could be perceived to have a stake in it. cAs such, our policy is not to ask for interests to be declared – instead, they are implicit in each person’s affiliation.
The event is expected to attract over 60,000 people as the city centre is transformed with a colourful parade on Sunday 20 July.
For this year’s celebration, which is the largest free Pride in the UK, Leeds City Council is reaffirming its commitment to LGBT+ inclusive support.
The council first set out its aim for Leeds to be an LGBT+ inclusive city in 2018, and this was renewed last year with the launch of the 2024-2029 LGBT+ Inclusive Leeds plan.
The council’s LGBT+ hub provides a forum for the LGBT+ community to speak to, hear from and provide feedback to council services, partners in the statutory and voluntary sectors and the business sector, about how they shape their services and policies.
For more information on the council’s work to make Leeds an LGBT+ Inclusive City and the LGBT+ hub, visit LGBT+ Hub | Leeds.gov.uk.
This year’s Pride parade will be kicking off at 12.15pm on Sunday opposite Leeds Town Hall before making its way down to Lower Briggate.
As every year, the council has contributed an access bus to ensure the Pride event is open to everyone. The bus will take part in the parade where spaces have been booked in advance.
Councillor Fiona Venner, Leeds City Council’s executive member for equality, health and wellbeing said: “We love seeing everyone coming together for Pride in Leeds, it’s a brilliant celebration of equality and of our vibrant LGBT+ community.
“As always, we are working hard for Leeds to be a truly LGBT+ safe and inclusive city. The council recently launched an anti-discrimination campaign in recognition that alongside other forms of discrimination, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia remain a real issue.”
Accessibility information:
There will be a raised access platform in Millennium Square (also known as Accessible Viewing Area (AVA)), reserved for disabled people and their carers. Next to the AVA there is a changing places toilet and other disabled toilets. There are also accessible toilets in the permanent toilet provision under Millennium Square. Down at Lower Briggate there is also an AVA with its own dedicated accessible toilet provision.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) — Crates designed to store and transport exhibits that will be displayed at the upcoming exhibition of works by Russian artist Ilya Repin at the National Museum of China (NMC) in Beijing were unveiled on Wednesday after being transported long-distance to the Chinese capital.
In front of the press present, two canvases by I. Repin were carefully unpacked and checked – the sketch “Barge Haulers on the Volga” and “Rest. Portrait of Vera Repina, the Artist’s Wife”. Representatives from the two organizations shared with the media the history of these paintings and their features.
“Before Repin, there were Russian artists who tried to paint a picture on the theme of barge haulers’ labor, but none of them managed to reveal it on such a full scale as Repin did. He was the first Russian artist who touched upon a very important, interesting and curious topic. We are very glad that it was in China that this topic found such a response,” said Svetlana Kapyrina, head of the painting department of the second half of the 19th – early 20th century at the State Tretyakov Gallery.
At the exhibition, the creative team dedicated to the creation of “Barge Haulers on the Volga” will demonstrate portrait sketches of barge haulers, script sketches, oil sketches and other materials related to this most recognizable famous painting in China. This will provide viewers with a unique opportunity to deeply immerse themselves in the history of the birth of this masterpiece and feel how I. Repin step by step transformed the initial idea into a work that conquered the whole world, the NMC statement notes.
Moving on to the portrait of the artist’s wife, Svetlana Kapyrina said: “My colleagues and I thought many years ago whether there were other examples in world art where a sleeping wife poses for her husband. However, when we x-rayed this painting, we saw that she had one /open/ eye – she was not sleeping.”
“She got tired while posing and fell asleep, and the artist, with tenderness and love, did not wake her up,” added S. Kapyrina.
As one of the main events within the framework of the China-Russia Cross Years of Culture, this exhibition, jointly organized by the NMC and the State Tretyakov Gallery with the support of the State Russian Museum, will open on July 23 and run until January 11, 2026.
With 92 works to be displayed, the exhibition will be the largest and most representative exhibition of its kind ever held in China. It is worth noting that such famous masterpieces by Repin as “Tsarevna Sophia”, “Religious Procession in Kursk Province”, “They Didn’t Expect Him” and “Sadko” will be brought to China and presented to the Chinese public for the first time.
During the exhibition, NMK will also hold a number of thematic events, including lectures, educational excursions for teenagers and young people, and a visit to the exhibition via live broadcast. -0-
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Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) — China’s total electricity consumption stood at 809.6 billion kWh in May 2025, up 4.4 percent year on year, data from the National Energy Administration showed.
According to the agency, electricity consumption in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the country’s economy amounted to 11.9 billion kWh, 541.4 billion kWh, 155 billion kWh, increasing by 8.4 percent, 2.1 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively, while the volume of electricity consumption by the urban and rural population increased by 9.6 percent year-on-year to 101.3 billion kWh.
In January-May 2025, the total volume of electricity consumption in the country reached 3.97 trillion kWh, increasing by 3.4 percent year-on-year. -0-
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Source: State University “Higher School of Economics” –
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Source: The Conversation – UK – By Neil Cocks, Associate Professor in the Department of English Literature, University of Reading
Gen V (2023-present), the recent iteration of the wildly successful superhero satire The Boys (2019), thrives on scenes of bodily outrage. One such episode concerns a young woman who is able to shrink – an ability triggered by self-induced vomiting.
Her boyfriend persuades her to use her powers during sex and we see her touching his penis, which is now taller than she is. We also understand why the boyfriend is so insistent about her transformation: relatively speaking, he has a small penis.
In Companion (2025), a film about a young man who has an abusive sexual relationship with a self-conscious robot, a small penis is also mocked. When the robot gains autonomy, and has an intelligence boost, she confronts and shames the abusive man, claiming that he is motivated in his violent and controlling behaviour by “a below average-sized penis”.
What interests me about these works, as a researcher of sexuality and film, is that they are otherwise committed to questioning reductive ideas about the body. Yes, in the universe of The Boys there is undoubted glee at all the exploding heads and superpowered, murderous buttocks, but the keynote is pathos.
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The girl who changes her shape through vomiting is arguably representing bulimic experience and there are characters whose superpowers can be understood to negotiate, for example, self-harm and dysmorphia. But when it comes to a man with a small penis, it’s a different story. His body is understood to directly influence both his actions and sense of morality.
Likewise, in Companion, which is in so many senses a meditation on the fraught relationship between mind and body, the small penis of the young man is understood to be the obvious source of his repressive actions.
In both cases, the audience is expected to laugh at the abuser because of his small penis. The small penis is framed as both a signifier and cause of abusiveness.
‘We are still so medieval about penis size’
It could be argued that in Companion and Gen V, the small penis itself is not what is being mocked. The men involved in both are young, white and heterosexual. The idea is, perhaps, that mocking those with small penises is acceptable, because in this the creators are really questioning white, heterosexual and male power structures, and that the inadequacy of that power, its mythic nature, is exposed.
One difficulty in this is that as only power held by men with small penises is mocked, the power of the well endowed, regardless of racial or sexual identity, is naturalised.
Equally, those people of colour or queer people who have small penises might implicitly be included in the mockery, with the implication that they are somehow the beneficiaries of power structures, misuse this power, and have obvious, biologically rooted motivations in so doing.
The trailer for Gen V.
Gen V qualifies the laughter – the girl , talking later to a friend, makes clear that there is nothing wrong in having a small penis, just “don’t be a dick about it”. But the only small-penised character we see is, of course, being “a dick”.
There have been a number of television shows that focus on penis size, but each explores the pathos of having a large penis: Hung (2009), The Hard Times of RJ Berger (2010), Sex Education (2019). Imagine an equivalent concerning a character with a small – or even simply not large – penis.
As journalist Caitlin Moran wrote in a 2023 Guardian article introducing her book, What About Men:
We are still so medieval about penis size that we see male genitalia as being inimical to a man’s soul. Remember when Stormy Daniels told the world that Donald Trump’s penis was ‘smaller than average – a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart’. And we were all like: ‘Yes, it makes sense the horrible man has a small, weird mushroom penis.’ The whole world joined in on that one.
Let us instead question the relationship between biology and destiny. And let this action be taken not to frame heterosexual white men as a disadvantaged group, but for the good of us all. Our bodies are ours to negotiate, with ourselves, and with our significant others, as well as those others that find in them indifference, or more troubling affects.
As Gen V and Companion suggest, in recent science fiction stories that otherwise reimagine the body, the small penis can only be imagined as shameful. It is taken to be an obvious motivation for abusive behaviour. Such an understanding helps no one. As the science fiction genre is especially well placed to question common-sense ideas about the human and its form, it would be a good place to begin.
Neil Cocks 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.
Is it true that male animals are dominant over females? Previous studies have often found male-biased power in primates and other mammals.
A new study, investigating physical encounters between members of the same species in 121 primates (around a quarter of all primate species) found that half of all aggressive contests were between males and females. But males won these contests in only 17% of primate populations, with females dominating in 13% – making it almost as likely for females to dominate males.
The remaining 70% of primate populations showed no clear-cut dominance of one sex over the other. This study may have shown different results to previous research because it assessed individual contests rather than categorising species based on their social structure and physical attributes.
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The new study found male dominance, where males have a greater ability to influence the behaviour of the opposite sex, to be prevalent in primate species where the males are much larger than the females. This enables males to gain dominance through physical force or coercion. It was also widespread in species where males have weapons and mate with lots of females.
This is typical of African and Asian monkeys and the great apes, such as gorillas. Weighing in at around 200kg, a silverback male can be twice the size of the females within his troop. Male gorillas also have large canine teeth that can seriously injure or even kill other gorillas.
Female power was seen in primate species that had a scarcity of females, one exclusive sexual partner, similar sized males and females but did not have bodily weapons, according to the new study. These are all factors that give females more choice over who to mate with.
Female dominance was also seen in species where fighting with a male was less risky for the dependent offspring of females. For example, some primates “park” their young on their own in nests while foraging, rather than carrying them around. If a mother is holding her baby when she’s attacked, she may submit to protect her young.
Finally, matriarchal societies were common in species that live primarily in trees, which makes it easier to flee an attacker.
Female-dominated species were more likely in lorises, galagos and lemurs. So, contrary to the film Madagascar where King Julien is the king of the lemurs, females are, in fact, in charge. In the ring-tailed lemurs, females control access to food and mates, and maintain the dominance hierarchy where males are often at the bottom.
This is also true of bonobos, the closest relatives of humans. Although male bonobos are larger, females form coalitions to overcome the physical power of the males and force them into submission. This show of solidarity has also been shown in humans.
Think of how the suffragettes campaigned for women’s rights to vote in the UK. Or more recently, how women demanded new safety measures after Sarah Everard was murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.
Although female dominance has been documented less often in the wider animal kingdom, there are some examples that defy expectations. Spotted hyenas have a matriarchal society where females dominate the clans. They even have a pseudo-penis that they erect to indicate submission to more dominant individuals.
Naked mole rats have a queen that gives birth to all of the young while her offspring find food and defend the nest. The males are subordinate to the queen, but so too are the other females. In fact, the queen bullies the other members of her colony so much that the females are all rendered sterile through stress.
But what about the 70% of primate species that were found to show no dominant sex bias in the new study? These were largely the South American monkeys such as marmosets, tamarins and capuchins, that are generally small, live in trees, are social and omnivorous.
They also tended to have a prehensile tail that helps them grasp things. The ecology of these species fall in the middle of the male and female dominated species, with size difference and weapons being neither extreme nor absent, mating systems being neither polygamous nor monogamous, and the frequency of females being nether abundant nor rare.
The absence of a definitive sex-bias in dominance found in the majority of primate species may be a result of the rarity of contests between males and females, or because males and females were both equally likely to win. Nevertheless, dominance varied within species. For example the percentage of intersexual contests won by female patas monkeys ranged from 0% to 61%, depending on the population studied.
What does this mean for humans?
Human traits are not skewed towards those of male-dominated societies in other primates. We may not live in trees but males do not have natural weapons. Males are not always bigger than females, females do not tend to outnumber males and our sexual habits are varied.
Humans are actually more aligned to the 70% of species that show no clear distinction in sex biases, where species of either sex can become dominant. Let’s see which way evolution takes us.
Louise Gentle works for Nottingham Trent University.
Blindness, pneumonia, severe diarrhoea and even death – measles virus infections, especially in children, can have devastating consequences. Fortunately, we have a safe and effective defence. Measles vaccines are estimated to have averted more than 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023.
But there’s more at stake than just measles itself. Emerging research suggests that the measles vaccination may offer surprising additional health benefits. Children who receive the vaccine have been shown to have a significantly lower risk of infections from diseases unrelated to measles.
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One explanation for this broader benefit is the idea of “measles amnesia.” This refers to the ability of the measles virus to erase parts of the body’s immune memory.
Our immune system contains various cells that protect us from infections. Some produce antibodies that neutralise viruses, while others detect and destroy infected cells. Immune memory allows the body to “remember” past infections and mount faster responses in the future.
However, measles infection may reduce the number and diversity of these memory cells – leaving children vulnerable to a wide range of diseases they had previously developed immunity to. In other words, the virus doesn’t just make children ill in the short term, it may also undo years of immune protection.
In one study, researchers found that between 11% and 73% of antibodies targeting other diseases were lost after a measles infection in unvaccinated children. This immune depletion was not observed in children who had received the vaccine, suggesting that vaccination protects against this damaging effect.
This broad loss of immune protection may explain why measles outbreaks are often followed by spikes in other infectious diseases. Ongoing studies are exploring the impact of measles amnesia in regions such as West Africa, where measles and other infections remain widespread.
A vaccine that does more?
Another theory for the vaccine’s broader benefit is known as the “non-specific effect”. Unlike measles amnesia, which explains how the virus weakens immunity, the non-specific effect suggests that the measles vaccine actively strengthens the immune system against a wide range of pathogens.
Recent research has shown that measles vaccination may enhance the function of certain immune cells, making them more effective at fighting off other diseases. Some scientists believe this effect, rather than protection against amnesia alone, could be the primary reason why vaccinated children have better overall health outcomes.
The measles vaccine is a live attenuated vaccine, which means it uses a weakened version of the virus to stimulate a strong immune response. Live vaccines, including the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis, are known to provide broad immune training effects, which may explain this non-specific protection.
Forgotten the dangers
In the 1960s, before widespread vaccination, measles caused around 2.6 million deaths per year. It’s hard to imagine today, but that’s partly the problem.
As measles became rare, society began to forget how serious it is. We forgot how contagious it is (one infected person can spread the virus to up to 90% of nearby unvaccinated people) and we forgot how effective vaccination is (two doses provide more than 90% long-term protection).
And in some circles, this fading memory has been replaced by something more dangerous: mistrust. Misinformation, vaccine myths, and anti-vaccine rhetoric are spreading, just like the virus itself.
So, whether the additional protection offered by the vaccine is due to prevention of immune amnesia, a non-specific immune boost, or both, the takeaway is the same: Vaccinate children against measles. Because when we protect them from measles, we may also be protecting them from so much more.
Antony Black 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.
Zonal pricing would have categorised Britain into distinct zones, each with wholesale electricity prices that reflect how much power is generated locally, and how much demand there is for it. It would have raised prices in areas with lots of demand but low generation, like London, and lowered them where supply outstrips demand, such as in the turbine-rich Scottish Highlands.
This might have caused an immediate increase in the energy bills of already vulnerable households in some high-demand, low-generation areas, such as Tower Hamlets in London and Blackpool in north-west England.
But the idea was to encourage the construction of renewable energy to meet high demand in higher-priced zones, and prompt big electricity consumers to move to where electricity is cheaper. It was also intended to ease the need for new infrastructure to transmit electricity over long distances, like pylons. Australia, Norway and several EU nations already use this method.
The ultimate goal of zonal pricing was to make the price of electricity more accurately reflect generation and transmission costs. However, one thing has significantly inflated electricity prices in recent years, which this pricing method wouldn’t have addressed on its own: gas.
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Gas is expensive, even more so since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Britain’s electricity system operator brings power plants onto the system to meet demand in order of the lowest to highest marginal costs.
The point at which supply meets demand forms the wholesale price of electricity. Renewable sources, like wind and solar, have zero or very low marginal costs. But most of the time the wholesale price is set by gas plants, because they can readily fill a gap in supply but have high and erratic marginal costs (largely tied to what they pay for fuel).
We need another, cheaper technology to set the wholesale price of electricity. Batteries, which can store electricity over several hours, and options capable of storing energy for longer, such as compressed air and low-carbon hydrogen, could be just the thing.
The idea is simple: batteries can be charged at times when there is a lot of surplus electricity generation (on a bright, windy day, for example) and discharge it at times of peak demand (or when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow). This would entail grid operators (and ultimately, consumers) not having to pay gas plants to fire up when renewable generation cannot meet the shortfall.
Unfortunately, batteries comprised just 6% of Britain’s total electricity capacity in 2024. Investment in energy storage has lagged behind what the government forecasts is necessary to meet its 2030 clean power goals, but it is at least increasing.
Research shows that the more money that is invested in batteries, the more associated costs come down. If used instead of gas to stabilise the grid, energy storage could significantly lower the wholesale cost of the UK’s energy over time, and with the right balance of policies, household bills too. This would require subsidies to cover some of the cost of making and installing batteries, and planning mandates to build new renewables alongside new batteries.
Affordable and fair
The government could also try alternatives to zonal pricing. Wholesale electricity prices could reflect the “strike” price in renewable energy contracts. This is the price at which developers have agreed to build clean electricity generation projects, like wind farms. This would mean that gas no longer sets the wholesale price, but stable, predictable prices agreed years in advance, which would help to regulate the retail costs consumers pay.
Solar arrays installed on farmland in Devon, southern England. Pjhpix/Shutterstock
These types of reforms can help set efficient energy prices, which the government usually talks about as the price needed to encourage investment in new energy technologies. But just because prices are efficient, it doesn’t mean they’re fair. Some households struggle to afford their energy bills even when markets are working efficiently. So, when prices change to encourage cleaner energy, it can hit them harder.
The government should implement new policies and expand eligibility for existing measures to take the burden off energy-poor households. These include social tariffs, which offer discounted rates to vulnerable consumers, and discounts for blocks of electricity use when renewables are generating a lot of it.
This support, combined with increasing investment in energy storage and renewables, will lower the wholesale price of electricity over time – and make energy more affordable (and fair) for everyone.
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Anupama Sen has previously received funding from the Quadrature Climate Foundation and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.
Cassandra Etter-Wenzel and Sam Fankhauser do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Vincent Gauci, Professorial Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham
Satellites circling the Earth have many different functions, including navigation, communications and Earth observation. About 8%-10% of all active satellites are military or “dual use” serving intelligence or reconnaissance functions as spy satellites.
But it was a climate satellite serving as both spy and “name and shame” police officer in the sky that recently caught the world’s attention when it went quiet.
MethaneSat was developed to spot emission hot spots or plumes of invisible methane pollution from space. Built by the US non-profit, the Environmental Defense Fund with Nasa’s support, it tracked methane leaks from oil and gas sites, farms and landfills across the globe.
These are among the biggest human-caused emission sources. But methane emissions are traditionally hard to spot because they come from so many relatively small point sources or plumes.
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This specialist observation satellite was developed and deployed because methane acts differently to other greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that, over 20 years, is more than 80 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Methane also has a short lifetime. Where carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for in excess of 100 years, relying on plant uptake for its removal from the atmosphere and conversion into other carbon forms, methane is broken down in the atmosphere by molecules known as hydroxyl radicals. These are nicknamed “the atmosphere’s detergent”, because they effectively remove methane from the atmosphere in less than ten years.
A gas flare at an oil refinery – one of many pinpoint sources of methane emissions. hkhtt hj/Shutterstock
This combination of short lifetime and high global warming potential (a measure of the climate strength of the gas relative to carbon dioxide) makes methane both a problem and an ideal target for reduction. In fact, growth in atmospheric methane is occurring at such a rate that it is placing us dangerously off track from meeting our Paris agreement obligations to stay within 1.5°C of climate warming by 2050 and 2°C by 2100.
Eyes in the sky
But how can we achieve these reductions and what was the role of MethaneSat in seeking to meet this objective?
There are two ways atmospheric methane concentrations can be reduced. A recent and more challenging proposition is that methane is actively removed from the atmosphere.
This is difficult because it relies on technological advances that are at their earliest stages (although growing more trees can go some way to achieving this). Another more realistic approach is to reduce emissions and then to let atmospheric chemistry do the work of removing excess methane in the atmosphere.
The global methane pledge was announced in 2021 at the UN climate summit, Cop26, in Glasgow. This aimed to reduce human-caused methane emissions by 30% on 2020 levels by 2030. More than 150 countries have now signed up to this pledge. If successful, it could reduce warming by up to 0.2°C by 2050. That’s why MethaneSat was so useful.
MethaneSat is fitted with a hyperspectral sensor – which can record sunlight reflected off Earth in hundreds of narrow colour bands across the spectrum, far beyond what our eyes can see. It’s capable of picking up concentrations of methane in air at minute quantities.
This sensor allowed the satellite to spot individual plumes of methane, so it had a crucial role in identifying those problem areas. Given that these are dispersed but also individual point sources, it was invaluable in intervening in the leaks, permitting identification of those responsible so they could be held to account and so address the problem.
No one instrument can cover what MethaneSat could do with freely available data. It had high precision, high spatial resolution and, critically, global coverage and it was particularly useful at identifying plumes in nations that don’t have the resources for the sort of regional surveys using aircraft mounted systems that can fill the gap in developed regions.
Now that MethaneSat is no longer operational, there are some other tools to identify small anthropogenic emissions sources, but they tend to be regionally focused like the aircraft measurements mentioned.
Other satellites gather similar data but that data sits behind commercial paywalls, whereas MethaneSat data was freely available. Collectively, these drawbacks mean that it’s just going to be that much harder to spot the emissions MethaneSat was so good at tracking.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Vincent Gauci receives funding from the NERC, Spark Climate Solutions, the JABBS Foundation and has received funding from the Royal Society, Defra and the AXA Research Fund.
Many dating app companies are enthusiastic about incorporating generative AI into their products. Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of dating app Bumble, wants gen-AI to “help create more healthy and equitable relationships”. In her vision of the near future, people will have AI dating concierges who could “date” other people’s dating concierges for them, to find out which pairings were most compatible.
Dating app Grindr is developing an AI wingman, which it hopes to be up and running by 2027. Match Group, owner of popular dating apps including Tinder, Hinge and OK Cupid, have also expressed keen interest in using gen-AI in their products, believing recent advances in AI technology “have the power to be transformational, making it more seamless and engaging for users to participate in dating apps”. One of the ways they think gen-AI can do this is by enhancing “the authenticity of human connections”.
Use of gen-AI in online dating is not just some futuristic possibility, though. It’s already here.
Want to enhance your photos or present yourself in a different style? There are plenty of online tools for that. Similarly, if you want AI to help “craft the perfect, attention-grabbing bio” for you, it can do that. AI can even help you with making conversation, by analysing your chat history and suggesting ways to reply.
Extra help
It isn’t just dating app companies who are enthusiastic about AI use in dating apps either. A recent survey carried out by Cosmopolitan magazine and Bumble of 5,000 gen-Zers and millennials found that 69% of respondents were excited about “the ways AI could make dating easier and more efficient”.
An even higher proportion (86%) “believe it could help solve pervasive dating fatigue”. A surprising 86% of men and 77% of the women surveyed would share their message history with AI to help guide their dating app conversations.
Dating today can feel like a mix of endless swipes, red flags and shifting expectations. From decoding mixed signals to balancing independence with intimacy, relationships in your 20s and 30s come with unique challenges.Love IRL is the latest series from Quarter Life that explores it all.
These research-backed articles break down the complexities of modern love to help you build meaningful connections, no matter your relationship status.
It’s not hard to see why AI is so appealing for dating app users and providers. Dating apps seem to be losing their novelty: many users are reportedly abandoning them due to so-called “dating app fatigue” – feeling bored and burnt out with dating apps.
Apps and users might be hopeful that gen-AI can make dating apps fun again, or if not fun, then at least that it will make them actually lead to dates. Some AI dating companions claim to get you ten times more dates and better dates at that. Given that men tend to get fewer matches on dating apps than women, it’s also not surprising that we’re seeing more enthusiasm from men than women about the possibilities AI could bring.
Talk of gen-AI in connection to online dating gives rise to many ethical concerns. We at the Ethical Dating Online Network, an international network of over 30 multi-disciplinary academics interested in how online dating could be more ethical, think that dating app companies need to convincingly answer these worries before rushing new products to market. Here are a few standout issues.
Pitfalls of AI dating
Technology companies correctly identify some contemporary social issues, such as loneliness, anxiety at social interactions, and concerns about dating culture, as hindering people’s dating lives.
But turning to more technology to solve these issues puts us at risk of losing the skills we need to make close relationships work. The more we can reach for gen-AI to guide our interactions, the less we might be tempted to practise on our own, or to take accountability for what we communicate. After all, an AI “wingman” is of little use when meeting in person.
Also, AI tools risk entrenching much of dating culture that people find stressful. Norms around “banter”, attractiveness or flirting can make the search for intimacy seem like a competitive battleground. The way AI works – learning from existing conversations – means that it will reproduce these less desirable aspects.
Gen-AI may reproduce the negative elements of online dating culture. fizkes/Shutterstock
Instead of embracing those norms and ideals, and trying to equip everyone with the tools to seemingly meet impossibly high standards, dating app companies could do more to “de-escalate” dating culture: make it calmer, more ordinary and help people be vulnerable. For example, they could rethink how they charge for their products, encourage a culture of honesty, and look at alternatives to the “swiping” interfaces.
The possibility of misrepresentation is another concern. People have always massaged the truth when it comes to dating, and the internet has made this easier. But the more we are encouraged to use AI tools, and as they are embedded in dating apps, bad actors can more simply take advantage of the vulnerable.
An AI-generated photo, or conversation, can lead to exchanges of bank details, grooming and sexual exploitation.
Stopping short of fraud, however, is the looming intimate authenticity crisis. Online dating awash with AI generated material risks becoming a murky experience. A sincere user might struggle to identify like-minded matches on apps where use of AI is common.
This interpretive burden is annoying for anyone, but it will exacerbate the existing frustrations women, more so than men, experience on dating apps as they navigate spaces full of with timewasting, abuse, harassment and unwanted sexualisation.
Indeed, women might worry that AI will turbo-charge the ability of some men to prove a nuisance online. Bots, automation, conversation-generating tools, can help some men to lay claim to the attention of many women simultaneously.
AI tools may seem like harmless fun, or a useful timesaver. Some people may even wholeheartedly accept that AI generated content is not “authentic” and love it anyway.
Without clear guardrails in place, however, and more effort by app companies to provide informed choices based on transparency about how their apps work, any potential benefits of AI will be obscured by the negative impact it has to intimacy online.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
When you’re looking for a relationship, chances are you’ll start off with a wishlist for your ideal partner. Maybe someone who is attractive or wealthy, someone who likes the same movies and the outdoors. Seems like a solid starting point, right? The problem is that in the real world, these wishlists are rarely helpful. And how realistic is the idea that one person can fulfil all our needs in the first place?
In 2017, researchers conducted a large speed-dating study. They wanted to see how well the preferences people indicated for a potential partner predicted who they wanted to see again after the event.
The researchers were left with nothing: people’s wishlists did not predict who they actually liked. Instead, they suggested that the best predictor of whether you like someone is seeing how they make you feel when you interact with them. Do you feel comfortable in their presence? Do they make you laugh?
The scientific evidence suggests that you have to meet people in the flesh if you want to find your match.
Dating today can feel like a mix of endless swipes, red flags and shifting expectations. From decoding mixed signals to balancing independence with intimacy, relationships in your 20s and 30s come with unique challenges. Love IRL is the latest series from The Conversation’s Quarter Life that explores it all.
These research-backed articles break down the complexities of modern love to help you build meaningful connections, no matter your relationship status.
People used to find their romantic partner by tapping into their social networks – through friends, family, or the people they met in their daily lives. Nowadays, we often look for a romantic partner using online dating platforms, which allow us to access a larger network of potential romantic partners than ever before.
This apparent abundance may encourage a critical comparison with your wishlist and you may spend a lot of time swiping through profiles of potential partners, without initiating meeting them.
Research suggests that doing so can leave you feeling paralysed by an overload of choice and less optimistic about your chances. Research also shows that people tend to have fewer matches as the number of profiles on offer increases.
The researchers of this paradox suggest that you may be wise to put yourself on a dating diet: only looking at a limited number of profiles each day and exploring them with a curious mind. Then, when contact is established and you feel positive about the initial interaction, the real experiment begins.
When you spend a long time interacting online you may construct an idealised version of your potential partner and what you hope they’re like. That leaves you all the more likely to be disappointed when meeting them in person, as it’s easy for them to fall short of your expectations.
When you spend long time interacting online you may construct an idealised version of your potential partner. dodotone/Shutterstock
A better strategy would be to meet them in the flesh with a curious mind, before becoming overly invested in an online persona that is not a fair representation of what the other person may be like.
Taking it offline
Whether you will go on to have a satisfying relationship in the long run depends more than anything on your relationship expectations and behaviour.
Being kind and attentive to each other’s goals and needs ensures each partner’s happiness and will help weather any challenge, small or large, that couples inevitably face. But here too, technology may disrupt your mindful awareness of others – for example being on your phone in the presence of your partner – posing a risk to enjoying relationships.
Couples today also seem to have historically high expectations for their partner to help them fulfil all their goals and needs. You may want a partner to be a passionate lover, your best friend, your motivational coach and help you achieve personal growth.
In other words, people’s wishlists people carry into relationships too, as we long for a partner to fulfil all our needs.
Diversifying your friendships can put less pressure on your romantic connection. Dupe/Daniel Bughiu
Demanding all of this from one partner can place too much pressure on the relationships, rather than satisfying your needs. You may be left with a dissatisfying relationship that falls short of your expectations.
In some ways, we may all benefit from adopting lower expectations when looking for a partner and when being with them long term. This may help us appreciate them instead of taking their support and kind acts for granted.
It’s also a good idea to diversify your relationships. Having other important close (and even less close) relationships can help fulfil some needs your partner may not be best suited to meet, such as friends who like the same movies you do or who like to explore the outdoors together.
Research has shown that a greater diversity of relationships benefits happiness, as different relationships can serve different roles in fulfilling your needs, which may take some pressure off “the one” fulfilling all your needs.
Putting some brakes on your expectations for a romantic partner, when looking for a partner and when sharing your life with them, may help you to see more clearly who they are and appreciate what they contribute to your life.
Mariko Visserman 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.
None of the cultural love stories of the 2000s started with a swipe. Friends taught us that your social circle could double as a dating pool. The Office proved that love could blossom by the water cooler, and in High School Musical the perfect match could be the new girl at school.
But in the years since, apps have changed the way we date. The old-fashioned meet-cute was replaced by swipes, and slow-burn feelings were forgotten in favour of instant digital chemistry. It came with some benefits. Gone were the days when your romantic options were limited to bad set-ups, overly flirty colleagues, or trying to catch the eye of the hottie reading on the train. And introverts could pursue connections without the anxiety of approaching someone in a noisy bar or making the first move with a friend. But there were losses too.
While the convenience of dating apps expanded our horizons, they also stripped away some of the spontaneity and authenticity of in-person connections. The rush of emotions tied to real-life interactions – the spark of chemistry when eyes meet across a room or the thrill of an unexpected conversation – has become less frequent. Swiping left and right creates a kind of detachment, where it’s easier to dismiss someone with a flick of the thumb than to take a moment to truly get to know them. What we gained in options, we lost in meaningful connections.
Now another love revolution is on the horizon as algorithms and AI start to play an ever-growing role in how we form and navigate our relationships. Whether you’re single, dating, married or somewhere in between, our love lives are increasingly mediated by technology.
This is especially true for those of us in our 20s and 30s, who grew up with the promise of finding romance in real life but came of age as the dating app revolution began in earnest. Which is where Love IRL, a new Quarter Life series from The Conversation, comes in. These research-backed articles break down the complexities of modern love, from decoding mixed signals to balancing independence with intimacy. Along the way we’ll help you navigate the ghosts, love-bombers, breadcrumbers and catfishers and strive for more meaningful connections – offline and on.
Thoughts? Relationship woes? Get in touch at quarterlife@theconversation.com
Dating today can feel like a mix of endless swipes, red flags and shifting expectations. From decoding mixed signals to balancing independence with intimacy, relationships in your 20s and 30s come with unique challenges. Love IRL is the latest series from Quarter Life that explores it all.
These research-backed articles break down the complexities of modern love to help you build meaningful connections, no matter your relationship status.
July 15, 2025 – Agassiz, British Columbia – Correctional Service Canada
On July 14, 2025, a staff member was assaulted at Kent Institution, a maximum-security federal institution.
The injured staff member was evaluated and treated at an outside hospital.
The assailant has been identified and the appropriate actions will be taken.
The Agassiz detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the institution are presently investigating the incident.
The safety and security of institutions, their staff, and the public remains the highest priority in the operations of the federal correctional system.
In order to improve practices aimed at preventing this type of incident, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances of the incident and take the appropriate measures.
Three alleged members of the notorious gang La Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, made their initial appearance in the District of Maryland yesterday for their role in a racketeering conspiracy, including murder and drug trafficking.
“As alleged, the defendants are MS-13 members who carried out a brutal and senseless murder in exchange for promotions within the gang and drugs,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Their actions furthered MS-13’s reign of terror across communities in Maryland. The Criminal Division will continue to pursue charges against MS-13 members and associates and will not relent until this dangerous gang is eradicated from our streets.”
“The brutal retaliatory murder of this victim is a chilling reminder of the MS-13 gang’s callous disregard for human life,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland. “Those who assault and kill others must be brought to justice and ultimately held accountable for their actions. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland will continue to work relentlessly with our law enforcement partners to dismantle violent criminal organizations that terrorize our communities.”
“The FBI and our partners are committed to using every tool available to prevent violent criminals from terrorizing the communities they live in,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “We will not let up. We will relentlessly pursue those who engage in violent activity like murder and drug trafficking until they are held accountable.”
According to court documents, on July 4, 2024, Maxwell Ariel Quijano-Casco, 24, of El Salvador; Daniel Isaias Villanueva-Bautista, 19, of El Salvador; and Josue Mauricio Lainez, 21, of Hyattsville, Maryland, allegedly killed a homeless man as part of their involvement with MS-13. On July 5, 2024, a passerby called 911 after seeing the victim sitting in a blue 2008 Dodge Caravan that was parked in a used car lot in Hyattsville, Maryland. When the police arrived, they found the deceased victim, who appeared to have been stabbed in the neck. Investigators obtained video surveillance from a nearby business that captured the incident.
The surveillance video shows that at approximately 11:35 p.m Quijano-Cascoand another person approach the victim. The video shows the victim wielding what looks like a metal pole at Quijano-Casco, at which point Quijano-Casco and the other person flee on foot and the victim returns to the Dodge Caravan. About 15 minutes later, Quijano-Casco returns with co-defendants Villanueva-Bautista, Lainez, and another person. At approximately 11:48 p.m., the video surveillance shows all four of them approaching the blue Dodge Caravan.
The surveillance video then shows Quijano-Casco, Villanueva-Bautista, Lainez, and the unnamed person opening the van’s rear sliding driver’s side door, reaching inside, and moving as if striking someone.
The victim does not exit the blue Dodge Caravan after the attack.
On Aug. 23, 2024, Prince George’s County Police arrested Quijano-Casco and Villanueva-Bautista. Quijano-Casco was in possession of a black Ruger P95DC semi-automatic handgun and about eight grams of cocaine at the time of his arrest. Quijano-Casco and Villanueva both admitted that they were present for the altercation where the victim was murdered. Quijano-Casco allegedly admitted to Prince George’s County Police to stabbing the individual.
Quijano-Casco, Villanueva-Bautista, and Lainez are each charged with racketeering conspiracy, including the July 4, 2024, murder. If convicted, Quijano-Casco, Villanueva-Bautista, and Lainez face a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI and Prince George’s County Police Department are investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Christina Taylor of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Crespo for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
In response to the EU’s foreign affairs ministers meeting to discuss the list of options for political action against Israel,Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s Policy Lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Gaza, said:
“Every day that passes without real action means more death and destruction. Yet, once again, Europe is kicking the can down the road.
“The recent aid deal may have been a step, but, in reality, it is mere breadcrumbs. Aid alone cannot stop this catastrophe. We cannot continue to watch children killed and say ‘we are making progress’. We cannot watch food rot in aid trucks while people starve and say ‘this is working.’
“The EU cannot continue to maintain full ties with a government it acknowledges may be violating EU human rights principles, while offering humanitarian aid with one hand and enabling impunity with the other.
“We do not need another cautious statement nor another backroom deal. We need real leadership and decisive action. Enough of passing the buck. Enough of the delay. Enough of the bloodshed.”
EU foreign affairs ministers met today for theForeign Affairs Council. At the meeting, EU Foreign Affairs Chief, Kaja Kallas, presented a list of options to EU foreign affairs ministers including the full or partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement states “Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement.” Israel’s well-documented violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, particularly in Gaza and the West Bank, violate Article 2.
On Thursday, the EU and Israelagreed on stepsthat include “the substantial increase of daily trucks for food and non-food items to enter Gaza, the opening of several other crossing points in both the northern and southern areas; the reopening of the Jordanian and Egyptian aid routes” among other items.
Beyond suspending this agreement, Oxfam is calling for a permanent ceasefire, safe and unhindered humanitarian aid,an end to illegal Israeli occupationand a halt in all arm sales and transfers to Israel while there is a risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.
For more information on our work and to see our latest press releases, please visit oxfam.org/eu. For updates, follow us on Twitter, BlueSky and LinkedIn.
Durban, South Africa, 16 July 2025 – Greenpeace Africa has demanded G20 host and South African President Ramaphosa push ahead on accelerating efforts to impose a wealth tax on the world’s billionaires and to support the UN Tax Convention for new and fair global tax rules.
Ahead of the G20’s 3rd Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting, Greenpeace Africa activists dropped a 15 metre long x 2 metre high banner from a highway bridge near King Shaka International Airport with a photo of Cyril Ramaphosa and a message that said: ‘End Financial Apartheid. Tax The Super Rich’.
Cynthia Moyo, Lead Campaigner, Greenpeace Africa, said: “It’s outrageous that billionaires keep getting richer off a broken global tax system while millions across Africa and the world are pushed deeper into poverty and climate chaos. This is financial apartheid. South Africa understands the cost of injustice. Just as Mandela led the fight against political apartheid, President Ramaphosa now has a chance to lead the G20 in dismantling financial apartheid by taxing the super-rich and backing the UN Tax Convention. This is a fight for justice, dignity, and a future where wealth serves people, not the powerful few.”
The action comes after an announcement at the UN Financing for Development conference that Spain, Brazil and South Africa are launching an initiative to tax the super-rich and the recent BRICS statement in support of the UN Tax Convention.[1] [2] [3]
Fred Njehu, Global Political Lead of the Fair Share campaign, Greenpeace Africa, said: “We are on the cusp of momentous change. There is growing public and political momentum for taxing the super-rich and new global tax rules that work for all to achieve social and climate justice.
“This is a historic opportunity for President Ramaphosa, who must seize this chance to lead the G20 in an economic direction that will serve not only the people of South Africa and the continent, but the majority world, by redistributing funds to tackle the social, environmental and climate polycrisis.
“We ask G20 countries to support and engage constructively in the UN Tax Convention process as a global multilateral platform that will shape and determine the future of taxation, one rooted in transparency, accountability, equity and justice.”
Globally, billionaire wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than in 2023.[4] In Africa, the four richest people have more wealth than half of the region’s 750 million people combined. Since 2020, the average income of the richest 1% in Africa has increased five times faster than that of the bottom 50%.[5]
[1] At the recently concluded 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, South Africa had joined the ranks of Spain and Brazil in forming a coalition of willing countries to work on taxing the super-rich and to support fair taxation at the upcoming UN Tax Convention negotiations. Greenpeace’s press release
[3] New global tax rules in an UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation are being negotiated, from now until 2027. It is a historic opportunity to redistribute power and wealth, and foster tax transparency and accountability. It aims to take control of global tax rules from the rich OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries to place it in the hands of the 193 member states of the United Nations.
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept. “Somalia: Third Review Under the Extended Credit Facility and Request for a Modification of Quantitative Performance Criterion-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Somalia”, IMF Staff Country Reports 2025, 191 (2025), accessed July 16, 2025, https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229014779.002
Younger Americans are more likely to express belief in witchcraft and luck, as our new research shows.
As sociologistswho researchthe social dynamics of religion in the United States, we conducted a nationally representative survey in 2021. Our survey posed dozens of questions to 2,000 Americans over the age of 18 on a wide range of beliefs in supernatural phenomena – everything from belief in the devil to belief in the magical power of crystals.
Our statistical analyses found that supernatural beliefs in the United States tend to group into four types.
The first represents what many consider “traditional religious beliefs.” These include beliefs in God, the existence of angels and demons, and belief in the soul and its journey beyond this lifetime.
A second represents belief in “spiritual and mental forces,” some of which are associated with either paranormal or new age beliefs. These include communicating with the dead, predicting the future, or believing that one’s soul can travel through space or time.
A third group represents belief in “witches and witchcraft.” This was measured on our survey with questions about the existence of “black magic” and whether it was “possible to cast spells on people.”
Our analysis finds that higher education and higher income are associated with lower levels of all four types of supernatural belief. Those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, for instance, score below average on all four types of belief, while those with less education score higher than average on all four.
Looking at race and ethnicity, we found that Latino or Hispanic individuals were more likely than white individuals to express belief in the “witches and witchcraft” form of supernatural belief. About 50% of Latino or Hispanic individuals in our survey, for example, strongly agreed that “witches exist.” This compares with about 37% of white individuals.
Comparing gender differences, we find that women are more likely than men to believe in the “spiritual and mental forces” forms of supernatural belief. For instance, about 31% of women in our survey agreed that “it is possible to communicate with the dead” compared with about 22% of men.
Why it matters
Our research addresses two key questions: first, whether people who hold one type of supernatural belief are also more likely to hold other types of supernatural beliefs; and second, how do different types of supernatural belief vary across key demographic groups, such as across educational levels, racial and ethnic groups, and gender?
Answering these questions can be surprisingly difficult. Most scientific surveys of the U.S. public include, at best, only one or two questions about religious beliefs; rarely do they include questions about other types of supernatural beliefs, such as belief in paranormal or superstitious forces. This could lead to an incomplete understanding of how supernatural beliefs and practices are changing in the United States.
An increasing number of Americans are leaving organized religion. However, it is not clear that supernatural beliefs have or will follow the same trajectory – especially beliefs that are not explicitly connected to those religious identities. For example, someone can identify as nonreligious but believe that the crystal they wear will provide them with supernatural benefits.
Moreover, recognizing that supernatural beliefs can include more than traditionally religious supernatural beliefs may be vital for better understanding other social issues. Research has found, for example, that belief in paranormal phenomena is associated with lower trust in science and medicine.
What’s next
Our survey provides some insight into the nature and patterns of supernatural belief in the U.S. at one point in time, but it does not tell us how such beliefs are changing over time.
We would like to see future surveys – both ours or from other social scientists – that ask more diverse questions about belief in supernatural beings and forces that will allow for an assessment of such changes.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Christopher P. Scheitle receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. The research discussed in this article was supported by a grant from the Science and Religion: Identity and Belief Formation grant initiative spearheaded by the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University and the University of California-San Diego and provided by the Templeton Religion Trust via The Issachar Fund.
Bernard DiGregorio receives funding from the National Science Foundation. The research discussed in this article was funded by a grant from the Science and Religion: Identity and Belief Formation grant initiative spearheaded by the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University and the University of California-San Diego and provided by the Templeton Religion Trust via The Issachar Fund.
Katie E. Corcoran receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The research discussed in this article was supported by a grant from the Science and Religion: Identity and Belief Formation grant initiative spearheaded by the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University and the University of California-San Diego and provided by the Templeton Religion Trust via The Issachar Fund.
