Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah 6th District Wisconsin)
Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI) joins Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in introducing the CREATE JOBS Act, a bicameral bill which will restore key pro-manufacturing provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), incentivizing domestic production and creating over one million full-time jobs for hardworking Americans.
The CREATE JOBS Act would reinstate and make permanent two expired TCJA provisions that were vital in driving manufacturing growth and attracting investment back to the U.S. In addition, the bill applies neutral cost recovery for structures, such as factories. Taken together, these provisions will bolster manufacturing, raise wages, and create good-paying jobs.
“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) delivered major wins for American families and workers, but some of its most powerful tools for growth have already expired, hurting the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry,” said Grothman. “Wisconsin’s Sixth District is the most manufacturing intensive district in the country, so I’ve seen directly how this affects the hardworking men and women at home.
“The bottom line is we must make these provisions permanent to support our manufacturers, restore what we know works, and expand policies that strengthen our economy and create jobs across the nation. After our workforce has suffered through inflation and economic turmoil over the past four years, I’m proud to join Senator Ted Cruz in introducing the CREATE JOBS Act to invest in American workers and grow our industrial base.”
“As Congress considers extending immediate deductions for research and equipment, it’s long past time to give structures similar treatment. The 2017 tax cuts were a leap forward for investment, but they left buildings behind. By fixing that omission, the CREATE JOBS Act levels the playing field for all types of investment and unlocks capital for American manufacturing. Updating cost recovery for all investments is the single most pro-manufacturing, pro-growth reform Congress could include in reconciliation,” said Adam Michel, Director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute.
“WMC thanks Rep. Grothman for his leadership making the Wisconsin and American economies pro-business. One-hundred percent bonus deprecation and full-expensing of R&D costs were boons for economic growth across Wisconsin and the country following the passage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Making these provisions permanent will provide predictability for business investments, make America more attractive for growth, and ultimately strengthen our economy. The CREATE JOBS Act is common-sense policy that is positively pro-business and promotes job creation right here in Wisconsin and across America,” said Kurt Bauer, President & CEO at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC).
Background Information
The CREATE JOBS Act would make permanent two key pro-manufacturing provisions of the TCJA and create further incentives to produce domestically.
Specifically, the bill would make the bonus-depreciation and full-expensing for research and development (R&D) provisions of the TCJA permanent and apply neutral cost recovery to rental units and commercial structures, like factories.
According to the Tax Foundation, these provisions would increase long-run GDP by 5.1 percent, increase wages by 4.3 percent, and create over one million full-time jobs for American workers.
Senator Ted Cruz previously introduced this bill in 2020,2021, and 2023.
U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) is serving his fifth term representing Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Mr Tebogo Letsie, has welcomed the submission today of a letter containing the names of panel members appointed to oversee the selection and recommendation of board chairpersons for the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).
Mr Letsie noted that the committee has consistently held the view that the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, is constitutionally obligated to disclose the names of the panel members to Parliament. “We are pleased that sanity has prevailed and that the Minister has now complied with this requirement. The committee believes this disclosure should have occurred from the outset,” said Mr Letsie.
He stressed the importance of transparency and accountability in institutions funded by public resources. “We are dealing with public institutions funded through parliamentary appropriations. It was therefore baffling that the committee had to strongly remind the Minister of such a basic accountability requirement in our democratic governance system.”
The names of the nomination panel for the SETA boards as submitted by the minister are as follows.
Adv Terry Motau, SC (Chairperson): (but did not attend any of the meetings)
Mr Asisipho Solani
Ms Nelisiwe Semane
Mr Mabuza Ngubane
Ms Rhulani Ngwenya
The Chairperson concluded by affirming that the committee will now engage with the Minister further on the processes followed in appointing chairpersons to lead South Africa’s 21 SETAs.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
“As the new generation, take the lead—donate blood! It gives hope and strengthens our nation’s heartbeat,” urged Dr. Anne Ancia, WHO Representative, on 12 June 2025 at Sir Leckraz Teeluck State Secondary School, during the national celebration of World Blood Donor Day.
Dr. Ancia joined the Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon. Anil Kumar Bacchoo, in encouraging young people to step forward as blood donors. “One unit of blood can save up to three lives,” she told the students, appealing to them to commit to becoming lifelong donors.
“Blood donation is far more than a symbolic act of solidarity—it saves lives every day,” Dr. Ancia emphasized. “It supports patients undergoing trauma care, orthopedic or heart surgeries, women suffering postpartum hemorrhage, and children living with conditions such as anemia, thalassemia, or hemophilia.”
In his address, Minister Bacchoo highlighted the vital role of blood donation in maintaining a strong and responsive healthcare system. He called on the youth to donate regularly, reminding them that they are the future of Mauritius’ life-saving blood supply.
To encourage youth participation, the Minister announced forward-looking initiatives, including a dedicated blood donor app and policy reforms like removing outdated age restrictions. These innovative and youth-friendly measures aim to make regular blood donation easier and more accessible for all.
The event also brought together the National Blood Transfusion Service and various schools and longtime blood donors, reaffirming their commitment to ensuring the year-round safety, availability, and adequacy of blood and blood products for all in need.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – Mauritius.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
A new reverse engineering laboratory has opened at the State University of Management.
On June 17, the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev, vice-rectors Dmitry Bryukhanov, Vitaly Lapshenkov, Maria Karelina and Artem Terpugov, accompanied by the director of the Center for Management of Engineering Projects of the State University of Management Vladimir Filatov, visited the new premises and discussed the projects that are closest to implementation.
The purpose of its creation is to carry out R&D and develop the material and technical base of the State University of Management so that students can implement projects to create new products within the framework of the activities of the student design bureau “Innovative Solutions”.
“The new premises provide direct access to the machines and equipment that will be used, all the possibilities for optimal organization of space. Now it is important to arrange everything so that it is convenient, solid and accessible for different areas of activity. We have engineers, industrial partners too, all that remains is to implement the plans in practice,” Vladimir Stroyev noted.
The main activity of the laboratory is conducting R&D in the interests of enterprises of the real sector of the economy. in such areas of activity as automotive industry, road construction machinery, agricultural machinery, special equipment, including unmanned aircraft systems.
In particular, there are already agreements with a number of large agricultural enterprises on import substitution of a number of components for their fleet of equipment. As part of the laboratory’s work, digital twins of these parts will be developed, their structure will be studied, and similar materials will be selected for the manufacture of a prototype, which will be transferred to an industrial partner for further field testing.
In addition, a workshop for a student design bureau is planned to be created on the basis of the laboratory, which will be equipped within the framework of a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science, which GUU scientists won at the beginning of this year. Student projects in the direction of creating unmanned systems, both ground and aviation, will be implemented here.
As an example, young scientists from the State University of Management showed how work is underway to create an unmanned front-line transporter based on the Soviet LuAZ-967 vehicle. To date, most of the work on restoring the vehicle body has been completed, all the components have been removed and will be replaced with modern electric motors and unmanned control systems. Some of the new parts may be printed on a 3D printer to reduce the weight and dimensions of the vehicle for use in the field.
Vladimir Filatov also noted that the laboratory and its material and technical base are planned for use in the educational programs of the State University of Management in the field of training, which are implemented on the basis of the Institute of Industry Management and the Institute of Information Systems.
“It will be useful for students to visit the laboratory to see with their own eyes how the mechanisms are constructed, to study the technical features and to try their hand at modeling and programming,” the rector agreed.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
More than 1,000 serving military personnel, veterans, reservists and cadet and youth organisations are set to parade through Aberdeen city centre to mark Armed Forces Day on Saturday 28 June.
Residents and visitors alike are invited to watch the 2025 parade, which will include local pipe bands and vintage military vehicles.
The parade will start at Albyn Place at 11am and go along Union Street, Union Terrace, Schoolhill, Upperkirkgate and Broad Street, finishing at the Castlegate.
The Lord Provost of Aberdeen, Dr David Cameron, in his role as Lord-Lieutenant will take the salute outside Marischal College in front of the City’s official flagpole on Broad Street.
In the interest of public safety, the following temporary road restrictions will be in place:
From 6pm on Friday 27 June until 12noon on Saturday 28 June 2025
There will be a suspension of parking on:
The north side of Albyn Place between its junctions with Albyn Grove and Rubislaw Place. Vehicles associated with the parade will be exempt.
Schoolhill, including the inset road
Union Terrace
Upperkirkgate
Wellington Place, Aberdeen, between its junctions with Crown Street and South College Street. This is to accommodate the bus diversion route.
From 10am on Saturday 28 June until 1pm on Saturday 28 June 2025
There will be a suspension of all waiting for any purpose, with the exception of any waiting taxis on:
The west side of Chapel Street, north of the junction with Thistle Street for 53 metres or thereby. This area is to provide a temporary Taxi Rank for this period.
From 9am on Saturday 28 June until 12.30pm on Saturday 28 June
No driving will be permitted on the following roads:
Albyn Place from Albyn Grove to Alford Place
Alford Place from Albyn Place to Union Street
Rubislaw Place from Albyn Place to Rubislaw Terrace
Victoria Street from Alford Place to Thistle Place
Union Street from Alford Place to Union Terrace
Holburn Street from Alford Place to Union Grove
Chapel Street from Union Street to Thistle Street
Bon Accord St from Langstane Place to Union Street
Union Row from Union Wynd to Union Street
Crown Street from Windmill Brae to Union Street
Union Terrace from Union Street to Rosemount Viaduct
Rosemount Viaduct from Skene Street to Blackfriars Street
Blackfriars Street from St Andrew Street to Schoolhill
St Andrew Street from Blackfriars Street to Charlotte Street
Belmont Street from Gaelic Lane to Schoolhill
Back Wynd from Little Belmont Street to Schoolhill
Upperkirkgate from Broad Street to Schoolhill
Schoolhill from Upperkirkgate to Blackfriars Street
Gallowgate from Little John Street to Upperkirkgate
Broad Street from Upperkirkgate to Union Street
Union Street from Broad Street to Castle Street
King Street from Castle Street to West North Street
Castle Street in its entirety
From 10.45am on Saturday 28 June until 12.30pm on Saturday 28 June
No driving will be permitted on the following roads:
Taxi Ranks
Dee Street, Back Wynd, Queen Street & Exchequer Row taxi ranks will be impacted by these road closures between 10.45am until 12.30pm on Saturday 28 June 2025.
Chapel Street – This rank will be relocated on Chapel Street to outside Holiday Inn Express facing away from Union Street. Access for this rank will be from Thistle Street only. Waiting will be for Taxis only.
Later opening time for Marischal College car park
Due to the road closures nearby, Marischal College car park, which is accessed from Queen Street, will open later than usual at 1pm. All other city centre car parks will be open as normal.
St Pius X RC Primary School and Nursery could close at the end of the school year 2025/26.
The Children, Families and Communities Committee will be asked to approve the closure of the school andnursery, andrezone the catchment area of St Francis RC Primary School to include the existing St Pius X RC Primary School catchment area.
The St Pius X RC Primary pupilrollis in decline. The school has a capacity of 242 pupils. In September 2019, the school roll was 195. The school roll at the September 2024 census was 162, this equates to an occupancy level of 67%. The current estimated roll for August 2025 is 153.
Except for the Council’s Edwardian and Victorian primary schools, the St Pius X RC Primary building is now one of the oldest schools, built post-1970. Maintaining appropriate levels of condition and suitability may require significant financial investment.
Therefore, the committee will be asked to approve the closure of the school andnursery, andrezone the St Francis RC Primary catchment area.
The council ran a consultation from January 6- February 19 where feedback was gathered from to key stakeholders, including staff, pupils and parents/carers.
In response to the feedback, it is proposed that aclosed contract busservice will be provided to all children currently attending St Pius X RC Primary who chose to continue their primary education at St Francis Primary School.
In addition, the council would commit to working in partnership with representatives of the Diocese of Dunkeld to ensure that religious education provision (delivered by a church approved teacher) will be available atClaypottsCastle Primary.
This would be supported by astrategic group including Church representatives, senior officers of the Children and Families Service and Head Teachers which has been set up and has already had an initial meeting to agree how to take this work forward.
The committee will hear that the closure of St Pius X RC School and nursery would result in a reduction in revenue expenditure of £677,422, in a full financial year, with a part-year saving of £423,389 in the financial year 2026/7.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Astana, June 17 (Xinhua) — China has decided to establish three cooperation centers and a platform to simplify trade procedures within the framework of the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday while speaking at the second China-Central Asia summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
The Chinese leader noted that these institutions include the China-Central Asia Poverty Alleviation Cooperation Center, the China-Central Asia Education Exchange and Cooperation Center, the China-Central Asia Desertification Cooperation Center, and the China-Central Asia Flowing Trade Cooperation Platform. –0–
NEW YORK, NY, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hola Prime, a leading proprietary trading firm recognized for its transparent, trader-first approach, has announced its partnership with FX Replay, offering traders access to one of the most advanced backtesting and market simulation tools available today.
This new feature allows traders worldwide to replay historical market data in real-time conditions, providing a unique opportunity to refine strategies, improve execution, and build confidence – all without risking real capital.
In trading, experience and practice are critical to success, but these often come at a high cost and require significant time. Somesh Kapuria, CEO of Hola Prime, emphasized the transformative potential of FX Replay, stating, “FX Replay is a powerful step forward for our traders. In trading, experience is the greatest teacher, but it’s often expensive and slow to gain. FX Replay compresses years of experience into weeks of hands-on practice, allowing traders to sharpen their edge before risking real capital. We are committed to providing every trader with the tools to succeed, and this partnership is a natural extension of that vision.”
Sumedha Sharma, CFO of Hola Prime, highlighted the key features and practical benefits of FX Replay. She explained that the tool allows traders to slow down or speed up market action, rewind to crucial moments, and repeatedly test trade setups under varying conditions. For example, a trader who wants to master a breakout strategy can replay multiple historical breakout scenarios at different speeds to observe price behavior closely and refine entry and exit timing. Similarly, a scalper can simulate fast-paced market conditions repeatedly to improve reaction times and decision-making accuracy without the pressure of live trading. This hands-on, flexible approach helps traders understand the nuances of risk management, position sizing, and strategy robustness in a risk-free environment.
Hola Prime’s FX Replay supports a wide range of assets, matching the firm’s diverse market offerings. This broad applicability allows traders to experiment with different instruments and timeframes, enhancing their overall market adaptability.
To mark this launch, Hola Prime is providing special offers on FX Replay access bundled with challenges, encouraging traders to leverage this powerful learning tool as part of their journey to consistent profitability. Traders buying challenges between $10,000 and $50,000 will receive 50% off on FX Replay access for a month, while those purchasing accounts of $100,000 or more will get FX Replay access completely free for a month.
Hola Prime continues to lead the proprietary trading industry by prioritizing speed, transparency, and innovation. The firm’s offering of FX Replay further cements its reputation for creating a comprehensive ecosystem designed to enhance trader success through education, technology, and support.
For more information about FX Replay and Hola Prime’s challenges, visit www.holaprime.com.
If this all feels exceptional, it should. Governors typically activate their own state troops, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would do on June 11 ahead of expected immigration protests.
The last example of a president federalizing troops over the objection of a state government dates to Jim Crow segregation, a period marked by legal practices that routinely denied due process and citizenship rights to Black Americans in the South. In the 1960s, numerous Black freedom struggles took stands against this authoritarianism backed by militarized law enforcement.
As a scholar of U.S. history, I’ve just completed a book on Jim Crow policing and the ways Black Americans fought back against racist law and order. I think the militarization of policing in Los Angeles opens important questions about democracy and state violence.
Jim Crow dreams
During the Civil Rights Movement, the federal government activated National Guard troops over Southern state objections when those states would neither enforce court orders nor protect protesters.
In those cases, presidents protected people with the help of troops. In Trump’s case, he’s using troops to protect the government from protesters.
The Trump administration’s vision of law enforcement aims for the type of militarized authority that state governments institutionalized under Jim Crow policing. If your political enemy is perceived more like an enemy combatant, the rules of legal procedure, especially due process, might not apply. Policing becomes war.
Before troops enforced civil rights, Black Southerners saw the National Guard as an enemy rather than a friend.
In the words of Ida B. Wells-Barnett after a white riot against Black residents in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1917, “The police were either indifferent or encouraged the barbarities. … The major part of the National Guard was indifferent or inactive. No organized effort was made to protect the Negroes or disperse the murdering groups.”
Eisenhower sends in the troops
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education changed things. It overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision that legalized racial segregation and ruled that segregated public school education was unconstitutional. This significantly altered the federal government’s responsibility in the South’s legal system of white supremacy.
Seven of nine Black students walk onto the campus of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., with a National Guard officer as an escort on Oct. 15, 1957. AP Photo/File
But state authorities had learned from the Little Rock experience. Southern governors in Alabama and Mississippi deployed the National Guard themselves. This time they intended to only minimally protect Freedom Riders to block federal law enforcement. In Mississippi, police arrested and prison guards tortured Freedom Riders in the state penitentiary. Mob violence killed no one.
James Meredith, center, is escorted by federal marshals as he appears for his first day of class at the previously all-white University of Mississippi on Oct. 1, 1962. AP Photo, File
The same was not true during the desegregation of public universities.
The occasion became a publicity stunt for Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace. He temporarily blocked the entrance to Foster Auditorium, intent on stopping the court-ordered registration of three Black students.
“I stand before you here today in place of thousands of other Alabamians whose presence would have confronted you,” Wallace said to federal authorities. A National Guard general said, “Sir, it is my sad duty to ask you to step aside under the orders of the President of the United States.”
A National Guard general informs Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace that the guard was under federal control, as the two meet at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on June 11, 1963. AP Photo, File
Wallace also triggered the last federal use – until now – of the National Guard. Alabama’s Selma-to-Montgomery march began as a memorial to Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young Black civil rights activist who was killed by police on Feb. 26, 1965. The march became primarily a symbol for the year’s Voting Rights Act.
The history of the National Guard in the South is an important part of what’s unfolding in Los Angeles and across the nation.
For most of the National Guard’s history in the South, political leaders used domestic military power to preserve the interests of racial authoritarians, not racial egalitarians. Little Rock, Tuscaloosa, Selma: Those moments when troops protected racial justice protesters at home stand out as some of America’s most hopeful moments.
Recent statements by Trump administration officials help illustrate how it envisions using military power in domestic law enforcement. On June 8, 2025, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “to arrest rioters” – a request beyond the original order to protect ICE agents.
And on June 12, Noem said that “the military people that are working on this operation … are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country.”
But the calls to constrain ICE follow an American tradition of fighting authoritarianism.
Justin Randolph 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.
Long-term focus on prevention and service renewal.
Supporting people to lead longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives will be at the heart of two new ten-year plans published today to create and maintain good health, prevent disease and reform health and social care services.
The Population Health Framework aims to tackle the root causes of poor health and outlines a wide range of actions, including giving greater access to green spaces and opportunities for sport and active recreation.
Addressing these underlying factors can increase life expectancy, reduce the gap between the most deprived communities and the national average and prevent chronic illnesses like diabetes and cardiovascular disease which disproportionately affect those in more disadvantaged areas.
The Population Health Framework includes legislating to make the balance of foods available on promotion healthier and to restrict the location of less healthy foods in stores and on websites. Targeting the location and promotion of foods high in fat, salt or sugar will focus on those foods of most concern for childhood obesity, which mirrors the current policy in England and Wales.
The Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework aims to ensure health and social care services are sustainable, efficient, high quality, and accessible – which includes being able to expect faster and fairer access to care. It empowers people to be more involved in and in charge of their own care and includes measures to improve access to treatment in the community; enhance preventative services and maximise the opportunities of digital innovation. There will also be a new national body called NHS Delivery, created by bringing together NHS National Services Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland. This will provide a focal point for training, digital and support to other health boards, with scope to deliver more national support to local services in future.
Health Secretary Neil Gray visited Blackburn Partnership Centre in West Lothian with COSLA Health and Social Care Spokesperson Councillor Paul Kelly before launching the frameworks in the Scottish Parliament. The centre includes a GP practice and community centre which promotes weight loss and healthy living through exercise and low-cost, nutritious food.
Mr Gray said:
“Too many lives are cut short in Scotland because of illness that is preventable. We know health is not determined solely by what happens within the walls of hospitals or care homes and we want to create an environment in which everyone can live a healthy life. Through action on early years, jobs, income and building powerful communities the Population Health Framework builds the conditions to help people thrive and prevent poor health.
“Addressing the problem of obesity and helping people eat well and maintain a healthy weight is a public health priority. We are taking wide-ranging action to support people to make healthier food choices, recognising the contribution which poor diet makes to worsening health trends.
“Through the Service Renewal Framework we will take action to deliver care closer to home, support people to better manage their own treatment and build on innovation, digital and treatment advances. This will help shape an efficient health and social care system that is focused on prevention and early intervention, and delivers high quality care at the right time in the right place. The creation of a new national body, NHS Delivery, will help to support that journey.
“Refocusing the whole system towards preventing ill-health from occurring or escalating can help us ensure the sustainability of our National Health Service. I am determined to ensure the measures outlined are delivered effectively and as quickly as possible as we work to transform the health of the nation.”
Cllr Kelly said:
“Health is created in the communities in which we live, go to school or work, and access essential services. It is at the local level where we find the key levers to tackle the root causes of health problems and ensure people live long, healthy and fulfilling lives. Local Authorities, working with key partners, are uniquely placed to shape our communities.
“The Population Health Framework sets out action across every building block of health. Committing to this preventative approach requires whole system working in order to intervene as early as possible and provide support to people in all aspects of their lives.
“Currently, people from deprived communities have less access to affordable, nutritious food. The Population Health Framework sets out a priority to improve the food environment and ensure access to a healthy, balanced diet is accessible and affordable to all.
“Alongside this, Local Government is committed to improving public services across the whole system, and the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework sets out our high level ambition for improving the sustainability of the system and services people may need in order to help them live healthier, fulfilled lives.”
Obesity Action Scotland Chair Andrew Fraser said:
“Obesity Action Scotland welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to taking progressive measures on retail food and drink promotions. They will improve the food environment and protect consumers from in-store choices that encourage people to purchase food that is high in fat, sugar and salt.
“Promotions result in over-consumption of calories, and make it easy to gain weight; measures that counter this pressure on consumers will contribute to the prevention of overweight and obesity that we want to see.”
The frameworks will be implemented jointly with COSLA and build on the Operational Improvement Plan (NHS Scotland operational improvement plan – gov.scot) – launched in March – which sets out measures to improve access to treatment and lower waiting times.
Confectionary, cakes and soft drinks with added sugar will be amongst types of food covered by restrictions on promotions. They will apply in stores and online to businesses with 50 or more employees. Regulations are expected to be introduced in the Scottish Parliament this autumn.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
The research team of the Research Institute of Public Policy and Management of the Sectoral Economy of the State University of Management, under the leadership of Director Oleg Sudorgin, is developing a methodology for demographic monitoring in the Russian Federation.
The demographic situation is one of the key factors determining the future of Russia. The current family and demographic policy, which includes numerous measures to support the birth rate, including at the regional level, does not always take into account the underlying factors associated with the motivation to have children and create a large family. In connection with the adoption by the Government of the Russian Federation of the “Strategy of Actions for the Implementation of Family and Demographic Policy, Support of Large Families in the Russian Federation until 2036”, the project of the research team of the State University of Management is becoming especially relevant. The methodology being developed will take into account the analysis of key factors influencing demography (including indirect ones) and identify reserves for increasing the effectiveness of demographic policy.
Within the framework of the project, specialized software will be developed based on the methods of decision theory and models of operations research, which will allow for an objective assessment of various activities within the demographic agenda and monitoring. This will allow for more informed decisions, minimizing risks and increasing cost efficiency.
The results of the project will provide answers to key questions regarding the implementation of family and demographic policy measures in Russia:
how to improve mechanisms for increasing the birth rate in modern conditions and increase motivation for having children; what incentives, embedded in support measures, will increase motivation for having children and having many children; what institutional conditions additionally need to be created, and what changes in the institutional environment are required to form a sustainable culture of having many children in the country.
The project promises not only to identify reserves for increasing the effectiveness of demographic policy, but also to determine specific measures aimed at stimulating the birth rate, taking into account the specifics of each region.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
The Task Group on New Medical School today met for the second time with the universities, Baptist University, Polytechnic University and the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, that have submitted proposals for the establishment of Hong Kong’s third medical school.
While having a focused exchange on the specific plans of their proposals, each of the three universities further presented its overall plan for implementing the new medical school proposal, including the curriculum content, clinical training for medical students, construction of teaching facilities and funding arrangements.
The task group will enhance speed and efficiency in expediting the assessment of the proposals, with a view to completing the assessments and providing a recommendation to the Government within this year.
Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau said that the three universities have demonstrated a strong commitment to nurturing medical talent and developing Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub, as well as responded positively to the concerns raised by the task group on the quality of medical education and clinical training.
“As President Xi Jinping said, ‘Health is the most important indicator of people’s happiness.’ The Government strives to comprehensively deepen the healthcare system reform, and the new medical school will not only shoulder the mission of coping with the rapidly ageing population and the worsening shortage of healthcare manpower, but also pursue complementary development with the two existing medical schools to contribute to the enhancement of city’s healthcare system.”
Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin highlighted that the 2024-2035 master plan on building China into a leading country in education newly released by the nation strives to accelerate the development of world-class universities and advanced disciplines.
“We expect the selected university to take on the important task of actively promoting curriculum innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration and establishing closer ties with regional partners.”
She added that the new medical school will also be able to nurture more healthcare talent, raise academic standards and broaden the scope of medical education and research in Hong Kong.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
Projects by students from the State University of Management were included in the TOP-50 of the All-Russian competition of final qualifying works in the format “Startup as a Diploma”.
“Startup as a Diploma” is an all-Russian competition of final qualification works, which are real business projects created by one student or a team, demonstrating the level of preparation for independent professional activity. The purpose of the competition is to present the results of the “Startup as a Diploma” program as the potential for the development of youth entrepreneurship in the region.
According to the results of the competition, projects by GUU students Danila Yakovlev and Mikhail Zorin were among the top 50.
Mikhail Zorin presented the HolterTECH wireless holter project, consisting of 12 cardiac sensors collecting and transmitting ECG to a recorder, which allows monitoring the heart from all sides and can be used in sports and medical products. The project solves the problems of both patients and clinics. Patients receive convenient and accurate methods of monitoring heart diseases, which minimizes the risk of missing disease symptoms. Clinics improve the quality of services provided to patients, which significantly increases their competitiveness.
The authors of the best projects will take part in the Competition Final and the award ceremony for the winners and teams, which will take place on June 26-27 in Moscow at the site of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
We congratulate our students and wish them further success!
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
New NSF-supported study helps inform efforts to safeguard fisheries and protect human health
Researchers with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation published a global benchmark of microplastic distribution in the ocean, revealing thousands of plastic specks even at the extreme depths of the Mariana Trench.
The study’s findings show that not only could fisheries take an economic hit, but humans could be at risk for exposure to contaminated seafood.
The team synthesized data from nearly 2,000 ocean sampling stations, mostly in northern ocean waters near larger populations between 2014 and 2024. “The discovery that microplastics are not just floating on the sea surface but also form a plastic smog, throughout the depths of the ocean, was surprising and concerning,” said Aron Stubbins, an author on the paper and professor at Northeastern University.
Abundant microplastic materials smaller than 5 micrometers — or about 100 times less than the width of a human hair — may be eaten by zooplankton, which in turn feed larger marine animals. Microplastics can disrupt marine food chains, causing health declines and potential drops in populations for fish and other marine creatures.
“Even when we are studying what we think of as completely natural processes in the ocean, we have to be aware of humankind’s influence,” said Henrietta Edmonds, an NSF program director.
AI-powered virtual reality education expands access and supports engagement of high school and community college students, giving them practical skills in semiconductor manufacturing
The United States semiconductor industry is projected to have between 60,000 and 100,000 unfilled jobs by 2030. As the need for semiconductor technicians, engineers and scientists continues to increase, there is also a growing demand for innovative ways to train this anticipated workforce. But such training typically requires expensive clean rooms and advanced equipment, resources that many schools don’t have access to.
A team of researchers, which included high school and community college students, found a solution to this challenge by using artificial intelligence-powered virtual reality (VR) to create simulations as a cost-effective alternative for people to learn about the process of semiconductor fabrication. The results of their research, which is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Micro Nano Technology Education Center at Pasadena City College (PCC), in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine (UCI), are available in the Journal of Advanced Technological Education.
“Many students, especially those at underfunded schools, never get to see or touch the real semiconductor fabrication tools,” said Kristal Hong, a member of the research team and a computer science major at UCI. “I, myself, was a community college student without access to a cleanroom, so I know how that gap can dampen student enthusiasm.”
By using AI-powered VR to create cleanroom simulations, the team is offering a learning channel outside of traditional classrooms and labs for students who don’t have in-person access to semiconductor fabrications and for others who might never have considered the semiconductor field. This flexibility is crucial to growing the much-needed semiconductor workforce, Hong said. “If a student learns best by doing, VR can bridge the gap to help them grow and succeed, even when physical resources are scarce.”
Credit: Kristal Hong
Researchers from Pasadena City College wearing cleanroom gear while learning about semiconductor fabrication processes at UCI.
To create the virtual simulations, the researchers regularly toured the UCI Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility, taking pictures and videos, interacting with equipment, and learning from educators, including Guann Pyng “G.P.” Li, electrical engineering and computer science professor at UCI.
From this experience, the team manually generated a digital twin of the UCI cleanroom — a virtual representation of the real-world environment — by translating the semiconductor manufacturing process from the in-person lab into a simulation using VR, which has a similar feel to a video game. They then guided users step-by-step through the virtual semiconductor fabrication process. From there, the 29 study participants evaluated the simulation’s effectiveness.
Credit: Ishan Jha
Side-by-side image of the virtual spinner (left) and real spinner (right) used in the University of California, Irvine, Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility.
“This was a peer-to-peer learning experience, where the researchers created and consumed the content with the goal of making engaging simulations for their peers,” Li said. “With these virtual experiences, more learners will have a chance to understand how the semiconductor process takes place.”
Importantly, the researchers used the off-the-shelf GPT 4 application from OpenAI – a large language model used for natural language processing – to personalize the VR learning experience and increase the effectiveness of the virtual semiconductor training.
“If someone has a question, they can ask the AI and get an instant answer, just as if an instructor were standing beside them,” Hong said. “We plan to continue studying AI use in the lab and in VR to refine and improve the training experience over time.”
By using AI-powered VR, the team not only removed the physical and financial barriers to accessing semiconductor equipment, but they also found that this method provided an engaging format that kept students motivated and interested in the semiconductor field.
“Their excitement was palpable,” said Hong. “Study participants cheered when a process worked, and they would collaborate to troubleshoot virtual errors. It was eye‐opening to watch how quickly VR could transform a student’s perception of an otherwise abstract topic into something tangible and engaging.”
Credit: Ishan Jha
Study participants at Pasadena City College using VR headsets to virtually interact with UCI’s cleanroom.
By taking a fabrication environment and transporting it into a virtual environment, “it becomes much more accessible to younger students who have already been exposed to videogame-like scenarios,” said Ishan Jha, a high school student and member of the research team. “Participating in this research gives us [high schoolers] a taste of what’s happening in these industries [AI/VR and semiconductors], because a lot of us plan to attend college, and we want that prior exposure that will prepare us for success later on.”
The team sees the potential for scaling this cost-effective experience to more learners across the country. Mercer County Community College (MCCC) approached the PCC/UCI team with interest in creating similar AI-powered VR simulations. MCCC is now working with Princeton University to facilitate this effort.
Looking ahead, the team plans to replicate the project at additional institutions, expand partnerships to other universities and gather data from new participants with the goal to better understand if early VR exposure makes learners more likely to pursue semiconductor‐related internships or jobs, and how prepared they feel compared to peers without VR experience. And as AI capabilities continue to evolve, the team is considering additional ways to use generative AI to assist with their VR training simulations.
While observing the researchers in his lab, Li said it gave him great hope for the future of the AI and semiconductor workforce. “These students are the future of our nation,” Li said. “When they see something that inspires them, they want to really explore it. And even if they have no prior knowledge or experience in a semiconductor manufacturing room or if they have minimal knowledge of AI or VR, when they are engaged, they are motivated, and they can make a difference.”
Supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, Brown University researchers are teaching AI to see more like humans, opening doors to more accurate AI solutions.
At Brown University, an innovative new project is revealing that teaching artificial intelligence to perceive things more like people may begin with something as simple as a game. The project invites participants to play an online game called Click Me, which helps AI models learn how people see and interpret images. While the game is fun and accessible, its purpose is more ambitious: to understand the root causes of AI errors and to systematically improve how AI systems represent the visual world.
Over the past decade, AI systems have become more powerful and widely used, particularly in tasks like recognizing images. For example, these systems can identify animals, objects or diagnose medical conditions from images. However, they sometimes make mistakes that humans rarely do. For instance, an AI algorithm might confidently label a photo of a dog wearing sunglasses as a completely different animal or fail to recognize a stop sign if it’s partially covered by graffiti. As these models become larger and more complex, these kinds of errors become more frequent, revealing a growing gap between how AI and humans perceive the world.
Recognizing this challenge, researchers funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation propose to combine insights from psychology and neuroscience with machine learning to create the next generation of human-aligned AI. Their goal is to understand how people process visual information and translate those patterns into algorithms that guide AI systems to act in similar ways.
The Click Me game plays a central role in this vision. In the game, participants click on parts of an image they believe will be most informative for the AI to recognize. The AI only sees the parts of the image that have been clicked. Therefore, players are encouraged to think strategically about the most informative parts of the image rather than clicking at random to maximize the AI’s learning.
The AI-human alignment occurs at a later stage, during which the AI is trained to categorize images. In this “neural harmonization” procedure, the researchers force the AI to focus on the same image features that humans had identified — those clicked during the game — to make sure its visual recognition strategy aligns with that of humans.
What makes this project especially remarkable is how successfully it has engaged the public. NSF funding has allowed the team to attract thousands of people to participate in Click Me, helping it gain attention across platforms like Reddit and Instagram, and generating tens of millions of interactions with the website to help train the AI model. This type of large-scale public participation allows the research team to rapidly collect data on how people perceive and evaluate visual information.
At the same time, the team has also developed a new computational framework to train AI models using this kind of behavioral data. By aligning AI response times and choices with those of humans, the researchers can build systems that not only match what humans decide, but also how long they take to decide. This leads to a more natural and interpretable decision-making process.
The practical applications of this work are wide-ranging. In medicine, for instance, doctors need to understand and trust the AI tools that assist with diagnoses. If AI systems can explain their conclusions in ways that match human reasoning, they become more reliable and easier to integrate into care. Similarly, in self-driving cars, AI that better understands how humans make visual decisions can help predict driver behavior and prevent accidents. Beyond these examples, human-aligned AI could improve accessibility tools, educational software and decision support across many industries. Importantly, this work also sheds light on how the human brain works. By emulating human vision in AI systems, the researchers have been able to develop more accurate models of human visual perception than were previously available.
This initiative underscores why federal support for foundational research matters. Through NSF’s investment, researchers are advancing the science of AI and its relevance to society. The research not only pushes the boundaries of knowledge but also delivers practical tools that can improve the safety and reliability of the technologies we use daily.
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) – Today, June 17, protests erupted in the central business districts of Nairobi and Mombasa, with hundreds of young people taking to the streets to demand justice for Albert Ojwang, the 31-year-old teacher and blogger who died in police custody.Security forces attempted to disperse the crowd by firing tear gas canisters, while gangs of plainclothes motorcyclists attacked the demonstrators.At the center of the protests is Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat. Albert Ojwang was arrested on June 6 at his home in Kakot, Homa Bay district, for posting a social media post allegedly defaming Lagat.He was transported over 350 kilometers to the central police station in Nairobi and charged with publishing false information under cybercrime laws. On June 8, Albert Ojwang was found unconscious in his cell during a routine medical examination. Initially, authorities ruled Ojwang’s death a suicide; then, in the face of protests from his family and civil society, President William Ruto himself admitted that the blogger’s death was the work of the police, thus denying previous statements (see Fides, 12/6/2025).So far, two police officers, Samson Talaam of the Central Police Station and James Mukhwana, have been arrested in connection with the teacher’s death, while the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) continue their investigations. In addition, a technician was arrested for allegedly tampering with the video surveillance system at the Central Police Station in Nairobi on the night of June 7-8, allowing officers to take Ojwang from his cell to Karura Forest, where he was tortured to death.Eliud Lagat himself has since resigned, but this has not calmed the spirits of the population, especially the youth, as Ojwang’s murder has reignited national outrage over police brutality and renewed calls for reforms in the security sector. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 17/6/2025)
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Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) — The China Special Book Award ceremony was held in Beijing on Tuesday, with 16 people from 12 countries receiving the top honor given to foreigners working in the book publishing industry.
Among the laureates were three sinologists from Russia: the head of the Department of Oriental Languages at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Semenov, the head of the Department of Interpretation at the Higher Courses of Foreign Languages at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tatyana Semenova, and professor at St. Petersburg State University Alexei Rodionov.
The award winners have long paid attention to China’s development and deeply studied Chinese culture, translated, published and wrote a number of books telling stories about China to the world, making outstanding contributions to expanding international knowledge and understanding of China and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, the ceremony said.
Alexander Semenov studies the history and historiography of China, the foreign policy of the PRC, linguistics, translation, translation studies and methods of teaching the Chinese language, and Tatyana Semenova, his wife, studies the literature and culture of China, translation, translation studies and methods of teaching the Chinese language. They have jointly translated a number of books on Chinese politics.
Alexey Rodionov has an academic interest in the history of 20th-century Chinese literature and Russian-Chinese literary relations. He has been engaged in literary translation and compilation of collections of contemporary Chinese literature for many years. According to available information, he has translated 26 works by contemporary Chinese writers, such as Lao She, Jia Pingwa, and Han Shaogong, and initiated the publication of collections of translations of contemporary Chinese literature.
Since the prize was established in 2005, 219 translators, publishers and writers from 63 countries have won it. -0-
Israel’s initial attack on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, alongside its assassination of top military officials and nuclear scientists, on June 13 has been followed by days of escalating strikes. Iran threatened “severe punishment” and quickly launched what were, in relative terms, smaller-scale missile attacks against Israeli territory.
Israel’s military then expanded its assault on Iran, with the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, saying “Tehran will burn” if Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front”. Israel hit dozens of targets in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on June 15, and has since issued evacuation orders for significant areas of the city.
The exchange of attacks has put the varying military and defensive capabilities of Israel and Iran on stark display. In particular, it appears that Israel has been able to exercise a high degree of air superiority over Iran.
Israel was able to use more than 200 manned aircraft in its initial attack, with its air force reportedly suffering zero casualties. Within 48 hours of starting the conflict, Israel said it had gained control of the skies above Tehran.
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This superiority has largely been gained through concerted efforts over the past year to destroy or degrade Iran’s air defence systems. In October 2024, for example, Israeli strikes targeted air defences protecting Iranian oil and gas facilities as well as those defending sites linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme and ballistic missile production.
With a weakened air defence system, the Iranian military has been less able to prevent missile attacks and Israeli aircraft from entering its air space. This has given the Israeli military greater freedom of action in terms of the targets it chooses to attack – and greater freedom of choice when planning operations.
Israeli aircraft have been dropping bombs from within Iran, instead of relying on long-range missiles. Iran, on the other hand, has been restricted to using its arsenal of missiles to strike Israel from distance.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, made reference to the strategic importance of this aerial superiority on June 16. While confirming evacuation orders for the Iranian capital, he said: “The Israeli air force controls the skies over Tehran. This changes the entire campaign.”
Netanyahu later did not rule out killing Khamenei, saying it would “end the conflict”. Katz repeated the threat the following day, warning Khamenei of a “fate similar to Saddam Hussein”.
Iran has been far less effective than Israel in its response – which is no great surprise. Israel says it has destroyed “one-third” of the surface-to-surface missile launchers possessed by Iran. And the majority of the missiles and drones that have been fired by Iran into Israeli territory have been intercepted before striking their targets.
But the strength of Israel’s so-called iron dome air defence system has, somewhat counter-intuitively, also offered Iran some advantages. In order to maintain the Iranian regime’s own internal security and stability, as well as its wider political aims of being a regional power, Tehran had to respond with a certain level of force.
However, Iran is also fully aware of the protection the iron dome provides to the Israeli population. The Iranian government will still be able to point to the few missiles and drones that have reached their target, and the destruction they have caused, as evidence that it is able to project its power beyond its own borders and respond in the face of aggressive Israeli action.
It is able to do so in the knowledge that the level of destruction and deaths of Israeli civilians, which so far stands at around 24 people, will be limited to such a degree that any further escalation by Israel will be seen as unjustified by the wider international community.
However, as the destruction and death toll rises, it will become harder for either government to follow this path of logic. Iran has already criticised the Israeli military’s claim that it has conducted strikes in a precise manner and only against military targets, reporting that over 200 civilians have been killed in the strikes.
It is here where mistakes and missteps could see events spiral out of control. This may lead to a wider and larger-scale conflict that neither side wants but is unable to prevent occurring. Iran, for its part, is reportedly signalling that it is seeking an end to hostilities and the resumption of talks over its nuclear programme.
Wider consequences
If the conflict does escalate, Israel will probably target Iranian military production facilities. The Israeli military has already issued a warning on social media, telling the Iranian people to stay away from all weapons manufacturing facilities.
Other targets may include nuclear installations – though at least one, the heavily fortified Fordow nuclear site in central Iran, will not be targeted. Fordow is hidden in a mountain, with centrifuges located possibly as deep as 80 metres underground.
Only the US military has the hardware capable of reaching this facility, so attacking the site would require US intervention. This is something the current Washington administration has proved reluctant to do, so far.
But any escalation could have ramifications beyond the Middle East. Iran has supplied Shahed-type drones to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine, with them becoming a key part of Russia’s military strategy. However, Russia is now largely producing its own supplies of Shahed drones internally.
A much more likely effect is the prolonging of the war in Ukraine as international attention shifts to de-escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. The international community has focused on trying to prevent further attacks, with the US president, Donald Trump, advocating for talks rather than more strikes.
On June 15, Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social: “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make.” Whether Israel and Iran take heed of his request will become clear over the coming days and weeks.
Matthew Powell 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.
Keeping a healthy mix of friendly microbes in the gut – known as eubiosis – is crucial for good health. When that delicate balance is thrown off – often by antibiotics, diet or illness – the result can be a range of issues, from digestive problems to more serious conditions like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and even neurological and metabolic disorders.
One increasingly popular way to try to restore gut health is through faecal microbiota transplantation. This involves taking stool from a healthy person, isolating the beneficial microbes and putting them in a capsule (jokingly referred to as “crapsules” or “poo pills”). The hope is that the beneficial microbes in the pill will establish themselves in the patient’s gut, thereby improving microbial diversity and function.
Although generally viewed as safe and effective, a new international study published in the journal Cell has raised some concerns. The scientists found that when the donor’s microbes do not properly match the recipient’s gut environment – a situation they describe as a “mismatch” – the treatment can disrupt the body’s metabolic and immune systems, possibly with long-lasting consequences.
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The term “mismatch” comes from the world of organ transplants, where the recipient’s body rejects the donor organ. In this case, the problem is that microbes from the donor’s large intestine may not be suitable for other parts of the recipient’s gut, especially the small intestine, where the microbial makeup is very different.
To test this, researchers gave antibiotics to mice to disturb their natural gut microbes, then treated them with faecal transplants. They also tried transplanting microbes specifically from different parts of the small intestine. The mice were monitored for one to three months to track changes.
They found that faecal transplants often led to regional mismatches – the wrong microbes ending up in the wrong place. This altered the mix and behaviour of the gut microbes in unexpected ways, disrupting energy balance and other functions.
Biopsies from the gut and liver showed significant, lasting changes in how certain genes – particularly those linked to metabolism and immunity – were being expressed.
The study did not specify exactly what kind of health issues might result from these genetic shifts. But the researchers are urging doctors to take greater care when using faecal transplants, particularly when it comes to dose, timing and possible side-effects.
There may, however, be a better way forward. A newer method known as the “omni microbial approach” involves transferring microbes from all parts of the intestine, not just the colon. This could help recreate a more balanced and natural gut environment, avoiding the local mismatches seen in standard faecal transplants.
There is also growing interest in techniques that aim to “terraform” the gut: deliberately reshaping specific regions with carefully selected microbes to restore normal function.
This new research has certainly sparked debate around the safety of faecal transplants. But with alternative approaches already being developed, there is real hope that the benefits of gut-based treatments can still be delivered, without the risks.
Georgios Efthimiou 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.
One-third of the Earth’s land surface is already degraded. The UN estimates that more than 2.6 billion people are harmed by land degradation, with countries losing up to US$10.6 trillion (£7.8 trillion) a year because of damage to “ecosystem services”, including the benefits people get from nature such as water and food.
Unhealthy soil is a major contributor to land degradation. This can lead to loss of biodiversity, harm plants and animals, cause sand and dust storms and affect crop yields.
These consequences affect the regulation of the planet’s climate and water cycle, socioeconomic activities, food security and forced migration of people.
Emerging smart technologies such as artificial intelligence, satellite remote sensing and big data analysis offer a chance to protect our soils. These tools can help track soil health in real time. This will support farmers, landowners, government agencies and local communities in making better decisions to care for the soil.
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As a professor of geo-hydroinformatics – a field that combines geoscience, hydrology and information technology – my research focuses on using AI, algorithms and advanced modelling tools to better analyse and predict soil health.
My team and I have developed the first global map of soil salinisation (accumulation of salt in soil) under various climate scenarios using AI-powered techniques. Soil salinisation is one of the leading contributors to soil degradation and can happen naturally or because of human activities, such as using salty irrigation water or poor drainage systems.
With increasing climate uncertainty, our models help identify regions most vulnerable to salinisation. Our AI-driven analysis predicts that by the year 2100, dryland regions in South America, southern and western Australia, Mexico, the southwestern US and South Africa will be key hotspots of soil salinisation.
In another key study, we used satellite data, AI and big data tools to investigate the interaction between soil salinity and soil organic carbon – an important part of healthy soil that stores nutrients, holds water and supports plants.
Part of this analysis revealed a general negative correlation between salinity levels and soil organic carbon content. As salinity increased, we found that the soil organic carbon content tended to decrease.
Our two studies underscore the transformative potential of AI technologies and big data analytics in understanding soil degradation. With a deeper understanding, land can be better managed through more effective mitigation policies and sustainable land use planning.
Restoration at scale
Large-scale land restoration can transform degraded soils. In the Loess plateau in China, centuries of deforestation and unsustainable farming have led to significant ecological challenges. Loess soils (a type not limited to this location in China, formed essentially by the accumulation of wind-blown dust) are easily eroded because they are made up of fine and loose particles.
Degradation here has led to more frequent floods, droughts and dust storms because soil degradation is often associated with compaction. This reduces the ability of soil to absorb and hold water.
In the 1990s, this prompted the Chinese government to invest in reforestation and sustainable agriculture. This led to the landmark Loess plateau watershed rehabilitation project, with the main goal of boosting farming and incomes on 15,600km² of land in the Yellow River’s tributary area. The total project cost of US$150 million, partly funded by the World Bank, was approved in 1994.
Elsewhere, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the EthioTrees project was launched in 2016 to tackle land degradation through community-based reforestation, enclosures to limit grazing, and reinvestment of funds generated through climate finance mechanisms.
Tree planting and other efforts have transformed the Tigray region of Ethiopia into a more fertile landscape. Jon Duncan/Shutterstock
But the Loess plateau and Tigray projects have been complex and expensive. A lot of coordination between people across huge regions and in different sectors is required to ensure a successful, integrated approach. AI can take these successful but resource-intensive restoration efforts and help scale them up.
I’m also involved with a European Commission-funded project called AI4SoilHealth, which aims to advance the use of AI to monitor and quantify soil health across Europe. This project shows how data-driven initiatives can support more sustainable land management policies by providing timely, actionable information to governments, farmers and other stakeholders such as landowners, agribusiness companies and local communities.
By integrating satellite imagery with accurate data about soil properties in different locations, AI can help develop robust, scalable models that cross local boundaries. Knowing where best to invest money, resources and effort in scaling up soil health solutions will help protect people, businesses and ecosystems from extreme events in the future.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
The author studying specimens.Author provided, CC BY
Five centuries ago, the Incas ruled the western half of South America with the help of a unique form of writing based on coloured and knotted cords. These strings, called khipus, recorded major events, tracked economic matters, and even encoded biographies and poetry, according to the Spanish chroniclers who witnessed their use.
Most khipus have knots that indicate numbers that we can “read”, but we’ve lost the ability to interpret what those numbers mean. Recent discoveries are bringing us closer to deciphering these mysterious strings. In a remote community set high in the Peruvian Andes, my team and I have found khipus that were used by villagers to track climate change.
Last year, I was invited to study the centuries-old khipus preserved in the village of Santa Leonor de Jucul in the Peruvian Andes. The 97 khipus conserved by villagers include the largest khipu in the world, which is over 68 metres long.
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An elderly ritual specialist, Don Lenin Margarito, told me that the khipus recorded the annual ritual offerings given at different sacred places in the surrounding landscape. Miniature pink ritual bags stuffed with coca leaves and tobacco hang from the cords, representing the sacred purpose of these ancient strings. Rather than communicating through knots, the Jucul khipus record data with different kinds of tassels.
For example, a tassel made of fuzzy beige llama tails indicates that an offering was performed at the sacred lake of Paccha-cocha, high in the mountains. The fluffiness of the llama tails is like a rain cloud, Don Lenin explained, representing the fact that offerings given at Paccha-cocha are thought to bring rain.
Different kinds of tassels indicate offerings made at other ritual sites, each one of which is thought to have its own effect on the local environment. Rituals involving the spirits of the dead, for instance, are thought to halt flooding.
If you look at one of the Jucul khipus and you see that there were a lot of offerings to Paccha-cocha that year, you know that this was a time of drought since the offerings were given to increase the rain.
When speaking with community members, we learned that the khipus used to be kept in public so that they could be consulted by the elders. Andean people of the past looked at these khipus as a record of the climate, and they studied them to understand the patterns of what was going on, just as we do today.
New methods
New methods for obtaining precise radiocarbon dates for khipus have been pioneered by a team headed by khipu researcher Ivan Ghezzi.
Efforts are now underway to get accurate radiocarbon dates for the Jucul khipus, which will provide a chronology of these climate-based offerings.
If we can chart the khipus and then date them, we will have a record of climate data from this region that was created by the local Andean people themselves. In their current state, the Jucul khipus are threatened by insects, mould and rodents. The British Museum recently granted funding to clean, preserve and display the khipus so that these precious objects from the Andean past will persevere into the future.
There are only five villages in the Peruvian Andes where ancestral khipus are kept. These rare archives offer tantalising clues about how khipus encoded information.
Research in other villages with living khipu traditions has led to breakthroughs in the significance of khipu colour patterns and phonology. Many Inka khipus possess tassels which we believe may reveal the subject matter of the associated khipu. If we could unlock the significance of the tassels on the Jucul khipus, it might allow us to interpret more precisely the meaning of Inca cords.
Sabine Hyland receives funding from the British Academy, the British Museum, the National Endowment for the Humanities (USA), the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, and the National Geographic Society.
Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –
The cooperation is aimed at developing joint scientific and project activities, organizing educational courses and training personnel in the interdisciplinary field. The document was signed by Vice-Rector and Head of the HSE Staff Irina Martusevich and Director of the Moscow Transport Museum Oksana Bondarenko.
The cooperation between the Moscow Transport Museum and the National Research University Higher School of Economics is especially symbolic: both institutions are united by a desire for modernization, openness to technological innovations, and a priority for digitalization. The partnership plans to develop research and educational initiatives that will combine engineering, humanitarian, and management approaches and thereby set a high bar for new forms of museum and academic work.
The Transport Museum is an example of one of the most modern types of museum institutions, where the educational mission is closely linked to the development of applied knowledge. The focus on training a new generation of specialists capable of thinking interdisciplinary and confidently working in a technical and cultural environment makes this cooperation especially relevant. Together, the university and the museum create a space in which a culture of meaningful attitude to the urban environment, its history and future is formed. The partnership will open up the opportunity for HSE students to undergo internships and practical training in one of the youngest and most dynamically developing museum spaces in the capital. Joint events are planned for research staff: seminars, conferences and round tables.
“Preserving historical heritage is one of the key tasks of both universities and museums. The cooperation between the Transport Museum and HSE is an important step towards this goal. The synergy between the museum’s skills in working with sources and artefacts and HSE’s project-oriented approach not only enriches both organizations, but also contributes to the formation of public consciousness, emphasizing the importance of the contribution of the past to our present,” says Irina Martusevich.
“For us, cooperation with the Higher School of Economics is a space of opportunities and search, where young specialists can prove themselves in real conditions, and the museum can find new, and most importantly, bold solutions for its exhibition and educational projects. We also have an ambition to become a museum-institute, which, in collaboration with the National Research University Higher School of Economics, will open a unique direction for training in-demand museum personnel. As a museum that tells about the culture of movement, it is important for us to follow the most advanced ideas and create relevant, modern projects. And it seems to us that students are the best ones to cope with this task, offering non-standard concepts that we can discuss and implement together,” said Oksana Bondarenko.
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Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
CHP investigates cluster of influenza A infections in primary school The cluster involves 46 persons, including 41 male students aged 7 to 10, and five staff members. They developed symptoms on or after June 7. Among them, 41 persons sought medical attention and three were hospitalised. Two were subsequently discharged and one remains hospitalised. All of the patients had mild symptoms. Laboratory testing revealed that respiratory specimens of the aforesaid three hospitalised students tested positive for influenza A virus, while rapid antigen tests revealed that 32 teachers and students also tested positive for influenza A virus.
The personnel of the CHP had inspected the primary school twice and found that inter-class and inter-grade activities were organised in the schools, and that individual function rooms and classrooms were not adequately ventilated, and items shared among the students were not thoroughly disinfected. The CHP has provided advice to the school management on prevention of upper respiratory tract infection, including thorough cleaning and disinfection, opening windows where appropriate for better ventilation, refraining infected students from going to school, stopping inter-class and inter-grade activities, wearing masks by teachers and students during the outbreak and conducting temperature monitoring on entering school, etc. The school is currently under medical surveillance.
To prevent outbreaks of influenza and other respiratory infections, it is of prime importance that children with fever, regardless of the presence of respiratory symptoms, should not be allowed to attend school, and should consult a doctor promptly. In addition, children, the elderly and those with underlying illnesses are urged to get vaccinated as early as possible to prevent seasonal influenza.
Influenza vaccination has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent seasonal influenza and its complications, while significantly reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death from seasonal influenza. All persons aged 6 months and above (except those with known contraindications), particularly the elderly and children who have a higher risk of becoming infected with influenza and developing complications, should be vaccinated. Although the level of influenza activity has remained low since the end of the winter influenza season, sporadic outbreaks in schools and residential institutions caused by influenza viruses are still possible, especially when there are gatherings of crowd coupled with inadequate infection control measures. The number of severe cases involving adults and cases of severe paediatric influenza-associated complications recorded in the influenza season earlier this year has significantly decreased compared with the 2018/19 influenza season. It is believed that this is the result of the general public’s willingness to receive the SIV.
68% of employees believe they’re underpaid, even when their compensation is at or above market rates
Employees who believe they’re paid unfairly are 45% more likely to look for a new role, regardless of their actual compensation
Employees who work for organizations with high levels of pay transparency are 59% less likely to leave
BOSTON, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Payscale Inc., the leading provider of compensation intelligence solutions, today released its 2025 Fair Pay Impact Report, highlighting a growing gap between employee perceptions of fair pay and reality. More than two thirds (68%) of employees report being underpaid, even when earning at or above market rates. As a result, many employers are exposing themselves to an increased risk of losing top talent. Payscale’s analysis shows that employees who think they’re paid unfairly are 45% more likely to look for a new job, regardless of their actual compensation.
The gap between perceptions of fair pay and reality has grown significantly since 2021, when just half (51%) of employees earning at or above market felt underpaid. Despite rising salaries and improved pay transparency, employee misperceptions of unfair pay have surged. This suggests that employers’ current communication strategies around compensation are falling short.
Pay transparency is an important factor in combatting pay misperceptions and boosting employee retention. Employees who work for organizations with high levels of pay transparency are 59% less likely to leave relative to non-transparent organizations. Amid a growing wave of pay transparency legislation in states and cities across the US, one in three US employees is now covered by regulations requiring greater pay disclosure. While compliance is essential, the report’s findings suggest there is more work for employers to do internally to communicate transparently about compensation.
“Pay misinformation and ineffective communication are undermining employer efforts to build trust among employees. This pay perception gap poses a real threat to retaining high performers,” said Ruth Thomas, chief compensation strategist, Payscale. “While more employees are covered by pay transparency laws than ever before, compliance alone is not enough. Employers must build transparent compensation strategies rooted in data so they can communicate with confidence, consistency, and clarity to help employees understand what fair pay looks like for their role and prevent regrettable attrition. Employers must treat retention of key talent as an always-on priority, regardless of whether it’s an employer or employee market – waiting until the market shifts could put top performers at risk. By the time signs of attrition appear, it may already be too late.”
The research shows most employees don’t know whether they’re being paid fairly. Of those employees who reported being paid unfairly, only a third (32%) are actually below market. Among employees who are paid above market, almost half (47%) believe they are underpaid. This rises to almost two thirds (63%) among employees paid at market. Among job seekers, almost two thirds (65%) have a poor perception of their current pay, further highlighting the critical role that employee perceptions of fair pay play in retention.
Despite the spike in inflation from 2020 through 2022, cumulative wage growth has outpaced inflation since 2019, rising 30% compared to a 27% increase in cumulative inflation. This is true across industries. However, salary increases are not equally applied across all jobs and low wage earners in particular are more likely to be disproportionately impacted by the rising cost of living.
“Even when pay is fair, many employees don’t believe it because perceptions around fair compensation are deeply subjective. These misperceptions are common, and leaders must prioritize building trust to retain their top performing employees,” said Lexi Clarke, chief people officer, Payscale. “That starts with confidence in their pay data, structures, and strategy, and requires clearly communicating the rationale behind pay decisions, understanding the factors that influence compensation, and equipping managers to have better pay conversations. The goal is for employees to not only understand whys behind how their pay is calculated, but ideally how they can increase their compensation and grow within the organization, helping support long-term retention and prevent top talent from walking out the door.”
The 2025 Fair Pay Impact Report analyzes data from more than 325,000 respondents to Payscale’s online salary survey taken between January 1, 2021 and January 1, 2025. The full report and its methodology can be accessed at: https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/fair-pay-impact/.
About Payscale
Payscale stands at the forefront of compensation data technology, pioneering an innovative approach that harnesses advanced AI and up-to-date and reliable market data to align employee and employer expectations. With its suite of solutions—Payfactors, Marketpay, and Paycycle—Payscale empowers 65% of Fortune 500 companies to make strategic compensation decisions. Organizations like Panasonic, ZoomInfo, Chipotle, AccentCare, University of Washington, American Airlines, and Rite Aid rely on its unique combination of actionable data and insights, experienced compensation services, and scalable software to drive business success. By partnering with Payscale, businesses can make confident compensation decisions that fuel growth for both their organization and their people.
CHICAGO, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Guaranteed Rate Affinity, a leading mortgage provider offering unparalleled lending services through its partnership with Coldwell Banker, has appointed Linda Vo as Regional Manager in North Texas, highlighting the company’s commitment to expanding its reach in a key growth market.
Vo brings more than 20 years of experience across nearly every corner of the mortgage industry, including wholesale, loan origination, sales management, REO loan servicing, corporate strategy, and business development. Her wide-ranging expertise, coupled with her passion for team building and relationship management, makes her a natural fit to lead Guaranteed Rate Affinity’s growth and recruiting efforts across North Texas.
“After being in this industry for over two decades, I have learned that you can find work anywhere, but very few places offer a place where you feel welcomed, supported, and like-minded—a workplace that feels like a home,” said Vo. “I feel like I have come home to Guaranteed Rate Affinity. I am among my people with growth mindset individuals.”
In her new role, Vo will focus on empowering loan officers to own their markets while scaling the company’s presence and recruiting efforts throughout the region. She joins Guaranteed Rate Affinity during a time of strategic expansion and culture-focused leadership development.
“Linda’s extensive professional background, combined with her industry expertise and passion, makes her the ideal leader to attract the best-of-the-best talent that aligns with our culture,” said Dave Dickey, President and Chief Production Officer at Guaranteed Rate Affinity. “I’ve had the good fortune of being teammates with Linda and have known her for over 20 years. I’ve seen her remarkable work ethic, positive mindset, and genuine enthusiasm for the mortgage industry firsthand, all of which make her a natural fit at Guaranteed Rate Affinity. I can’t wait to see Linda fuel our continued growth and empower our loan officers to own their markets.”
Vo holds an MBA from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business and a bachelor of science in international business from Oklahoma City University. She earned her Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation from the Mortgage Bankers Association in 2022 and received her John Maxwell Team Certificate in 2018. A longtime leader in the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA), Vo has been an active member of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter since 2014 and served as its president in 2024.
About Guaranteed Rate Affinity
Guaranteed Rate Affinity is a joint venture between Guaranteed Rate, Inc. and Anywhere Integrated Services (NYSE: HOUS), which owns some of the industry’s most recognized and respected real estate brands. The innovative JV has funded over $100 billion in loans since its inception. Guaranteed Rate Affinity originates and markets its mortgage lending services to Anywhere’s real estate, brokerage, and relocation subsidiaries.
Guaranteed Rate Affinity provides unmatched support to Anywhere brokers coast-to-coast, ensuring their customers receive fast pre-approvals, appraisals, and loan closings, creating the ability for buyers to move quickly and confidently when purchasing homes in today’s competitive market. The company also provides the same services to the public and other real estate brokerage and relocation companies across the country—helping employers improve their employees’ relocation experience by prioritizing customer service, digital mortgage ease, and competitive rates.
Disclosures: Guaranteed Rate owns a controlling 50.1% stake in Guaranteed Rate Affinity, and Anywhere owns 49.9%. Availability of reverse mortgage products varies by state and may not be offered in all areas. Contact a Guaranteed Rate Affinity loan officer for details on current state availability.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Murugan Anandarajan, Professor of Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems, Drexel University
Recent college grads face a tough job market in 2025, but employers are still hiring.sturti/E+ via Getty Images
Every year, I tell my students in my business analytics class the same thing: “Don’t just apply for a job. Audition for it.”
This advice seems particularly relevant this year. In today’s turbulent economy, companies are still hiring, but they’re doing it a bit more carefully. More places are offering candidates short-term work experiences like internships and co-op programs in order to evaluate them before making them full-time offers.
This is just one of the findings of the 2025 College Hiring Outlook Report. This annual report tracks trends in the job market and offers valuable insights for both job seekers and employers. It is based on a national survey conducted in September 2024, with responses from 1,322 employers spanning all major industries and company sizes, from small firms to large enterprises. The survey looks at employer perspectives on entry-level hiring trends, skills demand and talent development strategies.
Only 21% of the 1,322 employers we surveyed rated the current college hiring market as “excellent” or “very good,” which is a dramatic drop from 61% in 2023. This indicates that companies are becoming increasingly cautious about how they recruit and select new talent.
While confidence in full-time hiring has declined, employers are not stepping away from hiring altogether. Instead, they’re shifting to paid and unpaid internships, co-ops and contract-to-hire roles as a less risky route to identify talent and “de-risk” full-time hiring.
Employers we surveyed described internships as a cost-effective talent pipeline, and 70% told us they plan to maintain or increase their co-op and intern hiring in 2025. At a time when many companies are tightening their belts, hiring someone who’s already proved themselves saves on onboarding reduces turnover and minimizes potentially costly mishires.
For job seekers, this makes every internship or short-term role more than a foot in the door. It’s an extended audition. Even with the general market looking unstable, interest in co-op and internship programs appears steady, especially among recent graduates facing fewer full-time opportunities.
These programs aren’t just about trying out a job. They let employers see if a candidate shows initiative, good judgment and the ability to work well on a team, which we found are traits employers value even more than technical skills.
What employers want
We found that employers increasingly prioritize self-management skills like adaptability, ethical reasoning and communication over technical skills such as digital literacy and cybersecurity. Employers are paying attention to how candidates behave during internships, how they take feedback, and whether they bring the mindset needed to grow with the company.
This reflects what I have observed in classrooms and in conversations with hiring managers: Credentials matter, but what truly sets candidates apart is how they present themselves and what they contribute to a company.
Based on co-op and internship data we’ve collected at Drexel, however, many students continue to believe that technical proficiency is the key to getting a job.
In my opinion, this disconnect reveals a critical gap in expectations: While students focus on hard skills to differentiate themselves, employers are looking for the human skills that indicate long-term potential, resilience and professionalism. This is especially true in the face of economic uncertainty and the ambiguous, fast-changing nature of today’s workplace.
Technology is changing how hiring happens
Employers also told us that artificial intelligence is now central to how both applicants and employers navigate the hiring process.
Some companies are increasingly using AI-powered platforms to transform their hiring processes. For example, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia uses platforms like HireVue to conduct asynchronous video interviews. HR-focused firms like Phenom and JJ Staffing Services also leverage technologies such as AI-based resume ranking, automated interview scheduling and one-way video assessments.
Not only do these tools speed up the hiring process, but they also reshape how employers and candidates interact. In our survey, large employers said they are increasingly relying on AI tools like resume screeners and one-way video interviews to manage large numbers of job applicants. As a result, the candidate’s presence, clarity in communication and authenticity are being evaluated even before a human recruiter becomes involved.
At the same time, job seekers are using generative AI tools to write cover letters, practice interviews or reformat resumes. These tools can help with preparation, but overreliance on them can backfire. Employers want authenticity, and many employers we surveyed mentioned they notice when applications seem overly robotic.
In my experience as a professor, the key is teaching students to use AI to enhance their effort and not replace it. I encourage them to leverage AI tools but always emphasize that the final output and the impression it makes should reflect their own thinking and professionalism. The bottom line is that hiring is still a human decision, and the personal impression you make matters.
This isn’t just about new grads
While our research focuses on early-career hiring, these findings apply to other audiences as well, such as career changers, returning professionals and even mid-career workers. These workers are increasingly being evaluated on their adaptability, behavior and collaborative ability – not just their experience.
Many companies now offer project-based assignments and trial roles that let them evaluate performance before making a permanent hire.
At the same time, employers are investing in internal reskilling and upskilling programs. Reskilling refers to training workers for entirely new roles, often in response to job changes or automation, while upskilling means helping employees deepen their current skills to stay effective and advance in their existing roles. Our report indicates that approximately 88% of large companies now offer structured upskilling and reskilling programs. For job seekers and workers alike, staying competitive means taking the initiative and demonstrating a commitment to learning and growth.
Show up early, and show up well
So what can students, or anyone entering or reentering the workforce, do to prepare?
Start early. Don’t wait until senior year. First- and second-year internships are growing in importance.
Sharpen your soft skills. Communication, time management, problem-solving and ethical behavior are top priorities for employers.
Understand where work is happening. Over 50% of entry-level jobs are fully in-person. Only 4% are fully remote. Show up ready to engage.
Use AI strategically. It’s a useful tool for research and practice, not a shortcut to connection or clarity.
Stay curious. Most large employers now offer reskilling or upskilling opportunities – and they expect employees to take initiative.
One of the clearest takeaways from this year’s report is that hiring is no longer a one-time decision. It’s a performance process that often begins before an interview is even scheduled.
Whether you’re still in school, transitioning in your career or returning to the workforce after a break, the same principle applies: Every opportunity is an audition. Treat it like one.
Murugan Anandarajan 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.
Picture this: On your way out of the office, you notice a manager berating an employee. You assume the worker made some sort of mistake, but the manager’s behavior seems unprofessional. Later, as you’re preparing dinner, is the scene still weighing on you – or is it out of sight, out of mind?
If you think you’d still be bothered, you’re not alone. It turns out that simply observing mistreatment at work can have a surprisingly strong impact on people, even for those not directly involved. That’s according to new research led by Edwyna Hill, co-authored by Rachel Burgess, Manuela Priesemuth, Jefferson McClain and me, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Using a method called meta-analysis – which takes results from many different studies and combines them to produce an overall set of findings – we reviewed the growing body of research on what management professors like me call “third-party perceptions of mistreatment.” In this context, “third parties” are people who observe mistreatment between a perpetrator and the victim, who are the first and second parties.
We looked at 158 studies published in 105 journal articles involving thousands of participants. Those studies explored a number of different forms of workplace mistreatment ranging from incivility to abusive supervision and sexual harassment. Some of those studies took part in actual workplaces, while others examined mistreatment in tightly controlled laboratory settings.
The results were striking: We found that observing a co-worker being mistreated on the job has significant effects on the observers’ emotions. In fact, we found that observers of mistreatment may be as affected by what happened as the people actually involved in the event.
These reactions fall along a spectrum – some helpful, others less so. On the encouraging side, we found that observers tend to judge perpetrators and feel empathy for victims. These reactions discourage mistreatment by creating a climate that favors the victim. On the other hand, we found that observers may also enjoy seeing their co-workers suffer – an emotion called “schadenfreude” – or blame the victim. These sorts of reactions damage team dynamics and discourage people from reporting mistreatment.
Why it matters
These findings matter because mistreatment in the workplace is disturbingly common – and even more frequently observed than experienced. One recent study found that 34% of employees have experienced workplace mistreatment firsthand, but 44% have observed it happening to someone else. In other words, nearly half of workers have likely seen a scenario like the one described at the start of this article.
Unfortunately, the human resources playbook on workplace mistreatment rarely takes third parties into account. Some investigation occurs, potentially resulting in some punishment for the perpetrator and some support for the victim. A more effective response to workplace mistreatment would recognize that the harm often extends beyond the victim – and that observers, too, may need support.
What still isn’t known
What’s needed now is a better understanding of the nuances involved in observing mistreatment. Why do some observers react with empathy, while others derive pleasure from the suffering of others? And why might observers feel empathy for the victim but still respond by judging or blaming them? Answering these questions is a crucial next step for researchers and leaders seeking to design more effective workplace policies.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Jason Colquitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
In our view, these campaigns often cherry-pick evidence and mask a coordinated effort that targets access and diversity in American colleges.
As scholars who study access to higher education, we have found that when these efforts are paired with pressure to reinstate standardized tests, they amount to a rollback of inclusive practices.
A Department of Education letter sent to congressional offices from Feb. 14, 2025, stated that is “unlawful for an educational institution to eliminate standardized testing to achieve a desired racial balance or to increase racial diversity.” The letter also claimed that the most widely used admissions tests, the SAT and ACT, are objective measures of merit.
In our recent peer-reviewed article, we analyzed more than 70 empirical studies about the SAT’s and ACT’s roles in college admissions. Our work found several flaws in how these exams function, especially for historically underserved students.
Several elite universities – including Yale, Dartmouth and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – have reinstated SAT or ACT requirements, reversing test-optional policies that institutions expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These changes have reignited debates about how well these tests measure students’ academic preparedness and how colleges should weigh them in admissions decisions.
During a May 21, 2025, hearing of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, some witnesses argued that using test scores allows colleges to admit students based on merit. Others maintained that test scores can function as barriers to higher education.
Our research shows that while these tests are statistically reliable – that is, they produce consistent results for students across subjects and during multiple attempts under similar conditions – they are not as valid as some argue.
That is because they systematically favor those with more access to high-quality schooling, stable socioeconomic conditions and opportunities to engage with test prep coaches and courses. That test prep can cost thousands of dollars.
In short, both tests tend to reflect privilege more than potential.
For example, students from higher-income households routinely outperform their peers on the ACT and SAT.
This isn’t surprising, considering wealthier families can afford test prep services, private tutoring and test retakes. These advantages translate into higher scores and open doors to selective colleges and scholarship opportunities.
Meanwhile, students from low-income families often face challenges – such as less experienced instructors and less access to high-level science, math and advanced placement courses – that test scores do not factor in.
These outcomes don’t just reflect academic differences; they reflect inequities that shape how students prepare for and perform on these tests.
We also found that high school GPA outperforms standardized tests in predicting college success. GPA captures years of classroom performance, effort and teacher feedback. It reflects how students navigate real-world challenges, not just how they perform on a single timed exam.
For many students, particularly those from historically marginalized backgrounds, grades can offer a better indication of how prepared they are for college-level work.
This issue matters because admissions decisions aren’t just technical evaluations – they are value statements. Choosing to center test scores in admissions rewards certain kinds of knowledge, experiences and preparation.
The American Council on Education defines equity as opportunities for success. It means building educational environments that recognize diverse forms of potential and equip all learners to thrive.
It’s worth noting that research on testing often focuses on elite institutions, where standardized test scores are more likely to be used as high-stakes screening tools. Our systematic review found that, even in elite schools, the tests’ ability to accurately predict college academic performance is often limited (moderate in statistical terms).
But most college students attend state universities, public regional universities, minority-serving institutions, or colleges that accept most applicants. Our study found that at these institutions, standardized test scores are even less likely to predict how students will do.
This may be because state universities and public regional universities are more likely to serve highly diverse student populations, including older, part-time and first-generation students and those who are balancing work and family responsibilities.
With the debate over the role of standardized tests in the admissions process, higher education stands at a crossroads: Will colleges yield to political pressure and narrow definitions of merit and ignore equity? Or will institutions reaffirm their mission by embracing broader, fairer tools for recognizing talent and supporting student success?
The answer depends on what values are prioritized.
Our research and that of others make it clear that standardized tests should not be the gatekeepers of opportunity.
If universities define merit on test scores alone, they risk closing the doors of opportunity to capable students.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Get rid of states? Legal scholar Stephen Legomsky, who taught for 34 years at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, has just published a book, “Reimagining the American Union,” that proposes a radical idea: Abolish state government. The Conversation’s politics and democracy editor, Naomi Schalit – a former statehouse reporter herself – interviewed Legomsky about the provocative idea behind his book, in which he advocates moving most of the functions of state government down to the local level, closer to those represented and governed by it.
You propose abolishing states. Why?
The book is a thought experiment. The proposal I’m offering is long term. I realize we need states during the current political moment.
I think the states are the root cause of many, if not most, of the current dangers faced by U.S. democracy. I also see the states as a significant source of fiscal waste. We don’t need three levels of government – national, state and local – all regulating us and all taxing us. Two would do just fine. And after careful, detailed analysis, I concluded that every benefit ever claimed for state government could be achieved at least as well, and in many cases better, by the local governments.
I’m imagining the framers sitting in Independence Hall. And you go back in time and suggest to them not having states. I think most of them would drop dead at the thought, because it ultimately implies a much more powerful federal government. What would you say to them?
After they stop laughing, I would emphasize that I’m not proposing a wholesale transfer of power from the states to an all-powerful, all-knowing central government. Yes, some of the functions currently performed by the states could better be performed at the national level, but I’m proposing that the lion’s share devolve down to the local governments, which are even closer to the people they represent than the state legislatures can ever be.
What functions would your plan hand over to the federal government?
A prime example is licensing. I looked up all the different occupations that require state licenses. I was astonished: practically every health care profession, barbers, engineers, lawyers, architects, the list is endless.
If you live near a state line, you can’t practice in both states unless you get two licenses. If you move to another state, you have to get another license. This seems silly. The human anatomy, human hair, engineering principles, don’t change as you cross from New York to New Jersey. Nor do we need 50 different state driver’s licenses; a single national license administered through local agencies would be more efficient.
You say states are the root cause of the greatest threats to American democracy. What are those threats?
Here’s one especially jarring statistic: From 1969 until today, the Democratic presidential nominees won the national popular vote in a slight majority of the elections. Yet, during the presidential terms that resulted from those elections, Republican presidents have gotten to make 15 of the 20 Supreme Court appointments.
If you devolve these functions and services to localities, wouldn’t you end up with a mirror of the current state-level structure? Wouldn’t this just send a lot of state personnel down to the local level?
Yes, much of that structure would devolve. However, I see that as a good thing. Devolution is unavoidable in a country this size. Not everything can be done by the central government. The question for me is, do we need two levels of subordinate political subdivisions or one? One seems more efficient. And when problems are too big for one local government to handle on its own, it can partner with other local governments or with the national government, just as many local governments do today.
Abolishing state government means no more meetings of the state legislature, like this one in the Maine House of Representatives on Jan. 4, 2023, at the State House in Augusta. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
If there were no states to gerrymander or pass voter-suppression laws, wouldn’t some national government agency just do it instead?
Redistricting would be performed by a nonpartisan redistricting commission that I propose be made up of technicians, mainly demographers, statisticians and geographers, under broad, general principles enacted by Congress. That’s what almost every other democracy in the world does today.
Why did you write this book?
For a long time, I’ve been distressed about so many of the dangers to our democracy. So, one day, I found myself compiling what ended up becoming a fairly long mental list of all of my democracy-related grievances.
That’s a nice analogy. And as I thought about that list, it suddenly struck me that the vast majority of these problems couldn’t occur without states. That got me thinking about whether we really need states in the first place.
If it’s just a thought experiment, something that’s not going to happen, why would you think it’s worthwhile spending time writing this?
And why would I be so vain as to think anybody would want to waste their time reading it?
And your answer is, ‘Because I’m an academic!’
It’s that, plus more. I do hope there’s some scholarly value in this. But I’m also writing for the long term. States are secure for now, but history teaches us that the more distant future is full of surprises.
Stephen Legomsky 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.
