The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated October 17, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) on Family Home Finance Private Limited, Mumbai, Maharashtra (the company) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI conferred under section 52A of the National Housing Bank Act, 1987.
The statutory inspection of the company was conducted by the National Housing Bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the company advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.
After considering the company’s reply to the notice, oral submissions made during the personal hearing and examination of additional submissions made by it, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges against the company were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:
The company had not:
conducted risk categorisation of its customers;
conducted review of risk categorisation of its customers; and
conducted periodic updation of KYC of its customers.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the company with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the company.
Even though she was speaking to a roomful of teachers, Harris didn’t focus on teacher-specific issues. Rather, she spoke about general policies that working people want, such as sick leave and paid family leave. She also spoke about the labor movement more broadly. “When unions are strong, America is strong,” she said.
Public school teachers are not often talked about as a major force in national politics. They are not wealthy donors. They rarely hold public office. Many congresspeople claim to have been “educators,” but that includes law school professors, school fundraisers and school district superintendents.
Teachers and their unions, however, can be influential in politics – in the U.S. and globally. Walz’s candidacy prompts a reexamining of their role. Whose interests do they represent? Can teachers really speak on behalf of broader communities?
Our view, based on political science research we and others have carried out, is that teachers are one of the most – if not the most – well-organized groups advocating in favor of the economic interests of working people in politics today.
The rise of teachers as political candidates around the world
Walz’s candidacy as a high school teacher turned high-profile politician has few obvious precedents in the United States. But Walz is far from unique globally.
In many developing democracies, from Colombia to Indonesia and India, teachers are a large group of public sector workers who are organized through powerful labor unions. Around the world, teacher candidates have risen through the ranks politically. In Colombia, for example, the teachers union has 270,000 members, making it the largest union in that country. A number of leaders from that union have moved from the union presidency to the Senate of the republic.
The 2024 book “Mobilizing Teachers” documents the emergence of teachers as a political force in Latin America beginning three decades ago.
In the U.S., public K-12 teachers do not usually become high-profile political candidates. However, they emerged as major political actors in other ways in the late 20th century. This was spurred by economic changes such as automation and globalization, which disrupted the work of many unions – such as manufacturing unions – but not teachers. Today, 1 in 5 union members are teachers. And teachers as a whole make up 8% of the college-educated workforce in the United States.
Through their labor unions, teachers in the U.S. are sometimes recruited as political candidates, especially in state and local elections. However, their numbers are few. In 2018, for example, teachers were on the ballot in record numbers but still represented just 3% of candidates.
Teachers and the public interest
Teachers in the U.S. have faced criticism for opposing reforms such as school choice and connecting teacher evaluations to student test scores. Some scholars believe these reforms could improve education quality.
In the U.S., there’s also concern about teachers’ strong influence on school board elections and Democratic Party primaries. Some researchers argue that teachers unions have disproportionate power because “they are actively and purposely engaged in an electoral effort to control their own superiors” – school board members. In other words, unlike private sector workers, teachers unions use their political clout to select their own bosses.
Yet, other scholars have shown that the policies teachers pursue often align with the interests of students. Teachers unions have long argued that better teacher working conditions mean better learning conditions for students, and that’s what they often advocate for.
In some states and cities, there are severe teacher shortages, which some analysts cite to argue that low pay for teachers has made it an unattractive career. These shortages not only affect the quality of education but also reflect the economic concerns of middle-class Americans. Teacher salaries have stagnated, even though a large body of economics research has shown a cause-and-effect relationship between increasing educational spending and better student achievement, especially when funding increases go to teacher salaries.
Over the past 16 years in the U.S., teacher strikes have raised teacher salaries and the salaries of other education workers, such as janitors, bus drivers and administrative staff. Teachers have also highlighted the kinds of school-quality concerns that many parents care about, such as free school meals and hiring more counselors, nurses and psychologists at schools.
Melissa Arnold Lyon receives funding from a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Academy of Education (NAEd) and the Spencer Foundation.
Christopher Chambers-Ju 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.
Carrying over 700 Sailors and embarked Marines, Harpers Ferry participated in multiple, multi-national exercises and operations in the Pacific, displaying interoperability and the U.S.’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“The accomplishments of USS Harpers Ferry and its Navy and Marine Corps team are quite impressive,” said Cmdr. Gabriel Burgi, the commanding officer of Harpers Ferry. “Together, we steamed tens of thousands of miles from home, away from our friends and families, and completed important missions necessary to protect high seas freedoms. We took part in several bilateral and multinational exercises, and we were great ambassadors of the United States. I couldn’t be more proud of how well the crew and Marines worked together to accomplish many ‘firsts’ for the ARG-MEU team.”
This deployment was an opportunity for the Marine Corps’ newest amphibious ship-to-shore connector, the amphibious combat vehicles (ACV), to gather operational data and lessons learned that will shape future deployments of the new platform in expeditionary environments.
“This deployment was the first ever for the Marine Corps’ first new amphibious vehicle in over 50 years,” said Burgi. “All eyes were on us as we set the precedent for deployed operations of the ACV, and we helped write doctrine for future deployments. We launched and landed the first ACVs in foreign waters and on foreign shores, and the world was watching.”
Harpers Ferry departed San Diego in March to begin a regularly scheduled, Western Pacific deployment. During the deployment, Harpers Ferry and embarked elements of the 15th MEU participated in Exercise Balikatan 24 (BK24), the largest, annual, bilateral exercise conducted between the U.S. and the Philippines. Elements of the embarked 15th MEU conducted a command-and-control exercise (C2X), Humanitarian Civic Assistance (HCA) projects and engagements, and a series of field training events.
ACVs made their operational debut during BK24 in May, splashing from Harpers Ferry in Oyster Bay to conduct a waterborne live-fire gunnery exercise.
“Throughout this deployment the landing force accomplished many firsts for the Marine Corps,” said Maj. Joe Santos, the ACV liaison officer, 15th MEU, and the commander of troops aboard Harpers Ferry. “The 15th MEU deployed with the Amphibious Combat Vehicle for the first time, which marked many more firsts for the Navy and Marine Corps. The Harpers Ferry and landing force was the first to achieve amphibious warfare certifications with the ACV; first to conduct ACV intermediate maintenance underway; first to conduct waterborne gunnery with the ACV; and first to operate within the Indo-Pacific.”
While in the Philippines, Marines and Sailors of the 15th MEU also participated in the Amphibious Coastal Defense Continuum (ACDC), partnering with Philippine Marine Corps’ 3rd Marine Brigade to enhance the Philippine Marine Corps’ coastal defense strategy while supporting the modernization efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
After BK24 and ACDC, the ship made its way north to Busan, South Korea, for Exercise Ssang Yong 24, a bilateral field training exercise with the Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC), and U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) in vicinity of Pohang.
Ssang Yong was another landmark event for the ACV, marking the first time ACVs conducted a ship-to-shore amphibious assault overseas, partnered with ROKMC amphibious forces.
“Harpers Ferry and their embarked Apache Company and ACV Platoon proved that we could safely and expeditiously launch and recover ACVs,” said Burgi. “The ACVs on deployment was a major milestone for the Navy-Marine Corps team. From onboard maintenance to overseas launch and recovery, almost everything we did with the ACVs was a first for our services. Deploying also gave the ACV platoon confidence in their weapon systems and in their ability to operate far from home without the benefit of onsite maintenance facilities.”
After Ssang Yong, Harpers Ferry transited home to San Diego following a successful seven-month deployment.
“I have seen this ship and her crew go from exiting the shipyards to the completion of a 7th Fleet deployment. This ship and her crew has been tasked over and over, and has exceeded the expectation of fleet commanders every time,” said Burgi. “There is no other crew or ship I would rather go to sea with. This crew has delivered miracles selflessly and tirelessly. I couldn’t be more proud of them; being the commanding officer to this crew has been the utmost privilege and highlight of my nearly 30-year career.”
Santos echoed Burgi’s thoughts on the deployment.
“I am excited for the Marines and Sailors to go home after this deployment knowing that they have accomplished so much,” said Maj. Santos. “They are a part of naval history and will remember this for the rest of their lives. It’s a beautiful day to be on the USS Harpers Ferry!”
A test pilot flew a specially instrumented F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the 5th generation air system and touched down about 3:15 p.m.
Sea trials will leverage the ship’s recent modifications to conduct fixed-wing aircraft operations. Changes to the Kaga included painting its flight deck with heat-resistant material that tolerates the F-35B’s vectored-thrust engines, installing lights for nighttime operations, and reshaping the flight deck’s bow from a trapezoid to a rectangular shape.
The trials will also pave the way for allies’ increased ability to operate in conjunction with each other.
“This test is essential for strengthening Japan’s defense capabilities and is of utmost importance. We will do our best to achieve good test results together with the ITF,” said Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Capt. Shusaku Takeuchi, commanding officer, JS Kaga. “This test does not merely enhance the capabilities of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. It also improves the interoperability between Japan and the U.S., strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance, thereby contributing to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”
The F-35 is detached from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23), Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River), Maryland. It joins a test team from the F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF), who embarked the ship in San Diego.
In addition to F-35 test pilots, the Pax ITF team includes aircraft maintainers, flight test engineers, flight test control engineers, flight deck personnel, logisticians, and others, with support from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.
“We are proud to be part of this joint effort to test the compatibility of F-35B aboard JS Kaga,” said Seth Dion, Pax ITF team lead. “Our team has prepared meticulously for this mission, and we are committed to working closely with our allies to achieve our shared goals and strengthen our partnership.”
The sea trials are scheduled to take approximately three weeks.
JS Kaga set sail from its homeport at Kure Naval Base, Japan, in early September.
Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung today inspected the progress of construction works at the Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) and reviewed preparatory work for a test event due to be held there on Sunday.
Around 1,000 invited spectators will attend the event, a football match between local teams at the Public Sports that will be the KTSP’s first test event.
As the Public Sports Ground is near Sung Wong Toi MTR Station, it is expected that the majority of the spectators will make use of railway services to access the venue. The MTR Corporation has made preparations for increased passenger traffic at that station, and at Kai Tak Station.
Mr Yeung urged the Kai Tak Sports Park Limited (KTSPL) to ensure smooth arrangements for the test event to give visitors a good experience of the new sports ground, adding that the event marks a milestone in the progress towards the park’s official commissioning.
“The Government and KTSPL will organise multiple test events and drills,” he said. “With the concerted efforts of different bureaus and departments, we are confident the test events and drills will enable us to accumulate invaluable experience for better preparation of the full commissioning of the KTSP.”
As outlined in the 2024 Policy Address last week, the KTSP’s major facilities will be completed by the end of this year. Being the largest sports infrastructure project ever commissioned in Hong Kong, the park will open in the first quarter of 2025, boosting sports development and injecting impetus into related industries and the Government’s drive to develop a mega-event economy.
To ensure smooth operations once it is commissioned, the KTSP will organise a series of test events and drills between now and the first quarter of next year. The events will dovetail with the completion and state of readiness of facilities at the park’s respective venues.
The number of participants at the test events and drills will increase incrementally, from 1,000 on Sunday to around 50,000 participants ultimately. Around 150,000 to 200,000 people will participate in the various events and drills prior to the park’s official commissioning.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Matt Kasson, Associate Professor of Mycology and Plant Pathology, West Virginia University
A zombie cicada fungus, _Massospora cicadina_, has consumed the rear end of this periodical cicada, replacing it with a ‘plug’ of chalky spores.Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND
Is a zombie apocalypse caused by fungi, like the Cordyceps from “The Last of Us,” something that could realistically happen? – Jupiter, age 15, Ithaca, New York
Zombies strike fear into our hearts – and if they’re persistent, eventually they get inside our heads. Animals taken over by zombies no longer control their own bodies or behaviors. Instead, they serve the interests of a master, whether it’s a virus, fungus or some other harmful agent.
Those all are fictional. Nature is where we can find real examples of zombification – one organism controlling another organism’s behavior.
I study fungi, a huge biological kingdom that includes molds, mildews, yeasts, mushrooms and zombifying fungi. Don’t worry – these “brain-eating organisms” tend to target insects.
The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infects and kills ants. Over time, they can diminish the local ant population.
Insect body snatchers
One of the most famous examples is the zombie ant fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which is part of a larger group known as Cordyceps fungi. This fungus inspired the video game and HBO series “The Last of Us,” in which a widespread fungal infection turns people into zombie-like creatures and causes society to collapse.
In the real world, ants usually comes into contact with this fungus when spores – pollen-size reproductive particles that the fungus makes – fall onto the ant from a tree or plant overhead. The spores penetrate the ant’s body without killing it.
Once inside, the fungus spreads in the form of a yeast. The ant stops communicating with nestmates and staggers around aimlessly. Eventually it becomes hyperactive.
Finally, the fungus causes the ant to climb up a plant and lock onto a leaf or a stem with its jaws – a behavior called summiting. The fungus changes into a new phase and consumes the ant’s organs, including its brain. A stalk erupts from the dead insect’s head and produces spores, which fall onto healthy ants below, starting the cycle again.
A citrus cicada nymph infected with Ophiocordyceps sobolifera. The nymph lives underground, but the fungus ensures that it ‘summits’ to just below the soil line, so that its stalks (pink) and spores find their way above ground. Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND
Scientists have described countless species of Ophiocordyceps. Each one is tiny, with a very specialized lifestyle. Some live only in specific areas: for example, Ophiocordyceps salganeicola, a parasite of social cockroaches, is found only in Japan’s Ryukyu Islands. I expect that there are many more species around the world awaiting discovery.
The zombie cicada fungus, Massospora cicadina, has also received a lot of attention in recent years. It infects and controls periodical cicadas, which are cicadas that live underground and emerge briefly to mate on 13- or 17-year cycles.
The fungus keeps the cicadas energized and flying around, even as it consumes and replaces their rear ends and abdomens. This prolonged “active host” behavior is rare in fungi that invade insects. Massospora has family members that target flies, moths, millipedes and soldier beetles, but they cause their hosts to summit and die, like ants affected by Ophiocordyceps.
The real fungal threats
These diverse morbid partnerships – relationships that lead to death – were formed and refined over millions of years of evolutionary time. A fungus that specializes in infecting and controlling ants or cicadas would have to evolve vastly new tools over millions more years to be able to infect even another insect, even one that’s closely related, let alone a human.
In my research, I’ve collected and handled hundreds of living and dead zombie cicadas, as well as countless fungus-infected insects, spiders and millipedes. I’ve dissected hundreds of specimens and uncovered fascinating aspects of their biology. Despite this prolonged exposure, I still control my own behavior.
Dozens of Massospora cicadina-infected 13-year cicadas being prepared for drying and analyzing in Matt Kasson’s mycology lab at West Virginia University. Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND
Some fungi do threaten human health. Examples include Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans, both of which can invade people’s lungs and cause serious pneumonia-like symptoms. Cryptococcus neoformans can spread outside the lungs into the central nervous system and cause symptoms such as neck stiffness, vomiting and sensitivity to light.
Invasive fungal diseases are on the rise worldwide. So are common fungal infections, such as athlete’s foot – a rash between your toes – and ringworm, a rash that despite its name is caused by a fungus.
Fungi thrive in perpetually warm and wet environments. You can protect yourself against many of them by showering after you get sweaty or dirty and not sharing sports gear or towels with other people.
Not all fungi are scary, and even the alarming ones won’t turn you into the walking dead. The closest you’re likely to come to a zombifying fungus is through watching scary movies or playing video games.
If you’re lucky, you might find a zombie ant or fly in your own neighborhood. And if you think they’re cool, you could become a scientist like me and spend your life seeking them out.
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.
And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.
Matt Kasson has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, USDA ARS and USDA APHIS.
The Taliban, an ultraconservative Islamic political group, retook control of Kabul a little more than three years ago, dashing many Afghans’ hopes for a tolerant, democratic government.
As U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan days after the Taliban’s resurgence in 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans flocked to the Kabul airport, desperate to be evacuated. Among them were Afghans who worked for U.S. military and NATO forces as interpreters and in other roles – in addition to other people who were afraid of the Taliban.
Many of the Afghans who fled their country in 2021 went to Iran, Pakistan and other nearby countries. To offer a lifeline to the Afghans who came to the U.S., the Biden administration announced on Aug. 29, 2021, that evacuated Afghans could legally – but temporarily – stay in the U.S.
As a scholar of civil conflict and refugee migration, I have been following the Afghan evacuation and policy responses in Washington since 2021. While President Joe Biden renewed humanitarian parole for approximately 70,000 Afghans in 2023, these people remain in legal limbo, unable to fully move forward in their lives.
The upcoming election will likely be decisive in resolving Afghans’ legal status or not.
An Afghan couple, including a man who worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military, walk in Charlestown, Mass. in February 2022. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
Understanding humanitarian parole
The U.S. admitted Afghans into the country through what’s called humanitarian parole, a federal program that the president can authorize to give protection to people in other countries facing extreme emergency circumstances.
Humanitarian parole must be renewed by a presidential administration every two years, unlike the U.S. refugee admission policy, which gives foreigners who face legitimate fears of returning home the right to get permanent residency in the U.S.
The Afghan parole program enabled people like Mina Bakhshi – a female rock climber who had no future under the Taliban because of her gender – to enter the U.S. and attend college.
It also helped people like Qasim Rahimi, a journalist in Afghanistan, to flee to safety with his family and settle in Kansas City, Missouri.
Yet humanitarian parole is not a permanent solution.
While these Afghan people can legally work and attend school in the U.S., they often face obstacles with getting stable work or even finding a home to rent because they are not permanent residents and do not have Social Security numbers.
A long history of parole in the US
Typically, the U.S. government has used humanitarian parole to rescue people from conflicts in which U.S. armed forces are involved, like Vietnam and Ukraine.
People who face serious danger because of conflict or other reasons can also enter the U.S. by applying for and receiving refugee status, but it can take more than a year for it to be granted. Humanitarian parole lets the U.S. government act quickly when it wants to help foreigners come to the country during an emergency.
At the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, for example, the U.S. admitted thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian migrants fleeing their countries.
The U.S. also issued humanitarian parole to Hungarian and Cuban refugees who fled communist dictatorships in the 1950s.
More recently, the U.S. granted parole to a group of Haitian orphans following a major earthquake in 2010, and to children from Central America who illegally crossed the border without their parents during the Obama administration.
While Biden issued temporary humanitarian parole to Afghans in 2021 and renewed it in 2023, only Congress has the power to pass an act that would ensure they can legally stay in the country permanently. Yet, a deadlocked Congress has failed to pass legislation to adjust the status of Afghans.
Yet, a handful of Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley, have opposed the act on national security grounds. They say that vetting procedures for newcomers are not sufficient, which could lead to security risks. Some want a more targeted program that focuses only on Afghans who worked with U.S. troops.
An Afghan evacuee living in Charlestown, Mass., in February 2022 shows a photo of himself working in Afghanistan as a translator. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
The election factor
The fate of Afghan parolees will likely be determined by the results of the upcoming election. Should Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris win office, I believe she is likely to renew parole for Afghans for at least two more years, as Biden did in 2023. Congress may be more likely to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act after the election, since it is rare to pass major legislation during an election period.
What Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump might do about Afghans living temporarily in the U.S. is an open question. During Trump’s previous presidential term, his administration focused in part on curbing immigration. This included slashing refugee admissions and making it harder to issue U.S. visas to Afghans and Iraqis who worked with the U.S. military.
On the campaign trail, Trump has promised to renew his travel ban on Muslims and to continue to limit immigration to the U.S.
In the meantime, Afghans who fled the Taliban continue to face uncertainty about their future in the U.S.
Idean Salehyan is affiliated with the Niskanen Center in Washington, D.C.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Trirupa Chakraborty, Ph.D. Candidate in Integrative Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh
Blood samples of patients infected with a parasitic worm that causes schistosomiasis contain hidden information that marks different stages of the disease. In our recently published research, our team used machine learning to uncover that hidden information and improve early detection and diagnosis of infection.
The parasite that causes schistosomiasis completes its life cycle in two hosts – first in snails and then in mammals such as people, dogs and mice. Freshwater worm eggs enter human hosts through the skin and circulate throughout the body, damaging multiple organs, including the liver, intestine, bladder and urethra. When these larvae reach blood vessels connecting the intestines to the liver, they mature into adult worms. They then release eggs that are excreted when the infected person defecates, continuing the transmission cycle.
Since diagnosis currently relies on detecting eggs in feces, doctors usually miss the early stages of infection. By the time eggs are detected, patients have already reached an advanced stage of the disease. Because diagnosis rates are poor, public health officials typically mass-administer the drug praziquantel to populations in affected regions. However, praziquantel cannot clear juvenile worms in early stages of infection, nor can it prevent reinfection.
Schistosomiasis isn’t usually diagnosed until the late stages of the disease. DPDx/CDC
Our study provides a clear path forward to improving early detection and diagnosis by identifying the hidden information in blood that signals active, early stage infection.
Your body responds to a schistosomiasis infection by mounting an immune response involving several types of immune cells, as well as antibodies specifically targeting molecules secreted by or present on the worm and eggs. Our study introduces two ways to screen for certain characteristics of antibodies that signal early infection.
The first is an assay that captures a quantitative and qualitative profile of immune response, including various classes of antibodies and characteristics that dictate how they communicate with other immune cells. This allowed us to identify specific facets of the immune response that distinguish uninfected patients from patients with early and late-stage disease.
Second, we developed a new machine learning approach that analyzes antibodies to identify latent characteristics of the immune response linked to disease stage and severity. We trained the model on immune profile data from infected and uninfected patients and tested the model on data that wasn’t used for training and data from a different geographical location. We identified not only biomarkers for the disease but also the potential mechanism that underlies infection.
Why it matters
Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease that affects over 200 million people worldwide, causing 280,000 deaths annually. Early diagnosis can improve treatment effectiveness and prevent severe disease.
In addition, unlike many machine learning methods that are black boxes, our approach is also interpretable. This means it can provide insights into why and how the disease develops beyond simply identifying markers of disease, guiding future strategies for early diagnosis and treatment.
Clusters of Schistosoma haematobium eggs surrounded by immune cells in bladder tissue. CDC/Dr. Edwin P. Ewing Jr.
What still isn’t known
The schistosomiasis infection signatures we identified remain stable across two geographical regions across two continents. Future research could explore how well these biomarkers apply to additional populations.
Further, our work identifies a potential mechanism behind disease progression. We found that a particular immune response against a specific protein on the surface of the worm signals an intermediate stage of infection. Understanding how the immune system responds to this understudied antigen could improve diagnosis and treatment.
What’s next
Besides improving our understanding of how the immune system responds to different stages of infection, our findings identify key antigens that could pave the way for designing cost-effective and efficient approaches to diagnosis and treatments. Our next steps will include actually deploying these strategies in the field for early detection and management of disease.
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.
Trirupa Chakraborty is affiliated with Light Up non-profit organisation, based in India. The organisation does not have any connection with or benefits from this article.
Aniruddh Sarkar has received grant funding from the NIAID, BARDA, Task Force for Global Health (TFGH), Atlanta Center for Point-of-Care Technologies (ACME POCT), Center for Childhood Infections & Vaccines (CCIV) and the Bernie Marcus Early Career Professorship at Georgia Tech
Jishnu Das has research grant funding from the NIH (NIAID, NHGRI, NIAMS, NEI, NCI, NHLBI, NIMH), DoD and the Rainin Foundation. He consults for Seromyx on a case-by-case basis and receives corresponding financial compensation including stock options. Seromyx has no direct connection to (including benefitting from financially or otherwise) this article.
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grab Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: GRAB, the “Company” or “Grab”), plans to announce its unaudited third quarter 2024 results after the U.S. market closes on November 11, 2024.
The Company’s management will hold a conference call to discuss the third quarter 2024 results at:
Date and time:
7:00 PM U.S Eastern Time on November 11, 2024 8:00 AM Singapore Time on November 12, 2024
A link to the call will be posted on the Company’s investor relations website at investors.grab.com prior to the call time. Following the call, a replay of the call, along with the earnings press release and presentation slides, will be available at the same website.
About Grab
Grab is a leading superapp in Southeast Asia, operating across the deliveries, mobility and digital financial services sectors. Serving over 700 cities in eight Southeast Asian countries – Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – Grab enables millions of people everyday to order food or groceries, send packages, hail a ride or taxi, pay for online purchases or access services such as lending and insurance, all through a single app. Grab was founded in 2012 with the mission to drive Southeast Asia forward by creating economic empowerment for everyone. Grab strives to serve a triple bottom line – we aim to simultaneously deliver financial performance for our shareholders and have a positive social impact, which includes economic empowerment for millions of people in the region, while mitigating our environmental footprint.
Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) Detachment Jacksonville has completed certification to become the first intermediate-level (I-level) fiber optics Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) maintenance facility in the Navy.
Currently, the detachment supports the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. However, the certification underscores an opportunity for FRCSE to enhance operational readiness throughout the NAVAIR domain.
The Miniature/Micro-miniature Electronics Repair and Module Test and Repair (2M/MTR) fiber optics work center is now equipped with a high-resolution optical time domain reflectometer (HROTDR) to test and analyze fiber optics cables. The HROTDR uses a laser to determine bends, breaks and other faults in a fiber cable. The team uses the HROTDR to find issues and fabricate new cables to meet engineering drawings and specifications.
The certification process began approximately two years ago after FRCSE’s P-8 Fleet Support Team (FST) noticed a correlation between damaged fiber optic network cables, decreased mission-capable aircraft and expensive, timely turnaround times using contracted repair organizations.
“Many P-8 aircraft were down because of simple and straightforward fiber optics repairs,” said Alex Garcia, an FRCSE P-8A FST electrical engineer. “With the right training and certification, the team knew that we could do much quicker and cost-effective work.”
Recognizing the need to conduct this work internally, engineers mapped the process and established local engineering specifications, a required document that authorizes I-level work and provides instructions on fiber optic cable fabrication, support, and required consumables.
“Given that NAVAIR didn’t have an established fiber optic program, certification agents were not an option,” said Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class Michael Parker. “During our discussions on possible certification avenues, we learned that NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command) had an existing program. The team recognized that the most effective way forward was to seek support from NAVSEA for site certification.”
Though NAVSEA couldn’t provide aviation-specific fiber optics repair capability, the groundwork could still be tailored to a NAVAIR program. After the 2M/MTR team contacted NAVSEA, representatives from the fiber optic test and repair (FOTR) program from Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) responded by traveling to Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville to conduct the certification process, which took only a few days.
“We confirmed an adequate amount of appropriately trained fiber optic technicians, the required NAVAIR authorized test equipment and tooling essential to repair or manufacture 95 percent of the potential fiber optic issues across various aircraft frames,” said Richard Scott, the FOTR certification agent with NSWC, Dahlgren division. “This effort resulted in FRSCE becoming the first NAVAIR activity to obtain its FOTR certification.”
After completing certification, KITCO Fiber Optics, a civilian company, provided two weeks of hands-on training, which took place aboard NAS Jacksonville.
During the two-year timeline, from establishment to certification and training, the team has streamlined repairs, reducing fiber optics turnaround times from six months to just a few days.
The work center at Detachment Jacksonville is also helping to establish fiber optics work centers globally with footprints in Whidbey Island, Wash.; Misawa, Japan; Sigonella, Sicily; Bahrain and afloat on aircraft intermediate maintenance departments worldwide. The current workload is helping support readiness throughout the fleet and prepares FRCSE to meet advancing technological requirements.
About Fleet Readiness Center Southeast
Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) is Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia’s largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, employing approximately 5,000 civilian, military and contract workers. With annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, the organization serves as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy, Naval Air Systems Command, and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers by maintaining the combat airpower for America’s military forces.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Government today (October 21) appeals to all members of the public, especially priority groups, to timely receive seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV). The Government has made special arrangements to facilitate priority groups (including school children) to receive SIV through various SIV programmes.
Latest statistics on schools joining SIV programmes
The 2024/25 SIV Programmes started on September 26. At present, around 870 kindergartens and child care centres (80 per cent), 620 primary schools (93 per cent) and 400 secondary schools (79 per cent) have joined the SIV School Outreach Programme (SIVSOP). As of October 20, 2024, 380 schools have completed the first dose vaccination and more than 77 800 students have received SIV under School Outreach Programmes.
Flexible arrangements on SIV school outreach vaccination services in season 2024/25
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) has been promoting SIV in schoolchildren, particularly young children in child-care centres and kindergartens, and optimising the vaccination programmes in response to the feedback from schools and parents.
To boost the SIV coverage rate among schoolchildren, special arrangements have been made under the SIVSOP this year to offer a more flexible choice of vaccine options for kindergartens and child-care centres. Kindergartens and child-care centres can choose to provide both injectable inactivated influenza vaccines (IIV) and live attenuated influenza vaccines (i.e. nasal vaccines) (LAIV) at the same or different outreach vaccination activities. Among the kindergartens and child-care centres participating in SIVSOP, 246 schools will offer LAIV, ten schools will offer both IIV and LAIV, and the rest will offer IIV. As a pilot scheme, LAIV is also provided to selected primary and secondary schools which indicated their preference for LAIV earlier this year. So far, two primary schools and four secondary schools have joined the pilot scheme. The Department of Health (DH) will continue to monitor and review the arrangement as appropriate.
Alternatively, schools can also invite doctors to arrange outreach service for injectable IIV and/or nasal LAIV at their campus under the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme School Outreach.
Ongoing promotion of SIV uptake amongst school children
The DH has invited all schools in Hong Kong through the Education Bureau (EDB) to participate in the SIVSOP. Upon commencement of the 2024/25 SIV Programmes, the DH has reached out to non-participating schools one by one to understand their difficulties, offer necessary assistance and facilitate them to participate in the programmes. The DH has also liaised with the EDB to issue appeal letters again to the School Heads Association of Kindergartens/Child-Care Centres to promote SIV uptake amongst young children. The CHP spokesman calls on those schools that have yet to join the outreach vaccination programmes to enrol as soon as possible to seize the optimum timing for vaccination and do their part to provide the best protection for schoolchildren.
Early childhood educators are also important points of contact with young school children and their parents. The DH has met a number of early childhood education and parent-teacher associations, as well as relevant medical associations to promote SIV among young children. The DH urges early childhood educators to join hands in appealing the parents to arrange for their children to participate in SIV, and at the same time to play their part in educating parents on the importance of vaccination to encourage more young school children to get vaccinated. With increased vaccination coverage, the protection of children could be strengthened and their risk of severe illness and death after contracting influenza could also be reduced.
“Surveillance data up to October 20 showed a total of 34 severe paediatric influenza-associated complication and death cases as recorded by the CHP this year, which is comparable with 41 cases in the pre-COVID-19 era in 2019. Among these 34 cases, 25 (74 per cent) did not receive influenza vaccine, illustrating the importance of SIV,” a CHP spokesperson said.
A range of health education materials on influenza prevention (including webpage, press releases, pamphlets, and FAQs) has been produced by the DH and disseminated through various channels, especially those parenting media. The DH will continue to maintain close communication with stakeholders (including doctors, schools and other relevant Government Departments). For the latest information, please refer to the CHP’s influenza page and Vaccination Schemes page.
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE
Headline: OSCE strengthens inter-regional co-operation between women professionals from Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe addressing violent extremism and terrorism
OSCE strengthens inter-regional co-operation between women professionals from Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe addressing violent extremism and terrorism | OSCE
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Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Civil Engineering and Development Department highly concerned about worker at Tuen Mun Area 38 Fill Bank falling into sea Civil Engineering and Development Department highly concerned about worker at Tuen Mun Area 38 Fill Bank falling into sea ******************************************************************************************
The Director of Civil Engineering and Development, Mr Michael Fong, is highly concerned about the incident happened at the Tuen Mun Area 38 Fill Bank today (October 21) in which a subcontractor’s worker fell into the sea and went missing. Mr Fong has tasked the project team to make every endeavour to facilitate the search and rescue operation of the Police and the Fire Services Department, seriously follow up on the cause of the incident and carry out a thorough review on safety measures of related work to prevent re-occurrence of similar incidents. At around 12.30pm today, the worker concerned accidentally fell into the sea after mooring a construction vessel. After the incident, related work has been suspended immediately and the work area concerned has been fenced off. The contractor has reported the incident to the Labour Department and has contacted the family of the worker to provide assistance.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gayle McPherson, Chair in Events and Cultural Policy, and Director of the Research Centre for Culture, Sport and Events, University of the West of Scotland
The tension was palpable as we waited to see if Glasgow would rescue the Commonwealth Games for 2026. After the Australian state of Victoria pulled out, the eyes of the Commonwealth turned to Scotland.
Glasgow delivered a hugely successful event in 2014, raising questions about whether a future games there could match that success. I was part of the bid team as the cultural advisor for Glasgow 2014 and went on to conduct research on the impact of the games on sustainable community participation for people with a disability. So I understand the positive impact the games had for Scotland.
My work over the past couple of decades has examined the social impact of mega sports events and their role as agents for change, specifically disability rights, social inclusion, and peace and diplomacy. In other words, considering whether major sport events truly serve as a force for good as it’s often argued they do. If this is indeed the case, why shouldn’t smaller Commonwealth nations benefit from hosting the games?
Experts often criticise the economic and social impact of major sporting events, but others argue for the social value these events can bring to communities long after they have left town.
My research team conducted a survey on perceptions of the impact of the Glasgow 2014 games that revealed overwhelming support for their lasting impact on the city and Scotland.
The results showed that 75% of respondents believed the games increased civic and national pride, boosted Glasgow and Scotland’s chances of securing future events, enhanced their international reputation, and, as often attested, strengthened the nation’s soft power. Scotland ranks second (behind Quebec) out of ten similar territories for overall soft power, and third for sport.
Amid a rise in the Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) using sport in soft power terms, other nations have sought to be part of this too. The Commonwealth Games is increasingly being used as a vehicle for positive change and regional soft power.
There has been a rise in emerging states running mega sports events, often wealthy illiberal nations such as China and Qatar. However, what about the smaller nations in the Commonwealth? Only two – Malaysia and Jamaica – have ever hosted the Commonwealth Games, and the only other nation outside of Australia, Canada, UK and New Zealand to do so is India.
Glasgow is offering a new model that will create a legacy not only for Scotland, but for many other smaller nations in the Commonwealth. The games are known as the “Friendly Games” – it’s a community that is known for three core values: humanity, equality and destiny.
The family of nations
The African nations form a significant part of the Commonwealth sports movement, so shouldn’t we expect the model that Glasgow is developing to be transferable, ensuring that sport can serve a common good? An environmentally sustainable approach would use facilities and networks already in place to help developing nations, which already suffer disproportionately in terms of climate and environmental risks.
Under this model, venues and infrastructure are already in place. The event is athlete-focused, with competitors staying in hotels as opposed to a purpose-built athlete village, and transport needs minimised through walking or the use of team buses. The 2026 Glasgow event could serve as a blueprint for a sustainable approach to games delivery, inspiring nations such as Ghana, which already has the necessary venues and infrastructure to take on future Commonwealth Games.
With just ten sports across four venues, Glasgow 2026 has thought differently about delivery and digital broadcast. This is the only fully integrated games, hosting para competition at the same time as able-bodied events. This too will help smaller nations’ para-athletes, who often do not get a chance to compete internationally.
The Commonwealth is made up of 56 independent countries and the Commonwealth Games Federation consists of 72 member nations and territories. Gabon and Togo joined the Commonwealth in 2022, neither of which had previous ties to the British empire or other Commonwealth states, demonstrating that some countries still want to be part of a wider family.
Given 19 African countries have Commonwealth Games Associations, we could well see one of these take the baton in future. The Ghanaian sports minister made it clear that after hosting a successful African Games in 2024, he believed the next step would be the Commonwealth Games.
The recent African Games in Ghana’s capital Accra held athletics in a stadium that seats 11,000 spectators, while the World Athletics Championships in 2022 used the University of Oregon’s temporary stadium that seated 13,000. Commonwealth Games Scotland realised that, for 2026, Glasgow could host athletics at an existing stadium in the city with an upgrade to facilities that would provide seating for 11,000.
Ghana and Scotland are learning from each other to lay a path for smaller nations to host future games. The Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022 contributed £1.2 billion to the UK economy and £79.5 million in social value. This is possible for small nations too.
Glasgow 2026 can create a different legacy for the Commonwealth Games; one that is built on inclusion, diversity and sustainability and which incorporates the culture, values and pride of the Commonwealth. The time is right to offer a new approach to event delivery that offers other smaller nations the chance to benefit from sport as a force for good.
Professor Gayle McPherson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Sport Canada and has previously received funding from the Peter Harrison Foundation and Observatory for Sport in Scotland.
Liechtenstein is a winter sports destination and the only doubly-landlocked country in Europe. Find out more about the IMF’s 191st member
The IMF welcomed the Principality of Liechtenstein as its 191st member. Prime Minister Daniel Risch signed the IMF’s Articles of Agreement in a ceremony in Washington, D.C at the beginning of the 2024 Annual Meetings, which the country now attends as a full member.
Five Facts about Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein is one of only two doubly landlocked countries worldwide, along with Uzbekistan.
Among six smallest European states—Andorra, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City—Liechtenstein has the third-largest total area at 160 sq. km, comparable to the size of the city of Washington D.C. Liechtenstein is located between Austria and Switzerland in the Alps and is a winter sports destination. About 40,000 people call it home, half of the population of Andorra. Although Liechtenstein’s capital, Vaduz, is the best-known city in the principality, it’s not the largest; next-door Schaan has a larger population.
Liechtenstein is a parliamentary constitutional principality with a small civil service.
The 1921 constitution combines monarchy and democratic principles, defining the principality as “a constitutional, hereditary monarchy on a democratic and parliamentary basis.” The government consists of a five-member cabinet nominated by parliament and appointed by the prince for a four-year term. Liechtenstein has 1,500 civil servants, less than 4 percent of the population, significantly lower than the EU average of about 17 percent. Twenty-five members of parliament serve a four-year term.
Liechtenstein has the second highest per capita income in Europe, behind Monaco.
Liechtenstein’s per capita income of US$197K/year is substantially higher than that of most other small states and other European countries. High investment in research and development (6.2 percent of GDP) supports a globally-competitive and export-oriented manufacturing sector, which includes machine and tool engineering, plant construction, and precision and dental instruments, contributing to high incomes. The share of industry is high at 42 percent of gross value added, well above the EU average (about 15 percent). The financial sector, mostly based on private banking, wealth management, insurance, and trust services, accounts for about 20 percent of GDP.
The number of persons employed in Liechtenstein exceeds its population.
A distinctive feature of Liechtenstein’s economy is the large number of inward, cross-border commuters—from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Compared to a population of approximately 40,000, the workforce was 42,500 in 2022. About half of the workforce commutes daily from Switzerland (59 percent of commuters) or Austria (37 percent). Labor force participation is high (76.1 percent, vis-à-vis 74.9 percent in the EU), and the unemployment rate is below 2 percent.
Despite its small size, Liechtenstein is globally integrated.
The US, Germany, and Switzerland are among its most important export destinations. As part of the European Economic Area, Liechtenstein has full access to the EU’s single market, including financial markets, under the rules for free movement of services and capital. Building on access to the EU’s financial market and oversight by the European Banking Authority, Liechtenstein’s financial institutions have extended private wealth management networks outside the EU to Asia and the Middle East. Strong economic ties with Switzerland—including use of the Swiss franc—have also fostered trade and labor market integration.
****
Rodgers Chawani is a senior economist and Kazuko Shirono is a deputy chief. Both are in the IMF’s European Department.
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Total assets under management (AUM) at the world’s 500 largest asset managers reached USD 128.0 trillion at the end of 2023, according to new research from leading global advisory, broking and solutions company WTW’s (NASDAQ: WTW) Thinking Ahead Institute.
Despite not yet reaching 2021 levels, this amounts to 12.5% annual growth and marks a significant recovery from the major correction the year before (AUM dropped by $18 trillion in 2022).
The research also reveals the continued evolution of active vs. passive assets under management among the largest investment managers. For the first time, passive investment strategies now account for more than one third of AUM among the 500 largest firms (33.7%), though this still leaves almost two thirds of assets managed by the world’s largest managers in active strategies.
Asset class allocations have also evolved, with renewed growth of private markets. Core equity and fixed income remain the dominant asset classes, comprising 77.3% of total AUM (48.3% equity and 29.0% fixed income). However, this marks a slight decrease of 0.2% compared to the previous year, as investors turned to alternatives such as private equity and other illiquids in search of returns.
Partly down to the recent dominance of US equities as performance drivers, North America experienced the largest growth in AUM with a 15.0% increase, followed closely by Europe (including the U.K.) with a 12.4% rise. Japan saw a slight decline, with AUM decreasing by 0.7%. As a result, North America now accounts for 60.8% of the total AUM in the top 500 managers, with USD 77.8 trillion at the end of 2023.
At the very top of the rankings, U.S. managers make up 14 of the top 20, and account for 80.3% of the assets of the top 20.
Turning to individual asset managers, the research shows that BlackRock remains the world’s largest asset manager, with its assets now above $10 trillion once more. Vanguard Group holds a strong second place at almost $8.6 trillion AUM and both remain significantly ahead of Fidelity Investments and State Street Global – ranked third and fourth respectively.
Notable risers in the full rankings in the last 5 years include Charles Schwab Investment, up 34 places to reach 25th place from 59th place. Geode Capital Management, also U.S. based, is up 31 places to reach 23rd place from 54, while Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management is up 29 places from 60th to 31st.
“Asset managers have experienced a year of consolidation and change. While there has been a return to strong market performance, the last year has also seen forces of change,” said Jessica Gao, director at the Thinking Ahead Institute. “Macro factors have played a key part in the story, with notable highs in interest rates during 2023 exerting varied pressure on different asset classes, geographies and investment styles. As this now gradually switches to a rate cutting environment, equity markets are beginning to return positive performance also driven by improving expectations of earnings growth. Uncertainties looking ahead are now focused on geopolitical events and several major elections.
“We have continued to see net flows into passive strategies as they continue to offer a compelling value proposition, particularly in terms of lower fees and simplicity. Yet growing market volatility and issues with concentration, which typically highlights the need for expertise to outperform benchmarks, may be a source of caution from some allocators to passive market trackers.
“Meanwhile, asset managers continue to face major pressure to evolve their own business models. Investment in technology remains essential not just to maintain a market edge, but also to meet evolving client requirements and expectation in reporting and customer service. Increased competition, fee compression, and the growing demand for more personalised, technology-driven investment solutions are challenging traditional structures. We have witnessed notable successes of independent asset managers versus many of the more affiliated insurer-linked vs bank-linked asset managers,” concluded Gao.
The world’s largest money managers as of December 31, 2023 Ranked by total AUM, in U.S. millions.
Rank
Fund
Market
Total Assets (US$)
1.
BlackRock
U.S.
$10,008,995
2.
Vanguard Group
U.S.
$8,593,307
3.
Fidelity Investments
U.S.
$4,581,980
4.
State Street Global
U.S.
$4,127,817
5.
J.P. Morgan Chase
U.S.
$3,422,000
6.
Goldman Sachs Group
U.S.
$2,812,000
7.
UBS
Switzerland
$2,620,000
8.
Capital Group
U.S.
$2,532,813
9.
Allianz Group
Germany
$2,454,495
10.
Amundi
France
$2,250,226
11.
BNY Investments
U.S.
$1,974,322
12.
Invesco
U.S.
$1,585,344
13.
Legal & General Group
U.K.
$1,475,442
14.
Franklin Templeton
U.S.
$1,455,506
15.
Prudential Financial
U.S.
$1,449,673
16.
T. Rowe Price Group
U.S.
$1,444,500
17.
Northern Trust
U.S.
$1,434,500
18.
Morgan Stanley Inv. Mgmt
U.S.
$1,373,456
19.
BNP Paribas
France
$1,364,099
20.
Natixis Investment Managers
France
$1,288,581
Notes to editors:
Figures were the latest available as of Dec. 31, 2023
About the Thinking Ahead Institute
The Thinking Ahead Institute was established in January 2015 and is a global not-for-profit investment research and innovation member group made up of engaged institutional asset owners and service providers committed to changing and improving the investment industry for the benefit of the end saver. It has over 55 members around the world and is an outgrowth of WTW Investments’ Thinking Ahead Group, which was set up in 2002.
About WTW Investments
WTW’s Investments is an investment advisory and asset management firm focused on creating financial value for institutional investors through its expertise in risk assessment, strategic asset allocation, fiduciary management and investment manager selection. It has over 900 colleagues worldwide, more than 1,000 investment clients globally, assets under advisory of over US$4.7 trillion and US$187 billion of assets under management.
About WTW
At WTW (NASDAQ: WTW), we provide data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk and capital. Leveraging the global view and local expertise of our colleagues serving 140 countries and markets, we help organizations sharpen their strategy, enhance organizational resilience, motivate their workforce and maximize performance.
Working shoulder to shoulder with our clients, we uncover opportunities for sustainable success—and provide perspective that moves you.
Samsung is committed to empowering users’ health routines with a seamlessly connected ecosystem of personalized wellness experiences. Samsung Health makes this possible by bringing together fragmented health data into a consolidated platform, enabling users to easily monitor their wellbeing.
To further this mission, Samsung Health now offers expanded health management capabilities1, enabling users to easily access their health records, effectively manage medications, and track their daily food intake with convenience – all through the latest Samsung Health app update available starting today. To bring these advancements to life, Samsung has partnered with industry leading companies specializing in health data integration, medications tracking, and food barcode scanning, optimizing the experience in select markets.
Manage Health Record from a Single, Secure Place
With a new Health Records feature2, users can easily access medical records from clinics, hospitals, and major health networks — all in the Samsung Health app. Samsung has partnered with b.well Connected Health, a platform that consolidates the largest electronic medical record (EMR) systems in the United States. including athenahealth, Cerner Health, Epic Systems and Veradigm®. The Health Records feature guides users toward preventative care by offering meaningful insights and alerts that suggest next steps, such as recommending medical tests or actions. By offering a holistic view of their health history ─ including vaccination and prescription records, past hospital visits, and even specific test results ─ users can more effectively communicate with their healthcare providers by having their important medical details at their fingertips.
Advanced Medications Tracking Expands to More Users
Launched in the U.S. last year, the Medications tracking feature3 has allowed users to easily keep a record of medications, and access relevant tips and information including general descriptions, potential side effects, and warnings about drug interactions or food-related reactions. The feature is one of the most frequently used among Samsung Health app users in the U.S., with around two-thirds returning to manage their medications at least three times per week. Through the latest update, the Medications tracking feature allows more users to easily manage their medications with expanded functionalities and availability. With the visual search, users can easily add medications to their personal medication list by simply scanning the pill bottle with their phone camera. They can also check adherence levels and easily monitor medication progress, including details on dosage schedules or a missed dose, through an intuitive dashboard.
Medications tracking feature is also expanding to South Korea and India, forging strategic initiatives with leading regional partners to offer insightful information to even more users. In the U.S., through its partnership with Elsevier, a globally recognized healthcare data hub, the Samsung Health app also provides warnings for over 960 types of allergies and potential reactions to medications. In Korea, with Korea Pharmaceutical Information Center (KPIC), an authoritative institute under the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, users can receive warnings about medications to avoid during pregnancy. Plus, in India, through a collaboration with Tata 1mg, India’s leading digital consumer healthcare platform, users can not only receive reminders to refill medications, but conveniently do so online when needed.
Effortlessly Monitor Food Intake with Barcode Scanning
It is essential to monitor one’s daily dietary intake and establish healthy eating habits. Barcode scanning has now been added to the Food tracker in Samsung Health, making it even easier to log food details such as names, calories and nutrition facts. In partnership with fatsecret, one of the largest global providers of verified food and nutrition data, users can simply scan food barcodes to receive necessary nutritional information automatically in the app. The feature will first be available in the U.S. and select European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, and expand to additional markets in the future.
Samsung is dedicated to shaping the future of comprehensive health management and continuously optimize wearable technology to bring smarter, more personalized solutions for everyday wellness. These advancements strengthen the foundation of Samsung’s digital health platform, and with other innovations, deliver more meaningful and impactful experiences globally.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News
Jackson, Miss. – A Neshoba County man was sentenced to 138 months in federal prison for assault with intent to do bodily harm and use of a firearm during a crime of violence on the Choctaw Indian Reservation.
According to court documents, in September 2022, Jessie James Clay, Jr., 42, used a handgun to shoot a tribal member, causing serious bodily injury, at a residence in the Pearl River Community of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Clay was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2023, and he pled guilty on July 18, 2024.
United States Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Robert Eikhoff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement.
The Choctaw Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin J. Payne and Brian K. Burns prosecuted the case.
On Oct. 18, 1989, space shuttle Atlantis took off on its fifth flight, STS-34, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Its five-person crew of Commander Donald E. Williams, Pilot Michael J. McCulley, and Mission Specialists Shannon W. Lucid, Franklin R. Chang-Díaz, and Ellen S. Baker flew a five-day mission that deployed the Galileo spacecraft, managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, to study Jupiter. The astronauts deployed Galileo and its upper stage on their first day in space, sending the spacecraft on its six-year journey to the giant outer planet. Following its arrival at Jupiter in December 1995, Galileo deployed its atmospheric probe while the main spacecraft entered orbit around the planet, studying it in great detail for eight years. Left: The STS-34 crew of Mission Specialists Shannon W. Lucid, sitting left, Franklin R. Chang-Díaz, and Ellen S. Baker; Commander Donald E. Williams, standing left, and Pilot Michael J. McCulley. Middle: The STS-34 crew patch. Right: The Galileo spacecraft in Atlantis’ payload bay in preparation for STS-34. In November 1988, NASA announced Williams, McCulley, Lucid, Chang-Díaz, and Baker as the STS-34 crew for the flight planned for October 1989. Williams and Lucid, both from the Class of 1978, had each flown once before, on STS-51D in April 1985 and STS-51G in June 1985, respectively. Chang-Díaz, selected in 1980, had flown once before on STS-61C in January 1986, while for McCulley and Baker, both selected in 1984, STS-34 represented their first spaceflight. During their five-day mission, the astronauts planned to deploy Galileo and its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) on the first flight day. Following the Galileo deployment, the astronauts planned to conduct experiments in the middeck and the payload bay. Left: Voyager 2 image of Jupiter. Middle: Galileo as it appeared in 1983. Right: Illustration of Galileo’s trajectory from Earth to Jupiter. Following the successful Pioneer and Voyager flyby missions, NASA’s next step to study Jupiter in depth involved an ambitious orbiter and atmospheric entry probe. NASA first proposed the Jupiter Orbiter Probe mission in 1975, and Congress approved it in 1977 for a planned 1982 launch on the space shuttle. In 1978, NASA renamed the spacecraft Galileo after the 17th century Italian astronomer who turned his new telescope toward Jupiter and discovered its four largest moons. Delays in the shuttle program and changes in the upper stage to send Galileo from low Earth orbit on to Jupiter resulted in the slip of its launch to May 1986, when on Atlantis’ STS-61G mission, a Centaur upper stage would send the spacecraft toward Jupiter. The January 1986 Challenger accident not only halted shuttle flights for 31 months but also canceled the Centaur as an upper stage for the orbiter. Remanifested onto the less powerful IUS, Galileo would require gravity assist maneuvers at Venus and twice at Earth to reach its destination, extending the transit time to six years. Galileo’s launch window extended from Oct. 12 to Nov. 21, 1989, dictated by planetary alignments required for the gravity assists. During the transit, Galileo had the opportunity to pass by two main belt asteroids, providing the first closeup study of this class of objects. Upon arrival at Jupiter, Galileo would release its probe to return data as it descended through Jupiter’s atmosphere while the main spacecraft would enter an elliptical orbit around the planet, from which it would conduct in depth studies for a minimum of 22 months. Left: The Galileo atmospheric probe during preflight processing. Middle: The Galileo orbiter during preflight processing. Right: Space shuttle Atlantis arrives at Launch Pad 39B. The Galileo atmospheric probe arrived at KSC on April 17 and the main spacecraft on May 16, following which workers joined the two together for preflight testing. Meanwhile, Atlantis returned to KSC on May 15, following the STS-30 mission that deployed the Magellan spacecraft to Venus. The next day workers towed it into the Orbiter Processing Facility to prepare it for STS-34. In KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), workers began stacking the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) on June 15, completing the activity on July 22, and then adding the External Tank (ET) on July 30. Atlantis rolled over to the VAB on Aug. 22 for mating with the ET and SRBs. Galileo, now mated to its IUS, transferred to Launch Pad 39B on Aug. 25, awaiting Atlantis’ arrival four days later. The next day, workers placed Galileo into Atlantis’ payload bay and began preparations for the Oct. 12 launch. The Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test took place on Sept. 14-15, with the astronauts participating in the final few hours as on launch day. A faulty computer aboard the IUS threatened to delay the mission, but workers replaced it without impacting the planned launch date. The five-member astronaut crew arrived at KSC Oct. 9 for final preparations for the flight and teams began the countdown for launch. A main engine controller problem halted the countdown at T minus 19 hours. The work required to replace it pushed the launch date back to Oct. 17. On that day, the weather at the pad supported a launch, but clouds and rain at the Shuttle Landing Facility several miles away, and later rain at a Transatlantic (TAL) abort site, violated launch constraints, so managers called a 24-hour scrub. The next day, the weather cooperated at all sites, and other than a brief hold to reconfigure Atlantis’ computers from one TAL site to another, the countdown proceeded smoothly. Left: STS-34 astronauts pose following their Sept. 6 preflight press conference. Middle: Liftoff of Atlantis on the STS-34 mission. Right: Controllers in the Firing Room watch Atlantis take to the skies. Atlantis lifted off Launch Pad 39B at 12:53 p.m. EDT on Oct. 18. As soon as the shuttle cleared the launch tower, control shifted to the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Ascent Flight Director Ronald D. Dittemore and his team of controllers, including astronaut Frank L. Culbertson serving as the capsule communicator, or capcom, monitored all aspects of the launch. Following main engine cutoff, Atlantis and its crew had achieved orbit. Forty minutes later, a firing of the two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines circularized the orbit at 185 miles. The astronauts removed their bulky Launch and Entry Suits (LES) and prepared Atlantis for orbital operations, including opening the payload bay doors. Left: Galileo and its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) in Atlantis’ payload bay, just before deployment. Middle: Galileo and its IUS moments after deployment. Right: Galileo departs from the shuttle. Preparations for Galileo’s deployment began shortly thereafter. In Mission Control, Flight Director J. Milton Heflin and his team, including capcom Michael A. Baker, took over to assist the crew with deployment operations. The astronauts activated Galileo and the IUS, and ground teams began checking out their systems, with the first TV from the mission showing the spacecraft and its upper stage in the payload bay. Lucid raised Galileo’s tilt table first to 29 degrees, McCulley oriented Atlantis to the deployment attitude, then Lucid raised the tilt table to the deploy position of 58 degrees. With all systems operating normally, Mission Control gave the go for deploy. Six hours and 20 minutes into the mission, Lucid deployed the Jupiter-bound spacecraft and its upper stage, weighing a combined 38,483 pounds. “Galileo is on its way to another world,” Williams called down. The combination glided over the shuttle’s crew compartment. Williams and McCulley fired the two OMS engines to move Atlantis a safe distance away from the IUS burn that took place one hour after deployment, sending Galileo on its circuitous journey through the inner solar system before finally heading to Jupiter. The primary task of the mission accomplished, the astronauts prepared for their first night’s sleep in space. STS-34 crew Earth observation photographs. Left: The Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. Middle left: Jamaica. Middle right: Greece. Right: The greater Tokyo area with Mt. Fuji at upper left. For the next three days, the STS-34 astronauts focused their attention on the middeck and payload bay experiments, as well as taking photographs of the Earth. Located in the payload bay, the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet experiment, managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, measured ozone in the Earth’s atmosphere and compared the results with data obtained by weather satellites at the same locations. The comparisons served to calibrate the weather satellite instruments. Baker conducted the Growth Hormone Concentrations and Distributions in Plants experiment, that investigated the effect of the hormone Auxin in corn shoot tissue. Three days into the mission, she placed plant canisters into a freezer to arrest plant growth and for postflight analysis. Chang-Díaz and Lucid had prime responsibility for the Polymer Morphology experiment, developed by the 3M Company. They used a laptop to control experiment parameters as the hardware melted different samples to see the effects of weightlessness. Baker conducted several medical investigations, including studying blood vessels in the retina, changes in leg volume due to fluid shifts, and carotid blood flow. Left: The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet experiment in Atlantis’ payload bay. Middle: Ellen S. Baker, right, performs a carotid blood flow experiment on Franklin R. Chang-Díaz. Right: Chang-Díaz describes the Polymer Mixing experiment. Left: The STS-34 crew poses on Atlantis’ fight deck. Middle: Atlantis touches down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Right: The STS-34 astronauts pose in front of Atlantis. On Oct. 23, the astronauts awakened for their final day in space. Because of high winds expected at the primary landing site at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), managers moved the landing up by two revolutions. In preparation for reentry, the astronauts donned their orange LESs and closed the payload bay doors. Williams and McCulley oriented Atlantis into the deorbit attitude, with the OMS engines facing in the direction of travel. Over the Indian Ocean, they fired the two engines for 2 minutes 48 seconds to bring the spacecraft out of orbit. They reoriented the orbiter to fly with its heat shield exposed to the direction of flight as it encountered Earth’s atmosphere at 419,000 feet. The buildup of ionized gases caused by the heat of reentry prevented communications for about 15 minutes but provided the astronauts a great light show. The entry profile differed slightly from the planned one because Atlantis needed to make up 500 miles of cross range since it returned two orbits early. After completing the Heading Alignment Circle turn, Williams aligned Atlantis with the runway, and McCulley lowered the landing gear. Atlantis touched down and rolled to a stop, ending a 4-day 23-hour 39-minute flight, having completed 79 orbits of the Earth. Following postlanding inspections, workers placed Atlantis atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing-747, and the combination left Edwards on Oct. 28. Following refueling stops at Biggs Army Airfield in Texas and Columbus AFB in Mississippi, Atlantis and the SCA arrived back at KSC on Oct. 29. Workers began to prepare it for its next flight, STS-36 in February 1990. Left: An illustration of Galileo in orbit around Jupiter. Right: Galileo’s major mission events, including encounters with Jupiter’s moons during its eight-year orbital study. One hour after deployment from Atlantis, the IUS ignited to send Galileo on its six-year journey to Jupiter, with the spacecraft flying free of the rocket stage 47 minutes later. The spacecraft’s circuitous path took it first to Venus on Feb. 10, 1990, back to Earth on Dec. 8, 1990, and again on Dec. 8, 1992, each time picking up velocity from the gravity assist to send it on to the giant planet. Along the way, Galileo also passed by and imaged the main belt asteroids Gaspra and Ida and observed the crash of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 onto Jupiter. On Dec. 7, 1995, the probe plummeted through Jupiter’s dense atmosphere, returning data along the way, until it succumbed to extreme pressures and temperatures. Meanwhile, Galileo entered orbit around Jupiter and far exceeded its 22-month primary mission, finally plunging into the giant planet on Sept. 21, 2003, 14 years after leaving Earth. During its 35 orbits around Jupiter, it studied not only the planet but made close observations of many of its moons, especially its four largest ones, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io. Left: Galileo image of could formations on Jupiter. Right: Closeup image of terrain on Europa. Of particular interest to many scientists, Galileo made 11 close encounters with icy Europa, coming as close as 125 miles, revealing incredible details about its surface. Based on Galileo data, scientists now believe a vast ocean lies beneath Europa’s icy crust, and heating from inside the moon may produce conditions favorable for supporting life. NASA’s Europa Clipper, launched on Oct. 14, 2024, hopes to expand on Galileo’s observations when it reaches Jupiter in April 2030. Enjoy the crew narrated video of the STS-34 mission. Read Williams‘ recollections of the STS-34 mission in his oral history with the JSC History Office.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3
Statement by UK Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on the impact of scientific developments on international peace and security.
Location:
United Nations, New York
Delivered on:
(Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)
I’d like to highlight three points.
First, we share the view that the Council must remain ahead of emerging threats. As the briefers noted, advances in neurotechnology, engineering biology and artificial intelligence offer significant potential but also create risks that can impact on international peace and security. This is particularly true as these advances intersect, causing a compounding effect.
In future, quantum technologies may break the most advanced cryptographic encryption threatening secure communications and information systems that underpin peace and humanitarian operations. While human augmentation technologies, such as exoskeletons, that can facilitate quicker and more efficient decision-making on the battlefield and may be exploited by malicious actors.
Today, AI is already being weaponised by state and non-state actors to spread disinformation at scale.
The UK is actively working to counter the impacts of disinformation through data-driven tools and localised information verification systems including through the AI Summit series that was launched in Bletchley last year and to which Korea and France have already alluded.
So we endorse the briefers recommendations for the Council to deepen its collaboration with the scientific community and to systematically incorporate scientific analysis into reports and briefings on existing Council files.
Second, many scientific and technological advancements are dual use. So there is a role for this Council to promote the development of national, regional and international governance approaches that enable economic growth and development while mitigating risks to security.
It is essential that technologies are researched, developed and deployed responsibly and ethically, in accordance with international law, including international human rights and humanitarian law.
Third, the Council can prevent emerging threats before they escalate by better integrating scientific tools into decision-making. Developing capabilities for early warning through data analytics, as the UK has done through support for the AU’s early warning mechanism and the UN’s Complex Risk Analytics Fund, can enable the Council to better anticipate risks and make timely, informed decisions.
In conclusion, President, the UK remains committed to ensuring that technological progress serves as a force for peace and security, not instability.
Kevin Wilkerson and his companies illegally charged tens of thousands of dollars for shoddy work that increased the risk of underground fuel leaks
TACOMA — On Friday, a Pierce County judge ordered a local business owner to pay more than $360,000 in penalties and restitution for unlawfully charging gas station owners for unfinished, unnecessary, or shoddy work on underground fuel storage tanks. The order is the result of a consumer protection lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Wing Luke Civil Rights Division.
The judgment includes full restitution, plus interest, for nine gas station owners — all but one of whom identify as Korean or South Asian — who were scammed by Kevin Wilkerson and his companies, Northwest Environmental Services and Core Environmental Group. Wilkerson collected payment from the small businesses for work he did not perform or performed so poorly the businesses had to pay thousands more to other companies for the same services. In many cases, Wilkerson stopped responding to the owners of the gas stations when they attempted to contact him and refused to refund what they paid.
“My office stands up for Washington small businesses that follow the rules and contribute to our economy,” Ferguson said. “Wilkerson and his companies not only took advantage of Washingtonians trying to follow the rules, he put their livelihoods at risk. We are committed to protecting hardworking small businesses from bad actors who prey on them.”
An Olympia gas station owner, who immigrated to the U.S. 40 years ago, told the Attorney General’s Office: “(Wilkerson) took my money and then didn’t respond to me and made excuses. I trusted him. He was supposed to be an expert in the field. He was supposed to know what he’s doing. If he had said something needed to be done, I listened and asked him to do it because I relied on his word. Instead, (Wilkerson) and NES did work they were not qualified to do and cost me thousands of dollars in the process.”
Wilkerson’s unlawful conduct affected small businesses in Pierce, King, Snohomish, Thurston, Grays Harbor and Lewis counties.
Wilkerson’s unlawful conduct violated the state Consumer Protection Act. On Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Clarence Henderson, Jr., found that Wilkerson violated the law and ordered Wilkerson to pay a total of $360,741, which includes $195,000 in enhanced civil penalties for harming individuals in Washington based on their national origin. Wilkerson must pay nine gas station owners a total of $165,741, amounting to full restitution plus interest.
Moreover, Wilkerson and his companies must cease all unlawful conduct or face further penalties from the court.
Wilkerson’s companies advertise maintenance services for underground storage tanks, which are used by gas stations across Washington to store fuel. There are approximately 8,700 underground storage tanks located at more than 3,400 sites statewide. Gas stations, which are primarily independently owned and operated, are responsible for periodic testing, maintenance and servicing for underground storage tanks. Service providers for this maintenance work must be certified, follow state regulations, and report the services they perform to the state Department of Ecology, which enforces regulations for underground storage tanks. Despite advertising a “skilled and certified in-house team” that “performs to the highest of standards,” Wilkerson and his companies have been taking advantage of small business owners since at least 2015, including:
Accepting payment for services that were not completed or only partially completed;
Completing services that violated regulations and exposed customers to liability for environmental damages;
Misrepresenting certifications to customers;
Persuading gas station owners to purchase and install unnecessary equipment and make unnecessary, expensive repairs; and
Telling gas station owners they had submitted required documentation to Ecology when they had not.
In one instance, an Indian gas station owner in Toledo paid Wilkerson a $50,000 deposit to install new underground fuel storage tanks at his gas station. Six months later, the business owner learned that Wilkerson had not applied for the permits and, as a result, the work could not begin on time. The gas station owner had already purchased two new underground tanks, each capable of holding 25,000 gallons of fuel. With nowhere to install them, the owner had to pay an additional $7,000 to store them above ground behind the gas station. The gas station owner has hired a different contractor to complete the work, which will not be done until summer 2025. As a result, the business will lose a significant portion of monthly sales until then. The court ordered Wilkerson to repay the business owner $94,119 for this and other shoddy work, an amount that includes 12 percent interest.
In another instance, a Korean gas station owner in Olympia paid Wilkerson nearly $9,000 for upgrades to the gas station’s cathodic protection system, which protects underground storage tanks from corrosion to prevent underground fuel leaks. Wilkerson performed the work without proper certification and never returned to do required testing to ensure the system was working properly. When the gas station owner paid another service provider to come out to do the required testing, the system failed. The owner discovered Wilkerson had used incorrect parts and had to pay to have all the work redone. Wilkerson stopped responding to the gas station owner and never refunded the money he was paid for the shoddy work. The court ordered Wilkerson to repay the business owner $13,163, which includes 12 percent interest.
While the restitution provided by the court on Friday is limited to the nine impacted business owners who submitted declarations to the court, the Attorney General’s Office believes more businesses may have been harmed by Wilkerson’s conduct. Business owners who wish to report harm from Wilkerson or his companies should contact the Attorney General’s Office at civilrights@atg.wa.gov or toll-free by calling 1-833-660-4877 and selecting option 1.
Assistant Attorneys General Emily C. Nelson and Alyssa P. Au, Investigator Rebecca Pawul, and Paralegal Logan Young handled the case for Washington.
Ecology asks Attorney General to investigate Wilkerson’s repeat violations
The Attorney General’s Office filed the lawsuit against Wilkerson in March after the state Department of Ecology requested the office’s intervention. For years, Wilkerson repeatedly violated state regulations and disregarded penalties from Ecology.
Ecology received repeated complaints over many years from gas station owners and operators regarding Wilkerson. He faced multiple complaints for shoddy work that increased the risk of environmental damages, such as underground fuel leaks.
Despite the penalties, Wilkerson remains undeterred. Ecology continues to receive new complaints about similar conduct by Wilkerson.
To report a complaint to Ecology’s underground storage tank program, email tanks@ecy.wa.gov or call the UST Hotline at 800-826-7716.
Anyone who believes they are the victim of unfair or deceptive business practices should file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office: https://www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint
Read the Korean translation of this press release here.
Read the Punjabi translation of this press release here.
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Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit http://www.atg.wa.govto learn more.
A key part of this ideal is academics welcoming all students to study and research, regardless of their racial background.
But as our new research shows, Australian academics responded differently to potential PhD students, depending on whether they were called “Melissa” or “Rahul”.
Racism on campus
Many overseas and Australian studies have shown racism is both a historical and ongoing problem for universities.
A 2020 Australian study showed universities tend to be run by older, white men. A 2021 UK study showed academics from different cultural backgrounds face racism at work.
But there has been less specific attention paid to those trying to become academics.
The main way people start an academic career is via a doctoral degree. In the Australian system, before a student is accepted they usually require an established academic to agree to supervise them. So a student’s initial communication with a potential supervisor is very important.
To start a PhD, students usually need to have a supervisor lined up. Jacob Lund/Shutterstock
How we set up our research
To investigate whether racism is playing a role at the entrance point to PhD study, in 2017 we sent about 7,000 emails from fictitious students to academics based at the main campuses of Australia’s Group of Eight universities (billed as Australia’s top research universities).
These are the Australian National University, Monash University, University of Adelaide, University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of Western Australia and University of Queensland.
We emailed staff ranked senior lecturer or above, as these are the levels most likely to be supervising PhD students. Academics were identified by university websites, and we sent emails to everyone who fit our rank criteria across all disciplines.
In this process, we found 70% of relevant academics were male and 84% were white. This did not improve in the more senior ranks – more than 68% of professors were white men.
What did the email say?
The emails asked for an meeting to talk about potential PhD supervision.
They were identical apart from the senders’ names. These names were tested to be associated with male and female and with white-European, Indigenous, South Asian, Chinese and Arab identities. Recipients were randomly allocated to different name groups.
The emails indicated the sender was an Australia-based student with fluent English. It conveyed an interest in the recipient’s research and urgency in meeting because the sender was only on campus for several days. It also noted “I have recently finished my honours degree” (a common path into a PhD in Australia) and was sent from a University of Sydney email address.
Responses agreeing to a meeting or requesting further information were categorised as “positive”. Those who declined a meeting were “non-positive”. Automated replies and those who did not reply were “non-responses”.
Of 6,928 emails sent, 2,986 (43.1%) received a reply within 24 hours and 2,469 (35.6%) received a positive reply. There were 3,942 (56.9%) non-responses and 517 (7.5%) non-positive responses (declining a meeting).
We initially planned to give academics a week to respond, but after IT at one university noticed several staff had received emails with identical text, we ended the experiment after 24 hours.
From here, the results were stark: emails from names associated with non-white racial groups received significantly fewer responses and positive replies than those from names typically associated with white individuals.
An email from “Melissa Smith” was far more likely to get a positive response than an identical email from “Grace Chen Jinyan” (six percentage points lower) or “Omar al-Haddad” (nine percentage points lower).
The most dramatic gap was in the positive response rates to Melissa Smith, compared with “Rahul Kumar”. The rate of positive responses to Melissa was 12 percentage points higher than for Rahul.
Overall, our statistical analysis showed the white-sounding names averaged a 7% higher reply rate and a 9% higher positive response rate than the non-white sounding names. Both these findings were highly statistically significant, meaning we can be very confident the results were not due to chance.
Of course, some faculty members may simply have been unable to meet with the student, or may have missed the email. However, given the randomisation used, it is reasonable to assume bias explains the gap in responses to students with different names.
This is alarming because it suggests racial bias is quietly influencing who gets a foot in the door of academia even before formal admissions processes begin.
Silver linings
One seemingly positive finding was academics at the more junior end of our study group appeared to show less bias towards students of different backgrounds.
For academics at senior lecturer or associate professor levels, Melissa was 10.5% more likely to receive a positive response than Rahul, while the corresponding figure for full professors was 14.7%.
However, junior academics often have little institutional power or much of a say on hiring. More research is needed to explore whether generational change is achievable (albeit painfully slow).
We also found that, unlike similar US studies, there was no significant bias against female students. In fact, there was some evidence of positive bias, or preference, for female students.
Our study found academics did not discriminate against potential candidates based on gender. Matej Kastelic/ Shutterstock
However, minutes after academics received our follow-up email telling them they had been part of a research study (part of our ethics protocol), the backlash began.
The University of Sydney, our home institution at the time, received more than 500 inquiries about the study. While some were curious or supportive, the majority were complaints. These were primarily about our use of deception (a well-researched and supported method of studying bias). Megan MacKenzie, the more junior author (at the time a senior lecturer), received calls threatening her with consequences for her career.
Although unpleasant, the reaction was revealing. It reinforces other research on how defensive racial majorities can be when they believe they are suspected of bias. It also complements work showing internal resistance to diversity efforts in higher education.
What can we do?
Universities pride themselves on being meritocracies, where the best ideas and brightest minds rise to the top. But our study suggests racial bias is undermining this principle by influencing who is even considered for an academic career.
There is growing acknowledgement racism is a significant problem on Australian university campuses (as well as in broader society). In May, the federal government asked the Australian Human Rights Commission to study the prevalence and impact of racism at Australian universities.
But this study is not due to deliver its final report until June 2025, and any ensuing action will be further away still.
What can be done now to tackle this issue?
First, universities need to acknowledge academia remains overwhelmingly white and male, in spite of efforts to increase diversity.
Second, universities also need to acknowledge the existence of racial bias, the need for ongoing research into how it operates in higher education and the most effective strategies to tackle it.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Smith, Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has often been accused of copying former US President DonaldTrump’stactics. Some analysts even refer to Dutton, like Trump, as a “populist” who seeks political gain by pitting ordinary citizens against corrupt “elites”.
There is evidence of this populism in the willingness of Trump, Dutton and other figures in their parties to attack “big business”.
But they do not believe there is a natural conflict between business and workers, or between different sections of the economy. And they usually align with big business on the critical issues of taxation and government regulation.
So Dutton’s declaration earlier this year that the Liberal Party is “not the party of big business” but “the friend of the worker” marks a notable rhetorical shift, even if there is reason to doubt the substance behind it.
It mirrors a similar shift to pro-worker rhetoric among leading Republicans. Florida Senator Marco Rubio said in 2020, for instance, the future of the Republican Party is based on “a multiethnic, multiracial, working-class coalition”.
However cosmetic these gestures are, many conservatives see major corporations as culturally hostile to them. More importantly, they no longer see big business and finance as reliable political backers.
These changing conditions have given Republicans and Liberals a free hand to make big business – never a popular entity – into a target of populist campaigns.
Many of their attacks are about “wokeness”. But not all. Consumer protection has also become an opportune theme, given the cost of living crisis in both the United States and Australia.
They can propose these ideas because voters usually trust the Republican and Liberal parties more than their opponents on economic issues. Most Democratic and Labor politicians would be unwilling to take populist measures that far because of their perennial fears of being seen as economically irresponsible.
But when it comes to actually siding with workers over business, a different picture emerges.
In Trump’s current campaign to re-enter the White House, unions have criticised him for holding a rally appealing to “union workers” at a non-union shop, and for praising tech billionaire Elon Musk because he sacked workers who threatened to strike.
Trump also said recently that as a business owner he hated paying overtime. He has also previously said he preferred to use non-union workforces.
Although unions as organisations usually support Democrats, the number of voters in union households who support Republicans is sometimes more than 40%.
This year, Trump sought the endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the North American truck drivers’ union with 1.3 million members. The Teamsters have supported Democratic candidates in every presidential election since 2000, but prior to that, the organisation had also backed Republican candidates like Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush.
This year, the Teamsters did not join most other unions in quickly endorsing Democratic incumbent Joe Biden before he stepped aside for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Teamsters’ president, Sean O’Brien, almost got into a fight with a Republican senator in a committee hearing in 2023 after calling him a “greedy CEO who acts like he’s self-made”. Nonetheless, he got an invitation to speak at this year’s Republican National Convention. He praised Trump as a “tough SOB”, but then blasted various businesses and business organisations for being anti-union, to the discomfort of the audience.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien addressing the Republican National Convention.
Trump-era Republicans frequently praise “union workers” rather than actual unions. When Senators JD Vance (now Trump’s running mate) and Josh Hawley supported the striking United Auto Workers last year, they criticised the union’s leadership. But they are happy to be seen as being on the side of unionised workers against big businesses who send manufacturing jobs overseas, a trend Trump promises to reverse.
The term “union workers” prompts conservative nostalgia, especially for a group like the Teamsters with their mostly male membership and reputation for toughness. It evokes the anti-communist, blue-collar workers of the 1960s and ‘70s who supported Nixon and brawled in the streets with college-educated anti-Vietnam War protesters.
That is not the only nostalgic element. Through heavily protectionist measures, Trump is promising to restore millions of manufacturing jobs to the United States – the kinds of jobs that used to be largely unionised. He also promises to roll back environmental regulations to expand mining, drilling and fracking on federal land. Again, these are the kinds of jobs often associated with “union workers”.
When Trump and others praise “union workers”, they are not really talking about unions, but a certain type of blue-collar job they are promising to create and protect. “Union” in this context has the positive connotation of well-paid, stable work.
But Trump claims it is his policies that will guarantee these jobs, making unions themselves virtually irrelevant.
Where Liberals won’t follow
Dutton may praise workers, but he is unlikely to add the prefix “union” anytime soon. It is hard to imagine any Liberal leader courting the support of a union because Australia’s party system effectively enshrines the country’s adversarial industrial relations system in its politics.
The Australian Labor Party began as the parliamentary wing of the union movement, and to this day affiliated unions are entitled to 50% of delegates at party conferences. American unions are not linked to the Democratic Party in the same way.
This does not mean the votes of union members are off-limits to other parties. In 2006, then-economist (now Labor MP) Andrew Leigh estimated about a third of union members voted for the Coalition on a two party-preferred basis from 1966 to 2004. But Liberals will not appeal to these voters as “union workers” in the same way Republicans do.
Trump’s dream of restoring American manufacturing dominance would involve a resurgence of long-term employment in large and medium-sized firms. He is promising the stability once associated with unions, not the “flexibility” that Australia’s Liberals want in workplaces.
For the most part, Liberals still prefer to talk about blue-collar workers as independent tradespeople or aspiring business owners rather than employees.
Dutton says the modern Liberal Party is the friend of “small business owners and employees in that business”. This conjures images of family-like operations where staff loyally put in unpaid overtime – instead of larger, impersonal workplaces (where unpaid overtime is also the norm).
Some doubt whether Trump is a genuine populist. But he has a wider scope for genuinely populist rhetoric than Dutton, at least for now.
Even though he’s a symbol of capitalist excess, part of Trump’s message is that capitalism has taken a wrong turn. Not just into excessive wokeness, but into globalisation and financialisation, where investment and speculation are more profitable than production.
There are limits to how much any Liberal leader, even Dutton, can tap into anger with capitalism itself.
David Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
LAS VEGAS, NV – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced new endorsements from local chambers of commerce for her Tax Relief for New Businesses Act, which would increase the startup tax deduction from $5,000 to $50,000. This legislation is being endorsed by the AAPI Chamber of Southern Nevada, the Urban Chamber of Commerce, the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce, the Latin Chamber of Commerce, and the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. The legislation was previously endorsed by the Vegas Chamber, the Reno + Sparks Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Alliance, and Center for American Entrepreneurship.
“Small businesses are critical for growing Nevada’s economy, and I’m working to help lower costs and cut taxes for people looking to start their own business,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m proud to announce additional new endorsements for my common-sense bill to increase the startup tax deduction from $5,000 to $50,000. I’ll continue working with these local chambers of commerce and business groups to support our entrepreneurs and bolster our state’s economic growth.”
“The AAPI Chamber of Commerce of Southern Nevada proudly endorses this bill, as we believe it will greatly enhance economic opportunity not only for the AANHPI community but for all small business owners throughout Nevada and the United States,” said Catherine Francisco, President of the AAPI Chamber of Commerce of Southern Nevada. “The proposed increase of the startup tax deduction will provide a crucial financial lifeline to entrepreneurs who often face overwhelming startup costs and will be particularly beneficial for minority and immigrant business owners, many of whom struggle to access adequate capital and resources when starting their ventures.”
“The Tax Relief for New Businesses Act would help address the problem of excessive startup costs, which will expand opportunities for local entrepreneurs to launch their ideas,” said Assemblyman Cameron Miller, President of the Urban Chamber of Commerce. “The Urban Chamber of Commerce is proud to endorse this legislation to empower more Nevadans to achieve their dreams of owning a small business.”
“As Las Vegas’ AAPI communities grow and the dreams of being a business owner become a reality, the Tax Relief for New Businesses Act will reduce obstacles new business owners face during the startup phase,” said Ana Wood, Government Affairs Chair of the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce. “In a community comprised of diverse ethnicities, ensuring support for the Tax Relief for New Businesses Act is in the best interest of all Nevadans, including AAPI entrepreneurs and small businesses.”
As a member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senator Rosen has been working to bolster Nevada’s small businesses. Every year, she leads her Senate colleagues in pushing for robust funding to support small businesses and cut burdensome red tape. Senator Rosen has also introduced the bipartisan Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program Act to establish a Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program through the Small Business Administration (SBA) to award grants to Minority Serving Institutions to promote and increase opportunity. Last year, Senator Rosen introduced the bipartisan One Stop Shop For Small Business Licensing Act to require the SBA to create a centralized website that includes federal, state, and local licensing and business permit information for starting a small business.
Amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) returned to homeport in San Diego, following a seven-month deployment in the U.S. 7th and 3rd Fleet areas of operations with embarked elements of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Oct. 18, 2024.
Carrying over 700 Sailors and embarked Marines, Harpers Ferry participated in multiple, multi-national exercises and operations in the Pacific, displaying interoperability and the U.S.’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“The accomplishments of USS Harpers Ferry and its Navy and Marine Corps team are quite impressive,” said Cmdr. Gabriel Burgi, the commanding officer of Harpers Ferry. “Together, we steamed tens of thousands of miles from home, away from our friends and families, and completed important missions necessary to protect high seas freedoms. We took part in several bilateral and multinational exercises, and we were great ambassadors of the United States. I couldn’t be more proud of how well the crew and Marines worked together to accomplish many ‘firsts’ for the ARG-MEU team.”
This deployment was an opportunity for the Marine Corps’ newest amphibious ship-to-shore connector, the amphibious combat vehicles (ACV), to gather operational data and lessons learned that will shape future deployments of the new platform in expeditionary environments.
“This deployment was the first ever for the Marine Corps’ first new amphibious vehicle in over 50 years,” said Burgi. “All eyes were on us as we set the precedent for deployed operations of the ACV, and we helped write doctrine for future deployments. We launched and landed the first ACVs in foreign waters and on foreign shores, and the world was watching.”
Harpers Ferry departed San Diego in March to begin a regularly scheduled, Western Pacific deployment. During the deployment, Harpers Ferry and embarked elements of the 15th MEU participated in Exercise Balikatan 24 (BK24), the largest, annual, bilateral exercise conducted between the U.S. and the Philippines. Elements of the embarked 15th MEU conducted a command-and-control exercise (C2X), Humanitarian Civic Assistance (HCA) projects and engagements, and a series of field training events.
ACVs made their operational debut during BK24 in May, splashing from Harpers Ferry in Oyster Bay to conduct a waterborne live-fire gunnery exercise.
“Throughout this deployment the landing force accomplished many firsts for the Marine Corps,” said Maj. Joe Santos, the ACV liaison officer, 15th MEU, and the commander of troops aboard Harpers Ferry. “The 15th MEU deployed with the Amphibious Combat Vehicle for the first time, which marked many more firsts for the Navy and Marine Corps. The Harpers Ferry and landing force was the first to achieve amphibious warfare certifications with the ACV; first to conduct ACV intermediate maintenance underway; first to conduct waterborne gunnery with the ACV; and first to operate within the Indo-Pacific.”
While in the Philippines, Marines and Sailors of the 15th MEU also participated in the Amphibious Coastal Defense Continuum (ACDC), partnering with Philippine Marine Corps’ 3rd Marine Brigade to enhance the Philippine Marine Corps’ coastal defense strategy while supporting the modernization efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
After BK24 and ACDC, the ship made its way north to Busan, South Korea, for Exercise Ssang Yong 24, a bilateral field training exercise with the Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC), and U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) in vicinity of Pohang.
Ssang Yong was another landmark event for the ACV, marking the first time ACVs conducted a ship-to-shore amphibious assault overseas, partnered with ROKMC amphibious forces.
“Harpers Ferry and their embarked Apache Company and ACV Platoon proved that we could safely and expeditiously launch and recover ACVs,” said Burgi. “The ACVs on deployment was a major milestone for the Navy-Marine Corps team. From onboard maintenance to overseas launch and recovery, almost everything we did with the ACVs was a first for our services. Deploying also gave the ACV platoon confidence in their weapon systems and in their ability to operate far from home without the benefit of onsite maintenance facilities.”
After Ssang Yong, Harpers Ferry transited home to San Diego following a successful seven-month deployment.
“I have seen this ship and her crew go from exiting the shipyards to the completion of a 7th Fleet deployment. This ship and her crew has been tasked over and over, and has exceeded the expectation of fleet commanders every time,” said Burgi. “There is no other crew or ship I would rather go to sea with. This crew has delivered miracles selflessly and tirelessly. I couldn’t be more proud of them; being the commanding officer to this crew has been the utmost privilege and highlight of my nearly 30-year career.”
Santos echoed Burgi’s thoughts on the deployment.
“I am excited for the Marines and Sailors to go home after this deployment knowing that they have accomplished so much,” said Maj. Santos. “They are a part of naval history and will remember this for the rest of their lives. It’s a beautiful day to be on the USS Harpers Ferry!”
Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan-Casey recently held a four-day Field Training Exercise (FTX), from Oct. 15-18, covering land navigation, first aid training, weapons qualification tests, a six-mile ruck march, and more.
FTXs are vital for maintaining the readiness and effectiveness of military units. These immersive training sessions allow Soldiers to refine and develop their skills in realistic scenarios, fostering teamwork, leadership, and tactical proficiency.
The first day of the exercise began with small teams of Soldiers embarking on land navigation exercises that challenged their ability to read maps and use compasses under pressure. Divided into combined groups of ROK and U.S. Army Soldiers, teams navigated through unfamiliar terrain, honing their skills in route planning and environmental awareness. This hands-on experience not only reinforced their technical abilities but also strengthened unit cohesion as they worked together to overcome obstacles.
KATUSA Sgt. Kang, Hojin expressed excitement about completing land navigation for the first time since KATUSA Training Academy.
“I found land navigation very challenging, but rewarding,” said Kang. “Sgt. Strunck did an excellent job teaching us how to do it successfully.”
The second day of the FTX brought the focus to patrol lanes, where Soldiers split up into groups of three or four and learned how to maneuver as a fire team. At the end of each lane, fire teams encountered an opposing force (OPFOR). The fire team would have to correctly react to contact and move effectively, providing each other suppressive fire while moving to cover. The scenario was instrumental in building confidence and refining the Soldiers’ decision-making processes in dynamic situations on the battlefield.
“I was pleased to see how quickly the KATUSAs adapted to the difficult situations that were thrown at them,” said Staff Sgt. Douglas Smith, who served as one of the trainers and graders during the patrol lanes. “I was astonished to see how the U.S personnel and the KATUSAs worked together as a cohesive unit.”
The third day’s agenda centered on M4 weapons qualification, a critical component of Soldier readiness. The day began with a 25-meter zero, so each shooter was properly sighted with their assigned weapon. This involves putting three individual shots accurately grouped together at the center of the target. Once completed, they started their qualification test, where they shot at targets ranging from 50 meters to over 300 meters. During the test, they would need to switch between a prone supported position to the standing supported position, demonstrating an ability to move quickly and retain shooting accuracy.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Giles was the Officer in Charge of the range, ensuring not only the safety but successful execution of the range. “Shooting weapons is why many of us joined the military, so it was cool to see the KATUSAs enjoy their time getting more practice in marksmanship and handling the M4.”
The final day of the FTX ended with a six-mile road march. Along the route, the entire Camp Casey community was greeted by a mass formation of professional Soldiers and KATUSAs, moving eagerly and with a purpose. At the end of the road march, which marked the end of the official portion of the exercise, the troops were jubilantly welcomed by a sweet sizzling sound and the aroma of a fresh barbecue. They gathered to share stories and reflect on their experiences, fostering camaraderie and a sense of accomplishment. The event not only marked the end of a challenging week, but also reinforced the unit’s commitment to excellence and readiness for future missions.
“This FTX was a great success!” said Capt. Jason Chung, the commander of HHC, U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan-Casey. “I’m very proud of our Soldiers, both U.S. and KATUSA alike. Garrison Soldiers do not usually have the chance to have experiences like this, so it was a great pleasure getting to facilitate this and give them a glimpse of all the experiences being in the U.S. Army.”
III Marine Expeditionary Force Marines and Sailors will participate in exercise Keen Sword 25, a joint-bilateral biennial exercise, alongside the Japan Self-Defense Force from October 23 through November 1, 2024, throughout Japan.
Keen Sword 25 is a field training exercise designed to enhance U.S.-Japan readiness and interoperability while strengthening the bilateral relationship and showcasing U.S. resolve to support the security interests of allies and partners in the region.
The exercise demonstrates and advances U.S.-Japan interoperability, validates force posture, and reinforces solidarity of the U.S.-Japan alliance by exercising the most modern equipment and procedures under realistic conditions. Approximately 900 Marines and Sailors from across III MEF will participate.
“III MEF is committed to conducting realistic exercises with our allies and partners, and we will continue to deploy and train alongside partner forces in exercises like Keen Sword,” said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Roger B. Turner, the III MEF commanding general. “The U.S.-Japan Alliance has served as the cornerstone of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and across the world for over seven decades and has never been stronger.
III MEF contributions to this iteration of Keen Sword will include a bilateral amphibious assault with the JSDF Amphibious Raid Deployment Brigade, humanitarian aid and disaster relief training, a forward arming and refueling point, live-fire training, and additional bilateral events and subject matter expert exchanges.
Live-fire exercises, like Keen Sword, are one of the most valuable ways for our forces to train in their craft and validate the ability to defend U.S. allies and partners as a vital part of our mission. Conducting training in different locations across the region allows the U.S. military to continue to learn and improve their proficiency to support a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
All participating units, to include participants from the Australian Defence Force and Canadian Armed Forces, will train in a comprehensive scenario designed to exercise the critical capabilities required to support the defense of Japan and to respond to a crisis or contingency in the Indo-Pacific region.
The KS25 scenario has no connection to existing regional events, nor is it directed at any single nation. Originating in 1986, this training between the United States and Japan has been a routine, recurring event to bolster the U.S.-Japan Alliance.
The U.S.-Japan alliance remains a cornerstone of regional peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region. Keen Sword provides realistic, relevant training that increases the U.S. and Japan’s abilities to plan, communicate, and conduct complex multi-domain operations.
Questions regarding JSDF training and personnel should be referred to Japan Joint Staff Office. Questions regarding Keen Sword 25 should be directed to the Combined Joint Information Bureau at indopacom.yokota.usfj.mbx.j021@mail.mil.
Questions regarding III MEF participation should be directed to IIIMEFMedia@usmc.mil.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Fifth project approved under Subsidy Scheme for Using Hotels and Guesthouses as Youth Hostels Fifth project approved under Subsidy Scheme for Using Hotels and Guesthouses as Youth Hostels ******************************************************************************************
The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) today (October 23) approved the fifth project under the Subsidy Scheme for Using Hotels and Guesthouses as Youth Hostels to the Yan Oi Tong Limited. To help further meet the housing needs of young people and assist with their development, the Chief Executive announced in the 2022 Policy Address that the Government will explore ways to increase the supply of youth hostels. To this end, the HYAB launched the Subsidy Scheme in early January 2023 to subsidise non-governmental organisations to rent suitable hotels and guesthouses for use as youth hostels. The fifth youth hostel project approved under the Subsidy Scheme is located in the Regal Oriental Hotel, with a total of 80 rooms, providing up to 160 hostel places. The project, which is named YOT Hub, will be launched by the Yan Oi Tong Limited and the Regal Hotels Group. One of the features of the project is to help youth tenants enrich their understanding of the national development opportunities through trainings, exchange programmes and internship programmes. It will also provide young people with self-enhancement and support services in different aspects, such as financial management courses, career development workshops and mental health seminars. In addition, the Yan Oi Tong Limited will form a youth service team and invite young people to collaborate in organising community activities. Volunteer services will also be arranged regularly to encourage young people to contribute to the community and establish their sense of belonging to society and responsibility. For details about the project and the means of application, please visit the website of YOT Hub (yot-hub.yot.org.hk). A spokesperson of the HYAB said, “YOT Hub is well connected by public transport with comprehensive community facilities in the vicinity. This project not only provides young people with a comfortable living environment but also enables them to broaden their horizons and achieve their personal development goals through various self-enhancement activities. We are delighted that the Subsidy Scheme continues to gain support from hotel and guesthouse operators to provide youth with an enabling environment and hope for the future. The HYAB will continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders who share our vision to take forward youth hostel projects.” Details about the Subsidy Scheme, including the guidelines to application and the application forms, have been uploaded to the HYAB website (www.hyab.gov.hk/en/policy_responsibilities/Social_Harmony_and_Civic_Education/youth_hostel_scheme.htm). Relevant organisations can submit their applications to the HYAB by post, email or other means.
Ends/Wednesday, October 23, 2024Issued at HKT 10:00
VIENTIANE, LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (23 October 2024) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Shanny Campbell as its Country Director for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). She assumed office this week. Ms. Campbell will lead ADB’s operations in the Lao PDR in support of its national development goals, including its ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030.
“I am honored to serve in this new role as ADB’s Country Director in the Lao PDR,” said Ms. Campbell. “I look forward to working closely with the government and development partners in supporting the country’s sustainable public finances, enhancing equitable access to services, and advancing its climate commitments.”
Ms. Campbell, a national of New Zealand and the United Kingdom, joined ADB in 2010 from the private sector. She has 31 years of experience across 26 countries in the transport, energy, agriculture and water resources, and finance sectors. Prior to this appointment, she was ADB’s Country Director for Tajikistan. She holds a Master of Development and Bachelor of Science degrees from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
The Lao PDR has been a member of ADB since 1966. As of December 2023, ADB has committed 365 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling $2.7 billion to the country.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.
The New Development Bank will make greater efforts to advance economic growth in emerging economies and help address pressing issues such as climate change as it welcomes more potential members, said Dilma Rousseff, the NDB’s president.
To help emerging countries ensure stable development and avoid crises, the NDB will facilitate the building of infrastructure in areas such as logistics, education, digital services and healthcare, Rousseff had said during an interview in September after she received China’s Friendship Medal, the highest honor China offers foreigners.
The NDB has already stepped up efforts to finance infrastructure projects in member countries. It has cumulatively approved loans of $35 billion for 105 projects, with the major ones being the Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III in India, the Serra da Palmeira Wind Power Project in Brazil, and the Jiangxi Urban and Rural Cold Chain Logistics Project in China, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.
At the end of August, the NDB announced a $280 million loan agreement with Transnet, South Africa’s leading freight transport and logistics company, to support the modernization and improvement of the country’s freight rail sector.
During a meeting of the bank’s board of directors in late August, a $1-billion loan was approved for financing South Africa’s water and sanitation infrastructure development. Another $150 million loan was approved to China’s Bank of Communications Financial Leasing for the acquisition of at least three liquefied natural gas carriers.
In January, the NDB inked three loan agreements with India to boost the country’s transportation, water and sanitation infrastructure in designated areas. The combined value of the loans is about $700 million.
As Rousseff pointed out, developing countries have limited capacity to address climate change. Further development and use of more renewable energy sources was needed, she said. As China is already a world leader in the electric vehicle segment, she hoped the nation would make more progress in energy storage and stable renewable energy supply.
According to the NDB’s strategy between 2022 and 2026, climate change mitigation will be a focus area, as the majority 40 percent of the bank’s $30 billion financing to be provided by 2026 has been reserved for green goals.
After issuing a 6-billion yuan ($840 million) five-year panda bond — yuan-denominated bonds issued by overseas institutions in the Chinese onshore market — at the beginning of the year, in July the NDB issued an 8-billion yuan three-year panda bond. The bonds are part of the bank’s efforts to finance infrastructure and sustainable development in member states while addressing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Initiated by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in 2014 with the purpose of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries, the NDB formally began operations in July 2015, with its headquarters in Shanghai.
In 2021, the NDB began expanding its membership and admitted Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay as new member countries.
“The partnership within the NDB does not sit on the development goals of respective members but rather represents the vision of member countries and better connects them,” she said, adding that the NDB welcomes other countries.
A model for the future
According to Rousseff, China’s development trajectory can serve as a good reference for the Global South. The nation’s experiences show that economic, infrastructure and technological development can overcome barriers, sanctions and obstacles, she said.
Applauding China’s achievements in the fields of socioeconomic and cultural development over the past 75 years, Rousseff said that it is now taking the lead in innovation, helping to advance globalization and reform. The country’s stress on development of new quality productive forces has shown its dedication to scientific and technological development.
“I feel like that there is no one single moment that I can have a full picture of China, as it is always developing, taking on a new look. The ever ongoing reform and opening-up has been refreshing China’s image,” she said.
The stronger ties between China and Brazil are another good example, showing that partnership among the Global South countries can help facilitate economic growth and improve people’s well-being, she said.
Under the Belt and Road Initiative, China and Brazil have strengthened their cooperation in the areas of trade and technology. At the same time, Brazil has served as China’s largest food supplier over the past few years, playing an important role in China’s food security, said Rousseff.
Meanwhile, Chinese companies’ presence in Brazil is of great importance, facilitating Brazil’s reindustrialization, she said.
As Rousseff further explained, there are several highlights in China’s investments in Brazil. These include the China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s concession contracts with Brazil’s leading oil and gas company Petrobras for oil exploration in the Pelotas Basin in southern Brazil.
Also, the less-developed areas in Brazil have benefited from China’s investment in power and overall energy supply, and high-voltage direct transmission lines built by China have helped address Brazil’s energy shortage, she said.
Since 2009, China has been Brazil’s largest trading partner and a major source of investment, while Brazil has been China’s largest trading partner in Latin America. Trade volume between China and Brazil reached $181.53 billion in 2023.
