In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 30.01.2025, 10-23 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 101.15) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1043.11 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 6.25%) of the RU000A100VG7 (SUEK-F1P3R) security were changed.
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In the fourth quarter of 2024, the value of exports decreased due to lower world oil prices and a decrease in oil production in Russia based on OPEC agreements. At the same time, the value of imports increased compared to the same period in 2023 amid expanding domestic demand.
As a result of the reduction in exports and the increase in imports, the positive balance of the current account decreased in the fourth quarter.
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The corporate loan portfolio decreased by 0.2% in December due to the repayment of a number of large foreign currency loans. Overall, for 2024, growth was 17.9%, which is comparable to 2023. More than half of the growth came from segments that are less sensitive to rate increases – lending for investment programs that have already begun and housing construction.
The effect of macroprudential restrictions and the increase in rates led to a reduction in unsecured consumer lending by 1.9%. However, given the high rates of lending dynamics observed in the spring and summer, by the end of 2024 the portfolio grew by 11.2%.
Mortgages increased by a modest 0.4% over the month, with more than 80% of new loans coming from mortgages with state support. The annual growth slowed to 13.4%, which is significantly lower than the 2023 level, when the market was overheated due to massive state support. At the same time, the volume of loans issued in 2024 was comparable to 2020 and 2022.
The population’s funds in banks grew by a significant 7.2%, which is due to the traditional advance payment of January social payments (including pensions and child benefits) and the payment of annual bonuses. At the end of the year, the growth was 26.1%, including due to an increase in the population’s income and high interest rates on deposits.
In December, banks’ net profit fell sharply to 187 billion rubles due to losses from currency revaluation and increased operating expenses. In 2024, the sector earned 3.8 trillion rubles (excluding receipts from subsidiary banks). The total financial result, taking into account the negative revaluation of securities reflected directly in capital, was lower and amounted to 3.4 trillion rubles.
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In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 30.01.2025, 11-46 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor (up to 79.86) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 763.3 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 11.25%) of the RU000A100YQ0 (Rosnft2P9) security were changed.
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In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on 30.01.2025, 12-18 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 94.31) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 985.58 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 7.5%) of the security RU000A1012B3 (FPK 1P-07) were changed.
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The date of the deposit auction is 30.01.2025. Placement currency is RUB. The maximum amount of funds placed (in the placement currency) is 37,847,000.00. Placement period, days is 109. Date of depositing funds is 30.01.2025. Date of return of funds is 19.05.2025. Minimum placement interest rate, % per annum is 22.00. Terms of the conclusion, urgent or special (Urgent). The minimum amount of funds placed for one application (in the placement currency) is 37,847,000.00. The maximum number of applications from one Participant, pcs. 1. Auction form, open or closed (Open). Basis of the Agreement is the General Agreement. Schedule (Moscow time). Applications in preliminary mode from 13:15 to 13:30. Applications in competition mode from 13:30 to 13:40. Setting a cut-off percentage or declaring the auction invalid before 14:10.
Additional conditions Placement of funds without the possibility of early withdrawal of the deposit, monthly payment of interest on the deposit.
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Due to the two-year support cycle for the gateway broker and information interfaces for ASTS Bridge, support for IFCBroker and IFCInfo interfaces version 48 and older is planned to be discontinued from January 2026.
The ability to connect to industrial systems with the specified versions will also be closed in January 2026.
The current version is 52. Version 53 is planned to be released on March 24, 2025. Details published separately.
Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232Pr@moex.kom
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In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC), on January 30, 2025, 14-00 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 71.9) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 806.62 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 27.5%) of the RU000A0JX1C5 (KAMAZ BO14) security were changed.
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As WFP teams work around the clock to reach key locations for first time, fighting and arbitrary obstructions by local authorities hinder consistent flow of vital aid.
ROME/NAIROBI/PORT SUDAN – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is working tirelessly to expand food and nutrition assistance to millions more people across Sudan – aiming to triple the number of people it supports to 7 million. WFP’s top priority is to deliver life-saving assistance to locations facing famine or teetering on its brink.
Today, intensified fighting and the arbitrary obstruction of humanitarian convoys are hindering the fast and consistent movement of desperately needed aid.
Since launching a large-scale surge of food aid in late 2024, WFP has pushed into hard-to-reach areas, including Zamzam Camp in North Darfur, south Khartoum, and Gebaish in West Kordofan. In January, WFP even reached Wad Madani in Gezira State after the city became safe enough to get trucks of food and nutrition supplies through. Over 2.5 million people per month received much-needed food and nutrition assistance in the last quarter of 2024, including many for the first time, since the conflict began.
“We have made significant breakthroughs in getting aid deliveries to hard-to-reach areas in the last three months, but these cannot be one-off events,” said Alex Marianelli, acting Country Director for Sudan. “We urgently need to get a constant flow of aid to families in the hardest hit locations, which have also been the most difficult to reach.”
A convoy headed to areas already in famine, or at-risk of famine, in Darfur, took three times longer to reach its destination due to interferences. After crossing the Adre border in mid-December, local officials from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) held-back some 40 humanitarian trucks for nearly three weeks, requiring new clearances and inspections. As a result, the WFP-led convoy had to be redirected to another famine-risk area in the Darfur region. On arrival, the RSF held the trucks again and made additional demands. Finally, the convoy finally reached its destination earlier this week, a full six weeks after its departure, for a journey that would normally take a maximum of two weeks.
Meanwhile, a national liquidity crisis has led to widespread cash shortages. WFP cash and in-kind food distributions for over 4 million people have been delayed for over one month due to a lack of sufficient bank notes to help pay porters to load trucks. Recent efforts by Sudan’s Central Bank and Ministry of Finance to ease the crisis, and increase cash availability, has meant that WFP’s operations can gradually resume.
WFP calls on all parties on the ground in Sudan to remove all unnecessary barriers and obstacles that are preventing a full-scale humanitarian response to Sudan’s growing hunger crisis. The neutrality and independence of aid workers and humanitarian work must be respected. The safe passage of humanitarian assistance to hard-to-reach, famine-struck areas must be guaranteed.
Sudan continues to face a catastrophic humanitarian situation with approximately 24.6 million people – nearly half of Sudan’s population – facing acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3+). Twenty-seven locations across Sudan are either in famine or at risk of famine, while more than one-third of children in the hardest hit regions are acutely malnourished, well above the threshold for a famine declaration.
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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – “In Bukavu, foreigners are fleeing,” missionaries from the capital of the Congolese province of South Kivu tell Fides. “The various embassies in Kinshasa have ordered their compatriots to leave the city because they fear that the M23 rebels could conquer it after taking control of Goma and the province of North Kivu,” the observers say. “Important departments of international organizations of the United Nations and various international non-governmental organizations are based in Bukavu. Now the foreign staff of these organizations are being evacuated via Rwanda.” “Currently, the rebel troops are already in Nyabibwe, in the Kalehe area of South Kivu,” the observers say. “It is a mountainous peak and if you go down to the south you are 25 km from the shores of Lake Kivu; from there you can easily reach Bukavu.” “The movements of the M23 units are facilitated by the means made available to them by the Rwandan army, which transported new off-road vehicles to Goma by barge, which were handed over to the rebels,” the observers added. Nyabibwe is home to a mine that extracts coltan and cassiterite, two of the strategic minerals that are the subject of the ongoing war involving local and regional actors backed by world powers and multinational mining companies.Meanwhile, the situation in Goma, which was captured by Rwandan troops and the M23 rebels they support, is stabilizing. The M23 rebels have organized the first patrols in the city to reassure the population and fight pockets of resistance from the Congolese army and the pro-government “Wazalendo” militiamen.”The rebels are trying to portray themselves as ‘liberators’ against what they call ‘the repressive regime in Kinshasa’: they are therefore trying to ensure a minimum of order and services for the population of the city they have conquered,” the observers report. As Corneille Nangaa, the leader of the Congo River Alliance, explained, the guerrillas’ goal is to march on the capital Kinshasa (about 1,600 km as the crow flies from Goma, but the road distance is more than 2,500 km) to overthrow President Félix Tshisekedi. “It seems like we have gone back about thirty years, when the guerrillas began their triumphal march at the end of 1996, which began in the east of the country and overthrew Mobutu in Kinshasa in the spring of 1997. But at that time the guerrillas, supported by Rwanda and Uganda, were also supported by other foreign powers. Now we must see what international interests are at work today,” commented the observers. To counter the rebels’ advance, President Tshisekedi has meanwhile ordered general mobilization and called on former soldiers and young people to join the army. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 30/1/2025)
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Police are appealing for the public’s help to find two teenage girls from Morocco who have been reported missing.
Douae, 14, and Houda, 15, were last seen leaving the hostel they were staying at in Tavistock Place, WC1 at around 20:30hrs on Tuesday, 28 January.
Both girls had arrived in London on Saturday, 25 January for a week-long stay as part of a student exchange programme run by an independent company. They were due to return to Morocco on 1 February.
The programme the girls are on is not attached to a specific school and is run by a private company.
Detective Chief Inspector Sarb Kaur from the Central North Command Unit said: “We are appealing for any information about Douae and Houda’s whereabouts. They have travelled from Morocco and are in a city and country that is not familiar to them, so the longer they remain missing then the greater our concern for their welfare is.
“A team of detectives is working tirelessly to locate them and we are liaising with the Moroccan embassy and the company who organised the visit to ensure their families in Morocco are kept updated with any developments.”
Anyone with information that could assist police is asked to call 101 or ‘X’ @MetCC and quote ref 01/7101825/25. For an immediate sighting of Douae and Houda please call 999 immediately.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated January 28, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹2.00 lakh (Rupees Two Lakh only) on The Vadali Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd., Dist. Sabarkantha, Gujarat (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and Advances to directors, relatives and firms/concerns in which they are Interested’; ‘Placement of deposits with other banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’ and ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred in RBI under section 47A(1)(c) read with sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges against the bank were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:
The bank had:
sanctioned a loan wherein relative of its director stood as guarantor;
failed to adhere to the prudential inter-bank (gross) and counterparty exposure limits; and
failed to carry out periodic review of risk categorisation of certain accounts at least once in six months.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated January 28, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹2.00 lakh (Rupees Two Lakh only) on The Kosamba Mercantile Co-operative Bank Ltd., Dist. Surat, Gujarat (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’ and ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred in RBI under Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges against the bank were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:
The bank had failed to:
adhere to the prudential inter-bank (gross) and counterparty exposure limits;
upload the KYC records of customers onto Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR) within the prescribed time; and
carry out periodic review of risk categorisation of accounts at least once in six months.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated January 27, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹2.10 lakh (Rupees Two Lakh Ten Thousand only) on Shree Savli Nagrik Sahakari Bank Ltd., Dist. Vadodara, Gujarat (the bank) for contravention of provisions of Section 26A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act) and for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Investment by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’, ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’ and ‘Membership of Credit Information Companies (CICs) by Co-operative Banks’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the BR Act and Section 25 of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of contravention of statutory provisions/non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said provisions and directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, oral submissions made during the personal hearing and examination of additional submissions made by it, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges against the bank were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:
The bank had:
failed to transfer eligible unclaimed amounts to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within the prescribed time;
breached the ceiling of total investments held under Held to Maturity (HTM) category;
failed to upload the KYC records of customers onto Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR) within the prescribed time; and
failed to submit credit information of its borrowers to three CICs.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
Headline: Thales Alenia Space signs contract with ESA to develop the Argonaut Lunar Lander for cargo delivery
The lander will fly to the Moon and land on its surface assuring the European autonomous access to the Moon
Thales Alenia Space plays a pioneering role to enable the European autonomous access to the Moon
The Argonaut lunar lander is designed to offer versatility in the frame of the Artemis program to deliver cargo, rovers and more, or as stand-alone scientific missions.
Thales Alenia Space’s consolidated legacy, advanced technology and long-standing expertise in space exploration puts the company at the cutting-edge of space and human exploration.
Cannes, January 30th, 2025 – Thales Alenia Space, joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA), worth € 862 Million, related to the design, the development and the delivery of the Lunar Descent Element (LDE) for ESA’s Argonaut Mission, including responsibility for mission design and integration.
Planned to be launched from the 2030s, Argonaut will deliver cargo, infrastructure and scientific instruments to the Moon’s surface.
The first mission is envisioned to deal with delivery of dedicated navigation and telecommunication payloads as well as energy generation and storage system, as European enterprises to explore the Lunar southern area.
The Argonaut spacecraft consists of three main elements: the lunar descent element (LDE) for flying to the Moon and landing on the target, the cargo platform one, which is the interface between the lander and its payload, and finally, the element that the mission designers want to send to the Moon.
Adaptability is a key element of Argonaut’s design, which is why the cargo platform is designed to accept any mission profile: cargo for astronauts near the landing site, a rover, technology demonstration packages, production facilities using lunar resources, a lunar telescope or even a power station. The project will strengthen Thales Alenia Space’s skills in several technological areas essential to space exploration beyond the Moon.
The future space ecosystem requires new solutions dedicated to the transport and return of cargo from low Earth orbit and lunar orbit, as well as crew transport to low Earth orbit. Thales Alenia Space is ready to put in place what is needed to prepare for humanity’s future life and presence in Space, laying the foundations for the post-ISS era and meeting new economic needs for research and science.
Argonaut consortium: who does what?
Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor for the development of the Lunar Descent Element. The overall mission responsibility, ie the use of the LDE and integration with payload, will be the subject of a separate procurement in the future. The Lunar Descent Element is an independent architecture block of the international lunar exploration activities, namely a versatile system to support a variety of missions.
As prime contractor and system integrator of the Lunar Descent Element, Thales Alenia Space in Italy will lead the industrial consortium that will be responsible for the system, the entry descent and landing aspects, as well as the general and specific architectures of the thermomechanical, avionics and software chains. Thales Alenia Space in France and in the UK will respectively focus on data handling systems and propulsion. OHB System AG as additional core team member of the Thales Alenia Space consortium will be responsible for guidance, navigation and control (GNC), electrical power systems (EPS) and telecommunications (TT&C) aspects.
“Argonaut lunar lander means a lot to our company” said Hervé Derrey, Thales Alenia Space CEO. “Thanks to this astonishing space vehicle, tons of cargo will be delivered to the Moon’s surface, including rovers, scientific missions and many more. This new element of the Artemis program will serve at facilitating long-duration manned lunar exploration missions and will be crucial to increase European autonomy in lunar exploration. The Moon will also serve as a stepping stone for crewed missions into deep space, with Mars being the next stage of the journey. I wanted to express my gratitude to ESA for awarding this new contract to our company. Today’s major achievement strengthens more than ever Thales Alenia Space’s leading positions in the fields of space transportation systems, orbital infrastructures and space exploration”.
“We are truly honored that ESA has renewed its trust in our company by awarding Thales Alenia Space this major contract to develop the European lunar lander that will enable Europe to access autonomously to the Moon’s surface”, said Giampiero Di Paolo, Deputy CEO and Senior Vice President, Observation, Exploration and Navigation at Thales Alenia Space. “Today, with its longstanding expertise in space exploration infrastructure and vehicles, our company, in line with ESA’s and ASI’s visions, has decided to enhance its competitiveness by investing in the development of technological solutions to help Europe achieve its goals. Supplying a significant proportion of the International Space Station’s pressurized volume, playing a major role on board Artemis, manufacturing the backbone of Orion’s European service module and leading flagship transportation programs such as IXV or Space Rider, Thales Alenia Space is more than ever at the forefront of exploration and space transportation systems”.
About Thales Alenia Space
Drawing on over 40 years of experience and a unique combination of skills, expertise and cultures, Thales Alenia Space delivers cost-effective solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. Governments and private industry alike count on Thales Alenia Space to design satellite-based systems that provide anytime, anywhere connections and positioning, monitor our planet, enhance management of its resources and explore our Solar System and beyond. Thales Alenia Space sees space as a new horizon, helping to build a better, more sustainable life on Earth. A joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space also teams up with Telespazio to form the parent companies’ Space Alliance, which offers a complete range of services. Thales Alenia Space posted consolidated revenues of approximately €2.2 billion in 2023 and has around 8,600 employees in 8 countries, with 16 sites in Europe.
It was a bizarre sight watching a huge gay 1970s disco hit being performed at Donald Trump’s 2025 pre-inauguration rally. Many prominent artists from Beyoncé to Bruce Springsteen prohibit Trump from using their music. So why do Village People – a band synonymous with the 1970s gay liberation movement – allow their music to be associated with a political movement that has fixed and repressive ideas about sexual identity and morality?
Village People’s recent incarnation has had a complicated relationship with the “make America great again” movement (Maga). In 2020, their song YMCA began featuring at Maga anti-lockdown rallies and soon became a prominent song in Trump’s re-election campaign.
At the time, the band asked Trump not to use its music and later supported Kamala Harris for the presidency in 2024. Since then Village People have dramatically changed tack.
To be clear, of the group that performed at Trump’s pre-inauguration rally, only one of the original Village People remains. The band, put together by the gay producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo in 1978, was named after New York’s Greenwich Village gay scene.
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In the 1970s, the group was mostly gay-fronted except the first recruit, lead singer and co-songwriter Victor Willis (sometimes the policeman, sometimes the admiral figure). Willis took control of the name and the hits in 2017 after an out-of-court settlement with co-owner Henri Belolo.
Willis is now the only member of the original line up still performing under the official band name. Perhaps to ensure mainstream popularity, he has tried to move Village People away from its gay associations – the biography on the band’s website makes no mention of the act’s significance to queer audiences. He recently wrote on Facebook that he will sue every news organisation that suggests “YMCA is somehow a gay anthem”.
Victor Willis, the last remaining original member of Village People in a 1978 video for Just A Gigolo.
But it’s difficult to untangle Village People from queer history as it was the trendsetting gay community of underground disco culture that made them famous. Record companies selected the songs and artists to promote based on how DJs reported their popularity in the hottest clubs. Many of these clubs were gay dominated, and disco itself was tied up with the growing confidence of the gay liberation movement in America and the era of sexual liberalisation that followed the 1960s.
Jacques Morali put together Village People knowing the band could offer influential gay clubbers something they had always been denied: cultural representation, and with it, acknowledgement of their existence.
It worked. One self-proclaimed “disco doll” writing to LGBTQ+ newspaper The Advocate in 1978 recalled first hearing Village People: “The music was very hot … and the words were about us, about our scene. I couldn’t believe it.”
Village People’s innuendos and knowing references to gay culture often went over the heads of many straight listeners. Songs like Macho Man and the group’s hypermasculine image epitomised the “clone” movement in 1970s gay culture.
Queer men, long derided for being effeminate, would bulk up at the gym and dress in leathers like bikers, effectively becoming more of an embodiment of masculinity than straight men. Go West was a reference to San Francisco’s more liberal environment for gay men. The YMCA was a place to “hang out with all the boys”.
But skyrocketing into the mainstream made Village People an awkward fit for gay disco culture. This vibrant community wanted their own scene that was not part of the mainstream. They felt betrayed by a band publicly denying their gayness as they juggled the hardcore homosexual audience that had made them famous alongside a family-friendly audience.
The backlash was fierce. A 1978 letter to gay lib magazine The Body Politic declared: “The commercial exploiters are disguising it to gain the commercially lucrative straight audience”, describing Village People as “traitors of the worst kind”.
But even if they became momentarily unpopular in the hottest gay clubs, for many LGBTQ+ people, Village People’s hits have endured as anthems played at queer nights and Pride events. In their sound, appearance and sheer 1970-ness, they are undeniably camp icons.
Which of course leads many to question why people attending Trump’s rallies – hardly famous for their inclusivity – would embrace their music. One explanation is that Maga audiences simply do not care about past gay associations as the music is simple, catchy and positive.
Another is that just like the 1970s, the queer messaging of Village People’s music still goes over the heads of straight Maga audiences. Perhaps despite its past gay associations, they are consciously trying to culturally repurpose disco for their own movement. Or they’re trying to be ironic.
Most likely, though, the music might have a particular meaning to LGBTQ+ audiences, it has other meanings depending on the context in which it is played. To many, Village People are the epitome of a novelty, apolitical pop group. Their hits are associated with weddings, children’s parties and good-time disco. The prosaic truth may be that Trump fans just enjoy a really catchy tune.
But for Trump’s team, the use of these songs is politically calculated toward their core supporters who have changed the lyrics of YMCA to “MAGA”. And don’t forget Village People were joined at the pre-inauguration rally by WWE wrestling’s Hulk Hogan. Both are nostalgic late 20th-century acts that revel in blatant performances of muscled masculinity.
They seem to be the embodiment of that imagined past of American virility that Trump vaguely refers to when he promises to make the nation “great again”. It’s not difficult to work out what Trump’s message is, especially when he dances along to Macho Man at rallies.
Both these acts are carnivalesque, like Trump himself. They indicate an era of politics as spectacle, but beneath the surface messages, we must carefully pay attention to what is actually being said and done.
William Rees does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: ASEAN – Association of SouthEast Asian Nations
The Special Senior Officials Meeting on Energy (SOME) 2025 and its Associated Meetings were held from January 22-24, 2025, in Langkawi, Malaysia. Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA), Dato’ Mad Zaidi bin Mohd Karli, as the SOME Chair, led the discussion on the planning of the work plan of ASEAN energy cooperation for the year ahead.
The Meeting endorsed the Priority Economic Deliverable (PED) and Priorities of the energy sector to be implemented in 2025 under Malaysia Chairmanship. Notably, the Meeting endorsed the text of ASEAN Power Grid (APG) Enhanced MoU including its Term of Reference (ToR) APG Related Bodies, as well as the ASEAN Framework Agreement for Petroleum Security, which are planned to be signed this year.
The post Special Senior Officials Meeting on Energy discusses ASEAN energy cooperation appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 2
Climate Minister forges stronger UK-EU cooperation to drive growth and energy security.
Closer UK-EU cooperation in the North Seas to deliver growth and greater energy security
new independent report shows economic benefits of working with EU on clean energy
collaboration with European partners on the clean energy transition will help to drive government’s Plan for Change, protecting bills and creating thousands of jobs
Cooperation on the North Seas was at the top of the agenda for Climate Minister Kerry McCarthy’s first visit to Brussels yesterday (Tuesday 28 January).
During the visit, Minister McCarthy delivered a keynote speech to European leaders at the European Energy Forum, where she said that by working together the UK and the EU can turn the North Seas into the green power plant of Europe and unlock thousands of well-paid, skilled British jobs.
This comes as independent consultants Grant Thornton publish a report commissioned by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which finds that closer cooperation on the clean energy transition in the North Seas could lower bills, create up to 51,000 jobs, and add up to £36 billion to the UK economy.
Minister McCarthy also made the case to EU counterparts that the energy transition in the North Seas will ensure the oil and gas workforce are the ones who deliver the North Sea’s decarbonised future, through offshore wind, carbon capture and storage and hydrogen.
Climate Minister Kerry McCarthy said:
The EU is a crucial ally in bolstering our energy security and protecting families and businesses across Europe from volatile fossil fuel markets.
There is so much more we can do to speed up the clean energy transition, deliver our Plan for Change and make the North Seas the green power plant of Europe.
Through greater cooperation, we can build on our Mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 helping keep bills down and kickstarting economic growth.
Tsvetelina Penkova President of the European Energy Forum and Member of the European Parliament said:
We simply have to build a robust cooperation between the EU and the UK on energy matters. It is crucial for addressing our shared challenges and ensuring energy security.
Key areas such as energy grids, connectivity and nuclear power require close collaboration to strengthen infrastructure, drive innovation, and support the transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy systems. By working together, we can create a more resilient and interconnected energy network that benefits both parties and contributes to a secure and sustainable energy future.
Minister McCarthy has met with a series of international partners including Belgian Energy Minister, Tinne van der Straeten and the European Union’s Principal Adviser on Energy Diplomacy, Tibor Stelaczky.
The visit comes as the UK continues work to reset its relationship with Europe, an ambition grounded in a new spirit of co-operation intended to strengthen ties, tackle barriers to trade and collaborate in the face of shared global challenges from climate change to illegal migration.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated January 28, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹4.00 lakh (Rupees Four Lakh only) on The Odisha State Co-operative Bank Ltd., (the bank) for non-compliance with the provisions of Section 9 and Section 26A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act). This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Section 46(4)(i) and 56 of BR Act.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of contravention of statutory provisions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for contravention of provisions of the BR Act. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges against the bank were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:
The bank had:
failed to dispose of certain Non-Banking Assets within the prescribed period; and
failed to transfer eligible unclaimed amounts to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within the prescribed time.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
Palestinian politician, MP and activist Khalida Jarrar . . . AFTER being jailed by the Israeli military and released last Sunday as part of the ceasefire deal. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle
Watching footage of Palestinian parliamentarian and hostage Khalida Jarrar emerge from Israeli captivity was jarring — a far, muffled cry from the sense of happiness and relief most of us felt seeing the young female Israeli soldiers released by Hamas around the same time.
What a study in contrast.
Khalida was clearly emaciated, traumatised and had turned, in the same period of time, from a powerful dynamic woman into a fragile, elderly human being who moved with difficulty.
What a difference it makes who holds you captive. It goes without saying I didn’t see this on any mainstream news outlet.
In a previous period of imprisonment — for being a member of the PFLP, a proscribed organisation — the Israelis wouldn’t even allow Khalida Jarrar to attend the funeral of her own daughter.
Instead she sent a message that was read at Suha’s funeral in 2021:
I am in so much pain, my child, only because I miss you. I am in so much pain, my child, only because I miss you.
From the depths of my agony, I reached out and embraced the sky of our homeland through the window of my prison cell in Damon Prison, Haifa. Worry not, my child. I stand tall, and steadfast, despite the shackles and the jailer. I am a mother in sorrow, from yearning to see you one last time.
Suha, my precious.
They have stripped me from bidding you a final goodbye kiss. I bid you farewell with a flower. Your absence is searingly painful, excruciatingly painful. But I remain steadfast and strong, Like the mountains of beloved Palestine.
No mainstream coverage I searched online and found no mainstream outlet had covered Khalida’s release amid the flood of stories about the Israeli hostages. A search to see if Australian or New Zealand MPs had called for the release of their fellow legislator netted zero results.
To them, she is no doubt a non-person. Yet, Khalida Jarrar is a leading political activist and one of dozens of legislators imprisoned by the Israelis. She endured. She remained steadfast.
“The entire system of political imprisonment is based on suppressing Palestinian organising,” said Charlotte Kates, coordinator of Samidoun, the Palestinian Prisoner Support Network.
The four female Israeli “Offence” Force (IDF) soldiers, according to all the many images and reports, were fit, happy and well-fed after their 15 months in Hamas captivity.
The four female IDF soldiers, according to all the many images and reports, were fit, happy and well-fed after their 15 months in Hamas captivity. Images: Al Jazeera/www.solidarity.co.nz
In contrast Palestinian prisoners typically had lost 16kg by the time they were freed. The Israelis with all the food and resources in the world made a policy — an actual policy — of mistreating prisoners, reducing food to a minimum, often beating them, finding perverse ways to humiliate them and on many occasions sexually assaulting men, women, boys and girls who had been dragged into their custody without charge.
Many, an unknown number, died at their hands.
Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, called months ago for legislation to allow the execution of Palestinian prisoners “with a shot in the head” and said he would provide minimal food to them until the law was enacted. I couldn’t find a single Western leader who called for him to be arrested.
Our media has a lot to answer for — for what was done to the thousands of Palestinian hostages because of its starring role in silencing Palestinian voices and hiding from view the realities of the Israeli prison system. Thousands were never charged with any crime — other than being Palestinian.
Entire congregations in mosques, groups of people in refugee centres, were indiscriminately swept up and tossed into Israeli concentration camps.
Were future historians to look back on these times and only have the mainstream media to go by, they would have lots of wonderful photos of the Israeli hostages, know them by name, see family hugs, biographical details, and listen to interviews with friends and relatives. In contrast, the Palestinians would turn towards History and we would see blank faces, erased of personality, all the detail of their stories rubbed out.
That’s why it is imperative to find better sources of news and information, like Middle East Eye, Palestine Chronicle, Electronic Intifada and Pearls & Irritations, that can enrich our understanding of our times and the experience of the victims of Western genocidal violence.
In his excellent article “The Other Hostages”, human rights lawyer Jonathan Kuttab says: “From the Palestinian perspective: there are about 13,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails who are just as worthy of our concern and also merit our sympathy, and whose families will rejoice at their long-awaited release.”
Turning a blind eye to Israeli mistreatment of prisoners — and the mainstream media bias in favour of all things Israeli — goes back decades. But let’s look at the months since October 7th.
No fact-checking All the mainstream media and servile politicians raced to report without fact-checking the lies the Israelis and Americans, including President Biden, told about beheaded babies and mass rapes. Few had the decency to walk back the calumnies even after official retractions and international investigations disproved them.
Within a month of October 7, eight BBC journalists wrote to Al Jazeera saying “the corporation is failing to humanise Palestinians . . . investing greater effort in humanising Israeli victims compared with Palestinians, and omitting key historical context in coverage.”
CNN staff told British colleagues last year that their network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to “journalistic malpractice”.
Hats off to Novara Media, one of the larger alternative news and analysis platforms for its exposure of bias. What they found was that Palestinians are “killed” whereas Israelis are “massacred” or “slaughtered”.
Checking over 1000 articles by the UK’s supposedly progressive, left-leaning outlets — The Guardian, The Independent, Daily Mirror – Novara found that “all three publications favoured Israeli lives, narratives and voices.”
Taking a list of emotive words they cross-checked and found that 77 percent were about violence against Israelis and only 23 percent about Palestinians. Well over 95 percent of victims of violence are Palestinians, 100 percent of land thefts are by Israelis. Facts matter.
Journalism ‘used’ for racist war crimes This is journalism being used in the service of racist war crimes, used to normalise the mistreatment of prisoners and other Palestinian untermenschen.
In the case of The Independent, it ran 70 stories on Israeli hostages (who at peak numbered about 250) and just one story on a Palestinian hostage (they number over 10,000).
British journalist Owen Jones deserves a medal for reports like: “BBC in Civil War over Gaza.” The report details the efforts of journalists within the organisation to deliver more balanced coverage but the extent to which those efforts are thwarted by powerful pro-Israel operatives within the corporation who ensure “systematic pro-Israel propaganda at the corporation.”
Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar (centre) with her daughter Suha. This story appeared in Electronic Intifada. Its author Ali Abunimah was arrested in Switzerland this week to prevent him giving a speech. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz
“This unprecedented slaughter could not have happened without powerful cheerleaders,” Jones said in a recent piece about media co-conspirators with Israel in the genocide. “Hold them to account.”
Damn right. I pray to whatever gods may be that justice will one day be served on all those who by their actions or by their “journalism” allowed these crimes to be committed.
I’ll give the last word to Khalida Jarrar as I wish her a full and speedy recovery:
“All I wanted was to bid my daughter a final farewell – with a kiss on her forehead and to tell her I love her as much as I love Palestine.”
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Proposed reforms to tighten rules around franchising and crack down on fraud in the student finance system that cost taxpayers £2m in 2022/23.
Tough new reforms proposed by the Department for Education would tighten controls on university franchising arrangements in England to safeguard public money and shore up the reputation of our world class higher education sector.
Franchising enables universities to subcontract courses to external providers. When done right, it makes it easier for more students to access higher education, especially in areas where options are limited, or when people such as mature students are balancing study around work and life.
The number of students studying at franchised providers has more than doubled in recent years, with over 130,000 using their services. But an investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) raised concerns about franchising arrangements, with fraud in the sector costing the public purse £2m in 2022/23.
More than half of 341 franchised institutions are currently unregistered with the Office for Students (OfS), meaning they are not directly regulated. In some cases, students are offered poor-quality courses that fail to justify their cost, showing a clear need for reform.
Under new government plans published for consultation today (30 January), delivery partners with 300 or more students would be required to register with the OfS to ensure their courses meet rigorous quality standards, in order to be eligible to access to student finance.
If the OfS finds that a provider is not meeting the standards required of registered providers, they will be publicly held to account and could risk facing fines and the suspension of their registration, in the most extreme circumstances. The OfS will also publish student outcome data for all subcontracted partnerships every year.
The move comes ahead of a significant package of higher education reforms due to be announced this summer that will put students first and cement universities’ status as engines of growth in their communities, as the government delivers its Plan for Change to drive economic growth and raise living standards.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
We are committed to cracking down on rogue operators who misuse public money and damage the reputation of our world-class universities.
Franchising can be a valuable tool to widen access to higher education, and these proposals will ensure students can trust the quality of their courses, no matter where or how they choose to study.
The credibility of our universities is at stake, but these proposals seek to protect students and safeguard taxpayer’s money, as part of our work to drive growth through our Plan for Change.
Franchising allows courses to be adapted to suit different needs and circumstances. It also helps colleges and universities work more closely together and gives new, innovative education providers a chance to get started.
Providers such as London South Bank University, which partners with some of the city’s top NHS teaching Trusts to help students’ studying midwifery and other front-line services, demonstrate the real-world benefits of franchising – with students achieving their qualifications alongside invaluable workplace experience, helping to address the critical shortage of healthcare professionals.
Universities and colleges whose names and brands are being used by franchises will remain responsible for ensuring their subcontracted arrangements meet quality and standards requirements. New regulations could come into effect as soon as spring next year, depending on the outcome of the consultation.
These reforms would protect the high standards of the UK’s higher education sector, which contributes around £265bn to the UK economy, ensuring it continues to drive economic growth and benefit both students and the wider economy.
These proposals would strengthen the OfS’s ability to protect the public money that goes into franchising. The consultation aligns with the OfS’s work to strengthen conditions of registration related to governance and student interests.
The OfS will shortly be consulting on changes to requirements for providers that wish to join its register to ensure they are all managed and governed effectively.
The OfS has currently paused registration of new higher education providers to support the sector with financial sustainability concerns, after finding 72 per cent of providers could be operating in deficit by next year.
They expect the pause to stay in place until August 2025 but will review the decision every three months, meaning the registration process should be open again by the time the government’s proposed changes would take effect.
The Department for Education’s consultation will be open from 30 January to 4 April 2024. After the consultation closes, the Department for Education will review the responses and aims to publish its official response in the summer.
Ambassador Neil Holland thanks the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly for the Assembly’s work which underscores our collective commitment to strengthen democracy across the OSCE region.
Thank you, Chair. Madam President, welcome back to the Permanent Council and thank you for your address.
January is a time of new beginnings. Here at the OSCE we have welcomed Finland as our new Chair in Office, and a new Secretary General. But sadly the agenda and the issues we face remain the same. Russia continues to inflict its war on its neighbour, endangering the lives of ordinary citizens and threatening regional peace and stability. We have consistently supported Ukraine and the international community’s efforts to investigate, document, pursue and prosecute those committing war crimes. National parliaments and the Parliamentary Assembly have played an important role in maintaining political commitment in our capitals and promoting OSCE and national support for Ukraine. We look forward to hearing about the outcome of your upcoming visit to Kyiv.
Beyond Ukraine, we cannot neglect other vulnerable regions. Moldova and the South Caucasus remain unstable and we are concerned by the situation in Georgia. The OSCE has a versatile toolbox which could help address the challenges that we are witnessing and support participating States in meeting their OSCE commitments. We must ensure that it is sufficiently resourced and empowered to do that.
Madam President, you also mentioned the Assembly’s work on election monitoring. This observation is an integral part of the democratic process, supporting electoral integrity and documenting whether elections are credible and inclusive. Last year was a bumper year for elections in the OSCE region including in the United Kingdom. We thank the hundreds of parliamentary observers who participated in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s missions and those who will do so in Albania and Moldova in the coming months. This coming together in a collective exercise to strengthen democracy across the OSCE is an important manifestation of our shared commitments.
Madam President, we look forward to marking with you and parliamentarians from across our region the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act this summer and in doing so reinvigorating our commitment to the principles within it. We would like to thank you, Secretary General Montella and the Assembly for the work you are doing. We offer our full support to you and your excellent team and look forward to continued co-operation.
Quantum computers have the potential to solve big scientific problems that are beyond the reach of today’s most powerful supercomputers, such as discovering new antibiotics or developing new materials.
But to achieve these breakthroughs, quantum computers will need to perform better than today’s best classical computers at solving real-world problems. And they’re not quite there yet. So what is still holding quantum computing back from becoming useful?
In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to quantum computing expert Daniel Lidar at the University of Southern California in the US about what problems scientists are still wrestling with when it comes to scaling up quantum computing, and how close they are to overcoming them.
Quantum computers harness the power of quantum mechanics, the laws that govern subatomic particles. Instead of the classical bits of information used by microchips inside traditional computers, which are either a 0 or a 1, the chips in quantum computers use qubits, which can be both 0 and 1 at the same time or anywhere in between. Daniel Lidar explains:
“Put a lot of these qubits together and all of a sudden you have a computer that can simultaneously represent many, many different possibilities … and that is the starting point for the speed up that we can get from quantum computing.”
Faulty qubits
One of the biggest problems scientist face is how to scale up quantum computing power. Qubits are notoriously prone to errors – which means that they can quickly revert to being either a 0 or a 1, and so lose their advantage over classical computers.
Scientists have focused on trying to solve these errors through the concept of redundancy – linking strings of physical qubits together into what’s called a “logical qubit” to try and maximise the number of steps in a computation. And, little by little, they’re getting there.
In December 2024, Google announced that its new quantum chip, Willow, had demonstrated what’s called “beyond breakeven”, when its logical qubits worked better than the constituent parts and even kept on improving as it scaled up.
Lidar says right now the development of this technology is happening very fast:
“For quantum computing to scale and to take off is going to still take some real science breakthroughs, some real engineering breakthroughs, and probably overcoming some yet unforeseen surprises before we get to the point of true quantum utility. With that caution in mind, I think it’s still very fair to say that we are going to see truly functional, practical quantum computers kicking into gear, helping us solve real-life problems, within the next decade or so.”
Listen to Lidar explain more about how quantum computers and quantum error correction works on The Conversation Weekly podcast.
This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Gemma Ware with assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design was by Michelle Macklem, and theme music by Neeta Sarl.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Within the framework of integrated territorial development projects (ITD) in Russian regions, construction of residential complexes, social, transport and communal infrastructure facilities, as well as resettlement of dilapidated and hazardous housing stock continues.
“Since 2021, when the KRT mechanism was launched, regions have had the opportunity to use it for the comprehensive development of their settlements. Since then, more and more entities have joined this work. New residential complexes and various infrastructure facilities are being built, which in turn has a positive effect on the quality of life and comfort for people. In general, more than 1.8 million square meters of real estate have been commissioned under integrated territorial development projects to date, of which about 1.6 million square meters is residential space. In total, 866 integrated territorial development projects with an area of 19.6 thousand hectares are under implementation in 77 regions across the country,” said Marat Khusnullin.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the total urban development potential of KRT projects under implementation amounts to 139.7 million square meters of real estate, of which 101.9 million square meters are residential areas.
In total, the regions adopted 720 decisions on integrated development of territories, of which 217 relate to 2024. Also, 790 trade procedures were carried out and 737 contracts on integrated development of territories were concluded. In addition, 321 sets of planning documents were developed and approved for territories with an urban development potential of 36.6 million sq. m.
“The selection of new territories for integrated development is also continuing throughout the country. Today, 1,429 territories with a total area of 35.7 thousand hectares are being developed. The urban development potential of these sites reaches 252.3 million square meters, of which 182.6 million square meters are housing,” said First Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Public Utilities Alexander Lomakin.
The resettlement of dilapidated and emergency housing is also one of the priorities for the application of the KRT in the regions.
“Currently, the resettlement of dilapidated and emergency housing under the KRT projects is being carried out in 32 regions. As of today, 228.25 thousand square meters of housing have been resettled, including 195.49 thousand square meters of emergency housing. More than 13 thousand people were able to improve their living conditions. This work will continue in 2025,” noted Ilshat Shagiakhmetov, CEO of the Territorial Development Fund.
Integrated development of territories also covers land plots that belong to the Russian Federation. The Government Commission for the Development of Housing Construction and Evaluation of the Efficiency of Using Land Plots Owned by the Russian Federation has made positive decisions on 78 such KRT projects in 38 regions with a total urban development potential of 17 million sq. m.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Press conference by Luke Irving, Chief of the Mine Action Programme, in the occupied Palestinian territories, UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), on the situation in Gaza.
Since 1948, more than 1,070 peacekeepers have been killed and 3,000 injured as a result of malicious acts. In its resolution 2589, the Security Council emphasized the critical importance of accountability for crimes against peacekeepers. More than 95 individuals were convicted since 2020 for the killing of peacekeepers. While this progress is significant, more must be done to bring to justice perpetrators of the killing of, and all acts of violence against United Nations personnel serving in peacekeeping operations.
Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Senior Personnel Appointment
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Peacekeeping
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Security Council
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Humanitarian
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Syria
Peace Operations
Ukraine
Myanmar
Lunar New Year
SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Yesterday, the Secretary-General appointed Lt. Gen. Ulisses De Mesquita Gomes of Brazil as the new Force Commander for the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO / PEACEKEEPING
The peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – MONUSCO- say that the situation in Goma remains tense today, but it is also calmer. But there is, however, continued sporadic shooting but an overall reduction in exchanges of fire within the city.
Continued clashes have been reported in surrounding areas, including in Sake, Northwest of Goma.
The Mission’s priority right now remains the protection of its personnel, its assets and the many civilians sheltering within UN premises. UN peacekeepers are planning on sending patrols today in Goma to assess the situation, to conduct resupplies and assess routes.
In the capital, Kinshasa, the situation is also calm today despite calls for protests that we have seen. The main roads are reported to be empty, and supermarkets are closed due to high risk of looting. That is what the peacekeeping mission is reporting.
You will also remember that a few days ago, we paid tribute to three UN peacekeepers who were killed in the last few days. We are now able to share their names : They were Private Rodolpho Cipriano Alverez Suarez from Uruguay, who was 39; Private Mokote Joseph Mobe, aged 33, and Private Andries Tshidiso Mabele, aged 30. The latter two were from South Africa. We send our deepest condolences to their families, their friends, governments and to all members of the peacekeeping mission.
The total number of UN peacekeepers injured since the most recent assault by the M23 now stands at 22. We reiterate that attacks against UN peacekeepers are not only unacceptable but may also constitute a war crime.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO / SECURITY COUNCIL
Yesterday afternoon, the Deputy Special Representative for Protection and Operations for the Peacekeeping Mission in Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – MONUSCO, Vivian van de Perre, briefed Council members.
She reiterated that the violence in the eastern part of the country has resulted in massive displacement and worsened an already dire humanitarian and protection situation. The degree of suffering that the population in Goma and neighbouring areas is enduring is truly unimaginable, she said.
In the past few days, Ms. Van de Perre told Council members that the peacekeeping mission has received a large number of people seeking refuge.
She called on all parties to prioritize the protection of civilians, open humanitarian corridors, and work towards a sustainable and peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Resuming the Luanda Process is of the utmost urgency to ensure a path toward de-escalation and to avert the looming threat of a third Congo war, she added. Military action cannot resolve this conflict, she told council members
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=29+January+2025
A senior UN official briefs the Security Council on the worsening situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, saying it is causing unimaginable suffering. MONUSCO Deputy Special Representative Vivian van de Perre urges for maximum efforts to bring an immediate end to the high levels of violence and suffering.
Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)
Material from the asteroid Bennu is revealing that a lost world fostered the building blocks of life… with an unexpected twist.
Join experts on Thursday, January 30, at 3:00 p.m. EST (2000 UTC) as they dive into the recent findings from the asteroid sample NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft brought to Earth in September 2023.
Have questions? Share them in chat and we’ll answer a few live!
Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are taking a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, to maintain station hardware and collect samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock. The spacewalk is expected to begin at approximately 8 a.m. EST (1300 UTC) and last for around six and a half hours.
Williams (wearing the suit with red stripes) and Wilmore (wearing the unmarked suit) arrived at the ISS last year and are both crew members of Expedition 72, which began on Sept. 23, 2024. This is Wilmore’s fifth spacewalk and the ninth for Williams.
Follow our space station blog for updates: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/
Learn more about the Expedition 72 crew: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/expedition-72/