Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
More than a million foreign tourists visited Moscow in the first half of 2024. The Russian capital is chosen for business trips, gastronomic discoveries, and vacations with family and friends. The city attracts travelers with its architectural heritage, culture, pedestrian streets and embankments, parks, numerous cafes and restaurants, and a diverse event program.
“In six months, the tourist flow to Moscow from foreign countries has grown by 70 percent compared to the same period in 2023. The leaders in the number of guests were China, Turkey, India and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region,” she said.
China ranks first in the number of tourists among non-CIS countries — about 190 thousand visits. This is 2.4 times more than in the first two quarters of last year. Turkey is in second place (35.2 thousand trips), and India is in third place (28.5 thousand trips).
The number of travelers from the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America has doubled — 260.6 thousand and 17.2 thousand people, respectively. There have been more guests from Vietnam: from January to June of this year, Moscow was visited by 16.6 thousand people.
In addition, Moscow is seeing an increase in business travelers, with 40 percent of them later returning to the capital for family vacations. The city is introducing business travel industry representatives to opportunities to organize large-scale events. For example, in April this year, the Shaping MICE Future conference was held, which brought together over 100 participants from India and Russia. In June, the first BRICS tourism forum was held. It was attended by delegations from Brazil, Egypt, India, Iran, China, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and the Republic of South Africa.
In addition, there is an online certification program called Moscow MICE Ambassadors. During the training courses, industry representatives from India can learn about the stages of planning and organizing events in the capital.
In 2023, the foreign tourist flow to the Russian capital amounted to 2.3 million people. To strengthen international ties, the city participates in major specialized exhibitions, organizes business missions, as well as projects and events aimed at domestic and foreign audiences.
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.
Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
That’s the verdict of Sunderland City Council Leader Councillor Michael Mordey on today’s announcement that England has drawn the USA in next summer’s Women’s Rugby World Cup opener.
England’s Red Roses kick off the tournament’s opening match against the USA at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on 22 August next year.
Today’s release of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 match schedule sets the stage for six weekends of compelling competition in the biggest ever celebration of women’s rugby.
Reacting to the news, Council Mordey, said: “It’s brilliant that England has drawn the USA at next summer’s opening match in Sunderland.
“Sunderland has a very special relationship with the USA, from the ancestral links between Washington Old Hall and George Washington dating back from 1183 to the Friendship Agreement Sunderland signed with the US capital Washington DC in 2006 which has created so many opportunities over the years.
“We’ve also seen significant investment and employment in Sunderland from American-owned companies over the years, such as Lear, Adient, UK Independent Medical Services, Apexon and Rayovac, to name just a few, creating valuable jobs for people across the city. While our young people have benefitted from a number of exchanges as a result of our unique Friendship Agreement – with Monkwearmouth Academy welcoming young people from School without Walls in Washington DC to the city and to City Hall just in the last couple of weeks.
“So, it’s incredibly exciting to have England playing the USA in the opening match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in our city. And I’m very much looking forward to welcoming the US team and their fans, swelling the numbers we’re already looking to welcome from across the world. It will also be a real thriller for sports fans from across the North East.
“I think there’ll be a really electric atmosphere in our city that night and I would urge anyone who hasn’t already got their tickets to look out for the next ticket releases coming soon.
“Hosting the opening game is a wonderful opportunity for our city and our region to shine on the international stage at a time when Sunderland city centre is going through a £2 billion transformation so it’s brilliant news all round.”
The last few years have seen a massive surge of interest in women’s rugby and women’s sport in general both locally and nationally.
And tournament organisers, World Rugby say the match schedule has been developed with team and fan experience at heart, with exciting matchups in each of the eight host locations, family friendly kick-off times, inexpensive match tickets and optimised team travel.
With 95 per cent of the population in England within two hours of a match venue, fans will have an unprecedented opportunity to see rugby’s biggest stars in action, while host cities are getting ready to welcome international travelling fans with iconic and vibrant local experiences.
With excitement building, fans will have the opportunity to apply for tickets for all matches from 11:00 (GMT) on Tuesday 5 November until 11:00 (GMT) on Tuesday 19 November. Ballots will be used for any price categories which are oversubscribed. Fans can register to be the first to hear about ticket news here.
Prior to the two-week ticket application phase, Worldwide Partner Mastercard is offering its cardholders access to a 48-hour priority sale for all matches from 11:00 (GMT+1) today until 11:00 (GMT+1) on Thursday 24 October at tickets.rugbyworldcup.com. Only Mastercard payments will be accepted during this priority window.
American companies in the city employ over 3,000 people and Sunderland is also home to a number of businesses with plants both here and in the US, including Nissan and AESC, as well as Lear, Adient and Vantec, which promises to bring the opening match into day to day life across our communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Sunderland’s friendship agreement with Washington DC also led to the creation of the popular Sunderland Shorts Film Festival which continues to go from strength to strength. The annual festival, which will celebrate its 10th birthday in 2025, proudly showcases the best short films from the UK and around the world including Australia and the United States of America, while championing homegrown talent from the region.
At UConn, the disciplines of plant science and landscape architecture are housed in a single department.
This arrangement provides unique opportunities for students like Brianna Collazo ‘26 (CAHNR), a landscape architecture student who spent this past summer working on the UConn Plant Science Research & Education Farm, which serves both plant science and landscape architecture projects.
“It’s lovely,” Collazo says. “There are so many opportunities that have been opened and so many events where we get to socialize and learn from one another.”
Collazo had explored several academic pathways while at Manchester Community College before coming to UConn. She took courses in everything from computer science to sculpture before realizing she was interested in architecture. Given this and her love of being outside, the landscape architecture program at UConn was a perfect fit.
“When I was looking up majors similar to architecture, I found landscape architecture and I did a little bit of research and I was like ‘wow, I think I’ll really like doing this’,” Collazo says.
Collazo says she quickly fell in love with the program at UConn.
“I’m so excited to go to class every day,” Collazo says. “You can ask anyone, I’m usually the first one to get to studio and the last one to leave.”
UConn’s landscape architecture program is nationally accredited and provides a close-knit educational atmosphere for around 60 students. Working closely with ten faculty, communities, and practicing landscape architects, students have the opportunity to participate in experiential learning across Connecticut.
“Brianna is a wonderful ambassador for our program and department. She brings an infectious energy to all that she does. Her skills and thinking have grown tremendously over the past year and we can’t wait to see her work progress,” says Jill Desimini, program director for Landscape Architecture.
During her sophomore year, Collazo decided she wanted to gain more practical experience to better prepare her for internships.
She found an opening on the Research Farm and with encouragement from Travis Clark, the Research Farm manager, decided to apply.
The Research Farm has been in operation for over 100 years supporting research, teaching, and extension work at CAHNR. The 153-acre facility is a short drive from UConn’s main campus in Storrs, making it uniquely accessible for students. There are over 50 research plots where faculty and graduate students conduct basic and applied scientific experiments in subjects like sustainable agriculture, turfgrass and soil science, greenhouse and nursery operations, and fruit and vegetable production.
“The summer was really exciting,” Collazo says. “[Clark] was really happy to have me there and I felt like I was being cared for.”
“I was excited to be able to bring Brianna on the farm this summer. Her unique background in landscape architecture and her willingness to learn made her an asset to our team,” says Clark ’09 (CAHNR). “This internship provided Brianna with a lot of the hands-on skills through experiential learning that will continue to be valuable to her throughout her career.”
Over the summer, Collazo not only gained practical skills for working on a farm, but learned outside of her major about soil science, cover crops, and how to use different species for different purposes.
“I wanted to take so much out of this experience,” Collazo says. “Every single day I would learn something.”
Collazo also supported graduate students working on the farm over the summer and has continued assisting two: Julie-Ann Adorno, an advisee of Haiying Tao, associate professor of soil nutrition management and soil health; and Brian Garzon, an advisee of Mariana Fragomeni, assistant professor of landscape architecture.
After this experience, Collazo decided she want to go to graduate school to continue her studies, looking at how to design agricultural sites for research.
“Hearing about their passion and their work over the summer really got me to understand how much it takes to make a landscape, how much goes into the different systems of the outdoors, and how we need to combine all of those to create the best design to benefit us,” Collazo says.
This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Ensuring a Vibrant and Sustainable Agricultural Industry and Food Supply.
The Army Mission – our purpose – remains constant: To deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt & sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spectrum of conflict as part of the joint force.
Interested in joining the U.S. Army?
Visit: spr.ly/6001igl5L
Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)
Department Press Briefing with Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel, at the Department of State, on October 22, 2024.
———–
Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.
The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.
Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)
Deputy Secretary Campbell delivers remarks at the Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence ceremony at the Department of State, on October 22, 2024.
———-
Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.
The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.
SINGAPORE, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — UP Fintech Holding Limited (Nasdaq: TIGR) (“UP Fintech” or the “Company”), a leading online brokerage firm focusing on global investors, today announced that it intends to offer and sell 15,000,000 American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”), each representing 15 Class A ordinary shares of the Company, subject to market and other conditions, in an underwritten public offering. The underwriters have an option to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,250,000 additional ADSs from the Company at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions, exercisable within 20 days from the date of the prospectus supplement.
The Company expects to use the net proceeds from the proposed ADS offering for strengthening the Company’s capital base and furthering the Company’s business development initiatives.
Deutsche Bank AG, Hong Kong Branch, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited and US Tiger Securities, Inc. will act as the joint bookrunners for the proposed ADS offering.
The proposed ADS offering will be made pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form F-3 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and is available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. A preliminary prospectus supplement and an accompanying prospectus related to the proposed ADS offering have been filed with the SEC and are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. The final prospectus supplement will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at: http://www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained by contacting Deutsche Bank AG, Hong Kong Branch, Level 60, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong; China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited 29/F, one International Finance Centre, 1 Harbour View Street, Central, Hong Kong; or, US Tiger Securities, Inc., 437 Madison Avenue, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10022, United States of America.
This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, the securities described herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
About UP Fintech Holding Limited
UP Fintech Holding Limited is a leading online brokerage firm focusing on global investors. The Company’s proprietary mobile and online trading platform enables investors to trade in equities and other financial instruments on multiple exchanges around the world. The Company offers innovative products and services as well as a superior user experience to customers through its “mobile first” strategy, which enables it to better serve and retain current customers as well as attract new ones. The Company offers customers comprehensive brokerage and value-added services, including trade order placement and execution, margin financing, IPO subscription, ESOP management, investor education, community discussion and customer support. The Company’s proprietary infrastructure and advanced technology are able to support trades across multiple currencies, multiple markets, multiple products, multiple execution venues and multiple clearinghouses.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “might,” “aim,” “likely to,” “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements or expressions. Among other statements, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, the Company’s strategic and operational plans and expectations regarding growth and expansion of its business lines, and the Company’s plans for future financing of its business contain forward-looking statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on Forms 20−F and 6−K, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties, including the earnings conference call. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company’s ability to effectively implement its growth strategies; trends and competition in global financial markets; changes in the Company’s revenues and certain cost or expense accounting policies; and governmental policies and regulations affecting the Company’s industry and general economic conditions in China, Singapore and other countries. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s filings with the SEC, including the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on April 22, 2024. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s filings with the SEC.
For investor and media inquiries please contact:
Investor Relations Contact UP Fintech Holding Limited Email: ir@itiger.com
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Real-Time Innovations (RTI), the infrastructure software company for smart-world systems, has become the first DDS vendor to be named as a CNA by the CVE® Program. This designation showcases RTI’s commitment to system integrity by identifying vulnerabilities early, offering enhanced protection for customers. RTI will continue to adopt best cybersecurity practices which includes a secure coding standard, static and dynamic analysis tools, and extended endurance testing to improve systems across industries such as defense, medical, and automotive.
RTI Connext®, based on the Data Distribution Service (DDS™) standard, is the trusted industry solution that delivers reliability, security, and real-time performance essential for highly distributed autonomous systems. As a CNA, RTI has established a vulnerability management and notification process to monitor and notify customers of any known vulnerabilities that may affect systems using RTI software. The goal is to ensure that Connext users receive the information needed to properly assess their impact, through well established mechanisms, and that solutions are provided in a timely manner.
“By enhancing our visibility and control over the CVE publication process, we reaffirm our commitment to delivering top-notch cybersecurity for our customers,” said David Barnett, VP of Products and Markets at RTI. “This initiative will streamline our disclosure process, making it easier for users to access crucial information about vulnerabilities through a trusted, recognized platform. Our priority is ensuring the security of our customers’ systems, and we are committed to providing the best solutions to protect them against evolving threats.”
CVE is an international initiative that relies on the community to identify and catalog publicly disclosed cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Once discovered, vulnerabilities are assigned and published in the CVE List. CNAs are organizations responsible for the regular assignment of CVE IDs to vulnerabilities, and for creating and publishing information about the risk in the associated CVE Record.
Securing autonomous and intelligent systems requires constant and careful architecting of the entire framework. RTI enables customers to design robust, reliable systems that safeguard without sacrificing real-time performance. Whether it is a large application running on powerful hardware or an embedded application running on a resource-constrained device, RTI has the industry-leading security solutions for intelligent distributed systems.
For more information about RTI’s approach to vulnerability detection and management, please visit the policy page. To learn more about RTI’s security offerings, please visit our website.
About RTI Real-Time Innovations (RTI) is the infrastructure software company for smart-world systems. RTI Connext® is the world’s leading software framework for intelligent distributed systems. Uniquely, Connext users can build systems that combine advanced sensing, fast control, and AI algorithms.
With 2,000 customer designs, RTI excels at getting customers to production. RTI software runs over 250 autonomous vehicle programs, supports dozens of automotive ADAS and software-defined architectures, controls the largest power plants in North America, integrates over 400 major defense programs, drives a new generation of MedTech systems and robotics, and underlies Canada’s air traffic control and NASA’s launch control systems.
RTI runs a smarter world.
RTI is the market leader in products compliant with the Data Distribution Service (DDS™) standard. RTI is privately held and headquartered in Silicon Valley with regional offices in Colorado, Spain, and Singapore.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dominion Lending Centres Inc. (TSX:DLCG) (“DLCG” or the “Corporation”) is pleased to announce that it will release its third quarter financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, on November 5, 2024, after the market close.
About Dominion Lending Centres Inc.
Dominion Lending Centres Inc. is Canada’s leading network of mortgage professionals. DLCG operates through Dominion Lending Centres Inc. and its three main subsidiaries, MCC Mortgage Centre Canada Inc., MA Mortgage Architects Inc. and Newton Connectivity Systems Inc., and has operations across Canada. DLCG extensive network includes over 8,500 agents and over 500 locations. Headquartered in British Columbia, DLC was founded in 2006 by Gary Mauris and Chris Kayat.
DLCG can be found on X (Twitter), Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn @DLCGmortgage and on the web at http://www.dlcg.ca.
Contact information for the Corporation is as follows:
James Bell EVP, Corporate and Chief Legal Officer 403-560-0821 jbell@dlcg.ca
NEITHER THE TSX EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Proscia®, a global leader in AI-enabled pathology solutions for precision medicine, was named to KLAS Research’s 2024 Emerging Solutions Top 20 list of technologies best positioned to impact the Quadruple Aim of Healthcare. Its Concentriq® software platform was selected by healthcare leaders across the United States for improving patient outcomes. Awardees were celebrated at the HLTH USA event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“The 2024 Emerging Solutions Top 20 winners are truly disrupting the market with their innovative solutions,” said Adam Gale, CEO of KLAS. “These companies are demonstrating exceptional creativity and effectiveness in taking on some of healthcare’s biggest challenges. In many cases, they are not just keeping pace with the rapid changes in technology; they are setting the standard for excellence and driving the industry forward. We are excited to see how these solutions will continue to evolve and impact the healthcare industry.”
KLAS enlisted 49 healthcare leaders to rank emerging solutions based on their potential to impact each arm of the Quadruple Aim: improve outcomes, reduce the cost of care, improve patient experiences, and improve clinician experiences. The top 5 solutions with the greatest potential to impact each arm were listed as winners. Among the hundreds of solutions KLAS evaluated, only those that customers scored an 85 or higher based on KLAS’ proprietary methodology in Spotlight or First Look reports were eligible.
“Labs worldwide feel the impact of rising diagnostic burden and a shortage of pathologists. Slow processes and limited access to analog pathology data contribute to this burden,” said Eder Lagemann, Research Director at KLAS in the June 2024 Emerging Company Spotlight on Concentriq. “To help ease this burden, Proscia offers Concentriq, an enterprise pathology platform that allows organizations to digitize their labs and adopt AI applications that help deliver more efficient results.”
KLAS’ Spotlight on Concentriq reveals the majority of Proscia’s customers surveyed saw immediate benefits, and all such customers achieved outcomes within 6 months of deploying it. Impacts cited include improving turnaround times, attracting more talent, laying the foundation to adopt a broad range of AI applications, and creating a real-world data archive for fueling research and development. Customers are also impressed with both the level of support they receive and Proscia’s pathology expertise. Working with a trusted partner that offers a world-class software platform has led 100% of Proscia’s customers surveyed to say they would buy again.
“We are rewiring pathology with software and AI to fuel the fight against humanity’s most challenging diseases, like cancer,” said David West, Proscia’s CEO. “KLAS’ recognition underscores our commitment to giving pathologists the great software they deserve to benefit them and their patients.”
Read the full 2024 KLAS Emerging Solutions Top 20 report here.
About Proscia Proscia is a software company accelerating pathology’s transition to a digital, data-driven discipline and enabling AI to advance precision medicine. Its Concentriq enterprise pathology platform, precision medicine AI portfolio, and real-world data fuel the development and use of novel therapies and diagnostics to drive the fight against humanity’s most challenging diseases, like cancer. 14 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and a global network of diagnostic laboratories rely on Proscia’s solutions each day. The company has FDA 510(k) clearance and was the first to secure CE-IVDR certification to advance digital pathology primary diagnosis in the European Union. For more information, visit proscia.com, and follow Proscia on LinkedIn and X.
About KLAS KLAS has been providing accurate, honest, and impartial insights for the healthcare IT (HIT) industry since 1996. The KLAS mission is to improve the world’s healthcare by amplifying the voice of providers and payers. The scope of our research is constantly expanding to best fit market needs as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated. KLAS finds the hard-to-get HIT data by building strong relationships with our payer and provider friends in the industry. Follow KLAS on LinkedIn. Learn more at: klasresearch.com.
Sydney Fenkell Head Of Marketing Communications 215-816-3436 sydney@proscia.com
Seal harvesting is an important and valuable activity for many Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. In Canada, it is managed in a sustainable, well-regulated, and humane way that supports Canada’s Indigenous, rural, remote, and coastal communities.
October 22, 2024
Ottawa, ON – Seal harvesting is an important and valuable activity for many Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. In Canada, it is managed in a sustainable, well-regulated, and humane way that supports Canada’s Indigenous, rural, remote, and coastal communities.
In response to growing interest in participating in the seal harvest, today, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced that personal use seal licences will be available to harvesters in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The focus of this harvest is harp and grey seals which DFO assesses to be in the healthy zone of the Department’s precautionary approach framework.
Previously, DFO’s Commercial Fisheries Licensing Policy for Eastern Canada only allowed harvesters in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador to apply for personal use seal licences. In addition to expanding the personal use seal harvest into new provinces, amendments to the policy have also incorporated the long-standing practice of requiring harvesters to participate in humane harvesting information sessions.
DFO intends to issue a limited number of new personal use licences for 2024, in order to pilot the activity in additional areas. Lessons learned from this pilot will inform next steps on personal use sealing within these jurisdictions. Under the conditions of licence, each personal use harvester will be able to harvest up to six harp and/or grey seals. The precise number of harvesters and harvest limits will be determined following further consultations with potential harvesters and provincial partners.
DFO will work with provinces on options to further expand access to the personal use seal harvest next year.
“The seal harvest is of great importance and value to many communities, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, as it meets fundamental needs such as food, culture, warmth, and economic independence. This is why I have always prioritized the issue of seals. It is essential to emphasize that this harvest is strictly regulated and monitored. With today’s announcement, the Government of Canada reaffirms its support for the seal harvest and for management decisions that are based on scientific advice, both in terms of conservation and on humane harvest practices.”
The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
Earlier this month, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) resumed activities at the Lajas Blancas migrant reception station in the province of Darién, in southern Panama. This comes after the authorities approved MSF teams to undertake a three-month medical response to help migrants crossing the Darién jungle, the only land route between South and North America, and the local community who have been affected by the crisis.
“During the first two weeks of our activities, we saw that the health needs of those leaving the Darién jungle continue to be immense,” said Carlos Estrella, MSF project coordinator in Darién. “In 10 days, we carried out about 280 medical consultations in Lajas Blancas, including 72 patients with symptoms of mental distress.”
MSF teams have also treated patients for diabetes, hypertension, and epilepsy, and provided contraceptives and consultations to pregnant women. The team has also seen and treated victims of sexual violence.
Since 2022, MSF has witnessed the multiple health risks faced by people who cross the Darién Gap, the natural border between Colombia and Panama, on their way north to the United States and Canada. This has also had an impact on the local community, as health centres have been overwhelmed by the increase in consultations due to the high numbers of people in the area.
Some 260,000 migrants have crossed the Darién so far this year, according to the latest figures released by the Panamanian migration authority.
“This new collaboration will provide access to healthcare for people in extreme need,” Estrella said. “That is why we welcome this decision and are committed to continue working closely with the Panamanian Ministry of Health to provide comprehensive healthcare to people crossing the jungle and to the local community in the area.”
The MSF team in Darién includes doctors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers.
Beyond Darién, MSF teams carry out medical and humanitarian activities to assist people on the move in different parts of the Americas, including in parts of Central America and Mexico. The teams constantly adapt to a changing migration route. Until the end of September 2024, MSF supported a response in Costa Rica focussed on migrants.
You could also be interested in
Poland
MSF urges Polish authorities to retract announced suspension of right to seek asylum
Press Release16 Oct 2024
Mental health
A mental health crisis among refugees and migrants in Greece
Voices from the Field10 Oct 2024
Lebanon
Israeli bombardment in Lebanon is causing mass displacement and urgent humanitarian needs
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Central 1 Credit Union (Central 1) today announced its intention to wind down its digital banking business and transition clients to one or more alternative digital banking providers.
Central 1’s digital banking business provides online and mobile banking applications to credit unions and other financial institutions. The decision follows a comprehensive strategic review of this business, concluding that the investment and innovation required to meet the needs of clients and sustain the company’s digital banking offering into the future would not be sustainable over the long term.
“The Central 1 team reviewed several strategic alternatives with deep consideration for our clients’, stakeholders’ and Central 1’s interests,” explained Sheila Vokey, CEO of Central 1. “Though this is not the outcome we were striving for, our team is committed to supporting our clients through a smooth transition to an alternative digital banking solution.”
“Central 1 remains committed to continue being an aggregator for credit unions and other financial service providers for clearing and settlements, payments and treasury services,” said Shelley McDade, Board Chair of Central 1.
Central 1 is currently completing the necessary planning to support clients to smoothly transition to other provider(s). While no firm date has been set for completing this transition, Central 1 is working with digital banking providers and clients to complete transitions within a three to four year timeline.
About Central 1: Central 1 cooperatively empowers credit unions and other financial institutions who deliver banking choice to Canadians. With assets of $11.2 billion as of June 30, 2024, Central 1 provides critical payments, treasury and clearing and settlement services at scale to enable the credit union system. We do this by collaborating with our clients, developing strategies, products, and services to support the financial well-being of their more than five million diverse customers in communities across Canada. For more information, visit http://www.central1.com.
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release and announcement contains historical and forward-looking statements. All statements and other information about anticipated future events may constitute “forward-looking information” under Canadian securities laws. These include, without limitation, statements relating to Central 1’s intention to wind down its digital banking business, and the timeline and processes relating to the same, Central 1’s plans to transition its clients to alternative digital banking providers, as well as statements that contain the words “may,” “will,” “intends” and “anticipates” and other similar words and expressions.
Forward-looking information are or may be based on assumptions, uncertainties, and management’s best estimates of future events. Central 1 has based the forward-looking statements on current plans, information, data, estimates, expectations, and projections about, among other things, results of operations, financial, condition, prospects, strategies and future events, and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on them. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. Securityholders are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Certain important assumptions by Central 1 in making forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, competitive conditions, economic conditions and regulatory considerations. Important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include economic risks, regulatory risks (including legislative and regulatory developments), risks and uncertainty from the impact of rising or falling interest rates, information technology and cyber risks, environmental and social risk (including climate change), digital disruption and innovation, reputation risk, competitive risk, privacy, data and third-party related risks, risks related to business and operations, risks relating to the transition of clients to alternative digital banking providers, and other risks detailed from time to time in Central 1’s periodic reports filed with securities regulators. Given these risks, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Central 1 undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.
Contact Amanda LeNeve AVP, Communications & Marketing Central 1 E aleneve@central1.com
ATLANTA (October 22, 2024) — On Tuesday, October 29,at 10:00 a.m., the Senate Study Committee on Veterans’ Mental Health and Housing, chaired by Sen. Chuck Payne (R–Dalton), will hold its fourth hearing.
This event is open to the public andwill be live-streamed on the Senate websitehere.
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE:
The Senate Study Committee on Veterans’ Mental Health and Housing was created to evaluate the adequacy of Georgia’s public and private programs and services when providing resources to veterans. The committee will recommend additional measures to ensure that Georgia veterans and their families have the support they need to thrive after their military service ends.
MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES:
We kindly request that members of the media confirm their attendance in advance by contacting Jantz Womack at SenatePressInquiries@senate.ga.gov.
# # # #
Sen. Chuck Payne serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Military and Homeland Security. He represents the 54th Senate District, which includes Whitfield and Murray County, as well as part of Gordon County. He may be reached at 404.463.5402 or by email atchuck.payne@senate.ga.gov.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged four current and former public companies – Unisys Corp., Avaya Holdings Corp., Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, and Mimecast Limited – with making materially misleading disclosures regarding cybersecurity risks and intrusions. The SEC also charged Unisys with disclosure controls and procedures violations. The companies agreed to pay the following civil penalties to settle the SEC’s charges:
Unisys will pay a $4 million civil penalty;
Avaya. will pay a $1 million civil penalty;
Check Point will pay a $995,000 civil penalty; and
Mimecast will pay a $990,000 civil penalty.
The charges against the four companies result from an investigation involving public companies potentially impacted by the compromise of SolarWinds’ Orion software and by other related activity.
“As today’s enforcement actions reflect, while public companies may become targets of cyberattacks, it is incumbent upon them to not further victimize their shareholders or other members of the investing public by providing misleading disclosures about the cybersecurity incidents they have encountered,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Here, the SEC’s orders find that these companies provided misleading disclosures about the incidents at issue, leaving investors in the dark about the true scope of the incidents.”
According to the SEC’s orders, Unisys, Avaya, and Check Point learned in 2020, and Mimecast learned in 2021, that the threat actor likely behind the SolarWinds Orion hack had accessed their systems without authorization, but each negligently minimized its cybersecurity incident in its public disclosures. The SEC’s order against Unisys finds that the company described its risks from cybersecurity events as hypothetical despite knowing that it had experienced two SolarWinds-related intrusions involving exfiltration of gigabytes of data. The order also finds that these materially misleading disclosures resulted in part from Unisys’ deficient disclosure controls. The SEC’s order against Avaya finds that it stated that the threat actor had accessed a “limited number of [the] Company’s email messages,” when Avaya knew the threat actor had also accessed at least 145 files in its cloud file sharing environment. The SEC’s order against Check Point finds that it knew of the intrusion but described cyber intrusions and risks from them in generic terms. The order charging Mimecast finds that the company minimized the attack by failing to disclose the nature of the code the threat actor exfiltrated and the quantity of encrypted credentials the threat actor accessed.
“Downplaying the extent of a material cybersecurity breach is a bad strategy,” said Jorge G. Tenreiro, Acting Chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. “In two of these cases, the relevant cybersecurity risk factors were framed hypothetically or generically when the companies knew the warned of risks had already materialized. The federal securities laws prohibit half-truths, and there is no exception for statements in risk-factor disclosures.”
The SEC’s orders find that each company violated certain applicable provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and related rules thereunder. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, each company agreed to cease and desist from future violations of the charged provisions and to pay the penalties described above. Each company cooperated during the investigation, including by voluntarily providing analyses or presentations that helped expedite the staff’s investigation and by voluntarily taking steps to enhance its cybersecurity controls.
The SEC’s investigation involving the four companies was conducted by Arsen Ablaev and Michael Baker of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (CACU) and David D’Addio in the Boston Regional Office. It was supervised by Amy Flaherty Hartman and Mr. Tenreiro of the CACU and Kathryn A. Pyszka of the Chicago Regional Office.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement marking 10 years since the attack at the National War Memorial and on Parliament Hill:
“Ten years after the day, we remember the horrific terrorist attack at the National War Memorial and on Parliament Hill.
“Corporal Nathan Cirillo was shot and killed while standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent was murdered just two days before in another attack, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. Today, our hearts are with their families and friends who still grieve the loss of their loved one.
“On October 22, 2014, Canadians saw terrifying pictures and videos of an attack on Parliament Hill. But there is one image from that day I remember clearly: people protecting one another as we took shelter wherever we were. I remember that, in the days that followed, political debate was subsumed by collegial support. And above all, we all remember the service and the sacrifice of those who stood guard, and those who rushed toward danger to save lives.
“That is what we remember today, and what we must never forget.”
Members of the Malian junta wave as civilians gather to celebrate the overthrow of the president on Aug. 21, 2020. AP Photo/File
In September 2024, authorities in Benin detained the country’s former sports minister and a prominent businessman for allegedly plotting a coup against the West African nation’s president, Patrice Talon. Had a putsch materialized, Benin would have joined a growing list of African countries to have experienced a military coup over the past four years.
As I’ve observed over the course of my research on the politics of military coups, civilian support is actually a common, if not critical, part of coup politics, and far from unique to this recent resurgence of military takeovers.
How common are civilian-supported coups?
In the popular imagination of a military coup, power-hungry soldiers command tanks down a capital’s streets to seize authority from the political leadership. In this vision, civilians are often passive actors or otherwise assumed to be the opponents of coups. Yet such a setting is belied by numerous examples, both recent and throughout history.
In West Africa’s Niger, for example, the M62 movement – a coalition of civil society organizations – gathered its members on the streets to support the coup in July 2023, outnumbering prior protests calling for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum. In neighboring Mali, the M5-RFP protest movement served a similar role in the aftermath of the country’s 2020 coup – although fissures in its relationship with the junta have since surfaced.
Even Benin’s thwarted plot had a civilian dimension. Its alleged masterminds, the sports minister and prominent businessman who were said to have funded the planned coup, were not soldiers but part of the governing bureaucracy or elite civil society.
To see how common such cases are, I collected data on civilian support and involvement in all successful military coups since 1950. Defining coups as “successful” if the soldiers manage to stay in power for at least seven days, that gave me 242 cases over a period of nearly 75 years to analyze, spanning different regions like Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
Out of the 242 episodes, 189 coups – or nearly 80% – saw some type of civilian support, either in the takeover’s instigation or in the later consolidation of power.
Coups without any sign of civilian support were generally those that saw a military leader ousted by other members of the ruling junta – contexts where soldiers already dominated the political landscape.
Breaking down the numbers over time, civilian-supported coups represented the lion’s share in each decade, even as the overall frequency of coups ebbed by the 1990s with the end of the Cold War.
But in the past two decades, virtually every successful coup has been associated with some level of support outside the military. So while civilian support might not be unique to recent cases, there is evidence that it has become a more common fixture of military coups – at least among the successful ones.
Of course, these stats do not include failed coups or thwarted conspiracies. But the failed attempts to instigate a coup in Benin – or, for that matter, in Brazil in January 2023 – suggest that these numbers might underestimate the frequency of civilian support for, and involvement in, coups.
How civilians support coups
In general, civilian support for coups can manifest in different ways. But in a recent study, I identified two broad patterns: instigation and consolidation.
Instigation, by default, occurs in the pre-coup stage and involves civilians taking action to spark a coup attempt.
Protests and insurrections in pursuit of a military coup are common methods of instigation. For example, early in 2023, supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro seized the National Congress after weeks of publicly calling on the military to stop President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration. While their efforts ultimately failed to produce a coup, they are illustrative of the civilian dynamic.
In late 2021, disgruntled members of Sudan’s transitional government organized protests in Khartoum, the capital, calling for the military’s intervention. The military answered days later by removing Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok from power.
Instigation can also involve more targeted actions. For instance, the alleged Benin coup plot involved targeting specific members of the security services with bribes in exchange for their participation. In Brazil, recent court documents implicated Bolsonaro himself in coordinating a coup plot and attempting to ensure the participation of top military leaders.
In other cases, political parties developed secret cells in the armed forces to later give the go-ahead for a coup – like in Bolivia in 1952, Iraq in 1963, Afghanistan in 1978 and Sudan in 1989.
Consolidation, on the other hand, involves actions taken during and in the immediate aftermath of a coup.
This could include actions like taking up arms alongside soldiers during a military takeover, organizing pro-coup protests or assuming important governing tasks alongside a new junta. Here, civilians seek to ensure a coup succeeds and its objectives take root – even against domestic and international opposition.
Among the recent West African cases, civilians have especially worked to consolidate coups against international opposition. For example, after the Economic Community of West African States threatened military intervention to reverse Niger’s coup in 2023, M62 and other civilian-led protest groups rallied to support the coupists. Thousands also enlisted in the Volunteers for the Defense of Niger, a pro-junta civilian militia created to combat international intervention against the coupists.
Why civilian coup support matters
Soldiers are unlikely to even attempt a coup without confidence that at least some civilians will back their efforts.
Portraying civilian support for military takeovers as exceptional thus misses a critical component of coup politics. And this misconception benefits coupists, who can use civilian allies to present their actions as legitimate or even revolutionary, which is what happened in Egypt in 2013.
Military coups also do not occur in a vacuum. A proper focus on the civilian element of coup politics allows researchers and international observers to better contextualize military takeovers in broader social struggles for the state.
This could lead to greater engagement with the issue of what kinds of civilian segments are instigating and consolidating coups. Are they close to the targeted leader such as in Benin’s alleged plot? Or are they members of the political opposition, like in Niger and Mali?
These nuances should be front and center to researchers, policymakers and diplomats as they seek to understand – and mitigate – sudden and often destabilizing takeovers of a state.
Salah Ben Hammou has received funding from the United States Institute of Peace and Minerva Research Initiative. He is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Rice University’s Baker Institute of Public Policy.
October has long been associated with ghosts – from ancient Celtic festivals to ward off restless spirits after harvest time to the modern standby of using an old sheet to make a last-minute Halloween costume. In the middle of the 19th century, however, popular portrayals of ghosts became a year-round staple, in part because photographers discovered that they could depict them.
The first ghost photographs were accidents. Early cameras required 30 seconds or more to take a photo. If someone wandered briefly into the shot, the resulting picture would contain their ghostly trace superimposed over substantial furniture, buildings or people who had held still for the full exposure.
When shrewd photographers realized that the inconvenience of long exposure time could become an asset, detailed directions for creating these illusions proliferated. Photographers could cut ghost figures from transparent material and place them onto glass negatives or inside camera bodies. Or they could make real people half-transparent through tricks of double exposure.
As early as 1856, experts gleefully noted that one could create images of ghosts “for the purpose of amusement.” Commercial photographers began producing this spectacular phenomenon for fun and profit and – as I have found while researching early portrait photography – thereby helped feed media fascination with all things ghostly.
Turning accident into amusement
Photographs became collectible amusements partly thanks to the midcentury invention of the stereoscope – a device that created three-dimensional optical illusions.
Stereoscope cards contain two pictures of the same scene, photographed from slightly different angles. A viewer selects a card, inserts it and then presses the instrument to their face. The device isolates their eyes, so each sees only one picture. As the brain, trying to avoid double vision, merges these images into one, the result is a 3D effect.
The Perfecscope from 1895 and a collection of stereoscopic cards. Andrea Kaston Tange, CC BY
In the 1850s, reading aloud was the primary form of at-home entertainment. Daily newspapers ran no images, and the technology to reproduce photographs in books or periodicals was still 40 years away. But this affordable gizmo could bring the whole world into your living room.
My archival research has turned up newspapers full of articles and ads promoting stereoscopic “marvels.” The London Stereoscopic Co. advertised “effects almost miraculous” and marketed the device for family entertainment. By 1856, a mere two years after the company’s founding, its catalog listed over 100,000 cards, including views of dramatic landscapes, exotic tourist destinations, famous portraits and card sets that told stories.
Among these collections of sights unseen were plenty of ghostly images. “The Ghost in the Stereoscope,” a colorized card, shows two men in open-mouthed surprise at the sudden appearance of a ghost at their supper table. The title signals the jump scare that the image maker hoped would likewise amaze the viewer when the 3D ghost loomed before their very eyes.
On another card, “That’s Too Thin,” a ghost points an accusatory arm at one man sitting at a gaming table. The 1876 guide “How to Write Letters” lists “too thin” among its “slang words and phrases” to be avoided for their “low associations and vulgar ideas,” which suggests that the offender is doing something unseemly for a respectable man. This visual joke relied on a pot-kettle formula: A figure so thin as to be see-through is calling out someone else as “too thin.”
Nothing was meant to imply that these were pictures of actual spirits. Some – like “The Haunted Lane,” in which two men who cower in supposed terror from a ghost are obviously photographed in a studio with “lane” props – were so melodramatic as to be funny. Others were more melancholy and featured mourning husbands whose ghost-wives played the piano beside them, or orphaned children whose ghost-mothers watched over them from beyond the grave. All of them were performances.
And all of them helped stoke a midcentury market hungry for ghostly thrills. In 1859, novelist Wilkie Collins published his spectral “The Woman in White” in installments in Charles Dickens’ weekly magazine. It sold over 100,000 copies and launched a decade-long craze for hair-raising sensation fiction.
The “Illustrated Police News,” launched in 1864, contained supposedly true tabloid-style stories that often featured ghosts. And in 1862, John Henry Pepper, a British scientist and popular lecturer, refined a projection technique that could create apparitions onstage during live theater productions. Commonly known as Pepper’s Ghost, the dramatic illusions began appearing immediately on both sides of the Atlantic.
Some stereoscope cards referenced multiple forms of popular entertainment to create ghost images that worked as layered visual jokes. The 1865 card “A Dream After Seeing Pepper’s Ghost” is a great example of how the Victorian penchant for allusions and wordplay found its way into this visual pastime.
The sleeping young woman’s “dream” is a photographic ghost: The looming, gauzy figure filling the dark space of the window beside her bed would have appeared to float in 3D stereoscope. “Seeing Pepper’s Ghost” obviously refers to a play she has attended: Her fine clothes tossed haphazardly on the furniture indicate a late evening out.
But the ghost has the head of a cow and wears a necklace on which is lettered “MUSTARD.” A Victorian viewer accustomed to wordplay riddles would realize that this ghost-of-pepper also implies that the sleeper ate too much of an overly seasoned roast beef dinner, for indigestion was commonly understood to cause bad dreams.
Together, these details may allude to Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” A theater company in 1865 would undoubtedly use the sensational new Pepper’s technique to place the ghost of Jacob Marley onstage to torment his former business partner, the miser Scrooge. And Scrooge quite famously dismisses Marley’s ghost initially as “an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard” – that is, as merely a bad dream brought on by overeating. A clever viewer would delight in puzzling through these playful layers of stereoscopic magic.
But in the Halloween season, it’s fun to contemplate the lighter side of this history, when an appetite for haunting tales inspired photographic ghost effects that seem delightfully ahead of their time.
Andrea Kaston Tange 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.
Some experts have said that the hurricanes could cause voter numbers to drop – and impacts of Helene have already prompted a few early polling stations in western North Carolina to close. But more North Carolina residents turned out to vote on the first day of early voting than they did in 2020.
Amy Lieberman, a politics and society editor at The Conversation U.S., spoke with Michael T. Morley, who studies natural disasters and election law, to understand how these recent storms could complicate voting in the presidential election.
A home in Manasota Key, Fla., that was damaged by Hurricane Milton is seen on Oct. 13, 2024. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
What are the major issues that hurricanes can create ahead of an election?
A hurricane or natural disaster makes an election tremendously more challenging for both election officials and voters on various practical levels.
Election administrators might have been injured, or their homes could be flooded or destroyed. State officials need to ensure, especially in areas that have been hardest hit, that enough local administrators remain in place to continue distributing absentee ballots and to staff early voting locations.
Still, I have not seen empirical evidence that the results of any federal elections in recent decades have changed as a result of hurricanes.
What could these major hurricanes mean for voters in North Carolina and Florida?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Oct. 3, 2024, in response to Hurricane Helene. Among other things, Florida law says that in a state of emergency the governor can suspend state statutes or regulations governing state business when complying with them can interfere with disaster response.
Florida, like other states, has deadlines for when election officials must designate polling locations. DeSantis waived this deadline to authorize county officials to designate new ones. DeSantis’ order also gives election officials more discretion about where new polling locations may be located. And he made it easier for state employees to step in and serve as poll workers, particularly on Election Day.
DeSantis suspended a state requirement so a person who cannot return to their home can ask by phone to have a vote-by-mail ballot sent to wherever they are staying – not just their registered home address. Making it easier for ballots to be sent to people, wherever they are, is one of the most effective measures that Florida has implemented to help make voting easier.
In North Carolina, meanwhile, state officials have authorized different changes that will apply to the 25 counties in the western part of the state that are under emergency orders because of the hurricane. These changes are mostly focused on voting by mail and polling place workers. They also allow county boards of elections to change Election Day voting locations and permit voters to drop off absentee ballots at any county board of election office by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
Western North Carolina voters now also have until Nov. 4 to request a mail-in ballot, as opposed to the original deadline of Oct. 29.
What sort of legal issues, if any, do these changes open up?
Disputes have already arisen about potential extension of the voter registration deadlines in states affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Courts in Florida and Georgia have already declined emergency motions to extend the voter registration deadline.
Similar disputes are likely to arise over such election rules as photo identification requirements at polling places and the deadlines for requesting and returning absentee ballots.
Occasionally, challenges also arise alleging that certain measures to address an emergency have gone too far.
During the height of the pandemic, for example, the Trump presidential campaign filed lawsuits that unsuccessfully challenged state decisions to automatically mail absentee ballots to people registered to vote.
A U.S. post offic, damaged by flooding from Hurricane Helen, is pictured on Oct. 3, 2024, in Marshall, N.C., showing one of the complications for people who planned to vote by mail. Mario Tama/Getty Images
What are you most concerned about heading into the election?
My biggest concern is that, particularly if the election is close, a losing candidate might attempt to use the hurricane as a way of trying to challenge the election results or call them into question.
Courts will almost certainly reject that. Once the election has happened, a court generally will not set aside the results or order additional voting, even if voters faced substantial burdens and people think there is more that election officials could have done. This is especially true in the context of a presidential election, since the U.S. Constitution and federal law establish several important postelection deadlines involving the Electoral College.
Some people already have unwarranted skepticism about the electoral process. It would be bad for our democracy if the recent hurricanes are exploited as a basis for refusing to accept the election’s results.
Michael T. Morley is Sheila M. McDevitt Professor of Law at FSU College of Law. He serves as Faculty Director of the FSU Center for Election Law established by the Florida State Legislature and Vice Chair of the Florida Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights. He is a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises and Election Officials Legal Defense Network.
White signs emblazoned with a big blue dot are going up in yards across Omaha, Nebraska, in an unusual political statement of support for Democratic candidates.
Nebraska splits its electoral votes, giving Omaha’s congressional district a single electoral vote out of the state’s total of five. If enough of Omaha’s metropolitan voters back Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for president, Omaha will appear on the electoral map as a “blue dot” on a field of Republican red.
Most U.S. states award all their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the state’s election, no matter the margin of victory. Only Nebraska and Maine split their electoral votes.
Nebraska awards one vote to each congressional district, plus two votes to the state’s overall winner. It began this practice in 1992 to draw more presidential campaigns to the state. Nebraska, as a whole, so predictably leans conservative that neither Republicans nor Democrats had bothered to campaign there.
In the eight presidential elections since 1992, Omaha has turned blue only twice – in 2008 and 2020, backing Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Democratic voters hope to buck statewide trends again in 2024.
The blue dot movement began in mid-August 2024 in Omaha’s Dundee neighborhood, when local residents Jason Brown and Ruth Huebner-Brown spray-painted a blue circle on a white sign and put it on their lawn as a conversation starter.
One sign grew to 10, 100, 1,000, snowballing into a movement. Now blue dot signs can be found well beyond Omaha, even in other states. On Facebook and Reddit, people share where to find the signs and how to make your own.
A simple blue dot on a white background has become a powerful political symbol – a reference to a map that does not have to be seen to be visualized. For Omahans in the know, the sign is a reminder of what the city’s place on the map might be come Nov. 5.
For others, the enigmatic sign simply raises questions, creating opportunities for Omahans to discuss the importance of voting in Nebraska.
The sly way the blue dot sign refers to an election map without actually showing that map reminded me of my suffrage movement research.
In the 1910s, women activists campaigning to get American women the vote used a map as part of their campaign. It depicted U.S. states that had passed suffrage in white and the rest in black – dark marks on the nation.
The suffragists plastered their map across the country and sold it through the National Woman Suffrage Publishing Company. In newsletters and magazines, they shared how to make maps for rallies using easily accessible materials. The map became so familiar to the American public by 1912 that it was referred to in speeches and newspaper articles without the visual.
At suffrage parades and pageants they formed “living suffrage maps,” with women dressed in white representing states with the vote and those in black representing states where they could not.
As women’s suffrage momentum grew, spreading from western to eastern U.S. states, the map had ever-fewer black spots. In 1914, Nevada became the last western state to pass suffrage.
“The suffrage map showing Nevada as the last ‘black spot’ in the West was printed in every newspaper and on every leaflet,” suffragists later wrote about their efforts. It was “put up in public places and on large banners hung in the streets.”
With Nebraska’s blue dot signs, Omahans are fighting to keep their spot on the map, not erase it. They are an act of claiming space, making Democrats visible in a state so strongly associated with Republicans.
On Oct. 20, 2024, in yet another echo of the women’s suffrage movement, they even created a “human blue dot” at a rally in a local park.
A Republican red dot in Omaha. Christina Dando, CC BY
Two I’ve seen are a white sign depicting just an entirely red Nebraska, and a white sign with a large red dot with a golden wave on its top that resembles Trump’s hair.
These red dot and red Nebraska signs are catching on, but not in the same way as blue dot signs have.
Kirk described Nebraska as “being one of the most Republican states” and said the state’s electoral votes must “go towards electing the candidate the vast majority of Nebraskans prefer.”
Many people reacted with fury, and the bill did not advance in Nebraska’s one-house state Legislature. That’s another of the state’s political quirks: Nebraska is the only state to have a state legislature without an upper and lower chamber of lawmakers.
The system, called the unicameral, is officially partyless, meaning its 49 representatives are elected without their party on the ballot.
The unicameral dates from 1937 when it was thought this less costly, nonpartisan system would be a more representative form of government. So is splitting the state’s electoral votes: Voters can feel more confident that their vote counts and that every vote counts.
When South Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham visited Nebraska in September 2024, he pushed Gov. Jim Pillen, a fellow Republican, to implement a winner-take-all system for the 2024 election.
Pillen said he would not call a special session of the unicameral unless he has the 33 votes needed to pass the change to the state’s electoral system. That appears unlikely to happen before November.
Red + blue = purple?
A winner-take-all approach to Electoral College votes has the effect of erasing nuance and difference on the map of America by painting states as entirely red or blue.
No state has ever voted 100% Democrat or Republican. The country should be drawn in shades of purple.
Nebraska has the misleading appearance of overwhelming redness because of its many Republican-leaning rural counties with low population density. Yet Nebraska’s registered voters are approximately two-thirds Republicans and one-third Democrats. Many registered Democrats live in cities such as Omaha and Lincoln.
But they can be found throughout the state – just look for the blue dot.
Christina Elizabeth Dando 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.
As the U.S. presidential election approaches, news reports and social media feeds are increasingly filled with data from public opinion polls. How do pollsters know which candidate is ahead in what swing state or with which key demographic group? Or what issues are most important to as many as 264 million eligible voters across a vast country?
In other words: How do pollsters do what they do?
At Emerson College Polling, we lead a dynamic survey operation that, like many others, has continuously evolved to keep pace with shifting trends and technologies in survey research. At the inception of survey research – about 100 years ago – data was primarily collected through mail and in-person interviews. That’s not true nowadays, of course.
In the early days of the survey industry, being asked to participate in a poll was novel, and response rates were high. Today, we’re bombarded with survey requests via email, text, online pop-ups, and phone calls from unknown numbers. With fewer landlines, busy parents juggling work and family, and younger adults who rarely answer calls, preferring text communication, it has become much harder to engage respondents. This shift in behavior reflects the evolving challenges of reaching diverse populations in modern survey research.
In the broadest possible terms, polls and surveys have two elements – choosing whom to contact, and reaching them in a way that’s likely to get a response. These elements are often intertwined.
In the 1970s, after household telephones had become widespread in the U.S., survey operators adopted a random-sampling method called random digit dialing, in which the survey’s designers would choose the area codes they wanted to reach and live operators randomly dialed seven-digit phone numbers within that area code.
By the 1990s, pollsters began moving away from random digit dialing, which was time-consuming and expensive because the random selection often picked phone numbers that were out of service or not useful for opinion surveys, such as businesses or government offices. Instead, pollsters began adopting registration-based sampling, in which public voter registration records were used to compile the lists from which respondents were randomly selected.
The information in these and other associated public records, such as those detailing gender, age and educational attainment, allowed a refinement of random sampling called stratified sampling. That’s where the one big list was split into subgroups based on these different characteristics, such as party affiliation, voting frequency, gender, race or ethnicity, income or educational attainment.
Survey-takers then chose randomly from among those subgroups in proportion to the population as a whole. So if 40% of the overall population have college degrees and 60% do not, a poll of 100 people would randomly select 40 people from the list of those with a college degree and 60 from the list of those without.
Other advances in ways to reach respondents emerged late in the 20th century, such as interactive voice response, which did not require live operators. Instead, automated systems played recordings of the questions and registered the spoken responses. In 2000, internet-based polling also began to emerge, in which participants filled out online forms.
From probability to nonprobability sampling
Over the past two decades, the rise of cellphones, text messaging and online platforms has dramatically changed survey research. The traditional gold standard of using only live operator telephone polls has become nearly obsolete. Now that phones display who is calling, fewer people answer calls from unknown numbers, and fewer of them are willing to talk to a stranger about their personal views.
Even the random sampling that was once standard has given way to a nonprobability sampling approach based on increasingly specific population proportions. So if 6% of a population are Black men with a certain level of education and a certain amount of household income, then a survey will strive to have 6% of its respondents match those characteristics.
In quota sampling, participants may not be selected randomly but rather chosen as participants because they have specific demographic attributes. This method is less statistically rigorous and more prone to bias, though it may yield a representative sample with relative efficiency. By contrast, stratified sampling randomly selects participants within defined groups, reducing sampling error and providing more precise estimates of population characteristics.
To help polling operations find potential respondents, political and marketing consulting firms have compiled voter information, including demographic data and contact details. At Emerson College Polling, we have access to a database of 273 million U.S. adults, with 123 million mobile numbers, 116 million email addresses and nearly 59 million landline numbers.
A newer technique pollsters are using to reach respondents is something called river sampling, an online method in which individuals encounter a survey during their regular internet browsing and social media activity, often through an ad or pop-up. They complete a short screening questionnaire and are then invited to join a survey opt-in panel whose members will be asked to take future surveys.
Our polling operation has used a range of approaches to reach the more than 162,000 people who have completed our polls so far this year in the United States.
Unlike traditional pollsters, Emerson College Polling does not rely on live operator data collection outside of small-scale tests of new survey methods to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of different polling approaches.
Instead, like most modern pollsters, we use a mix of approaches, including text-to-web surveys, interactive voice response on landlines, email outreach, and opt-in panels. This combination allows us to reach a broader, more representative audience, which is essential for accurate polling in today’s fragmented social and media landscape. This diverse population includes younger individuals who communicate through various platforms distinct from those used by older generations.
When we contact the people in our stratified samples, we take into account differences between each communication method. For example, older people tend to answer landlines, while men and middle-aged people are more responsive to mobile text-to-web surveys. To reach underrepresented groups – such as adults ages 18 to 29 and Hispanic respondents – we use online databases that they have voluntarily signed up for, knowing they may be surveyed.
We also use information about whom we sample and how to calculate the margin of error, which measures the precision of poll results. Larger sample sizes tend to be more representative of the overall population and therefore lead to a smaller margin of error.
For instance, a poll of 400 respondents typically has a 4.9% margin of error, while increasing the sample size to 1,000 reduces it to 3%, offering more accurate insights.
The goal, as ever, is to present to the public an accurate reflection of what the people as a whole think about candidates and issues.
Spencer Kimball works for Emerson College Polling.
Camille Mumford works for Emerson College Polling.
You’ve probably seen them: alarming columns or stories with alarming headlines about how somebody is going to exploit an obscure provision in election law to undo the 2024 presidential election and toss it to the House of Representatives. Your vote won’t count, and democracy will go to hell.
Election law scholar Justin Levitt throws cold water on those scenarios, and in an interview with Naomi Schalit, The Conversation’s senior editor for politics and democracy, he says the voters will decide the election, “flat out.”
What’s “electoral process porn?”
It’s a writing genre identifying a tactic or loophole that’s supposedly going to fundamentally change the election process – what I called “The Key to the Whole Thing This Time” in a Slate piece earlier this year – usually, by taking away everyone’s voting rights and magically delivering the election to one candidate. It’s a lurid, titillating take that depends on the fact that election law and process can sometimes seem impenetrable.
What distinguishes this type of think piece from other reporting on the election process is tone and emphasis, rather than information. Just like not every sex scene in the movies needs an NC-17 label, not every piece about how elections work is going to be electoral process porn.
Perhaps the worst part about electoral process porn is that it leaves readers with an unjustified feeling of helplessness, even the thought that voting might be pointless, if it’s all subject to this supposed hidden gimmick. It is dystopian fiction masquerading as analysis, feeding on people’s anxieties that a basic process of self-government might be taken out of their own hands.
A selection of headlines trumpeting the ways the 2024 presidential election could be subverted. Mother Jones, Politico, USA Today
Can you give me a few examples? I want the person who reads this to understand concretely what you’re talking about.
Sure. One example fits the mold of the artful con: the heist movie or spy thriller that depends on knowing the particular procedural lever to deliver results, the MacGuffin nobody else can anticipate, making the person who’s the center of the thriller the smartest person in the room. It’s the story about an Electoral College feature in which an obscure part of the law, say subparagraph (ii)(B) of paragraph (1)(c) about delivering a particular piece of paper, secretly holds the spell to make millions of votes disappear. It depends on a wildly implausible sequence of events and a whiff of magical legalism, with a basic misunderstanding of what legal rules are for.
Another example is the armchair detective mystery, with the promise that if you squint just right, you can find the clues that finally solve the big crime. This type of piece often centers on alleged voter fraud, making a legitimate loss feel more palatable by suggesting it’s theft instead. The thing is, these are usually murder mysteries with no dead bodies. People motivated to play detective will often find suspicious patterns in conduct that’s entirely lawful.
A third version is a horror story, with jump scares at scale: tales of voter suppression predicting that evildoers will steal the election by preventing millions of legitimate voters from casting ballots that count.
But there are practices and rules that can be obstacles to voting.
There sure are. I’m a civil rights lawyer, so it’s worth noting that some election rules do make the process harder than it needs to be. Sometimes intentionally. Rules disenfranchising people with convictions offer a particularly stark version of that very real problem. We’ve got an obligation to keep making the election process better.
But these electoral process porn articles often portray the system as an endless nightmare of procedural hurdles. That’s not reality for most of the electorate.
Yes. And it diminishes people’s confidence in the power of their vote. I think it would be somewhat less harmful if it were paired with a message of empowerment, like, “Here is what people are trying to do to take power. But it’s not going to work. And you can ensure your voice counts by registering and casting your ballot.”
I don’t mean to shake my finger at writers who are trying to present information in a way that draws readers in. But the tone of these columns, and the degree to which they empower or discourage, matters. These process-porn pieces are at their worst when the voters are peripheral, when the articles say, “This is being done to you, and there’s really nothing you can do about it other than get angry and give us money.”
We’re getting pretty close to Election Day, which is the culmination of the vote. Are there legitimate problems that voters should be aware of?
There will be some bumps, sure. Until humans figure out how not to make mistakes, there will be issues that crop up. It’s a good thing that for most Americans, voting is a period of time, rather than a single day. That gives opportunities to catch and address the problems.
The Electoral College means that a few thousand voters in a few swing states are going to decide the winner. It’s going to be up to those voters, flat out – who decides to cast a ballot and who they decide to vote for – not a deus ex machina. The election process is designed to tell us who we chose, not to determine the answer without us.
But 537 votes is an anomaly. The elections of 2016and 2020 were very close in the states that determined the Electoral College results – but still nowhere near Florida-in-2000 close.
And because of all the fail-safes built into the system, even very close is something the election process can handle. I’m very confident that the voters are going to decide this election, not the lawyers or the courts.
Electoral process porn is adult fiction. In the real world, it turns out “The Key To The Whole Thing This Time” isn’t a process quirk. It’s us.
Professor Levitt served as the country’s first White House Senior Policy Advisor for Democracy and Voting Rights, from 2021-2022.
Continued support from the White House for Ukraine could hinge on the presidential election.AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
The U.S. presidential election isn’t drawing eyes only at home – Moscowand Kyiv are watching closely, too.
Regardless of who wins in November, there will be significant implications for Ukraine as it continues to resist Russia in a war heading toward a fourth year.
During the presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump had a chance to clarify their positions on Ukraine. Trump evaded ABC moderator David Muir’s question regarding the importance of Ukraine’s victory over Russia, twice. Instead, he repeated his long-standing line that he would achieve a negotiated peace quickly – even before taking office as president.
At the same debate, Harris dismissed the idea of Trump negotiating with “a dictator who would eat you for lunch.” She instead emphasized the Biden policy to support Ukraine “as long as it takes” in concert with U.S. allies.
But detail has been light on what either candidate would actually do to support Ukraine and end the war. So, what do we know about each candidate’s approach to Ukraine based on their records?
Trump: A ‘very fair and rapid deal’?
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Trump has repeatedly stated that ending the war is in the U.S.’s best interests and that he can end the war quickly. In fact, Trump is certain that had he remained president after the 2020 election, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded – an unsubstantiated claim he repeated during the Sept. 10 presidential debate.
Trump has often reiterated that both Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy respect him, and he would be able to use his “good relationship” with both to bring them to the negotiating table and end the war.
Yet, Trump’s record on his relationships with Zelenskyy and Putin is rather complicated.
Trump’s relationship with Zelenskyy is similarly laden with baggage. A 2019 phone call between the two men, during which Trump pressured Ukraine’s president to open a criminal investigation into Joe Biden, led to Trump’s impeachment. In exchange, Ukraine would have received continued U.S. support for the country’s defense against Russia, which had been waging a proxy war in eastern regions of Ukraine since 2014. During the subsequent hearings in Congress, one of Trump’s aids testified that “Trump did not give a sh*t about Ukraine” and was only interested in his own political gains.
Standing next to Zelenskyy during a meeting at the Trump Tower on Sept. 27, 2024 – their first meeting since Sept. 25, 2019 – Trump said he was sure that both Zelenskyy and Putin are interested in peace and that a “very fair” and “rapid” deal is possible.
When asked what that deal might entail, Trump responded that it’s “too early” to discuss details and that both he and Zelenskyy have “their own ideas.”
While the Republican candidate has not been explicit on the details of negotiations or possible conditions, some of his proxies have voiced proposals. Trump’s vice presidential pick, JD Vance, has laid out a plan that includes potential land concessions on the part of Ukraine and the creation of a demilitarized zone along the battle lines of the Russian-occupied territory of eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Trump’s son Donald Jr. co-authored a piece with former presidential candidate turned Trump ally Robert F Kennedy Jr., arguing that a concession to Russian demands for “Ukrainian neutrality and a halt to NATO’s eastward expansion” were reasonable to avoid a nuclear game of chicken. Although these have not been echoed in Trump’s own statements on Ukraine, both men have the ear of the Republican candidate.
Harris has been harshly critical of Trump’s approach to Ukraine. “They are not proposals for peace,” Harris said in response to suggestions that Ukraine cede territory for peace. “Instead they are proposals for surrender,” she added.
Such views are in line with Harris’ record. As part of the Biden administration, Harris has given vocal support to Ukraine’s fight for political sovereignty and territorial integrity.
At the onset of the full-scale invasion in early 2022, Harris traveled to Europe to help shore up a coalition of European allies to support Ukraine.
As a presidential candidate, Harris has openly signaled her commitment to supporting Kyiv – not only for Ukraine survival but for the collective security of NATO allies and the U.S. itself. Harris emphasized this point in the September debate, suggesting that Ukraine was not Putin’s final stop and that he has “his eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland.”
Standing next to Zelenskyy in Washington on Sept. 26, 2024, Harris reiterated the point: “The United States supports Ukraine not out of charity, but because it’s in our strategic interest.”
Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, the U.S. Congress has passed five bills that provide aid to Ukraine, totaling US$175 billion.
However, a six-month delay in aid in early 2024 highlighted growing partisan tension in Congress over continued aid to Ukraine.
The composition of Congress after the November election is another unknown factor in Washington’s support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy met with congressional leaders during his visit to the U.S. in September, but notably absent was Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who in the past has shown reluctance to support continued funding.
For the large part, support for Ukraine remains bipartisan in Congress and among American voters. Yet there is a risk the election could further politicize the issue. And the outcome of November’s vote could determine whether U.S. efforts going forward focus more on pushing for a negotiated deal or on-going support for Ukraine.
Lena Surzhko Harned 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.
A simple difference in the genetic code – two X chromosomes versus one X chromosome and one Y chromosome – can lead to major differences in heart disease. It turns out that these genetic differences influence more than just sex organs and sex assigned at birth – they fundamentally alter the way cardiovascular disease develops and presents.
While sex influences the mechanisms behind how cardiovascular disease develops, gender plays a role in how health care providers recognize and manage it. Sex refers to biological characteristics such as genetics, hormones, anatomy and physiology, while gender refers to social, psychological and cultural constructs. Women are more likely to die after a first heart attack or stroke than men. Women are also more likely to have additional or different heart attack symptoms that go beyond chest pain, such as nausea, jaw pain, dizziness and fatigue. It is often difficult to fully disentangle the influences of sex on cardiovascular disease outcomes versus the influences of gender.
While women who haven’t entered menopause have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than men, their cardiovascular risk accelerates dramatically after menopause. In addition, if a woman has Type 2 diabetes, her risk of heart attack accelerates to be equivalent to that of men, even if the woman with diabetes has not yet gone through menopause. Further data is needed to better understand differences in cardiovascular disease risk among nonbinary and transgender patients.
Despite these differences, one key thing is the same: Heart attack, stroke and other forms of cardiovascular disease are the leading cause of death for all people, regardless of sex or gender.
The reasons behind sex and gender differences in cardiovascular disease are not completely known. Nor are the distinct biological effects of sex, such as hormonal and genetic factors, versus gender, such as social, cultural and psychological factors, clearly differentiated.
What researchers do know is that the accumulated evidence of what good heart care should look like for women compared with men has as many holes in it as Swiss cheese. Medical evidence for treating cardiovascular disease often comes from trials that excluded women, since women for the most part weren’t included in scientific research until the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993. For example, current guidelines to treat cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure are based primarily on data from men. This is despite evidence that differences in the way that cardiovascular disease develops leads women to experience cardiovascular disease differently.
In addition to sex differences, implicit gender biases among providers and gendered social norms among patients lead clinicians to underestimate the risk of cardiac events in women compared with men. These biases play a role in why women are more likely than men to die from cardiac events. For example, for patients with symptoms that are borderline for cardiovascular disease, clinicians tend to be more aggressive in ordering artery imaging for men than for women. One study linked this tendency to order less aggressive tests for women partly to a gender bias that men are more open than women to taking risks.
In a study of about 3,000 patients with a recent heart attack, women were less likely than men to think that their heart attack symptoms were due to a heart condition. Additionally, most women do not know that cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death among women. Overall, women’s misperceptions of their own risk may hold them back from getting a doctor to check out possible symptoms of a heart attack or stroke.
These issues are further exacerbated for women of color. Lack of access to health care and additional challenges drive health disparities among underrepresented racial and ethnic minority populations.
Sex difference in heart disease
Cardiovascular disease physically looks different for women and men, specifically in the plaque buildup on artery walls that contributes to illness.
Women are more likely than men to have cardiovascular disease that presents as multiple narrowed arteries that are not fully “clogged,” resulting in chest pain because blood flow can’t ratchet up enough to meet higher oxygen demands with exercise, much like a low-flow showerhead. When chest pain presents in this way, doctors call this condition ischemia and no obstructive coronary arteries. In comparison, men are more likely to have a “clogged” artery in a concentrated area that can be opened up with a stent or with cardiac bypass surgery. Options for multiple narrowed arteries have lagged behind treatment options for typical “clogged” arteries, which puts women at a disadvantage.
In addition, in the early stages of a heart attack, the levels of blood markers that indicate damage to the heart are lowerin women than in men. This can lead to more missed diagnoses of coronary artery disease in women compared with men.
Too often, women with symptoms of cardiovascular disease are sent away from doctor’s offices because of gender biases that “women don’t get heart disease.”
Considering how symptoms of cardiovascular disease vary by sex and gender could help doctors better care for all patients.
One way that the rubber is meeting the road is with regard to better approaches to diagnosing heart attacks for women and men. Specifically, when diagnosing heart attacks, using sex-specific cutoffs for blood tests that measure heart damage – called high-sensitivity troponin tests – can improve their accuracy, decreasing missed diagnoses, or false negatives, in women while also decreasing overdiagnoses, or false positives, in men.
Our research laboratory’s leaders,collaborators and other internationally recognized research colleagues – some of whom partner with our Ludeman Family Center for Women’s Health Research on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus – will continue this important work to close this gap between the sexes in health care. Research in this field is critical to shine a light on ways clinicians can better address sex-specific symptoms and to bring forward more tailored treatments.
The Biden administration’s recent executive order to advance women’s health research is paving the way for research to go beyond just understanding what causes sex differences in cardiovascular disease. Developing and testing right-sized approaches to care for each patient can help achieve better health for all.
Amy Huebschmann receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart Lung Blood Institute, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the United States Health Resources and Services Administration and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government.
Judith Regensteiner receives funding from the National Institutes of Health focused on sex differences in the cardiovascular consequences of type 2 diabetes. She also has a mentoring grant from the NIH.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Farah Nibbs, Assistant Professor of Emergency and Disaster Health Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Long before colonialism brought slavery to the Caribbean, the native islanders saw hurricanes and storms as part of the normal cycle of life.
The Taino of the Greater Antilles and the Kalinago, or Caribs, of the Lesser Antilles developed systems that enabled them to live with storms and limit their exposure to damage.
On the larger islands, such as Jamaica and Cuba, the Taino practiced crop selection with storms in mind, preferring to plant root crops such as cassava or yucca with high resistance to damage from hurricane and storm winds, as Stuart Schwartz describes in his 2016 book “Sea of Storms.”
The current disaster crisis that the Caribbean’s small islands are experiencing as hurricanes intensify did not start a few decades ago. Rather, the islands’ vulnerability is a direct result of the exploitative systems forced upon the region by colonialism, its legacies of slave-based land policies and ill-suited construction and development practices, and its environmental injustices.
Rather than growing crops that could sustain the local food supply, the Europeans who began arriving in the 1600s focused on exploitative extractive economic models and export cash crops through the plantation economy.
They forced Indigenous people off their lands and built settlements along the coast, which made it easier to import enslaved peoples and goods and to export cash crops such as sugar and tobacco to Europe – and also left communities vulnerable to storms. They also developed settlements in low-lying areas, often near rivers and streams, which could provide transportation for agricultural produce but which became flood risks during heavy rains.
Homes built to the water’s edge in Saint-Martin, an overseas collectivity of France, were devastated when Hurricane Irma hit in 2017. Helene Valenzuela/AFP via Getty Images
Today, more than 70% of the Caribbean’s population lives along the coast, often less than a mile from the shore. These coastlines are not only highly exposed to hurricanes but also to sea-level rise fueled by climate change.
Legacies of slave-based land policies
Colonialism’s legacy of land policies has also made recovery from disasters much harder today.
When colonial powers took over, a few landowners were given control of most of the land, while the majority of the population was forced onto marginal and small areas. The local population had no legal right to the land, as the people did not possess land certificate titles or deeds and were often forced to pay rent to landlords.
After independence, most island governments tried to acquire land from former plantations or estates and to redistribute it to the working class. But these efforts, mainly in the 1960s and ’70s, largely failed to transform land ownership, improve economic development or reduce vulnerability.
One colonial legacy perpetuating vulnerability to this day is known as crown land, or state land. In the English-speaking Caribbean, all land for which there was no land grant was considered property of the British crown. Crown land can be found in every English-speaking island to this day.
How colonial powers controlled the Caribbean over time.
For example, in Barbuda, all land is vested in the “crown in perpetuity” on behalf of Barbudans. This means that an individual born on the island of Barbuda cannot individually own land.
After emancipation from slavery, freed people had no right nor access to land. To build houses, they were forced to lease land from the former enslavers who at a whim could terminate their employment or kick them off the land.
This led to the development of a particular type of housing structure known as chattel houses in countries such as Barbados. These houses are tiny and were constructed in a way in which they could be easily taken apart and loaded onto carts, should the residents be forced out by their former enslavers. Many Bajans still live in these houses today, although quite a few have been converted to restaurants or shops.
In Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, owned by the Dutch, slave huts were built along the coast, on land not suitable for agriculture and easily damaged by storms. These former slave huts are now tourist attractions, but the colonial patterns of settling along the coast has left many coastal communities exposed to hurricane damage and rising seas.
The vulnerability of such houses is not only a result of their exposure to natural hazards but also the underlying social structures.
In many islands today, poorer residents can’t afford protective measures, such as installing storm shutters or purchasing solar-powered generators.
They often live in marginal and disaster-prone areas, such as steep hillsides, where housing tends to be cheaper. Houses in these areas are also often poorly constructed with low-grade materials, such as galvanized sheeting for roofs and walls.
This situation is made worse by the informal and unregulated nature of residential housing construction in the region and the poor enforcement of building codes.
Due to the legacy of colonialism, most housing or building standards or codes in the Commonwealth Caribbean are relics from the United Kingdom and in the French Antilles from France. Building standards across the region lack uniformity and are generally subjective and uncontrolled. Financial limitations and staffing constraints mean that codes and standards more often than not remain unenforced.
Progress, but still a lot of work to do
The Caribbean has made progress in developing wind-related building codes to try to increase resilience in recent years. And while damage from torrential rain is still not properly addressed in most Caribbean building standards, scientific guidance is available through the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology in Barbados.
Construction standards can help the islands build resilience. But work remains to be done to overcome the legacy of colonial-era land policies and development that have left island towns vulnerable to increasing storm risks.
Farah Nibbs 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.
In one of the most haunting scenes of Stephen King’s 1975 novel “Salem’s Lot,” a gravedigger named Mike Ryerson races to bury the coffin of a local boy named Danny Glick. As night approaches, a troubling thought overtakes Mike: Danny has been buried with his eyes open. Worse, Mike senses that Danny is looking through the closed coffin back at him.
A mania overcomes Mike. Prayers run through his head – “the ways things like that will for no good reason.” Then more disturbing thoughts intrude: “Now I bring you spoiled meat and reeking flesh.” Mike leaps into the hole he’s dug and furiously shovels soil off the coffin. The reader knows what he’s going to do, but ought not to do, next: Mike will open the coffin, freeing whatever Danny has become.
Enter the whip-poor-wills. Several of them, King writes, “had begun to lift their shrilling call,” the demand for violence that gives the species its name: whip-poor-will.
This isn’t the first time whip-poor-wills appear in “Salem’s Lot,” nor is it the last time King would invoke them in his work. But despite the importance of the species to King, whip-poor-wills never appear in film and television adaptations of “Salem’s Lot.”
Released on Oct. 3, 2024, the most recent adaptation of “Salem’s Lot” incorporates birdsong but makes little use of them. Here and there, an American crow or blue jay calls. Sparrowlike chirps pepper scenes at night. And as Mike unburies the undead Danny, the less threatening call of a barred owl replaces that of whip-poor-wills.
The whip-poor-will got its name from the male’s three-note call that sounds like it’s wailing, ‘Whip poor will.’
As a cultural sociologist writing a book about eastern whip-poor-wills, I’m interested in this omission not because it reflects an unfaithful recreation of King’s novel. Rather, I see the erasure of whip-poor-wills from “Salem’s Lot” as a symptom of broader ecological changes, one in which species loss is also tied to cultural loss.
Perhaps the best known whip-poor-wills in American horror appear in H.P. Lovecraft’s novella “The Dunwich Horror.” Lovecraft references the species nearly two dozen times in his story, with the birds often appearing around the deaths of the Whateley family, who live in the fictional town of Dunwich, Massachusetts.
By behaving in ways that real whip-poor-wills never do, Dunwich’s nightjars symbolize the horrors the Whateleys unleash on the townspeople. The birds also act as psychopomps: beings who guide the souls of the newly deceased to the afterlife.
Dunwich’s whip-poor-wills remain in the town until Halloween – “unnaturally belated,” Lovecraft writes – as they chant in unison with the dying breaths of Whateleys. (Indeed, most whip-poor-wills leave the Northeast by the end of September, and they usually don’t coordinate their singing.) But though whip-poor-wills are essential to the plot of “The Dunwich Horror,” another common owl, this one a great horned owl, replaces whip-poor-wills in the 1970 film adaptation of Lovecraft’s story.
King, too, uses whip-poor-wills to great effect. In “Jerusalem’s Lot,” the short story King later published as a prelude to “Salem’s Lot,” whip-poor-wills haunt the Maine town. And in his 1989 novel “The Dark Half,” King references the lore of whip-poor-wills as psychopomps.
Lovecraft’s and King’s fictional whip-poor-wills draw on widespread Indigenous, European and American beliefs about the species. A whip-poor-will singing near one’s home was an especially ominous sign, usually meaning that death would soon take someone in the house. An 1892 article in the American Journal of Folklore documents this belief in King’s home state, Maine. It also offers a story, probably apocryphal, as evidence: “A whippoorwill sang at a back door repeatedly; finally, the woman’s son was brought home dead, and the corpse brought into the house through the back door.”
Birds and belief disappear
For the better part of the 19th and early 20th centuries, whip-poor-will lore circulated among people who encountered the bird. Outside of the world of folklore studies, you can find passing mention of ill omens in the nature writing of Henry David Thoreau and Susan Fenimore Cooper, though neither gave credence to these superstitions. Into the 20th century, local newspapers continued to share lore about the birds with their readers.
But as erasure of the species from horror suggest, broader cultural familiarity with whip-poor-wills has atrophied. In one exception, “Chapelwaite,” a 2021 television series based on King’s “Jerusalem’s Lot,” the characters explicitly discuss the birds’ behaviors, so that viewers understand the reference.
The cultural erasure of whip-poor-wills mirrors the species’ actual decline. Conservationists estimate that eastern whip-poor-will populations have declined by about 70% since the 1970s. This decline is likely leading to what the naturalist Robert Michael Pyle calls the “extinction of experience.” Pyle reasons that when a species declines, people lose opportunities to encounter it in local landscapes and are less likely to be familiar with it in the first place.
Such declines also drive social and cultural losses. This is most stark when a species goes extinct. Consider the passenger pigeon. As the writer Jennifer Price shows in her book “Flight Maps,” the life of Americans was once entwined with the species. When massive flocks of passenger pigeons arrived, communities gathered to hunt the birds, which were once an integral part of the American diet. Now, however, the species is remembered almost exclusively as a symbol of human-induced extinction.
A passenger pigeon pictured in the early 20th century, shortly before the species went extinct. Bettmann/Getty Images
Similarly, the decline of common birds alters people’s relationships to the environment. For instance, in the U.K., the decline of house sparrows robs landscapes of the beloved sight and sound of a once ubiquitous species. The loss of common cuckoos, meanwhile, means that spring arrives in the U.K. without its iconic song.
Beyond cultures of loss
I think we are witnessing similar cultural changes with whip-poor-wills. Their absence in the adaptations of King’s work mirrors their absence both in the landscape and in people’s lives. But though lossand grief rightfully characterize many people’s relationship with whip-poor-wills and other declining species, I want to make a case for hope.
On one hand, there’s reason to be hopeful about the possibility of conservation: Whip-poor-wills appear to respond well to forest management practices that create diverse forests with a mix of younger and older trees. Many places where whip-poor-wills breed have active conservation plans to support the bird and other species that share their habitats.
Nor are whip-poor-wills culturally extinct.
After all, readers still find their way to the works of Lovecraft and King. These and other enduring references to the species offer people an opportunity to find their way back to the bird – and to what the species meant to all those who have cared for them.
Jared Del Rosso 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.
As Hispanic Heritage Month segues into Global Diversity Awareness Month, Instructional Technology Specialist for New Mexico’s Gadsden Independent School District Saul Nunez, who guided his Santa Teresa High School student team to a National Finalist honor in the 2022-2023 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, focused attention on underappreciated opportunities that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and careers offer for Hispanic students in the U.S.
Saul Nunez, Instructional Tech Specialist for New Mexicos Gadsden Independent School District, a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow alum.
His Opinion piece, ”Let’s expand our kids’ vision of what’s possible,” in The El Paso Times highlighted that:
“Hispanic youth represent an underutilized resource for a society that needs a vibrant STEM workforce. Between 2023 and 2033, STEM jobs are projected to grow by 10.4%, far above the 3.6% growth in non-STEM jobs. The Hispanic community is among the fastest-growing U.S. populations; with both youth and entrepreneurial spirit on our side. The more we can encourage Hispanic students’ participation in STEM, the better off all America will be.”
The intent of CCMIS is to focus on accelerating the adoption of new technologies and sustainable practices in mining and is ideally suited for Acceleware to present potential benefits of EM Powered Heat to operators and mining equipment innovators active in Chile. As part of the commitment under the Canada/Chile memorandum of understanding signed at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2024 conference in Toronto, the CCMIS summit will enable Canada to leverage its leadership in Chile’s world-class mining industry. This collaboration will promote the sustainable use of natural resources and uphold Canada’s position as a leader in clean, efficient technologies and smart mining innovations.
“Acceleware is very excited to be heading to Santiago, Chile for these two events, where we will have the opportunity to network with mining companies and innovators including BHP, Codelco, Glencore, Teck, Hatch, South32, Anglo Gold and others. These events are specifically focused on bringing together operators and innovators who are actively working to evaluate decarbonization opportunities and deploy electrification technologies like ours,” said Geoff Clark, Chief Executive Officer. “We see a significant opportunity for our mining decarbonization technologies to be of interest there, especially given that Chile is the world’s largest copper producer with one third of world production and reserves, and is also a leading producer of molybdenum, gold, silver and lithium.”
In addition to having the opportunity to showcase its technology and solutions, Acceleware will also engage in pre-arranged meetings with Chilean mine operators, integrators and industry leaders. MICA will share an update on collaboration or pilot projects that result from the CCMIS initiative at PDAC 2025 in Toronto.
About Acceleware Acceleware is an advanced electromagnetic (EM) heating company with highly scalable EM solutions for large industrial applications. The Company’s solutions provide an opportunity to economically electrify and decarbonize industrial process heat applications previously considered difficult to abate, which could have a significant impact on global GHG emissions.
Acceleware is piloting RF XL, its patented low-cost, low-carbon EM thermal production technology for heavy oil and oil sands that is materially different from any heavy oil recovery technique used today. The Company is also working with a consortium of world-class potash partners on a pilot project using its patented and field proven Clean Tech Inverter (CTI) to decarbonize drying of potash ore and other minerals. Acceleware is actively developing partnerships for EM heating of other industrial applications in mining, steel, agriculture, cement, hydrogen and other clean fuels.
Acceleware and Saa Dene Group (co-founded by Jim Boucher) have created Acceleware | Kisâstwêw to raise the profile, adoption, and value of Acceleware technologies. The partnership is intended to improve the environmental and economic performance of industry by supporting ideals that are important to Indigenous peoples, including respect for land, water, and clean air.
Acceleware is a public company listed on Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol “AXE”.
About MICA MICA was created on July 9, 2021 through an investment of $40 million from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund. MICA is a $112.4 million pan-Canadian initiative bringing together stakeholders from a wide range of fields to accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative technologies to make the mining sector more productive and sustainable.
Disclaimers
This news release contains “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “continues”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “forecasts”, “estimates”, “believes” or “intends” or variations or negatives of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results “may” or “could”, “would”, “might”, “shall” or “will” be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.
In this news release, forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, statements relating to the benefits of CTI electrification, and future development plans and timing. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company. The material facts and assumptions include initial studies of applicability of CTI technology to industrial applications are accurate, third party estimates of market size are correct, and the timeline estimates are reasonable. Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information in this news release due to certain material risk factors. The Company cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive and additional risk factors risk factors are described in detail in Acceleware’s continuous disclosure documents, which are filed on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
