HSDC have confirmed for the second year running their lead sponsorship for Portsmouth’s Christmas Lights Switch On events that will run from 21 – 23 November this year in Southsea, Cosham, and Commercial Road.
The annual city-wide countdown to Christmas festive family fun begins with three days of sparkling events happening in Portsmouth’s high streets that include Christmas Lights Switch On Parties, Carols and the We Shine Art and Light Festival where key locations will be transformed into a night-time gallery.
The Christmas Lights Switch On Parties are hosted by Mark Collins from Greatest Hits Radio and features stars from panto, Portsmouth FC heroes including manager John Mousinho, performances by community groups, a special appearance of Father Christmas, walk about entertainers and a dazzling finale.
HSDC is proud to be the lead sponsor for this event for the second year running and said:
“HSDC is delighted to once again sponsor Christmas in Portsmouth. This event is a wonderful opportunity for our community to come together and celebrate the festive spirit. We’re investing in the magic of the season and the opportunity for families and friends to create lasting memories!”
Councillor Steve Pitt, Leader of the council with responsibility for Economic Development said:
” We have a great line-up of festive events throughout Portsmouth to kick off the Christmas season. Our generous main sponsor, HSDC, has once again stepped up to make our Christmas Lights Switch On events possible. I encourage all residents to join in the fun and support our local high street businesses.”
A multi-disciplinary team of researchers at UConn has received a five-year $10 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to lead a New England regional center focused on environmental justice.
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, UConn launched the Environmental Justice Thriving Community Technical Assistance Center (EJ-TCTAC). In close partnership with the EPA, the University will provide critical support to communities throughout New England.
The center will benefit cities, towns, and recognized Tribes throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, offering assistance with navigating the federal grant process, engagement efforts, and identifying funding opportunities as the region embraces evolving environmental challenges.
“As Connecticut’s flagship university, UConn takes pride in service to our communities and helping to prepare them for the environmental challenges they face in the present and the future,” says Pamir Alpay, UConn Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. “With the EPA’s generous support, we are proud to extend our expertise and resourcefulness to support environmental justice throughout the cities, towns, and Tribes of New England.”
UConn won the grant through a competitive process among other universities in the region. UConn is well-positioned to lead the Center thanks to the expertise of faculty working in various areas related to environmental justice and existing connections with community organizations.
“Too often, communities with the most pressing environmental justice concerns have been left behind due to barriers in accessing federal funding,” says EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “UConn’s technical assistance center is a game-changer for New England and will provide greater access to services to ensure overburdened and underserved communities and our Tribal nations can access historic investments to address generational environmental and health disparities.”
The center became operational with the launch of its website, environmental-justice.program.uconn.edu.
Carolyn A. Lin, professor in the Department of Communication, leads the team as the director of the EJ-TCTAC. The team includes associate directors Rupal Parekh, assistant professor in the School of Social Work; David Chacon-Hurtado, assistant research professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering; Diego Cerrai, assistant professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering; and Chris Newell, the director of Native American Cultural Programs as the tribal liaison.
“We have a very large group of talented faculty and researchers who have been working on environment-related projects and a lot of them have an environmental justice focus as well,” Lin says. “We hope to excel and do even more than is anticipated successfully.”
Environmental justice highlights that certain communities, typically lower-income and communities of color, are more likely to be at risk of suffering from environmental harms like pollution and vulnerability to climate change-related impacts like flooding.
“The need for environmental justice work is very high,” Lin says. “Climate change does not wait for us. The problems are here, and the consequences are obvious. They may not all manifest all at once, but people who live in those communities understand those consequences and they have suffered from them.”
The Center will support urban, rural, and Tribal communities throughout New England, helping organizations access funding from federal and state agencies to complete environmental justice projects.
Community organizations will be able to submit requests for free support with tasks like needs assessment, identifying funding sources, grant preparation, grant applications, and grant management. The team will engage partners directly and create digital informational resources, including webinars, podcasts and videos.
Through this technical assistance, the Center will support projects aimed at improving the quality of life and economic development of communities most affected by environmental injustices.
“My hope for the Center is that we can use our combined talent and resources, not to mention our passion for this line of work, to truly make a difference in the New England region across urban, rural, and tribal communities,” Lin says.
The Center is partnering with the EPA; the Institute for New England Native American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University of Southern Maine; the New England Rural Health Association; Groundwork USA, and the Environmental Protection Network. These partnerships will help the team strengthen its connection with communities and better understand their needs.
“The only purpose of our Center is to serve the needs of communities across New England,” Lin says. “We have a very strong commitment to pulling together any kind of resources we can and building coalitions with communities and state governments and tribal nations. Because if you unite you are much bigger and much stronger in what you can do.”
For example, one environmental justice concern in Connecticut is transportation equity. Expanding public transit networks is not only good for the environment, as it cuts carbon emissions by reducing dependence on cars, but it also increases mobility for people who do not own a car.
“How do we improve our transportation system so that disadvantaged communities who don’t have good access to public transportation will be able to travel more efficiently in terms of time and cost to actually have better educational and economic opportunities,” asks Lin.
Other initiatives may tackle health disparities related to pollution exposure and toxic infrastructures, helping community organizations combat sources of pollution, develop educational resources, or connect community residents to healthcare services.
“Environmental issues are directly relevant to our health,” Lin says. “The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil beneath us all affect our well-being.”
There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. But while it’s clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial “table.” More than a problem of bias, it’s a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone.
With this in mind, UConn Reads invites all members of the UConn community to join in an engaging discussion around this year’s book selection: “All We Can Save.”
Since 2011, UConn Reads has gathered students, staff, alumni, faculty, and community members who share an interest and sense of pride in the University, who relish intelligent, respectful debate, and who bring their own individual perspectives and personal experiences to a thought-provoking and engaging conversation.
“All We Can Save” is a collection of provocative and illuminating essays from women on the front lines of climate change, as those most at risk, and those most likely to solve it.Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson, the book is a bestselling collection of writings by 60 women and offering abundant wisdom and solutions to lead humanity forward.
Intermixing essays with poetry and art, this book is a guide for knowing and holding what has been done to the world, while bolstering our resolve never to give up on each other or our collective future.
A national bestseller and named one of the best books of the year in 2020 bySmithsonian Magazine, the editors have curated a collection of “hope-filled perspectives on the climate crisis that has inspired many to think on the side of action rather than being paralyzed with worry about the future of the planet.” The publication has also sparked theAll We Can SaveMovement, to nurture future leaders of the climate community and encourage meaningful action.
The book was selected in collaboration with UConn for Women’s Herstory Month, being celebrated by theWomen’s Centerin March 2025.
If you would like to be involved with this year’s programming, please reach out to UConn Reads.
As we prepare to fall back once again this year on Sunday, Nov. 3, debates over the costs and benefits of Daylight Saving Time are sure to reemerge.
A bill to permanently end the practice passed in the Senate in 2022 and awaits further movement through the House of Representatives, indicating the argument to overturn the century-old policy is heating up.
Shinsuke Tanaka, assistant professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, has published work that helps inform this policy debate with evidence about the costs of Daylight Saving Time (DST).
When Tanaka, who is originally from Japan, first came to the U.S., Daylight Saving Time felt like a shock, as Japan does not engage in the practice.
An expert in environmental and health economics, Tanaka decided to look into the costs and benefits of DST. He found that many other researchers had been questioning the economic, environmental, and health impacts as well.
DST was first implemented during World War I as an energy saving policy. However, recent studies have found that people actually consume more energy during DST, because with more daylight, people run air conditioners for longer, even if their lights aren’t on for as long.
“The cooling consumes more energy, and the studies have shown that the energy consumption overall increases during Daylight Saving Time,” Tanaka says.
People also go out more often during the extended daylight, usually in cars, which increases carbon emissions.
For his research, Tanaka focuses on Indiana, because until 2006, only some counties in Indiana participated in Daylight Saving Time. This means Tanaka can look at data from before 2006 and after and get a clear picture of any changes that may be related to the start of participating in the policy.
Shinsuke Tanaka, assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics. (Contributed photo)
“This creates the change in policy,” Tanaka says. “So, I can see what happened without DST in the previous year, and then I can see what happened to some outcome after they adopted DST.”
Tanaka focuses on heart attacks, one of the most serious health impacts related to DST. Previous studies demonstrated that the number of heart attacks increases after the time change in spring, when clocks move forward one hour.
This may be because people lose an hour of sleep in the spring transition, which has many negative health impacts. Our internal clocks also become misaligned with the external environment.
“There is no clear mechanism in the medical literature,” Tanaka says. “But the evidence shows that sleep is important for cardiovascular diseases, and people do lose one hour of sleep during the spring forward, so then we can infer that this is one of the mechanisms.”
Tanaka found a 27% increase in the number of heart attacks in Indiana for two weeks after springing ahead when the entire state started practicing DST compared to the year before, while no significant impact was observed at the fall transition. This increase at the spring transition was substantially higher than other studies which had found more modest changes, closer to 5%, in other countries.
Tanaka explains this difference may be due to differences in physical environments and lifestyle habits between countries. Tanaka was also better able to control for seasonality because he compared data from before and after the transition to practicing DST.
“Indeed, we found that heart attacks would have declined without DST, and that’s not quite controlled for in the medical literature,” Tanaka says. “In my own study, we can see what happened without practicing DST at this time of year so we can better control for that and then we find much bigger impacts.”
Some have argued that this short-term negative health impact is offset by the opportunity to engage in more outdoor physical activity in the extended daylight. Tanaka, however, has shown that this is not the case. His research presents the first comprehensive evidence examining the overall impacts during Daylight Saving Time, countering the notion that the benefits of increased daylight could compensate for these harms.
“That’s an important piece of evidence when it comes to the policy debate because people don’t just worry about the short-term impacts, but what is the overall impact,” Tanaka says. “So that’s what we need to understand.”
Tanaka found that the increase in the number of heart attacks remained relatively consistent from year-to-year, indicating that it was just a shock from starting the practice for the first time in 2006.
“It’s hard to justify this policy at this point,” Tanaka says. “There’s no such big benefit that can justify the significant costs that we see in many aspects.”
This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Enhancing Health and Well-Being Locally, Nationally, and Globally.
On a review of the current and evolving liquidity conditions, it has been decided to conduct a Variable Rate Reverse Repo (VRRR) auction on October 31, 2024, Thursday, as under:
Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung made a presentation on a bid to host the 2026 Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly in Hong Kong at a meeting in Cascais, Portugal, yesterday.
Also as part of his Portugal itinerary yesterday, Mr Yeung exchanged views with various members of the ANOC Executive Council, together with President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) Timothy Fok in the morning.
Mr Yeung made the presentation on the bid to host the 2026 ANOC General Assembly in Hong Kong while attending the ANOC Executive Council meeting alongside a delegation from the SF&OC in the afternoon.
He illustrated that Hong Kong is the ideal place for hosting international events given its strengths and advantages.
Mr Yeung highlighted that the city has a fair and mature legal system thanks to the successful implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, enabling the city to maintain its social stability.
Apart from pointing out that Hong Kong is also an events capital of Asia and the world’s meeting place, he emphasised that as an international city, Hong Kong is widely connected with the rest of the world.
Mr Yeung added that Hong Kong has been actively advancing the development of sports in the community, supporting elite sports, promoting Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events, enhancing sports professionalism and developing sports as an industry.
In recent years, Hong Kong athletes have achieved impressive results in major international games, Mr Yeung noted. He also shared with those at the meeting the imminent commissioning of the Kai Tak Sports Park in the first quarter of 2025, making it the largest sports infrastructure project in Hong Kong’s history.
Additionally, Mr Yeung attended a reception hosted by the city of Cascais, during which he exchanged views with Sports & International Affairs City Councillor Francisco Kreye and other leading figures in the world of sports.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
19th Eco Expo Asia opens today (with photos) 19th Eco Expo Asia opens today (with photos) ********************************************
The 19th Eco Expo Asia is being held at AsiaWorld-Expo from today (October 30) to November 2. The theme of the Expo this year is “Fostering Green Innovations for Carbon Neutrality”. About 190 officials from around 40 official delegations from various cities and provinces in Mainland China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Belt and Road countries have been invited, bringing together international exhibitors, industry professionals to showcase cutting-edge green solutions, exchange views and share experiences. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, said, “Eco Expo Asia is a golden opportunity for us to discuss and advance our shared commitments to a sustainable future. Green innovation solutions are of paramount importance in our decarbonisation journey. During the Expo, we will see the latest innovations and technologies around the world in new energy, climate adaptation and other environmental areas.” Mr Tse remarked that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The documentary series “Enchanting China” was produced by the Environment and Ecology Bureau (EEB) and the Environmental Protection Department, in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Education and Communications of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. “Beautiful Hong Kong” was produced by the EEB. The two documetaries showcase the contributions and achievements made by the country and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government in environmental protection and nature conservation. An extract of “Enchanting China” and “Picturesque Bays of Hong Kong”, the first episode of “Beautiful Hong Kong”, was shown at the opening ceremony. Mr Tse stressed that although Hong Kong’s carbon emissions peaked in 2014, and compared to the peak carbon emissions today have been reduced by about a quarter already, achieving carbon neutrality in Hong Kong by 2050 is still a significant challenge. The HKSAR Government is boosting the promotion of green low-carbon transformation and the development of new energy, new productive forces and green scientific research industries through multiple measures, leading Hong Kong towards carbon neutrality. The Secretary of the Leading Party Members Group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Sun Jinlong, was invited to give a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. The Expo’s feature event, the Eco Asia Conference, is being held from today to November 1. In the Government Session, the Deputy Secretary General of the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China and the Director of the Department of National Economy, Mr Yuan Da, and the Director-General of the Department of Energy Conservation and Resources Comprehensive Utilization of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Wang Peng, introduced the latest environmental policies of the Mainland. In addition, the Vice Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr Phouvong Luangxaysana; the General Manager of Saudi Arabia’s Corporate Communications and Media of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Mr Saleh Abdulmohsen S Bindakhil; the Permanent Secretary of Myanmar’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Mr Hla Maung Thein; the Director of Brunei’s Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation of the Ministry of Development, Ms Hajah Martinah binti Haji Tamit; and the Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change, Dr Le Ngoc Cau, shared their countries’ latest environmental and conservation policies. The Conference will once again feature the Hydrogen Economy Forum, allowing Hong Kong to capitalise on the environmental and economic opportunities brought by the global development of hydrogen energy, helping Hong Kong to achieve carbon neutrality, developing new quality productive forces, and maintaining international competitiveness. The EEB continued to participate in the Expo this year by setting up four exhibition zones, namely: “Smart Technology”, “Energy-saving and Green Buildings”, “Community Waste Reduction”, and “Green Transportation”, highlighting the HKSAR Government’s various measures and achievements in decarbonisation. The “Smart Technology” zone introduces high-tech applications in daily environmental protection work, including artificial intelligence (AI) environmental air disturbance detection mechanical dogs, 5G mesh network sampling robot teams, AI coastal cleaning monitoring systems, and AI construction noise recognition systems; the “Energy-saving and Green Buildings” zone covers the sustainable development of an online platform for electromechanical innovation and regional cooling systems; the “Community Waste Reduction” zone introduces smart recycling; and the “Green Transportation” zone highlights Hong Kong’s latest development of hydrogen energy and displays the first hydrogen-powered street-washing vehicle in Hong Kong. To tie in with the “Strategy of Hydrogen Development in Hong Kong” announced by the EEB this year, visitors can try riding on the hydrogen fuel cell double-deckers on the second day (October 31) and the fourth day (November 2) of the Expo. The Expo is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, and co-organised by the EEB. In addition, 10 government bureaux/departments, namely the Architectural Services Department, the Civil Engineering and Development Department, the Drainage Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Fire Services Department, the Highways Department, the Hong Kong Observatory, the Housing Department, the Transport Department, and the Water Supplies Department are participating in the exhibition to introduce their initiatives in environmental protection and achieving carbon neutrality for Hong Kong. Eco Expo Asia will open to the public for free on the last day of the event (November 2) to encourage citizens to participate in environmental protection and promote green living. For details, please refer to the Eco Expo Asia’s website (www.hktdc.com/event/ecoexpoasia/en).
Ends/Wednesday, October 30, 2024Issued at HKT 20:05
U.S. imports of crude oil from Canada reached a record of 4.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in July 2024 following the expansion of Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline. July is the most recent month for which data are available in our Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM).
The Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) tripled the line’s previous 300,000-b/d capacity when it began commercial operation in May 2024, bringing additional crude oil produced in the landlocked province of Alberta to Canada’s west coast, where it can be exported. Historically, most crude oil exports out of Alberta have made their way either to refiners in the U.S. Midwest via pipeline or to the U.S. Gulf Coast by rail shipments, where they are either consumed by refiners or loaded onto tankers for seaborne re-exports. TMX was added alongside the previous Trans Mountain pipeline to move larger volumes of crude oil to the coast of British Columbia to then be exported directly to Pacific Ocean buyers.
Since TMX came online in May, early data indicate that refiners on the U.S. West Coast have been key buyers of the new export volumes. Between June and September, the U.S. West Coast accounted for just over half of all maritime crude oil exports out of Western Canada, with the rest going to destinations in Asia, according to data from Vortexa Analytics. The U.S. West Coast imported 498,000 b/d of crude oil in July 2024, according to our PSM, a record high for the region and an increase of 115% compared with July 2023.
Data source: Vortexa Analytics
The Western Canadian Select (WCS) crude oil spot price at Hardisty is used as a benchmark price to reflect regional crude oil production in Alberta. Historically, WCS spot prices are significantly discounted to other benchmarks because of WCS’s quality and the region’s landlocked geography, which limit its market. Unlike Brent (the global crude oil benchmark grade), WCS has a higher sulfur content and a lower API gravity, and additional costs are necessary to move WCS from its inland pricing location to a coastal seaborne export location.
Data source: Bloomberg L.P. Note: Price premiums are calculated using the Dated Brent price minus the WCS spot market price at Hardisty.
Since TMX came online in May, added takeaway capacity has had a mixed impact on WCS prices. In July 2024, the monthly average Brent price premium to WCS was $21 per barrel (b), $5/b higher than it was at the same time last year despite the additional capacity provided by TMX. The August price differential was between the five-year (2019–23) average and last year’s level. The September average price differential, however, was slightly below the five-year average level. As of October 29, the Brent price premium to WCS for October is narrower by $10/b compared with October 2023.
The WCS price differential to Brent and other benchmarks often widens in the fall, when Midwestern refiners reduce runs to undergo maintenance, limiting the pool of buyers from Alberta’s primary customers. If the price differentials remain near current levels through the end of the year, it may suggest that the added TMX capacity has helped to insulate Canada’s crude oil producers from the operational decisions of refiners in the U.S. Midwest.
During the training, experts from the IAEA, MD Anderson, PAHO and C/Can delivered lectures on breast anatomy, breast cancer epidemiology, risk factors, pathologies, clinical guidelines and image acquisition protocols for various clinical scenarios – with interactive hands-on image acquisition simulation and biopsy practice sessions. In underlining the importance of early detection, risk management, safety and image quality, they highlighted how essential a multidisciplinary approach is in treating cancer.
Instructors delivered common and parallel programmes tailored to the specific training needs of two diagnostic imaging professional groups – technologists (radiographers and mammographers) and physicians (namely radiologists and those who are also involved in the interpretation of breast images such as gynaecologists, oncologists and surgeons) – from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, strengthening cancer screening and diagnosis for the Caribbean region’s 3.8 million women.
Beyond providing financial support, the IAEA procured 52 breast mannequins on which participants could practice. For their part, MD Anderson and PAHO are providing participants with continued long distance teaching through their Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) telementoring partnership.
“This regional course – the first joint training under the IAEA’s recently expanded cooperation with MD Anderson –highlights the importance of collaboration in tackling cancer challenges across the globe,” said May Abdel-Wahab, Director of the IAEA’s Division of Human Health. “By working hand-in-hand with our partners to address specific needs, we can strengthen the cancer care capacities of IAEA Member States – enabling equitable care for all.”
Charges are pending against a 42-year-old operator of an off-road vehicle who attempted to evade Harbour Grace RCMP during a traffic stop in Harbour Grace on October 26, 2024.
At approximately 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, police observed a side-by-side, with two occupants who were not wearing helmets, travelling at a high rate of speed on Harvey Street. The officer was unable to initiate a traffic stop and engaged another officer, who was also on Harvey Street, for assistance. In anticipation of the off-road vehicle approaching, the second officer positioned the police vehicle in the middle of the road and activated emergency lights. Upon approach of the police vehicle, the off-road vehicle operator attempted to evade the traffic stop by turning around in the roadway and subsequently crashed the side-by-side on the roadway.
The passenger, a 48-year-old woman, was transported to Carbonear General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver, who was without insurance or registration, was uninjured.
The side by side was impounded as part of the investigation. Charges are anticipated. The investigation is continuing.
RCMP NL continues to fulfill its mandate to protect public safety, enforce the law, and ensure the delivery of priority policing services in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
On October 28, the Career Guidance Center launched the project “Entrepreneurial Holidays at the State University of Management”.
The opening of the event was attended by Nikolai Mikhailov, Advisor to the Rectorate of the State University of Management, Elena Likhatskikh, Director of the Center for Career Guidance, and Andrei Kolchin, Head of the Career Guidance Department.
During the first days of the holidays from October 28 to 30, more than 200 10th grade students from Moscow schools visited the State University of Management.
The children learned about the basics of entrepreneurship and project activities, became familiar with modern marketing tools, learned how to create a successful business and tested their strength in the game “The World of Digital Money”.
For two years, the State University of Management has been working with partner schools that have opened entrepreneurship classes. This academic year, there are eleven such schools.
The work is being carried out within the framework of a grant from the Department of Education and Science of the City of Moscow.
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/30/2024
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The seventh edition of Egypt’s “Jump Like a Pharaoh” air sports festival kicked off on Tuesday, with about 200 skydivers from different countries participating in the three-day event.
The festival began as 100 skydivers jumped from C-130 aircraft provided by the Egyptian Armed Forces. They fashionably landed at the foot of the Pyramid of Khafre in Giza, near the capital Cairo.
“This edition witnessed the participation of many professional skydivers from around the world to enjoy the experience of flying over the pyramids,” said Youssef Medhat, a media officer with the organizer Skydive Egypt company.
He added that one of the event’s main objectives is to boost Egyptian tourism, in addition to promoting the sport of skydiving.
“The festival has already succeeded in promoting skydiving in Egypt, and we see this through the increasing number of Egyptians who wish to either participate in the festival or learn this wonderful sport,” Medhat said.
Chris Whitley, a professional skydiver from the United States, flew all the way from Virginia to Cairo to participate in the festival.
“This is my fifth time to jump over the pyramids … the experience is amazing,” Whitley said.
After a nine-day tour in north China’s Shanxi Province, one man is determined to “bring home” the grand pagodas and exquisite sculptures that took his breath away.
“I have spent more than 1,000 yuan (140 U.S. dollars), which is about a tenth of my holiday budget, on souvenirs!” said the 30-year-old visitor surnamed Ma.
Shanxi is renowned for its ancient architecture and is home to over 28,000 ancient structures. Its popularity has been boosted recently by the phenomenal video game “Black Myth: Wukong,” which is based on the Chinese classic novel “Journey to the West.”
“I was fascinated by the ancient architecture, and the fridge magnets were equally amazing,” Ma said. “Each city has its unique creative cultural products. They are like miniatures of the attractions. For me, buying these keepsakes is like preserving the beauty of this trip forever.”
Shanxi Province launched “Following Wukong to visit Shanxi” this summer, an activity that encourages tourists to “check in” at the filming locations of the video game. It is due to end on Thursday.
Shortly after the launch, a Monkey King creative product shop opened on the business street in the heart of Taiyuan. It has since been packed with enthusiastic customers vying for products like fridge magnets, notebooks and playing cards.
Yang Liu, with the shop, told Xinhua that their intention of opening the shop was to take a chance and promote the culture and tourism of the province. Since September 27, their sales have reached 200,000 yuan.
Shanxi is not alone. Across China, various cultural and creative products are now sought-after mementos or gifts for friends, with their images going viral on social media: necklaces that draw inspiration from traditional brush painting in the Palace Museum; wooden combs in the shape of traditional Chinese musical instruments; vanity mirrors bearing patterns resembling the one on display in the Luoyang Museum of central China; keyboards with the colors of the famous Dunhuang murals and the nine-colored deer image…
According to a report by Zhiyan Consulting, the market size of China’s cultural and creative products reached 16.38 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 13.09 percent. In 2020, the sector’s market size accounted for 10.67 percent of the global total, and by 2023 it had risen to 11.56 percent.
One fridge magnet capturing the elaborate details of a superbly delicate empress crown from ancient China, a treasured piece from the National Museum of China (NMC), has emerged as an internet sensation and sparked a buying spree.
Aspiring collectors even start queuing from 6 a.m. outside the museum for their chance to snag the memento. Many exchange tips on how to obtain the popular magnet on social media.
In just three months since its launch, nearly 80,000 magnets have been sold, boosting sales of the entire series of empress crown memorabilia including key chains, furry toys and popsicles, with a total revenue exceeding 10 million yuan, even when facing production capacity constraints. The current daily production capacity for magnets has reached 3,000 units, with potential for further increase to meet growing market demand.
Liao Fei with the management and development department of NMC disclosed that the design was inspired by social media, where they saw a lot of visitors posting photos of the empress crown.
Head of a seven-member team, he said: “We always watch the exhibitions and search on social media to see what tourists like.”
They are also constantly improving the products. Liao found that while there were tips on social media on how to obtain such a fridge magnet, few talked about its unique features. So they decided to make it more innovative.
On September 27, an AR fridge magnet featuring the empress crown was released, which could be “worn” by the buyer on a mobile phone screen after a scan of the QR code. More than 2,300 such magnets were sold within two hours after its release.
“In recent years, there has been a boom in the number of such creative products that are of use in various aspects of people’s life,” said Song Yanli, a saleswoman at the official gift shop of the Dunhuang Museum in northwest China’s Gansu Province.
Noting that buyers today are knowledgeable enough to discern all the cultural elements adopted in the design, the 32-year-old said that they must develop more products to keep pace with public demand.
“With the improvement of people’s living standard, the consuming behavior of youngsters is changing,” said Mao Jinhuang, a professor with the School of Economics at Lanzhou University. “They are no longer satisfied with simple material consumption but pay more attention to the purchase experience.”
He believed that while the creative cultural products could offer emotional value to the customers, the craze for them also reflected young people’s love for and interest in Chinese traditional culture.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the added value of cultural and related industries in 2022 stood at 5.38 trillion yuan, more than 15 fold of that in 2004, with the share of that in GDP increasing from 2.13 percent to 4.46 percent in the 18 years.
Bu Xiting, associate researcher with the School of Cultural Industries Management at the Communication University of China, noticed that creative cultural products are becoming a new growth point of tourism consumption. “They have increased the income at tourist attractions, propelled the development of relevant industries and become a driving force to promote local economic growth.
In the first half of this year, China’s domestic tourist trips reached 2.72 billion, with total tourism expenditure amounting to 2.7 trillion yuan, marking year-on-year increases of 14.3 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
“With the deepened integration of creative cultural products and the tourism industry, it is expected that such products could play a more important role in boosting the high-quality development of the industry in the future,” Bu said.
Major enterprises in China’s cultural sector and related business areas saw a stable increase in revenues and profits in the first three quarters this year, official data showed on Wednesday.
The 78,000 surveyed enterprises raked in nearly 9.97 trillion yuan (about 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars) in combined revenue from January to September, up 5.9 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The firms’ profits rose 3.9 percent year on year to 790.3 billion yuan in the nine months, driven mainly by the growth of internet information services and online culture and entertainment platforms.
Companies featuring new business forms, such as providers of wearable smart cultural devices, online games and entertainment-purpose smart drones, pocketed over 4.16 trillion yuan in revenue, up 10 percent year on year.
Of the total, the cultural manufacturing industry reported over 2.99 trillion yuan in revenue, up 3.9 percent year on year. The revenue of the cultural wholesale and retail industry reached nearly 1.67 trillion yuan, up 4.4 percent year on year. The revenue of the cultural services industry hit nearly 5.31 trillion yuan, up 7.6 percent year on year.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
LNG receiving terminal in Tianjin witnesses surge in natural gas supply as heating season approaches
Updated: October 30, 2024 19:44Xinhua
Staff members are on duty in the central control room at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) in north China’s Tianjin, Oct. 29, 2024. As the heating season approaches in many parts of north China, the LNG receiving terminal of Sinopec in Tianjin has witnessed a surge in arrival of LNG container vessels in recent days. The terminal, which serves the seasonal peak-shaving and gas supply tasks for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, has unloaded 990,000 tonnes of LNG and supplied 900 million cubic meters of natural gas in September and October this year, a year-on-year increase of 87 percent and 20 percent, respectively. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo shows a liquefied natural gas (LNG) container vessel docking at a LNG receiving terminal of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) in north China’s Tianjin, Oct. 29, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]Staff members check devices at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) in north China’s Tianjin, Oct. 29, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]Staff members check devices at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) in north China’s Tianjin, Oct. 29, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]A drone photo shows a liquefied natural gas (LNG) container vessel docking at a LNG receiving terminal of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) in north China’s Tianjin, Oct. 29, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Oct. 30 — China has released its first set of guidelines outlining criteria and requirements for theses and practice-oriented outputs in professional doctorate applications in engineering to enhance talent cultivation, according to the Ministry of Education.
The pilot document containing these guidelines encompasses provisions on the scope and quality of dissertations for candidates pursuing a professional engineering doctorate. It also introduces criteria and protocols for awarding the degree based on practical achievements.
The guidelines follow the passage of a law on academic degrees by China’s national legislature this April. The law, set to take effect next year, allows graduate students to earn their degrees either through a thesis or by submitting required practice-oriented outputs.
The new guidelines require dissertations to focus on engineering applications and applied research, highlighting the applicant’s proficiency in fundamental theory, specialized knowledge and independent professional practice.
It is stressed that doctorate applications based on practical achievements should include tangible deliverables and a written summary report.
China regards education, science and technology, and talent development as the fundamental and strategic foundations for modernization. The country has strived to promote the integrated reform of institutions and mechanisms related to these areas in order to boost innovation.
According to an official with the Office of the State Council Academic Degrees Committee, the guidelines emphasize not only the ability of engineering doctoral students to independently engage in professional practice but also the importance of innovation and diversity.
Experts believe the newly unveiled guidelines underscore the training focus and standards of professional degrees, emphasizing practice-based innovation capabilities.
The regulation will apply to eight categories of professional degrees, including electronic information, mechanical engineering, materials and chemicals, and energy and power engineering.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Oct. 30 — China and Canada will increase direct flights to meet demands for travel and trade between the two countries, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said Wednesday.
Air Canada plans to increase the frequency of its weekly round-trip flights from Vancouver to Shanghai from the current four to seven from Dec. 7 onwards, according to the CAAC.
Furthermore, Air Canada will resume the operation of its route from Vancouver to Beijing from Jan. 15, 2025 — offering seven round-trip flights per week.
Meanwhile, Chinese airlines are also expediting their application process for additional flights.
The surge in direct flights between China and Canada will help satisfy personnel exchange and economic and trade demands, and promote the further recovery of their shared air transport market, the CAAC said.
Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau led a delegation to attend the 2024 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Medical Products Administration Conference in Zhuhai today.
During the conference, he introduced the latest initiatives of developing Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub as put forth in the 2024 Policy Address.
The conference is co-organised by the Guangdong Provincial Medical Products Administration, the Department of Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau of the Macao SAR Government.
It serves as a platform for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau to share their work experience in drug regulation, enhance the work mechanism for collaboration on drug and medical device regulation in the bay area, and foster the innovation development of drug and medical device regulation in the region.
National Medical Products Administration Deputy Commissioner Zhao Junning also attended the conference.
During the conference, representatives from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau exchanged views on the current situation of regulation over drugs and medical devices in the three places, as well as the mechanism for regulatory collaborations on drugs and medical devices in the bay area.
They also covered bay area standards for Chinese medicines, in addition to the feasibility of streamlining the registration and approval procedures for Hong Kong and Macau-registered traditional proprietary Chinese medicines for oral use for sale on the Mainland, and had an in-depth discussion on the way forward.
Prof Lo updated the conference attendees on the latest developments of Hong Kong’s healthcare policies put forward in the 2024 Policy Address.
These included complementing technological innovation with institutional innovation through expediting the reform of the approval mechanism for drugs and medical devices, strengthening biomedical technology research and development and translation, and promoting the internationalisation of Chinese medicines.
Prof Lo said the Hong Kong SAR Government is determined to develop Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub, and expedite the provision of advanced diagnostic and treatment services to patients by leveraging the advantages of “one country, two systems” and Hong Kong’s healthcare professional system.
He also noted that Hong Kong will actively integrate into the national development by dovetailing with the national initiative of fostering new quality productive forces in biomedical technology as set out in the Resolution of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization and the Development Plan for Shenzhen Park of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science & Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone.
“The Hong Kong SAR Government will enhance Hong Kong’s clinical trial capability and facilitate the translation of innovative biomedical research results into clinical applications by rendering firm support to innovation and application of advanced biomedical technology, with a view to attracting the world’s top-notch biomedical enterprises and research and development institutions to set up operations in Hong Kong,” Prof Lo added.
The delegation will return to Hong Kong this evening.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024 (table 1), according to the “advance” estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.0 percent.
The GDP estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency (refer to “Source Data for the Advance Estimate” on page 2). The “second” estimate for the third quarter, based on more complete source data, will be released on November 27, 2024.
The increase in real GDP primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, and federal government spending (table 2). Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
The increase in consumer spending reflected increases in both goods and services. Within goods, the leading contributors were other nondurable goods (led by prescription drugs) and motor vehicles and parts. Within services, the leading contributors were health care (led by outpatient services) as well as food services and accommodations. The increase in exports primarily reflected an increase in goods (led by capital goods, excluding automotive). The increase in federal government spending was led by defense spending. The increase in imports primarily reflected an increase in goods (led by capital goods, excluding automotive).
Compared to the second quarter, the deceleration in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected a downturn in private inventory investment and a larger decrease in residential fixed investment. These movements were partly offset by accelerations in exports, consumer spending, and federal government spending. Imports accelerated.
Current‑dollar GDP increased 4.7 percent at an annual rate, or $333.2 billion, in the third quarter to a level of $29.35 trillion. In the second quarter, GDP increased 5.6 percent, or $392.6 billion (tables 1 and 3).
The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.8 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 2.4 percent in the second quarter (table 4). The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 1.5 percent, compared with an increase of 2.5 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 2.2 percent, compared with an increase of 2.8 percent.
Personal Income
Current-dollar personal income increased $221.3 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $315.7 billion in the second quarter. The increase primarily reflected an increase in compensation (table 8).
Disposable personal income increased $166.0 billion, or 3.1 percent, in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $260.4 billion, or 5.0 percent, in the second quarter. Real disposable personal income increased 1.6 percent, compared with an increase of 2.4 percent.
Personal saving was $1.04 trillion in the third quarter, compared with $1.13 trillion in the second quarter. The personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.8 percent in the third quarter, compared with 5.2 percent in the second quarter.
Source Data for the Advance Estimate
The GDP estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency. Information on the source data and key assumptions used in the advance estimate is provided in a Technical Note and a detailed “Key Source Data and Assumptions” file posted with the release. The “second” estimate for the third quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on November 27, 2024. For information on updates to GDP, refer to the “Additional Information” section that follows.
* * *
Next release, November 27, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. EST Gross Domestic Product (Second Estimate) Corporate Profits (Preliminary Estimate) Third Quarter 2024
An MSF team, along with civilians and community health workers, were attacked on 14 October in the Segou region of Mali.
As a result, we had to temporarily suspend our medical activities in the commune of Nampala.
Discussions with stakeholders are underway to enable us to resume providing medical care as soon as possible.
On 14 October, on the outskirts of Nampala in the Segou region of central Mali, a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team and community health workers were violently attacked and robbed by armed men, along with civilians. The men who carried out the attack were conducting regular military operations in the area. Our team was providing care to the community when the incident took place.
This violence against civilians and humanitarian workers is unacceptable. MSF reiterates that all parties to the conflict must respect civilians, humanitarian staff, health facilities, and patients.
Following this incident, we had to take the difficult decision to temporarily suspend our medical activities in the Nampala area, depriving communities of essential care. Discussions are underway with all local, regional, and national stakeholders to ensure that such violence does not occur again. This would enable us to resume providing essential care to people as soon as possible, with complete safety for our teams.
MSF has been present in Nampala since 2022 and is currently the only international NGO active in the area. Our staff provide vital free medical care to communities on the outskirts, as well as to people displaced by the many military operations in the area. Years of conflict have led to high health needs in this region, and now the number of cases of malaria is rising, which can be fatal for children under five years old and pregnant women.
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Source: The Conversation – France – By Johanna Berneron, Toxicologue reglementaire, Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail (Anses)
Adopted by the European Union in 2006, the REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) governs the manufacture and use of chemical substances in Europe. Despite its importance, REACH has often been criticised for being slow and complex. These concerns prompted calls for reform as part of the European Green Deal, though the European Commission ultimately postponed the revision. Various NGOs have called for this reform, and in early 2024, the French National Assembly’s European Affairs Committee reignited the conversation, with a resolution currently under review.
Nevertheless, REACH remains an ambitious and indispensable regulation that protects human health and the environment from the hazards posed by chemical substances. While it’s not perfect, it represents progress in comparison with previous regulatory frameworks. One notable success is the ban on bisphenol A (BPA), a controversial chemical previously used in baby bottles.
Understanding the REACH process
REACH is straightforward if you break down its steps:
Substance registration: Manufacturers must submit detailed information on the chemical, toxicological and environmental properties of substances they produce or import. If no data exists, they are required to generate it. Unlike previous regulations and directives, REACH places the burden of proof on companies. To comply with the regulation, companies must identify and adequately manage the risks associated with the substances they manufacture and market in the EU. In particular, they must demonstrate how the substances can be used safely and communicate risk management measures to users.
Compliance checks: The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) ensures that the registration dossiers are complete and meet regulatory requirements. This is known as compliance analysis.
Substance evaluation: If concerns arise, a substance undergoes further evaluation to assess risks to human health and the environment. This procedure is conducted by the member states (with ANSES representing France) and enables the authorities to request additional information from industries.
Member states, including ANSES, carry out these evaluations, focusing on national health priorities. Substances flagged for further assessment are added to the Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP), a three-year plan outlining substances to be evaluated by member states.
If additional safety measures are needed, several outcomes are possible:
SVHC identification: Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) may require authorisation for continued use.
Restrictions: Can limit or ban certain uses of a substance.
Classification: Hazardous substances may be classified as carcinogenic, toxic to reproduction or in other such categories and must be labelled for these hazardous properties.
Bisphenol A: a case study
Bisphenol A (BPA) exemplifies REACH’s impact. In 2017, Germany initiated an evaluation of BPA, resulting in its classification as a reprotoxic substance under the EU’s Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulation. BPA was also identified as an SVHC due to its endocrine-disrupting properties, which pose risks to human health and the environment.
Although these various management measures have faced legal challenges from industry, including through appeals, all have been upheld. They have proven effective, as highlighted by a European Environment Agency (EEA) report showing that BPA concentrations in Europeans’ urine are decreasing, in contrast to other bisphenols.
The role of ANSES
ANSES plays a key role in implementing the EU’s REACH regulation, supporting French authorities in managing chemical risks. Among its responsibilities, ANSES can identify a substance as an SVHC, preparing dossiers that can lead to these substances being added to Annex XIV of REACH. Once listed, the substances are restricted, and their use is only allowed if the European Commission specifically authorises it. Such authorisations are granted when it’s proven that the risks are controlled or the socioeconomic benefits outweigh them.
Before a substance is included in Annex XIV, it must first be identified as an SVHC. This step is aimed at encouraging the gradual replacement of these hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives, protecting both human health and the environment.
ANSES also prepares restriction dossiers, evaluating the socioeconomic impact of limiting or banning substances that pose unacceptable risks. These restrictions can apply to chemicals in their pure form, in mixtures, or within products.
Additionally, ANSES produces harmonised classification dossiers for chemicals like carcinogens, mutagens, and reproductive and respiratory sensitizers, for instance. Once included in Annex VI of the CLP regulation, industries must label their products accordingly, alerting users – especially workers – about potential hazards and ensuring proper precautions are taken.
Room for improvement
Despite improvements, the REACH regulation still faces significant challenges. Many industries, and particularly smaller companies, struggle to comply due to the high cost of registration. In 2018, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) reported that 31% of chemical substances produced in or imported into the EU in quantities over 1,000 tonnes per year failed to meet REACH requirements.
In response, ECHA has enhanced its chemical data management, but industries remain unsatisfied, accusing ECHA of pushing for classifications or requesting new tests without robust toxicological justifications. These requests often aim to address data gaps in industry-provided dossiers while minimising animal testing.
REACH’s main limitation is its dependence on industry-submitted data to evaluate chemical risks. These data can be incomplete, outdated or missing, forcing regulators to request additional information, which delays risk assessments and decision-making.
Consequently, the evaluation of substances and review of authorisation requests are often slow, delaying the entry of safer, innovative chemicals. Many potentially hazardous substances remain on the market without adequate regulation, a persistent concern from a public health standpoint.
A revision of REACH is expected to streamline processes, improve efficiency and impose stricter penalties on non-compliant industries, potentially revoking their REACH registration numbers. This would prevent the sale of substances without the necessary data.
These changes align with the European Commission’s strategy for a toxic-free environment under the European Green Deal. However, there is concern that lobbying could undermine this vital regulation, a global standard in chemical safety.
Despite its complexities, REACH remains a critical safeguard for European public health and environmental protection.
Johanna Berneron ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.
The number of voters registered as Democrats has tumbled in recent years in Florida, effectively removing the Sunshine State as a battleground and placing it firmly in the red column.
At least that’s the dominant narrative found in many media outlets. And it is true that Republican Donald Trump won the state in both 2016 and 2020.
Florida’s abortion amendment needs to pass with 60% of the vote, so turnout is key. Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo
Active voters
But Fried and the Democrats face a major hurdle – a widening voter registration gap – as Florida Republicans are quick to point out. Over the past several years, the GOP steadily narrowed the Democratic Party’s lead in voter registrations in the Sunshine State, finally surpassing Democrats’ plurality of active registered voters in 2021.
Fried thinks the widening gap between registered Republicans and Democrats is a mirage. She claims that the Republican advantage is an artifact of a shift in state law that more aggressively reclassifies voters as being “inactive” if they don’t vote in two general election cycles or keep their information on file with local supervisors of elections.
There is no question that the law, which went into effect in 2022, has deflated Democratic registration numbers. Here are the stats.
According to the Florida secretary of state’s website, updated on Oct. 7, 2024, there are more than 1 million more registered Republicans (5,455,480) than Democrats (4,400,561) in Florida, followed by no party affiliation (3,584,982) and those registered with minor parties (404,890). That is, Republicans appear to account for more than 39% of registered voters in the Sunshine State, while Democrats make up less than 32%.
However, the numbers posted on Florida’s official website, which amount to nearly 13.7 million registered voters, are misleading: They tally only active voters in the state.
There are more than 2.5 million inactive voters on the rolls as of Aug. 1, 2024, according to my calculation of publicly available raw voter files. This brings the total number of registered voters in Florida to more than 16 million people.
Inactive and unaffiliated voters
Inactive registered voters have every right to cast ballots just like active voters. The main difference between the two groups is that inactive voters didn’t vote in 2020 or 2022.
There are hundreds of thousands more inactive Democrats and unaffiliated voters than Republicans on the rolls. This is likely the result of lackluster campaigns in the state for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in 2020 and for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist in 2022. Uninspired Democrats and unaffiliated voters didn’t show up to the polls, particularly in 2022.
Currently, according to the publicly available Florida voter rolls, there are over 900,000 inactive Democrats and over 921,000 inactive unaffiliated voters, compared with fewer than 643,000 inactive Republicans. So, while Republicans account for 39% of active voters, they account for only 25% of inactive voters.
To sharpen the point: 1 in 10 Republicans are currently inactive, whereas nearly 2 in 5 of all registered Democrats and more than 1 in 5 unaffiliated voters in Florida are inactive. These inactive voters tend not to receive the same attention from parties and groups trying to mobilize registered voters to the polls.
There’s no question that the fortunes of the Florida Democratic Party have tumbled over the past decade. Twelve years ago, just prior to the 2012 general election, Democrats accounted for 40% of all active registered voters. It’s been a sharp decline down to 32%.
The biggest increase in the share of active voters over the same period is with unaffiliated voters, whose share jumped 5 percentage points, from less than 21% in 2012 to 26% in 2024. These unaffiliated voters in Florida tend to be younger and Hispanic, many of whom likely have been turned off by the toxic political landscape in the state.
But back to the November election and Fried’s prognostications.
Will the two statewide ballot measures – Amendment 3 on recreational marijuana and Amendment 4 on reproductive rights – offset the rise in Republican voter registration in Florida? Is the sizable lead of Republican active voters a mirage, only to disappear as Election Day nears?
It will come down to turnout and whether inactive Democratic and unaffiliated voters’ support for Amendment 3 and Amendment 4 primes them to back the Democratic ticket.
Daniel A. Smith 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.
On Sept. 20, 2024, a newspaper in Montana reported an issue with ballots provided to overseas voters registered in the state: Kamala Harris was not on the ballot. Election officials were able to quickly remedy the problem but not before accusations began to spread online, primarily among Democrats, that the Republican secretary of state had purposefully left Harris off the ballot.
This false rumor emerged from a common pattern: Some people view evidence such as good-faith errors in election administration through a mindset of elections being untrustworthy or “rigged,” leading them to misinterpret that evidence.
As the U.S. approaches another high-stakes and contentious election, concerns about the pervasive spread of falsehoods about election integrity are again front of mind. Some election experts worry that false claims may be mobilized – as they were in 2020 – into efforts to contest the election through tactics such as lawsuits, protests, disruptions to vote-counting and pressure on election officials to not certify the election.
Our team at the University of Washington has studied online rumors and misinformation for more than a decade. Since 2020, we have focused on rapid analysis of falsehoods about U.S. election administration, from sincere confusion about when and where to vote to intentional efforts to sow distrust in the process. Our motivations are to help quickly identify emerging rumors about election administration and analyze the dynamics of how these rumors take shape and spread online.
Through the course of this research we have learned that despite all the discussion about misinformation being a problem of bad facts, most misleading election rumors stem not from false or manipulated evidence but from misinterpretations and mischaracterizations. In other words, the problem is not just about bad facts but also faulty frames, or the mental structures people rely on to interpret those facts.
Misinformation may not be the best label for addressing the problem – it’s more an issue of how people make sense of the world, how that sensemaking process is shaped by social, political and informational dynamics, and how it begets rumors that can lead people to a false understanding of events.
Rumors – not misinformation
There is a long history of research on rumors going back to World War II and earlier. From this perspective, rumors are unverified stories, spreading through informal channels that serve informational, psychological and social purposes. We are applying this knowledge to the study of online falsehoods.
Though many rumors are false, some turn out to be true or partially true. Even when false, rumors can contain useful indications of real confusions or fears within a community.
Rumors can be seen as a natural byproduct of collective sensemaking – that is, efforts by groups of well-meaning people to make sense of uncertain and ambiguous information during dynamic events. But rumors can also emerge from propaganda and disinformation campaigns that lead people to misinterpret or mischaracterize their own and others’ experiences.
University of Washington’s Kate Starbird explains rumors as collective sensemaking.
Evidence, frames and (mis)interpretations
Prior research describes collective sensemaking as a process of interactions between evidence and frames. Evidence includes the things people see, read and hear in the world. Frames are mental schema that shape how people interpret that evidence.
The relationship between evidence and frames flows in two directions. When people encounter novel events or new evidence, they try to select the best frame from their mental filing cabinets. The selected frame then determines what evidence they focus on and what evidence they exclude in their interpretations. This evidence-frame view of collective sensemaking can help researchers understand rumors and disinformation.
Everyone has their own ways of interpreting events based on their unique experiences. But your frames are not yours alone. Frames are shaped, sometimes intentionally, by information from media, political leaders, communities, colleagues, friends, neighbors and family. Framing – the process of using, building, reinforcing, adapting, challenging and updating frames – can be a deliberate strategy of political communication.
Frames play a role in generating rumors, shaping how people interpret emerging events and novel evidence. False rumors occur when sensemaking goes awry, often due to people focusing on the wrong piece of evidence or applying the wrong frame. And disinformation, from this perspective, is the intentional manipulation of the sensemaking process, either by introducing false evidence or distorting the frames through which people interpret that evidence.
In 2020, we saw these dynamics at work in a rumor about Sharpie pens in Arizona. In the lead-up to the election, President Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly alleged that the election would be rigged – setting a powerful frame for his followers. When voters noted that the Sharpie pens provided by election officials were bleeding through their ballots, many interpreted their experiences through the frame of a “rigged election” and became concerned that their ballots would not be counted.
A Maricopa County, Arizona, election worker counts ballots in the 2020 election as false rumors that Sharpie pens were ruining ballots spread online. AP Photo/Matt York
Some people shared those experiences online, where they were soon amplified and given meaning by others, including online influencers. Concerns and suspicions grew. Soon, members of Trump’s family were repeating false claims that the bleed-through was systematically disenfranchising Republican voters. The effect was circular and mutually reinforcing. The strategic frame inspired misinterpretations of evidence – real bleed-through falsely seen as affecting ballot counting – that were shared and amplified, strengthening the frame.
Social media sensemaking
Collective sensemaking is increasingly taking place online, where it is profoundly shaped by social media platforms, from features such as repost and like buttons to algorithmic recommendations to the connections between accounts.
Not so long ago, many people hoped that the internet would democratize information flows by removing the historical gatekeepers of information and disrupting their ability to set the agenda – and the frames – of conversation. But the gatekeepers have not been erased; they have been replaced. A group of newsbrokering influencers have taken their place, in part by gaming the ways online systems manipulate attention.
Many of these influencers work by systematically seeking out and amplifying content that aligns with prevailing political frames set by elites in politics and media. This gives creators the incentive to produce content that resonates with those frames, because that content tends to be rewarded with attention, the primary commodity of social media.
These dynamics were at work in February 2024, when an aspiring creator produced a man-on-the-street video interviewing migrants to the U.S. that was selectively edited and captioned to falsely claim to show undocumented migrants planning to vote illegally in U.S. elections. This resonated with two prominent frames: the same rigged-election frame from 2020 and another that framed immigration as harmful to the U.S.
The video was shared across multiple platforms and exploded in views after being amplified by a series of accounts with large followings on X, formerly Twitter. X CEO Elon Musk commented with an exclamation point on one post with the embedded video. The creator soon found himself on Fox News. He currently has hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram and continues to produce similar content.
Interactions between influencers and online audiences result in content that fits strategic frames. Emerging events provide new evidence that people can twist to fit prevailing frames, both intentionally and unintentionally. Rumors are the byproducts of this process, and online attention dynamics fuel their spread.
Collective sensemaking and election 2024
Heading into the 2024 election, false and misleading claims about election integrity remain widespread. Our team has tracked more than 100 distinct rumors since the beginning of September. The machinery for quickly converting perceived evidence from elections into widely shared rumors and conspiracy theories is increasingly well oiled.
Experts discuss election integrity and efforts to undermine voter confidence.
One concerning development is an increase in so-called election integrity organizations that seek to recruit volunteers who share the rigged-election frame. The groups aim to provide volunteers with tools to streamline the collection and amplification of evidence to support the rigged-election frame.
One worry is that these volunteers may misinterpret what they see and hear on Election Day, generating additional rumors and false claims about election integrity that reinforce that increasingly distorted frame. Another is that these false claims will feed lawsuits and other attempts to contest election results.
However, we hope that by shedding light on some of these dynamics, we can help researchers, journalists, election officials and other decision-makers better diagnose and respond to rumors about election integrity in this cycle. Most importantly, we believe that this collective sensemaking lens can help us all to both empathize with well-meaning people who get caught up in sharing false rumors and see how propagandists manipulate these processes for their gain.
Kate Starbird receives funding from the National Science Foundation, Knight Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
Stephen Prochaska has received funding from the National Science Foundation, Knight Foundation, and Hewlett Foundation.
Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)
Spokesperson Matthew Miller leads the Department Press Briefing, at the Department of State, on October 30, 2024
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The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.
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North Berwick witchesThe University of Aberdeen is introducing people around the world to the history of witch-hunting and the witch trials in Scotland.
With wide-brimmed hats, black cats, broomsticks and crooked noses, witches in popular culture are instantly recognisable a staple of Halloween events.
But in previous centuries changes in attitudes and approaches to magic led to suspicion and accusations which spread through Scottish communities as paranoid hunts sought to root out those thought to derive powers from the Devil.
The University has created an online short course ‘Scottish Witch-Hunting and the Rise of a Protestant Culture 1590-1690’ which provides an opportunity for anyone with a professional or personal interest in the history of Scottish witchcraft to take an in-depth look at Scottish attitudes and approaches to magic, the preternatural and the supernatural.
Professor Bill Naphy, Emeritus Professor of History, said: “Witches may been seen by guisers today as a bit of fun but in the middle of the 16th century, they were seen as conspirators trying to destroy society.
“This wasn’t unique to Scotland but the ripples of panic it caused were far reaching with Scotland’s execution rate per head of population about five times the European average.
“It means this is a really important area for study, not just in understanding about witchcraft and the brutal investigations, trials and often executions of those accused but in piecing together the wider issues and changes facing society at this time.”
The course explores the involvement of King James VI and I who in 1591 became convinced that a group of North Berwick witches tried to kill him and his wife when their vessel was caught in storms as they attempted to travel to Denmark.
As a result he becomes the only reigning monarch to ever serve as a judge in a witch trial and writes a book about witchcraft titled ‘Daemonologie’. This originally circulates in manuscript form and Professor Naphy says it was ‘clearly aimed at his sons so they will know when they become powerful how to find witches’ but is published widely following a panic which begins in Aberdeen in January 1597.
Professor Naphy explains: “The North Berwick witch trials of 1591 are notorious because of the sheer number of ‘witches’, widely agreed to be around 70 most of whom were women, executed in one hunt in a small Scottish town.
“But the lesser-known Aberdeen witch hunt in 1597 demonstrates how far panic swept across Scottish society, even prompting the demand for the publication of the King’s book.
“City leaders in Aberdeen became convinced that they had such a serious problem on their hands that they were able to secure a five-year commission to find and try all witches in the north-east.
“Once the idea took root that there was a witch plot or ‘cell’ the threshold for evidence necessary to prove guilt decreased and investigators become increasingly concerned with finding wider connections.
“In Aberdeen this saw accusations levied against the Leys family and at his trail Thomas Leys confessed, undoubtedly under coercion, to having led a coven of witches in a dance at the fish cross the previous Halloween – a satanic party right in front of the tollbooth.”
This soon led to extensive witch hunts across not only the north-east but many parts of Scotland.
“Thomas implicated a number of women that took the commissioners from Aberdeen to the tiny village of Lumphanan in their hunt for conspiratorial cells,” Professor Naphy added.
“In total 24 ‘witches’ were executed in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, including a significant proportion of the adult female population of Lumphanan and this little known 1597 hunt triggered panic across many regions of Scotland that resulted in many more deaths through execution.
“This is an important period to highlight dangers of a moral panic and study of these events serves as a timely reminder that while today witches are seen as part of the fun of Halloween, we should not forget brutal treatment and execution of those accused of so-called crimes of dark magic.”
Up to 900,000 viewers across GB will see the Derry Halloween festivities today (30th October) on ITV’s daytime TV show This Morning, with filming supported by Tourism Ireland.
The segment is fronted by celebrity chef Donal Skehan, who travels along the Awakening the Walled City Trail, bringing to life the rich folklore, history, and heritage of the city’s Halloween celebrations. The segment will include spooky stories with Charlene McCrossan from McCrossan Walking Tours, an interview with Jacqueline Whoriskey, the Festival and Events Manager with Derry City and Strabane District Council, and a special appearance from the city’s very own Winifred the Witch!
Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to work with Donal Skehan, bringing the magic of Derry Halloween to hundreds of thousands of GB viewers on ITV’s This Morning. Halloween is one of the world’s favourite festivals but not everyone knows that it originated on these shores around 2,000 years ago.At Tourism Ireland, we’re excited to invite visitors to experience Halloween where it all started, taking in our world-class festivals, spectacular scenery and warm hospitality.”
A healthy seasonal spread of overseas tourism business supports quality jobs in tourism, by creating a longer or year-round season. Tourism Ireland markets Halloween as an iconic reason to visit in autumn. Its ‘Home of Halloween’ multi-market campaign, celebrating the island of Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween around 2,000 years ago, is under way. The organisation’s aim is to raise awareness at scale and target consideration and bookings for this autumn, with Derry Halloween (the largest festival of its type in Europe), in particular, adding to the appeal of autumn scenery and heritage. Since it was launched, the campaign video has achieved results reflecting a strong audience response: 14 million views on English language YouTube; and over 100 million views across languages and channels (TV, cinema, online). Among those who’ve seen the campaign, there is now twice the level of recognition that Halloween began in Ireland and seven out of ten said they’re more likely to want to visit.
DEVELOPERS are being sought to deliver the next wave of homes on a major new housing development on the edge of Leicester.
Up to 3,000 new homes are set to built at Ashton Green, near Beaumont Leys, as part of an ambitious housing-led mixed use development scheme led by Leicester City Council.
Now the city council is inviting developers and housebuilders to bid for the next phases of residential development, which would see up to 525 new homes built on 55-acres of allocated land.
This will represent the fourth phase of housing development at Ashton Green.
The first phase saw 100 new houses built by Morris Homes in 2020. A second phase is now under construction, with 130 of the 307 new houses to be built by Tilia Homes now complete and occupied.
A third phase of house building is expected to get underway next year and would see 440 new dwellings built by Morris Homes.
It is likely the successful bidder for the fourth phase of residential development will being construction work by late 2026.
City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “Ashton Green is an essential part of the city’s commitment to meeting the growing and urgent need for new homes in Leicester over the next ten to fifteen years, and it will make huge contribution to local economic growth.
“This is an extremely ambitious and complex project and I proud that we are now ready to enter a next phase of development, which will see more than 500 additional new homes built. This would help bring the total number of new homes built or in the process of being built at Ashton Green close to 1,400.”
Leicester City Council is the principal landowner and promoter of the Ashton Green development, which is a mixed-use urban extension on a 320-acre greenfield site to the north of Leicester. Around 13-acres of land allocated for the Ashton Green development is owned by Diocese of Leicester.
The major sustainable urban development scheme aims to create a community of up to 3,000 much-needed new homes, along with community and health facilities, employment land and retail.
Up to 30 per cent of the new homes to be built at Ashton Green will be affordable homes for rent and for shared ownership.
On Oct. 29, 2024, former Chicago Metra Board Chair Romayne Brown, the first African-American woman to chair the board, was honored with a Metra Train Car dedicated to her tireless efforts as the Metra Board Chair.
During her term as chair, Brown helped lead the agency through COVID-19 challenges that became some of the most difficult times in the agency’s history. Brown has more than 31 years of operational and customer service experience at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), finishing her career with the agency in 2010 as the vice president of rail operations, which helped her navigate the agency through countless issues.
“I have worked with Chair Brown over the years, and she is one of the few people I have met who has always been able to see the power of working with labor,” said IAM Local 498 Chairman David May. “She has always helped the push agency to see labor’s perspective on issues. Chair Brown has always treated the Machinists members with dignity and respect and always found time to walk the shop floors to thank Metra’s unionized workforce for their hard work and dedication to the agency. Local 498 will be forever grateful for her incredible leadership.”
Brown was named to the board in 2013 and then held the Vice Chair role from October 2016 to 2020. She held the Metra Board Chair position from 2020 to 2024.
