Scam Factories is a special multimedia and podcast series by The Conversation that explores the inner workings of Southeast Asia’s brutal scam compounds.
The Conversation’s digital storytelling and podcast teams collaborated with three researchers: Ivan Franceschini, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne; Ling Li, a PhD candidate at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; and Mark Bo, an independent researcher.
The researchers have spent the past few years interviewing nearly 100 survivors of these compounds and documenting the rise of the industry in Southeast Asia for a forthcoming book.
Scam Factories will unfold across three multimedia articles and three podcast episodes this week. We’ll update this page as more is published.
Part 1
Our first article explores how people are lured into the industry and what life is like inside the compounds, where scammers are forced to work long hours and are often subjected to violence.
And in our first podcast episode, No skills required, our researchers travel to a village in Cambodia called Chrey Thom to see what these compounds look like. And we hear from two survivors, a Ugandan man we’re calling George and a Malaysian woman we’re calling Lee, about how they were recruited into compounds in Laos and Myanmar.
The Conversation contacted all the companies mentioned in this series for a comment, except Jinshui, which we couldn’t contact. We did not receive a response from any of them.
Credits
The podcast series was written and produced by Gemma Ware with production assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Leila Goldstein was our producer in Cambodia and Halima Athumani recorded for us in Uganda. Hui Lin helped us with Chinese translation. Photos by Roun Ry, KDA, Halima Athumani and Ivan Franceschini.
Justin Bergman at The Conversation in Australia edited the articles in the series and Matt Garrow worked on the graphical elements of the stories. Series oversight and editing help from Ashlynne McGhee.
Scam Factories is a podcast series from The Conversation Weekly taking you inside Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds. It accompanies a series of articles on The Conversation.
Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to work in these scam compounds. Many were trafficked there and then forced into criminality by defrauding people around the world via email, phone and social media.
The Conversation collaborated for this series with three researchers: Ivan Franceschini, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne, Ling Li, a PhD candidate at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and Mark Bo, an independent researcher. They’ve spent the past few years researching the expansion of scam compounds in the region for a forthcoming book. They’ve interviewed nearly 100 survivors of these compounds, analysed maps and financial documents related to the scam industry, and tracked scammers online to find out how these operations work.
In this first episode of the podcast series, No Skills Required, we find out how people are recruited and trafficked into the compounds – with many believing they’re going there to do a legitimate job.
Our researchers travel to a village in Cambodia, Chrey Thom, to see what these compounds look like. And we hear from two survivors, a Ugandan man we’re calling George and a Malaysian woman we’re calling Lee to protect their real identities, about how they were tricked into travelling to compounds in Laos and Myanmar.
The Conversation contacted all the companies mentioned in this series for a comment, except Jinshui, which we could not contact. We did not receive a response from any of them.
This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware, with assistance from Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. Leila Goldstein was our producer in Cambodia and Halima Athumani recorded for us in Uganda. Hui Lin helped us with Chinese translation. Sound design by Michelle Macklem and editing help from Ashlynee McGhee and Justin Bergman.
Mark Bo, an independent researcher who works with Ivan Franeschini and Ling Li, is also interviewed in this podcast series. Ivan, Ling, Mark, and others have co-founded EOS Collective, a non-profit organisation dedicated to investigating the criminal networks behind the online scam industry and supporting survivors.
Warracknabeal Fire Brigade volunteers were among many on the Western Victoria fireground over recent weeks, with some younger members experiencing their first strike team deployment.
With up to six strike teams sent across the Little Desert National Park and the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park fires throughout December to February, Captain Cam Whelan said helping hands extended beyond them too.
“I want to acknowledge the efforts of those in the background organising crews, the partners and children waiting bravely at home, the ones who stayed behind for coverage and the people that walked away from their businesses to get on the truck,” Cam said.
The brigade’s presence was also felt significantly at the Horsham Incident Control Centre (ICC) and at local callouts, where members were exposed to a new world of logistics, from delivering vehicles and food, to gathering resources and distributing them to different staging areas.
On the edge of the fire, Cam said although there was a lot of land to track out in the landscape, they were prepared and ready for when it came out of the scrub.
“Due to the sheer scale of the fire, most of our tasks included working along the containment lines to extinguish it when it arrived, and asset protection and observation,” Cam said.
“One of the best things to come out of this fire situation was the community focused approach and the knowledge that was coming through to manage the fires from brigade members and local landholders.”
Brigade member and disability support worker Geoff Ward was quick to jump on strike teams to the Grampians fire prior to Christmas, before Little Desert and Glenisla in the new year.
“At Little Desert our role was to stop the spread of fire as soon as it spotted out of the park into private land. We were sent to do asset protection at the duck farm and we put out lots of spot fires in the stubble from the ember attacks,” Geoff said.
With a strong Championship running team and with Cam being a school teacher, Warracknabeal have had an influx of younger members who have stood up to be firefighters.
“I was so proud of how well our new senior firefighters responded, they’re only just over 18 and have now gone out on multiple strike teams. They’ve really helped the backlog of older members who still have to run a business or go to work,” Cam said.
Geoff said Cam has been the main driver for the program and that it has already been a huge asset to the brigade, with many members coming through junior ranks.
“We had lots of younger members out on the trucks, and the experience for them out there would have been invaluable. It’s pretty overwhelming the first time you see a big firestorm,” Geoff said.
“There’s quite a bit of training to do for people, and often, people have got kids, or they’re married, and they don’t see that they have time, but these young ones seem to be ready to undertake it, and they’ll absorb everything they’re told. It’s great.”
Scam Factories is a special multimedia and podcast series by The Conversation that explores the inner workings of Southeast Asia’s brutal scam compounds.
The Conversation’s digital storytelling and podcast teams collaborated with three researchers: Ivan Franceschini, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne; Ling Li, a PhD candidate at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; and Mark Bo, an independent researcher.
The researchers have spent the past few years interviewing nearly 100 survivors of these compounds and documenting the rise of the industry in Southeast Asia for a forthcoming book.
Scam Factories will unfold across three multimedia articles and three podcast episodes this week. We’ll update this page as more is published.
Part 1
Our first article explores how people are lured into the industry and what life is like inside the compounds, where scammers are forced to work long hours and are often subjected to violence.
And in our first podcast episode, No skills required, our researchers travel to a village in Cambodia called Chrey Thom to see what these compounds look like. And we hear from two survivors, a Ugandan man we’re calling George and a Malaysian woman we’re calling Lee, about how they were recruited into compounds in Laos and Myanmar.
The Conversation contacted all the companies mentioned in this series for a comment, except Jinshui, which we couldn’t contact. We did not receive a response from any of them.
Credits
The podcast series was written and produced by Gemma Ware with production assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Leila Goldstein was our producer in Cambodia and Halima Athumani recorded for us in Uganda. Hui Lin helped us with Chinese translation. Photos by Roun Ry, KDA, Halima Athumani and Ivan Franceschini.
Justin Bergman at The Conversation in Australia edited the articles in the series and Matt Garrow worked on the graphical elements of the stories. Series oversight and editing help from Ashlynne McGhee.
It’s exactly three years since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
During that time, Ukrainians have lived through one of the world’s largest and most brutal humanitarian crises. Yet their resilience remains high.
The United Nations estimates that 64% of micro, small and medium enterprises had to either suspend or close their operations in Ukraine at some stage after the war began.
But the vast majority of these have since opened back up.
Over the past year, our international team of researchers from both Australia and Ukraine sought to find out what might drive such extraordinary resilience. The answer, according to Ukrainian business leaders, is their people.
Running a business in a war
Ukrainians are currently living through their third winter of this war. Some of Russia’s latest attacks have targeted the gas infrastructure and other energy facilities crucial for keeping people alive.
These daily attacks have made previously safe cities no longer safe, leaving residents without water, heat and electricity in bitterly cold conditions.
According to the UNHCR’s 2025 Global Appeal, Russia’s targeting of homes, hospitals and communities has resulted in civilian deaths, mass displacements, restricted access to humanitarian aid, and severely disrupted essential services.
For businesses, the war has impacted virtually every aspect of commercial activity. Beyond the immediate threat of coming under direct attack, firms have had to deal with everything from disrupted supply chains through to frequent power outages.
As one interviewee put it:
Many of us are afraid our main businesses may go bankrupt. We are constantly facing periods with no electricity which stops businesses and cuts us off from the world. We live with constant air raid alarms, moving in and out of underground shelters. We have a significant shortage of personnel because so many have gone to fight on the front lines or left the country.
The UN estimates that utilisation of production capacity for Ukraine’s micro, small and medium enterprises dropped from 72.4% before the war to 45.7% in 2023.
Women have been stepping into historically male dominated professions such as mining, truck driving and welding to fill the gap left by men who’ve joined the fight. But there is still a significant labour shortage.
A diverse range of sectors have continued to operate in Ukraine since the war began, despite labour shortages and other issues. Oleksandr Filatov/Shutterstock
Over the past year, our international team of researchers from both Australia and Ukraine surveyed business leaders from 85 different small and medium-sized businesses across 19 different industries in Ukraine.
These spanned engineering, transportation, aviation and mining through to agriculture, tourism, IT, healthcare, entertainment and finance.
We asked which resources were – and still are – key to the survival of their organisations.
Finance and access to funding came in at number two, followed by production and energy, new customers & markets, equipment technology & information and policy & regulations.
The most important resource
The most important resource, highlighted by 82% of the business leaders we surveyed, was their people.
When operating within an environment of severe crisis and disruption, the pressure can be enormous. But the Ukrainian executives we interviewed figured out a way to unite and lead their teams into the future.
As one reflected:
When team members are motivated, they are more likely to be optimistic and resilient when facing difficulties. Motivated employees are more productive than demotivated ones. This is important when people need to accomplish more with fewer resources.
Forcing positive adaptation
For many organisations in our research, operating within a crisis had pushed them to implement valuable human resource practices other businesses often struggle with.
Some had transitioned to a “flatter” organisational structure, speeding up decision making by giving employees more autonomy. Others invested in team training which focused on empowering employees to share their thoughts on how to best move forward.
Our processes and planning horizons have changed completely. We’ve had to become more agile and flexible in our approach to leadership, often reducing planning cycles and adapting to new realities much faster than before.
A focus on wellbeing was another common theme. Some organisations hosted more meetings to allow their employees to share stories – not only about work but also about their personal fears and victories.
Some also encouraged their employees to complete volunteer work together during work hours.
There was an emphasis across interviews on the fact all employees need additional rest and recovery time, and encouraging them to take time off whenever needed.
Making sacrifices
Many of the new support mechanisms had financial consequences for the organisations.
One business cancelled the salaries of its top management team one month after the war started. Another hired a full-time psychologist to provide counselling in both formal and informal sessions.
Some continued to pay the salaries of their serving members:
All our mobilized employees who are serving in the military have been receiving their salaries for the past three years. We also ensure they are equipped with everything they need, stay in constant contact with them, and support their families.
Knowing their business was supporting the war effort had a positive impact on employee motivation:
The only difference in employee motivation is the understanding that our company actively supports the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thus, every employee in the company understands that through their work, they are involved in this support.
In the end, it is the connections between people these leaders saw as the key to their organisational resilience.
No matter how hard things get, how much grief and suffering we endure, we know for certain that tomorrow the sun will rise. And even if it’s not for us, it will be for our children. This is what gives us the strength to continue living, creating, and preserving Ukraine — for us and for future generations.
The authors would like to acknowledge their academic partners and coauthors from the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, Yaryna Boychuk, Valeria Kozlova, Sophia Opatska, and Olena Trevoho, and thank all the Ukrainian business leaders who participated in this research.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Widespread coral bleaching at Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia’s coast has deeply alarmed scientists and conservationists.
Photos captured by divers, published by The Guardian last week, show severe bleaching at several sites along the reef, which runs for 260 kilometres off the state’s northwest.
A severe marine heatwave in the Indian Ocean off WA has caused the coral bleaching. In some places, surface temperatures up to 4°C warmerthan usual have been recorded.
Hotter temperatures aren’t only happening at the ocean’s surface – data indicates they also extend several hundred metres deep. Warm, deeper water can shut down the ocean’s natural cooling process, putting corals at even greater risk of bleaching.
Counting the cost
The full extent of damage to Ningaloo won’t be known until scientists conduct field surveys in coming months.
So far, bleaching has been documented at several sites, including Turquoise Bay, Coral Bay, Tantabiddi, and Bundegi (Exmouth Gulf).
Other sites such as Scott Reef, Ashmore Reef, the Rowley Shoals and Rottnest Island are also at risk.
Damage wrought by the heatwave extends beyond coral. More than 30,000 fish have died since the September onset.
The below images show the heatwave’s progression. Temperatures from February last year are included for comparison.
The white circle shows the location of Ningaloo. Cooler temperatures are in blue and purple. Warmer temperatures are in yellow and orange.
The images show the heatwave reached Ningaloo in December last year and moved south in January. Temperatures fell slightly in February due to strong southerly winds. From March, temperatures are forecast to increase again.
A complex warming picture
According to recent data and modelled forecasts, hotter ocean temperatures off northern WA run several hundred metres deep.
During La Nina, trade winds strengthen and push warm water westward. This intensifies two important ocean currents.
The first is the Indonesian Throughflow – which carries warm Pacific waters through the Indonesian seas and into the eastern Indian Ocean. The second is the Leeuwin Current, which picks up this warm water and takes it further south towards Perth.
This has led to a build-up of hotter water along the WA coastline.
La Nina is also affecting WA’s reefs in other ways.
The process relies on “stratification” – that is, layers of seawater that differ in temperature, salinity and density (or weight). Warmer, less dense water collects at the surface and colder, denser water falls to deeper levels.
La Nina conditions can suppress, or even shut down, this cooling effect in two ways.
All this means the water pumped to the surface isn’t much cooler than temperatures at the surface.
For many reefs along the coast of WA, the suppression of this tidal cooling is probably contributing to worsening conditions, and more coral bleaching.
Most bleaching forecasts rely on sea surface temperatures. This means scientists may be underestimating the vulnerability of deeper reefs.
What’s in store for Ningaloo and surrounds?
Looking ahead, the situation at Ningaloo and surrounding reefs remains critical.
But unfortunately, temperatures are rising again and the marine heatwave is expected to continue until April, as the below image shows.
Sea surface temperature anomaly forecast for March to May. Ningaloo denoted with black ‘X’. Bureau of Meteorology
Climate change is making marine heatwaves more intense and frequent. It means reefs often don’t have time to recover between destructive bleaching events.
All this is compounded by the general trend towards warmer oceans as the planet heats up.
Drastic action on climate change is needed now. If this alarming pattern continues, the world’s reefs risk being lost entirely.
Nicole L. Jones receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Western Australian government.
Kelly Boden-Hawes 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.
NASA’s SPHEREx observatory undergoes integration and testing at BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado, in April 2024.NASA/JPL-Caltech/BAE Systems
NASA will soon launch a new telescope which it says will create the “most colourful” map of the cosmos ever made.
The SPHEREx telescope is relatively small but will provide a humongous amount of knowledge in its short two-year mission.
It is an infrared telescope designed to take spectroscopic images – ones that measure individual wavelengths of light from a source. By doing this it will be able to tell us about the formation of the universe, the growth of all galaxies across cosmic history, and the location of water and life-forming molecules in our own galaxy.
In short, the mission – which is scheduled for launch on February 27, all things going well – will help us understand how the universe came to be, and why life exists inside it.
A massive leap forward
Everything in the universe, including you and the objects around you, emits light in many different colours. Our eyes split all that light into three bands – the brilliant greens of trees, blues of the sky and reds of a sunset – to synthesise a specific image.
But SPHEREx – short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer – will divide light from everything in the sky into 96 bands. This is a massive leap forward. It will cover the entire sky and offer new insights into the chemistry and physics of objects in the universe.
The mission will complement the work being done by other infrared telescopes in space, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope.
Both of these telescopes are designed to make high-resolution measurements of the faintest objects in the universe, which means they only study a tiny part of the sky at any given time. For example, the sky is more than 15 million times larger than what the James Webb Space Telescope can observe at once.
In its entire mission the James Webb Space Telescope could not map out the whole sky the way SPHEREx will do in only a few months.
SPHEREx will take will take spectroscopic images of 1 billion galaxies, 100 million stars, and 10,000 asteroids. It will answer questions that require a view of the entire sky, which are missed out by the biggest telescopes that chase the highest resolution.
NASA’s SPHEREx mission will use these filters to capture spectroscopic images of the cosmos. NASA/JPL-Caltech
Measuring inflation
The first aim of SPHEREx is to measure what astronomers call cosmic inflation. This refers to the rapid expansion of the universe immediately after the Big Bang.
The physical processes that drove cosmic inflation remain poorly understood. Revealing more information about inflation is possibly the most important research area of cosmology.
Inflation happened everywhere in the universe. To study it astronomers need to map the entire sky. SPHEREx is ideal for studying this huge mystery that is fundamental to our cosmos.
SPHEREx will use the spectroscopic images to measure the 3D positions of about a billion galaxies across cosmic history. Astronomers will then create a picture of the cosmos not just in position but in time.
This, plus a lot of statistics and mathematics, will let the SPHEREx team test different theories of inflation.
The SHEREx mission will complement the work of the James Webb Space Telescope, which captured this composite image of stars, gas and dust in a small region within the vast Eagle Nebula, 6,500 light-years away from Earth. NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
Pinpointing the location of life-bearing molecules
In the coldest parts of our galaxy, the molecules that create life (such as water, carbon dioxide and methanol) are trapped in icy particles. Those icy biogenic molecules have to travel from the cold gas in the galaxy onto planets so life can come to be.
Despite years of study, this process remains a huge mystery.
To answer this fundamental question about human existence, we need to know where all those molecules are.
What SPHEREx will provide is a complete census of the icy biogenic molecules in our surrounding galaxy. Icy biogenic molecules have distinct features in the infrared spectrum, where SPHEREx operates.
By mapping the entire sky, SPHEREx will pinpoint where these molecules are, not only in our galaxy but also in nearby systems.
Located some 13,700 light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation Centaurus of the Milky Way, RCW 49 is a dark and dusty stellar nursery that houses more than 2,200 stars. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Wisconsin
Once we know where they all are, we can determine the necessary conditions to form biogenic molecules in space. In turn, this can tell us about a crucial step in how life came to be.
Currently 200 spectra have been taken on biogenic molecules in space. We expect the James Webb Space Telescope will obtain a few thousand such measurements.
SPHEREx will generate 8 million new spectroscopic images of life-bearing molecules. This will revolutionise our understanding.
Mapping the whole sky enables astronomers to identify promising regions for life and gather large-scale data to separate meaningful patterns from anomalies, making this mission a transformative step in the search for life beyond Earth.
Deanne Fisher receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Source: The Conversation – France – By Benjamin P. Horton, Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University
Here is a depressing fact: over the coming decades, sea-level rise will continue to threaten ecosystems, communities and cities. No matter how quickly we reduce our carbon emissions, our past emissions commit us to ongoing sea-level rise, given the long-drawn-out impact of climate warming on the oceans and ice sheets. Just how bad it gets, however, will depend on our current and future emissions.
Even as we strive for net-zero emissions, we must prepare for devastating possibilities. But decision-makers face a major obstacle: the specific rate and magnitude of future sea-level rise is deeply uncertain. Different methods produce different projections of long-term sea-level rise. The problem of reconciling these different methods and projections has undermined planning to protect people from future sea-level rise.
In a recent paper published in Earth’s Future, we and our colleagues tackle this problem. We propose a new method that combines the complementary strengths of different sea-level projections. We use our method to quantify the uncertainty of future sea-level rise. It allows us to estimate a “very likely” range. “Very likely” means that there is a 9-in-10 chance (90% probability) that future sea-level rise will lie within this range, if our future emissions follow an assumed emissions scenario.
Under a low-emissions scenario that corresponds to approximately 2°C warming above pre-industrial levels, global sea level will “very likely” rise between 0.3 and 1.0 metres by the end of this century. Under a high-emissions scenario that corresponds to approximately 5°C warming, global sea level will “very likely” rise between 0.5 and 1.9 metres. Given that we will likely exceed 2°C warming, preparing for more than a metre of sea-level rise by 2100 is, therefore, necessary.
Our method builds on and complements the current reference document for many decision-makers: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report IPCC 6AR. For five emissions scenarios, the IPCC published a most-likely “median” projection and a “likely” range. “Likely” means that there is at least a 2-in-3 chance (66% probability) of sea-level rise within this range. The “likely” range may understate the risk of more extreme possibilities, a weakness that can be addressed by a complementary “very likely” range. However, the IPCC did not estimate a “very likely” range because poorly understood ice sheet processes posed a challenge. We address this challenge, to provide decision-makers with more reliable estimates of future possibilities.
Many processes contribute to sea-level rise. Of particular importance are ice sheet processes in Greenland and Antarctica. Some of these ice sheet processes are well understood, but others less so. We have only a poor understanding of processes that could drive abrupt melting of ice, producing rapid sea-level rise.
Climate models and ice sheet models, such as those used in the IPCC 6AR, are very good at simulating well-understood processes, such as thermal expansion of the ocean. The IPCC used model-based projections to derive a reliable median projection and “likely” range. However, these models often neglect poorly understood processes that could cause the ice sheets to melt much faster than we expect. To complement the models, experts can provide alternative projections based on their understanding of these processes. This is known as expert elicitation. Therefore, the use of models and expert elicitation can provide complementary sea-level projections, but planners have great difficulty deciding when and where to apply the two different approaches.
In our paper, we have developed a novel method to combine the complementary sea-level projections from models and experts. We use our method to quantify the full uncertainty range of future sea-level rise using a probability distribution. This is how we can estimate a “very likely” range and explore the question, “What high-end sea-level rise should we plan for?”
A high-end projection
To make informed judgements, decision-makers often need information about low-likelihood, high-cost possibilities. A high-end projection of sea-level rise is especially useful when planning long-lasting critical infrastructure that is vital for the functioning of society and the economy. A high-end projection can also highlight a catastrophic risk associated with unrestrained carbon dioxide emissions.
We define our high-end projection as the 95th percentile of the probability distribution under the high-emissions scenario. Our high-end projection of global sea-level rise is 1.9 metres by the end of this century.
Our high-end projection complements existing high-end projections of 21st century sea-level rise. The IPCC 6AR included two: 1.6 metres and 2.3 metres. Our projection of 1.9 metres falls between these two values.
In contrast to the IPCC 6AR, we estimate the probability of reaching the high-end projection. If our future emissions follow the high-emissions scenario, we estimate that the probability of reaching 1.9 metres by the end of this century is 5% (1 in 20). Considering that the high-emissions scenario is unlikely, our high-end projection can be interpreted as a worst-case outcome. We also estimate the probability of exceeding 1.0 metres by the end of this century: 16% (about 1 in 6) under the high-emissions scenario, and 4% (1 in 25) under the low-emissions scenario.
Reducing the uncertainty
Through climate science, we have learned much about the Earth’s climate system. However, we still have much more to discover. As our understanding improves, the uncertainty in sea-level rise should reduce. Therefore, the “very likely” range of future sea-level rise should narrow, due to the ongoing research efforts of the climate science community.
In the meantime, we need to identify potential solutions that can reduce coastal flood risk in ways that support the long-term resilience and sustainability of communities and the environment, and reduce the economic costs associated with flood damage. Alongside local adaptation, the best way to mitigate sea-level rise is to slow down climate change by implementing the commitments laid out in the Paris Agreement in 2015.
If we can limit warming to well below 2°C, consistent with the agreement, we estimate that the probability of reaching 1.9 metres by the end of the century shrinks to less than 0.2% (1 in 500). The more the world limits its greenhouse gas emissions, the lower the chance of triggering rapid ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica, and the safer we will be.
This research is supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, and National Environment Agency, Singapore under the National Sea Level Programme Funding Initiative (Award No. USS-IF-2020-3) and Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its AcRF Tier 3 Award MOE2019-T3-1-004.
Created in 2007 to help accelerate and share scientific knowledge on key societal issues, the Axa Research Fund has supported nearly 700 projects around the world conducted by researchers in 38 countries. To learn more, visit the website of the Axa Research Fund or follow @AXAResearchFund on X.
Benjamin P. Horton was supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund: MOE2019-T3-1-004.
Benjamin S. Grandey’s research is supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, and National Environment Agency, Singapore under the National Sea Level Programme Funding Initiative (Award No. USS-IF-2020-3).
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Frans Viljoen, Professor of International Human Rights Law, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
As the armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rages on, calls are being made for non-military solutions.
One such process is a court case before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights – a judicial organ of the African Union (AU) established by African states “to ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights”.
The case was brought by the DRC against Rwanda on 21 August 2023.
The DRC alleges that Rwanda has violated the African Union’s main human rights treaty, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Kinshasa claims Rwanda has supported M23 rebels since 2021 and that they are responsible for mass killings, mass displacement, destruction of schools, destruction of infrastructure and looting. Rwanda has always denied supporting M23.
I have followed the evolution of the African Court in my research since its inception in 2006. I consider this case to be highly significant. It would set a key precedent for human rights enforcement in Africa and tests the AU’s ability to uphold legal rulings. A successful outcome could encourage peaceful dispute resolution among African nations.
Significant case
The DRC vs Rwanda case is the first inter-state case ever to be submitted to the African Court.
Inter-state cases allow one state to submit a case against another for allegedly violating the African Charter, provided that they have both accepted the court’s jurisdiction. So far, only 34 of the AU member states – including the DRC and Rwanda – have accepted the court’s competence to hear cases against them.
The case of DRC v Rwanda can set an important African precedent. It serves as a way to uphold the integrity of human rights, and not serve the national interest of complaining states.
It’s also the first time African states have agreed to a judicial settlement of a dispute by an independent body of African judges. Eleven judges, of whom all but the presiding judge serve part-time, hear and decide cases at the court’s seat in Arusha, Tanzania. It may serve as an example that other states in similar situations could emulate, thus allowing for future conflicts to be defused.
Before the case can proceed, the court first has to consider “preliminary objections” by the state against which the case has been brought – in this case, Rwanda. If the court finds that it has the authority to hear and rule on the case, there is the possibility of legal consequences, like reparations.
This will be a big test for the African Union. The challenge will be getting countries to comply with decisions – since the African Court does not have an enforcement arm.
Even if both countries have accepted the court’s jurisdiction, compliance is not automatic. Compliance with the court’s orders has historically been far from exemplary – less than 10% of its decisions have been fully observed.
It is up to African Union (AU) states collectively to put pressure on non-compliant states. One possibility is imposing sanctions under article 23(2) of the AU Constitutive Act – something the AU policy organs have been reluctant to do so far.
Public hearing in DRC case
At a public hearing of the case in February 2025, Rwanda insisted that the court did not have the competence to deal with the case. It argues that the court does not have territorial jurisdiction to rule on the case, because the alleged violations took place outside the borders of Rwanda.
The DRC countered that while states are usually responsible for actions within their own territory, they are still accountable for actions they control outside their borders.
The DRC therefore asked the court to conclude that it has jurisdiction over Rwanda, based on the presence in the DRC of Rwanda’s armed forces and their support for M23.
Rwanda objected, claiming no clear “dispute” existed between it and the DRC. The DRC countered that a dispute didn’t need to be formal and one clearly existed due to the many unsuccessful efforts to resolve the conflict diplomatically.
Rwanda argued the case was inadmissible since victims hadn’t exhausted legal remedies in Rwanda. The DRC countered that expecting thousands of people to do so – amid insecurity and rights violations on a massive scale – was unrealistic.
Rwanda further argued that it was an abuse of process for the DRC to have instituted a similar case (Minister of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) v The Attorney General of the Republic of Rwanda) before the East African Court of Justice. It has heard “preliminary objections” from the attorney general of Rwanda and is yet to give its judgment on this issue. To this, the DRC responded that it had observed the only relevant requirement stipulated in the African Charter, namely, that it must not submit to the court a matter that had been settled by another dispute settlement process.
Next steps
After the public hearing, the court deliberated. Usually, it gives its judgment at its next session, which is likely to be in early June 2025.
The DRC had already approached the court in 2023 to adopt an “expedited procedure”. While the court dismissed this request, in March 2024, it agreed to deal with the case “on a priority basis”. In any event, it is obligated to deliver its judgment within 90 days of its deliberation.
Rwanda strongly opposed the African Court handling the case, but if the case moves forward, it must cooperate. This is because both Rwanda and the DRC have agreed to follow and enforce the court’s decisions as part of their legal commitment.
While this is a test case for the African Court, in the near future it may well become a test case for the African Union as a whole.
Frans Viljoen 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.
Visibility has always been important in people’s decisions about where to live and how to arrange their spaces. People make connections with what they can see. Being able to see prominent landmarks, such as certain mountain peaks, rivers or ancestral sites, could help reinforce a community’s connection to its cultural and spiritual landscape.
Some people prefer homes with scenic views, such as apartments overlooking parks or waterfronts, and businesses often choose locations with high visibility to attract customers. In both ancient and modern contexts, visibility plays a key role in how people position themselves in their environment.
That’s why visibility is a useful concept when studying the past.
Archaeologists are interested in what visible and hidden spaces meant to people in long-ago cultures. They have used the idea of visibility to examine things like where settlements were located, socio-political relationships as well as when and where people chose to move.
In the past 30 years, they’ve been helped in these studies by digital tools like geographic information systems (GIS). GIS is a computer system that uses software and data to map, analyse and manage geographic information.
But this method is still underutilised in Africa. It has only recently been taken up and very few visibility studies have been conducted on the continent.
I’m a geospatial data scientist who specialises in uncovering spatial patterns and relationships in archaeological data. I work with the Arcreate project, a group of researchers working on mobility, migration, creativity and knowledge transmission in African societies.
Recently I published a study of 19th century settlements in the Magaliesberg region in South Africa, using GIS tools to analyse what the visibility of the sites was telling us. Were the settlements designed and positioned to be more visible or less? And did this say something about what mattered to the people who lived there?
I hope my study serves as a framework for comparative analyses of other African sites in archaeology and sheds some light on what went into the choice of these locations.
Sotho-Tswana history in southern Africa
In the early 19th century, the Sotho-Tswana farming communities in South Africa’s hilly Magaliesberg region (about 179km north-west of Johannesburg) grew substantially and became more concentrated. Thousands of settlements developed. Among them were the sites I studied: Marothodi, Molokwane and Kaditshwene. They have also been studied over the years by other archaeologists. Today, all that is left of these sites are the stone wall ruins.
These settlements were densely populated. They consisted of central kraals (livestock enclosures, or lesaka in the Sesotho language) surrounded by homesteads built of stone. Kaditshwene was the most populous, with about 15,000 residents, and was inhabited by Sotho-Tswana farming communities for the longest time (1650-1828), followed by Molokwane (about 12,000, 1790-1823). At Marothodi (about 7,000, 1815-1823), people produced a surplus of iron and copper (which they traded) as well as keeping livestock.
Cattle were very important in these communities, playing a central role in cultural practices and symbolising wealth. The visibility of cattle kraals is therefore of interest: it may reveal what people wanted others to see and know about their wealth. It adds to other kinds of knowledge that archaeologists have built up about these communities.
Technique to analyse visibility
My study analysed how these 19th century Sotho-Tswana kraals would have been visible from certain points inside and outside the settlement.
I used a computational technique that drew on LiDAR imagery (high resolution imagery created using laser technology) and software called ArcMap.
Visibility analysis finds out to what extent observer locations (kraals) can be seen from different points on a map (LiDAR imagery). It compared the visibility of kraals and other spaces, taking elevation (height of structures like stone walls) as a key variable.
The analysis was done at two levels: the settlement (a spatial scale of 650 metres) and the household (a spatial scale of 10×25 metres).
At the settlement level, I found differences within and between sites.
At Marothodi, two kraals were highly visible from the surrounding 650 metre area and others less so. Overall, it was the most visible settlement, comparatively.
At Molokwane, the central cluster of the kraals was highly visible but visibility decreased with distance within the 650 metre surrounding area.
At Kaditshwene, kraals were not very visible; in fact, this was the case for the settlement overall.
Marothodi, though smallest in size, featured more kraals, while Kaditshwene, the largest, had the fewest kraals.
At the household level, the visibility of kraal outlines at Marothodi and Molokwane was significant both from within and outside the kraals.
So what do these findings tell us?
Space and priorities
My analysis of the kraals quantitatively revealed a correlation between spatial arrangements and social, economic and defensive priorities (which other researchers have suggested before).
Many homesteads and kraals were situated close to each other, emphasising visibility within and around the settlements, which served as symbols of social status and wealth. Larger, more elaborate homesteads, typically belonging to elites, were positioned in a manner that showed off their owners’ power and influence.
However, more settlements with much larger surrounding areas (beyond 650 metres) need to be studied to confirm these correlations in other landscapes.
Marothodi had the most visible kraals, likely reflecting its economic focus on the trade of iron and copper. Heightened visibility symbolised wealth and economic activity. Prominent kraals and an open layout suggest deliberate efforts to emphasise trade connections and economic power. The inhabitants evidently wanted to make visible the fact that they were open for business, and that they were doing well from that business.
Conversely, the settlement of Kaditshwene, despite its size, had the least visible kraals. This suggests a defensive strategy aimed at safeguarding cattle from theft during periods of conflict. The undulating landscape and hilltop positioning of settlements reinforced its defensive approach.
These observations underscore the dual nature of visibility. It serves as a symbol of wealth and status while also functioning as a tactical asset in defensive strategies. While Marothodi needed to be visible to facilitate trade, Kaditshwene concealed its kraals to be safer during conflict.
In summary, the visibility patterns of these settlements were influenced by a combination of the landscape, as well as social, economic and defensive needs.
Mncedisi Siteleki does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Frans Viljoen, Professor of International Human Rights Law, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
As the armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rages on, calls are being made for non-military solutions.
One such process is a court case before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights – a judicial organ of the African Union (AU) established by African states “to ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights”.
The case was brought by the DRC against Rwanda on 21 August 2023.
The DRC alleges that Rwanda has violated the African Union’s main human rights treaty, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Kinshasa claims Rwanda has supported M23 rebels since 2021 and that they are responsible for mass killings, mass displacement, destruction of schools, destruction of infrastructure and looting. Rwanda has always denied supporting M23.
I have followed the evolution of the African Court in my research since its inception in 2006. I consider this case to be highly significant. It would set a key precedent for human rights enforcement in Africa and tests the AU’s ability to uphold legal rulings. A successful outcome could encourage peaceful dispute resolution among African nations.
Significant case
The DRC vs Rwanda case is the first inter-state case ever to be submitted to the African Court.
Inter-state cases allow one state to submit a case against another for allegedly violating the African Charter, provided that they have both accepted the court’s jurisdiction. So far, only 34 of the AU member states – including the DRC and Rwanda – have accepted the court’s competence to hear cases against them.
The case of DRC v Rwanda can set an important African precedent. It serves as a way to uphold the integrity of human rights, and not serve the national interest of complaining states.
It’s also the first time African states have agreed to a judicial settlement of a dispute by an independent body of African judges. Eleven judges, of whom all but the presiding judge serve part-time, hear and decide cases at the court’s seat in Arusha, Tanzania. It may serve as an example that other states in similar situations could emulate, thus allowing for future conflicts to be defused.
Before the case can proceed, the court first has to consider “preliminary objections” by the state against which the case has been brought – in this case, Rwanda. If the court finds that it has the authority to hear and rule on the case, there is the possibility of legal consequences, like reparations.
This will be a big test for the African Union. The challenge will be getting countries to comply with decisions – since the African Court does not have an enforcement arm.
Even if both countries have accepted the court’s jurisdiction, compliance is not automatic. Compliance with the court’s orders has historically been far from exemplary – less than 10% of its decisions have been fully observed.
It is up to African Union (AU) states collectively to put pressure on non-compliant states. One possibility is imposing sanctions under article 23(2) of the AU Constitutive Act – something the AU policy organs have been reluctant to do so far.
Public hearing in DRC case
At a public hearing of the case in February 2025, Rwanda insisted that the court did not have the competence to deal with the case. It argues that the court does not have territorial jurisdiction to rule on the case, because the alleged violations took place outside the borders of Rwanda.
The DRC countered that while states are usually responsible for actions within their own territory, they are still accountable for actions they control outside their borders.
The DRC therefore asked the court to conclude that it has jurisdiction over Rwanda, based on the presence in the DRC of Rwanda’s armed forces and their support for M23.
Rwanda objected, claiming no clear “dispute” existed between it and the DRC. The DRC countered that a dispute didn’t need to be formal and one clearly existed due to the many unsuccessful efforts to resolve the conflict diplomatically.
Rwanda argued the case was inadmissible since victims hadn’t exhausted legal remedies in Rwanda. The DRC countered that expecting thousands of people to do so – amid insecurity and rights violations on a massive scale – was unrealistic.
Rwanda further argued that it was an abuse of process for the DRC to have instituted a similar case (Minister of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) v The Attorney General of the Republic of Rwanda) before the East African Court of Justice. It has heard “preliminary objections” from the attorney general of Rwanda and is yet to give its judgment on this issue. To this, the DRC responded that it had observed the only relevant requirement stipulated in the African Charter, namely, that it must not submit to the court a matter that had been settled by another dispute settlement process.
Next steps
After the public hearing, the court deliberated. Usually, it gives its judgment at its next session, which is likely to be in early June 2025.
The DRC had already approached the court in 2023 to adopt an “expedited procedure”. While the court dismissed this request, in March 2024, it agreed to deal with the case “on a priority basis”. In any event, it is obligated to deliver its judgment within 90 days of its deliberation.
Rwanda strongly opposed the African Court handling the case, but if the case moves forward, it must cooperate. This is because both Rwanda and the DRC have agreed to follow and enforce the court’s decisions as part of their legal commitment.
While this is a test case for the African Court, in the near future it may well become a test case for the African Union as a whole.
– DRC vs Rwanda at the African Court: why it could be a decisive moment for human rights and justice on the continent – https://theconversation.com/drc-vs-rwanda-at-the-african-court-why-it-could-be-a-decisive-moment-for-human-rights-and-justice-on-the-continent-250074
Visibility has always been important in people’s decisions about where to live and how to arrange their spaces. People make connections with what they can see. Being able to see prominent landmarks, such as certain mountain peaks, rivers or ancestral sites, could help reinforce a community’s connection to its cultural and spiritual landscape.
Some people prefer homes with scenic views, such as apartments overlooking parks or waterfronts, and businesses often choose locations with high visibility to attract customers. In both ancient and modern contexts, visibility plays a key role in how people position themselves in their environment.
That’s why visibility is a useful concept when studying the past.
Archaeologists are interested in what visible and hidden spaces meant to people in long-ago cultures. They have used the idea of visibility to examine things like where settlements were located, socio-political relationships as well as when and where people chose to move.
In the past 30 years, they’ve been helped in these studies by digital tools like geographic information systems (GIS). GIS is a computer system that uses software and data to map, analyse and manage geographic information.
But this method is still underutilised in Africa. It has only recently been taken up and very few visibility studies have been conducted on the continent.
I’m a geospatial data scientist who specialises in uncovering spatial patterns and relationships in archaeological data. I work with the Arcreate project, a group of researchers working on mobility, migration, creativity and knowledge transmission in African societies.
Recently I published a study of 19th century settlements in the Magaliesberg region in South Africa, using GIS tools to analyse what the visibility of the sites was telling us. Were the settlements designed and positioned to be more visible or less? And did this say something about what mattered to the people who lived there?
I hope my study serves as a framework for comparative analyses of other African sites in archaeology and sheds some light on what went into the choice of these locations.
Sotho-Tswana history in southern Africa
In the early 19th century, the Sotho-Tswana farming communities in South Africa’s hilly Magaliesberg region (about 179km north-west of Johannesburg) grew substantially and became more concentrated. Thousands of settlements developed. Among them were the sites I studied: Marothodi, Molokwane and Kaditshwene. They have also been studied over the years by other archaeologists. Today, all that is left of these sites are the stone wall ruins.
Map locating the sites studied.Author provided (no reuse)
These settlements were densely populated. They consisted of central kraals (livestock enclosures, or lesaka in the Sesotho language) surrounded by homesteads built of stone. Kaditshwene was the most populous, with about 15,000 residents, and was inhabited by Sotho-Tswana farming communities for the longest time (1650-1828), followed by Molokwane (about 12,000, 1790-1823). At Marothodi (about 7,000, 1815-1823), people produced a surplus of iron and copper (which they traded) as well as keeping livestock.
Cattle were very important in these communities, playing a central role in cultural practices and symbolising wealth. The visibility of cattle kraals is therefore of interest: it may reveal what people wanted others to see and know about their wealth. It adds to other kinds of knowledge that archaeologists have built up about these communities.
Technique to analyse visibility
My study analysed how these 19th century Sotho-Tswana kraals would have been visible from certain points inside and outside the settlement.
I used a computational technique that drew on LiDAR imagery (high resolution imagery created using laser technology) and software called ArcMap.
Visibility analysis finds out to what extent observer locations (kraals) can be seen from different points on a map (LiDAR imagery). It compared the visibility of kraals and other spaces, taking elevation (height of structures like stone walls) as a key variable.
The analysis was done at two levels: the settlement (a spatial scale of 650 metres) and the household (a spatial scale of 10×25 metres).
At the settlement level, I found differences within and between sites.
LiDAR image showing the stone walls at Molokwane. High elevation terrain in orange or red, turning to green as elevation decreases.Mncedisi Siteleki, Author provided (no reuse)
At Marothodi, two kraals were highly visible from the surrounding 650 metre area and others less so. Overall, it was the most visible settlement, comparatively.
At Molokwane, the central cluster of the kraals was highly visible but visibility decreased with distance within the 650 metre surrounding area.
At Kaditshwene, kraals were not very visible; in fact, this was the case for the settlement overall.
Marothodi, though smallest in size, featured more kraals, while Kaditshwene, the largest, had the fewest kraals.
At the household level, the visibility of kraal outlines at Marothodi and Molokwane was significant both from within and outside the kraals.
So what do these findings tell us?
Space and priorities
My analysis of the kraals quantitatively revealed a correlation between spatial arrangements and social, economic and defensive priorities (which other researchers have suggested before).
Many homesteads and kraals were situated close to each other, emphasising visibility within and around the settlements, which served as symbols of social status and wealth. Larger, more elaborate homesteads, typically belonging to elites, were positioned in a manner that showed off their owners’ power and influence.
However, more settlements with much larger surrounding areas (beyond 650 metres) need to be studied to confirm these correlations in other landscapes.
Remains of drystone walling surrounding a central cattle enclosure at Marothodi.Photo by P.D. Fredriksen, Author provided (no reuse)
Marothodi had the most visible kraals, likely reflecting its economic focus on the trade of iron and copper. Heightened visibility symbolised wealth and economic activity. Prominent kraals and an open layout suggest deliberate efforts to emphasise trade connections and economic power. The inhabitants evidently wanted to make visible the fact that they were open for business, and that they were doing well from that business.
Conversely, the settlement of Kaditshwene, despite its size, had the least visible kraals. This suggests a defensive strategy aimed at safeguarding cattle from theft during periods of conflict. The undulating landscape and hilltop positioning of settlements reinforced its defensive approach.
LiDAR image showing the stone walls at Kaditshwene. High elevation terrain in orange, turning to green as elevation decreases.Mncedisi Siteleki, Author provided (no reuse)
These observations underscore the dual nature of visibility. It serves as a symbol of wealth and status while also functioning as a tactical asset in defensive strategies. While Marothodi needed to be visible to facilitate trade, Kaditshwene concealed its kraals to be safer during conflict.
In summary, the visibility patterns of these settlements were influenced by a combination of the landscape, as well as social, economic and defensive needs.
– Ancient stone walls and power: what data science tools can reveal in African archaeology – https://theconversation.com/ancient-stone-walls-and-power-what-data-science-tools-can-reveal-in-african-archaeology-248603
WASHINGTON, DC – At the 2025 Winter Meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA), Governors approved federal priorities to advocate to the 119th Congress and the administration. The priorities were developed by three bipartisan, Governor-led task forces who meet regularly to discuss issues and policies that impact states, territories and commonwealths. The federal priorities are backed by a resolution that was unanimously voted on at today’s business session to serve as a roadmap for NGA’s advocacy efforts at the federal level.
“As Governors, we are always looking for new ideas that can help us deliver better results,” said NGA Chair Colorado Governor Jared Polis. “State input is key to avoid abrupt changes that create uncertainty and adversely impact the countless services we run to support infrastructure, education, health care, economic growth and disaster response in our states. Governors are ready and willing to work together, and with the administration and Congress, to evaluate and improve the efficiency of these services. We are open to bipartisan conversations with anyone from state and local governments, fellow governors, Congress, and the federal government.”
“Governors of both parties share common purpose when it comes to making our economy, infrastructure, and education and health systems the best they can be,” said NGA Vice Chair Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. “I appreciate the opportunity to talk with fellow Governors to discuss how states and territories can work with the White House and Congress to reduce debt and grow the economy. Governors balance our budgets, and we are the ones building roads and implementing education reforms. The perspective of Governors is critical to ensure states and territories work effectively with the federal government to achieve the best possible outcomes for Americans.”
The full resolution text adopted by Governors for 2025:
Governors believe federal action should be limited to the powers expressly conveyed by the Constitution, preserving state sovereignty in legislative and regulatory matters the Executive Committee has added the following bipartisan priorities:
Enhancing emergency management;
Streamlining permitting processes;
Supporting flexibility and waiver opportunities and funding for state and territorial designed Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF;
Ensuring the federal government meets its already committed obligations for federally funded projects across states, territories and Commonwealths.
The task forces have developed the following list of federal priorities to advance the mission of the Association:
Task Force on Economic Development and Revitalization
Accelerating infrastructure project delivery and streamlining permitting, while establishing Governors priorities for the next surface transportation reauthorization;
Advancing technology innovation and securing energy resilience to strengthen the country’s economy and national security;
Working with Congress on the most impactful programs for states and territories contained in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and the CHIPS and Science Act;
Investing in state and territorial efforts to protect water resources and clean water. Ensuring Governors have a voice as Congress considers tax reform and international trade agreements.
Task Force on Public Health and Disaster Response
Ensure Governors are consulted, and their gubernatorial authorities are maintained, in the areas of defense, homeland security, emergency management, health, and human services, including those outlined in U.S.C. Title 10 and 32 pertaining to National Guard readiness and structure;
Advocate for flexibility and support for a robust health and human service system including safety net programs, such as Medicaid and SNAP, and oppose shifting essential federal funding obligations to states and territories without adequate planning;
Ensure the National Guard is equipped with sufficient resources and capabilities to fully recruit and man a force ready to support domestic emergencies and fulfill its role as the operational reserve for national security missions;
Enhance emergency response and disaster recovery by ensuring federal programs, such as Disaster Relief Fund, National Flood Insurance, and Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery, are sufficient, adaptable, and streamlined to meet the diverse needs of states and territories, and easier to navigate for individuals, businesses, and all levels of governments;
Strengthen preparedness efforts by fostering both inter-state and federal-state collaborations to maintain resilient supply chains and stockpiles for critical infrastructure before, during, and after emergencies; Support federal initiatives that provide tools and flexibility to states and territories to ensure safe communities for all Americans in areas such as malicious unmanned aircraft systems, cyberattacks, border security, trafficking, substance use disorder, justice-involved re-integration, crisis response systems, and comprehensive safety measures.
Task Force on Education, Workforce and Community Investment
Supporting reauthorization of the Farm Bill;
Supporting efforts to expand innovative educational experiences, apprenticeship opportunities and non-degree pathways including but not limited to the reauthorization of WIOA;
Working with the House and Senate bipartisan Paid Leave Working Groups as they consider a legislative framework around paid family leave;
Supporting continued investment in federal education programs that address workforce needs and efforts to improve state longitudinal data systems;
Increasing supply of housing by strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and giving states and territories the tools necessary to streamline burdensome zoning, permitting, and land use policies.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Ruchika Gupta, Assistant Professor and Medical Microbiologist, Department of Pathobiology and Lab Medicine, LHSC and Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University
The resurgence of measles in Canada is a stark reminder that we cannot take public health achievements for granted.(CDC and NIAID), CC BY
In the landscape of public health, few stories are as compelling as the unexpected return of a disease we once thought was conquered. Measles, a highly contagious viral infection formally considered eliminated from Canada in 1998, is making a surprising comeback, challenging our public health systems and communities at large.
The rising numbers of measles cases are a concern as they represent real people and real risks. The current measles situation in Canada is a public health challenge and a critical moment for awareness and action. From urban centres like Toronto and Montréal to smaller communities across the provinces, an emerging pattern demands attention and understanding.
Outbreaks in Canada
Current measles outbreaks in Canada are primarily affecting Ontario and Québec. In Ontario, 57 confirmed cases have been documented in 2025, as of Feb. 13. Meanwhile, Québec is experiencing its second outbreak, with 24 confirmed cases reported this year, as of Feb. 21. An earlier outbreak in Québec involved 51 cases from February to June 2024.
This resurgence can be attributed to several factors, including declining vaccination rates, international travel reintroducing the virus into Canada and the highly contagious nature of measles.
Vaccination rates for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine have dropped to approximately 82.5 per cent, a significant decline observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This reduction has created a population of highly susceptible individuals, undermining community immunity — commonly referred to as herd immunity — which requires a vaccination coverage of 95 per cent to effectively prevent outbreaks.
How measles spreads
Measles is also one of the most contagious infectious diseases, with a basic reproduction number (R₀) of 12–18. This means that, in a fully susceptible population, one case of measles can lead to an average of 12–18 secondary cases. For the current outbreak, although the initial source was linked to international travel, the majority of cases are now the result of local transmission within Canada, highlighting the importance of maintaining high vaccination coverage and swift public health interventions.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease that spreads easily through respiratory droplets. When an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes, they release virus particles into the air. These particles can remain infectious for up to two hours, even after the person has left the area. What makes measles particularly challenging to control is its extended period of contagiousness.
An infected individual can spread the virus from four days before the characteristic rash appears until four days after its onset. This means people can unknowingly transmit the disease before they even realize they’re infected.
The virus’s ability to spread before symptoms appear, combined with its long contagious period, makes it difficult to contain outbreaks once they begin. This is why maintaining high vaccination rates across the population is crucial. It’s not just about individual protection, but about safeguarding the entire community, especially those who cannot be vaccinated due to age or medical conditions.
While anyone who isn’t immune either through vaccination or previous infection can contract measles, certain groups — including pregnant women, immunocompromised patients and unvaccinated children under age five — are at higher risk of complications including pneumonia and brain swelling.
Protecting individuals and communities
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and highly effective, with two doses providing up to 99 per cent protection. (Shutterstock)
The message from health-care providers is clear: vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles. Here’s what you can do:
Ensure vaccination is up to date: The measles vaccine is typically combined with mumps and rubella (MMR) or with varicella (MMRV). Two doses of the vaccine are 99 per cent effective at preventing infection.
Check your immunization records: If you’re unsure about your vaccination status, consult your health-care provider or check your Personal Immunization Record.
Vaccinate children on schedule: In Ontario, children receive two doses of the measles vaccine before age seven as part of routine vaccinations.
Consider early vaccination for infants: In areas with ongoing outbreaks, infants as young as six months may be eligible for early vaccination. Contact your health-care provider before travel for their advice. Plan ahead for travel: If you’re traveling internationally, consult a health-care provider at least six weeks before your trip to review your immunization history.
Be aware of the symptoms: high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a characteristic rash.
If you suspect you or someone in your family has measles, call your health-care provider before visiting a medical facility. This allows them to take necessary precautions to prevent further spread.
Vaccination is our most effective tool against measles. The MMR vaccine is safe and highly effective, with two doses providing up to 99 per cent protection. By maintaining high vaccination rates across our communities, we can prevent outbreaks and protect those who can’t be vaccinated due to age or medical conditions. As we navigate this situation, it’s crucial to stay informed and follow public health guidelines. Together, we can work to contain these outbreaks and protect the health of all Canadians.
The resurgence of measles in Canada is a stark reminder that we cannot take our public health achievements for granted. Vaccination has been one of the most successful public health interventions in history, saving millions of lives. By working together — health-care providers, parents and communities — we can turn the tide on this resurgence and protect our most vulnerable populations from this preventable disease.
Measles is not just a childhood illness or a simple rash. It’s a serious disease with potentially severe complications. But with vigilance, education and a commitment to vaccination, we can once again push measles to the brink of elimination in Canada. The health of our communities depends on it.
Ruchika Gupta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Joel Westheimer, University research chair in democracy and education, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Institutions once considered stable now feel precarious. The assault on truth — already well underway — has intensified, with political leaders openly flouting constitutional principles, suppressing dissent and dismantling democratic safeguards.
The rhetoric of grievance and retribution has become the soundtrack of public discourse.
People, exhausted by economic precarity and what author, activist and documentarian Astra Taylor calls the deliberate manufacturing of insecurity, are drawn to the false promise of strongman rule. The desire for stability — however undemocratic — threatens to eclipse commitments to liberty and justice.
For educators or civic leaders who teach young people about democracy these are not abstract concerns. Civic educators’ struggles to foster students’ civic engagement and strengthen their commitments to democratic institutions and the growing crisis in democracy makes these efforts even harder.
As a professor of democracy and education, and as an educator, I cannot promise young people that their efforts will always succeed. But I can assure them that whether in the face of victories or defeats, they are walking a powerful and worthwhile path.
The risk of civic despair
One popular approach to strengthening commitments to democracy is to engage students in community projects that address difficult societal challenges.
Some teachers take students to engage in community work that is deeply tied to the curriculum, through approaches known as action civics or service learning.
But when young people take on social action projects — especially those aimed at addressing systemic injustices — the experience can backfire if it leads only to frustration and failure.
Studies have shown that students who participate in civic initiatives that do not produce tangible change often become less likely to engage in civic life in the future.
When efforts to improve conditions in their schools, communities or governments meet bureaucratic obstacles or outright resistance, young people do not always emerge more energized. Instead, many walk away discouraged, cynical and convinced that the system cannot be moved.
This is not to say that teachers, parents or other adult mentors should avoid encouraging activism — far from it. But if educators fail to prepare students for the realities of social change — that it can be slow and difficult — we risk reinforcing exactly the kind of disengagement we seek to combat.
If young people see the struggle for justice only as a series of disappointments, it’s easy to understand why they may turn away.
We need to cultivate the kind of hope that sustains action despite uncertainty — the kind that fuels long-term struggles for justice, even when victories are slow in coming.
Václav Havel, the Czech playwright and political dissident who later became president, wrote that hope is not the same as choosing struggles that are headed for quick success: “Hope … is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
This distinction is vital. As I explore in my book about education for democracy, hope is not a guarantee of success, but the insistence that working for justice is meaningful in and of itself. When we work collectively on projects we believe in, we form bonds that are valued and energizing.
Howard Zinn, the late historian and activist, echoed this idea when he urged us to “hold out, even in times of pessimism, the possibility of surprise.”
Being part of something bigger
History is filled with unexpected turns, reversals and moments when change happens against all odds. As German theorist and activist Rosa Luxemburg wrote, before the revolution, everyone says it’s impossible. After, they say it was inevitable.
The singer-songwriter Holly Near expressed this artfully in her anthem to the many social change movements that have existed for as long as there have been things to improve. Change does not always happen at broadband speeds, but knowing one is part of a timeless march toward good goals makes much of what we do worthwhile. In her song “The Great Peace March,” Near sings:
“Believe it or not / as daring as it may seem / it is not an empty dream
To walk in a powerful path / neither the first nor the last / great peace march.”
Social change is about connecting with one another and being part of something larger than ourselves — a “powerful path” that stretches beyond any single moment or movement.
Hope as a practice
So how do we teach hope? How do we equip young people not just to work for change, but to sustain that work over the long haul?
First, we must be honest about setbacks. Too often, we romanticize past movements, presenting them as linear progressions toward justice. We do young people a disservice when we erase the years of struggle, failure and uncertainty that preceded social victories. A more honest history includes moments of despair as well as triumph.
Second, we must frame civic action as an ongoing practice rather than a single event. Students should see their work as part of a continuum.
Finally, we must model hope ourselves. Young people are watching us. If we meet today’s challenges with cynicism and resignation, they will learn that democracy is a lost cause. But if we demonstrate an enduring commitment to engagement and justice, they will see that democracy is not something we inherit; it is something we build.
We can promise young people that to engage in the work of justice is to be part of a legacy that stretches across generations. And that, I believe, is hope worth teaching.
Joel Westheimer receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
When U.S. President Donald Trump first suggested Canada should become the 51st American state, the federal government dismissed it as just a joke. Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc insisted it was “in no way a serious comment.”
Now that Trump has carried through on his aggressive economic threats — launching a trade war with China and raising the possibility of similar conflicts with Canada, Mexico and the European Union — his imperialist expansionism is in plain sight.
Canadian leaders have come to realize that Trump’s actions may not be a temporary or minor irritant, but rather an attack on Canadian sovereignty itself.
The failure to take Trump’s words seriously is reminiscent of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s skepticism in 1938 that Hitler would actually risk world war despite the latter’s aggressive rhetoric, annexation of Austria and threats to Czechoslovakia and Poland.
What, then, have been the signs of Trump’s expansionist tendencies? American economic and military might, albeit declining relative to emerging powers like China and India, still provides a solid basis for the projection of U.S. supremacy. But there are also two new key elements at play.
A billionaire-corporate administration
The Trump administration appears to operate with a distinctly corporate mindset, treating the nation like a business empire. Trump has stacked his administration with private sector leaders and corporate billionaires such as Elon Musk, Doug Burgum and Howard Lutnick.
Like other billionaires, their immense business success has been founded not on mainstay competitive market practices like productivity or cost-cutting, but on predatory and cannibalistic ones.
These include controlling resources like oil, gold, diamonds and coltan to secure production inputs; buying out competitors to monopolize markets and patents; and deliberately breaking up and destroying companies through mergers and acquisitions with little regard for the resulting job losses.
Under the guise of national security, the idea is not simply to safeguard borders, but to engage in economic expansionism and real estate development, aided by the U.S. military when needed. Taking control of land, waterways and mineral wealth is critical to building “America’s Golden Age” of corporate capitalism.
This approach seems to be a mainly business one, with little concern for the social costs (recession, unemployment, violence) produced by such imperialistic ventures. In line with his infamous book, The Art of the Deal, Trump appears to view foreign nations and domestic opponents alike as obstacles to be callously bullied, degraded, manipulated, exploited and finally vanquished.
American nationalist populism
The Trump administration’s imperial ambitions lie in the nationalist populism that propelled Trump and his allies into power for the second time.
Trump’s populism has successfully tapped into widespread anxieties among Americans — job insecurity, food prices, the housing crisis — by promising to soothe their worries through the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) agenda.
Like other right-wing populist movements around the globe — Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s in Turkey, Viktor Orbán’s in Hungary and the Brexit campaign in the U.K. — the MAGA movement has sought to unify the U.S. by identifying and targeting perceived national enemies. These include so-called “illegal” migrants, transgender people and the country’s largest trading rivals: Mexico, Canada and China.
By blaming these groups, especially those seen as contributing to America’s economic decline, MAGA whips up nationalist sentiment in the form of suspicion, aggression and vengeance. The result is a deeply polarized nationalist discourse in which one is either a loyal supporter or an enemy; a believer or a “woke” liberal.
A lethal imperial set-up
The combination of U.S. global power, nationalist populism and the Trump administration’s corporate-driven, predatory approach makes for a dangerous dynamic.
This mix is fuelling a form of economic expansionism that is now beginning to manifest itself. The impending trade wars, potential dismantling of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (which Trump initiated in 2018 to avoid unilateral trade moves by its signatories) and the brazen disregard for the socioeconomic consequences of foreign territorial control, such as the forced displacement of Palestinians, are all signs of this.
While many assumed Trump’s administration would be protectionist and isolationist, a more troubling and nefarious reality is emerging. His administration appears to be intent on securing America’s industrial dominance through trade wars while expanding it through hawkish economic imperialism.
There is a clear ruthlessness to this approach, with a willingness to pressure not only America’s perceived enemies but also its allies. “America First” is starting to looks like “America Above All Others” as Trump attempts to bully U.S. rivals into subordination, with disturbing echoes of past authoritarians.
Unravelling American imperial designs
Many obstacles could prevent Trump’s aggressive expansionism from fully taking shape. While the key ingredients may already be there, and some have begun to be deployed, that doesn’t mean they will come to fruition.
The Trump administration’s policymaking process is often chaotic and theatrical, prioritizing short-term political gains over long-term strategy. This instability undermines any consistent efforts at expansion.
There is also the risk that Trump’s trade wars will backfire. They could end up causing hardship to U.S. companies and consumers through higher food and energy prices, job losses in key industries like agriculture and auto manufacturing, and increased stock market instability. Such consequences could negatively affect Trump’s corporate allies.
Meanwhile, Trump’s economic and military rivals could forge new alliances to challenge his attempts at global supremacy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for instance, recently met with the head of NATO and other European allies to strengthen trade and security ties.
The first step to any countermoves by Trump’s foreign adversaries will be seeing his regime’s designs for what they are: chaotic, perhaps, but serious expansionist ones.
Ilan Kapoor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Erin Tolley, Canada Research Chair in Gender, Race, and Inclusive Politics and Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, Carleton University
Twenty. That’s it. That’s the total number of Black Canadians ever elected to the House of Commons of Canada. There have been 372 Johns and 77 Jeans.
You can easily find data on women parliamentarians, members of Parliament with military experience and even parliamentarians who have died in office. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find a complete list of Black Canadians in politics, never mind a comprehensive account of their experiences.
Because of their relative absence from accounts of Canada’s political history, Black Canadians’ contributions to politics are often overlooked or ignored. This erasure prevents governments, political parties, and researchers from crafting strategies to address political inequality.
When we lack relevant racial data on political candidacy and electoral outcomes, we can’t track progress or identify barriers. And when Black Canadians aren’t present in politics, public policies are less likely to reflect their circumstances and less responsive to their needs.
Groundbreaking new research from Carleton University and Operation Black Vote Canada aims to change that. Through archival research, a survey and more than 30 in-depth interviews, our report, Black on the Ballot documents the presence, backgrounds, motivations and experiences of Black Canadians in politics. Here’s what we found.
Black Canadians in elected office
Our research helped to identify more than 380 Black Canadians who have run for and served in elected office over the past two decades. Our focus was on candidates and officeholders at the school board, municipal, provincial and federal levels of politics.
Undoubtedly, there are holes in this list, especially further back in history and at the municipal and school board levels, where more ephemeral record-keeping and gaps in local news coverage make this type of historical research challenging.
From this pool, we tracked down contact information for 212 possible respondents. In January 2023, we invited them to complete the first-ever national survey of Black Canadian candidates and officeholders. Ninety-five did so. This is what they told us.
The local level is an important political entry point for Black candidates. Most survey respondents said they had run at the municipal level as councillors (52 per cent) or mayor (six per cent), while 23 per cent ran as school board trustees. Less costly campaigns and the absence of gatekeeping by political parties contribute to lower barriers to entry at the local level. Nineteen per cent of respondents had run provincially, and 21 per cent federally.
Most Black Canadians in politics are first- or second-generation Canadians. A majority of respondents, 62 per cent, identified as Caribbean. Black candidates and officeholders have high levels of education; 40 per cent have earned a graduate or professional degree, and over half (56 per cent) have a college or university degree.
Business is the most common profession for Black Canadian politicians, followed by government and politics and law. This pipeline into politics roughly mirrors that of other elected officials.
We found that Black men and women were equally likely to run for office. This pattern diverges from research that finds women, in general, are less likely than men to come forward as candidates, at least at the federal level.
More than one-third of survey respondents ran for a provincial or federal party; of these, most (47 per cent) ran for the Liberals, 26 per cent for the New Democratic Party, 12 per cent each for the Greens or Conservatives, and three per cent for the Bloc or Parti Québécois.
Motivations for running
When asked about the factors that influenced their decision to run for office, 73 per cent of Black candidates said they felt it was important for people like them to have a strong voice in government. Just over half (52 per cent) said they were interested in addressing a particular policy issue.
Although Black men and women are equally likely to run for office, our research shows other differences in candidate emergence. Just over half of women respondents said they had not seriously considered running until someone else suggested it, compared to 28 per cent of men. While 47 per cent of Black men said running for office was entirely their own idea, just 26 per cent of Black women said the same.
Encouragement is thus an important catalyst for political engagement, especially for Black women. Other research indicates women are less likely to be recruited by political parties to run for elected office.
In our survey, 52 per cent of Black women said a party official suggested they run, compared to just 16 per cent of Black men. Ten times as many women respondents as men said party recruitment was consequential to their decision to run. Political parties seem to play an important facilitative role in Black women candidate’s emergence; this phenomenon is known as “affirmative gatekeeping.”
Improving Black Canadians’ representation in politics
Our research identifies a number of challenges to gaining elected office, including difficulties raising funds and recruiting volunteers. Half of survey respondents said others had discouraged them from running for office, while 71 per cent said they faced discrimination while running for or serving in office.
We heard that it’s important to share stories of Black success in politics, to adopt multi-pronged recruitment strategies, to demystify the process of running for office and to ensure elections are accessible to all voters.
A clip from the podcast series that accompanies the Black on the Ballot report.
We also heard that diversification initiatives need to focus on the inclusiveness of political spaces, rather than just how many Black Canadians run for office. Candidates and officeholders reported hostility and feelings of isolation, as well as individual and institutional refusals to address discrimination. These experiences are reiterated by guests on the podcast that accompanies our report.
Despite these challenges, when asked whether they would run again, 87 per cent of survey respondents said yes, a number that reveals Black Canadians’ unflinching commitment to public service and to community. We need to stoke this spark, not extinguish it.
Erin Tolley receives funding from the Canada Research Chairs program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This research was undertaken in partnership with Operation Black Vote Canada.
If the American role in globalization has been to consume the world’s products and resources by building on a foundation of ever-increasing debt, China’s has been to make tangible goods for the international market.
China has economies of scale that no other country — except India — can match. Its manufacturing dominance is the logical outcome of introducing an increasingly technologically sophisticated country with a vast population to the modern global system.
The first Donald Trump administration used tariffs to try to draw investment into the U.S. and stimulate domestic industry. He believed tariffs would create more manufacturing jobs, shrink the federal deficit and lower food prices.
To the Global South, there are clear benefits to accessing affordable, high-quality technology and industrial products from China. The industrialized world can also benefit significantly from Chinese manufacturers, but possibly at the cost of its own established industrial capacity.
The world is entering a new era of globalization. For many states, that means trying to keep from being economically undermined by the U.S. while deciding how to manage the economic and political costs and benefits of engaging with China’s massive industrial capabilities.
Shaun Narine 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.
Dakar (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the metropolitan archdiocese of Dakar, Senegal, presented by Archbishop Benjamin Ndiaye.The Holy Father has appointed Bishop André Gueye, until now bishop of Thiès and apostolic administrator of Saint-Louis du Sénégal, as metropolitan archbishop of Dakar, Senegal.Archbishop-elect André Gueye was born on 6 January 1967 in Pallo-Younga. He carried out his studies in philosophy in the major seminary of Sebikhotane in Dakar, and in Brin, Ziguinchor. He studied theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University of Rome, as a guest of the Pontifical Urban College.He was ordained a priest on 27 June 1992 in the Cathedral of Thiès.He has held the following offices: parish vicar of Sainte Croix in Bambey (1992-1997), parish vicar of Sainte Anne Cathedral in Thiès (1997-2004), parish priest of Sainte Croix in Bambey (2004-2006), and teacher of philosophy at the Saint Jean Marie Vianney Major Seminary of Brin, diocese of Ziguinchor (2006-2012).He was elected bishop of Thiès on 18 January 2013, and was consecrated the following 25 May.Since 12 January he has served as apostolic administrator of Saint-Louis du Sénégal. (Agenzia Fides, 22/2/2025)
Share:
Maradi (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Maradi, Niger, presented by Bishop Ambroise Ouédraogo.The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Ignatius Anipu, M.Afr., until now delegate of the Provincial of Western Africa and director of the Institut de Formation Islamo-Chrétienne of Bamako, Mali.Msgr. Ignatius Anipu, M.Afr., was born on 7 November 1959 in the diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga, Ghana. He studied philosophy at Saint Victor’s Major Seminary in Tamale, Ghana, and theology at the Institut Catholique de Toulouse, France. He was awarded a licentiate at the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome.He was ordained a priest on 20 July 1991.He has held the following offices: parish vicar of Saint Teresa of Ávila in Zinder, Niger, and national chaplain for the country’s youth (1991-1995), parish priest of Saint Vincent de Paul in Birni N’Konni, Niger (1998-2001), provincial counsellor (1999-2001) and head of the Community of the White Fathers of Birni N’Konni (2000-2002), lecturer in missiology, traditional African religions and Islamology at the Missionary Institute of London (2002-2008), in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, and in Bamako, provincial of the White Fathers for West Africa (2011-2016), and general assistant and general counsellor of the White Fathers in Rome (2016-2022).Since 2023 he has been the delegate of the provincial of West Africa and director of the Institut de Formation Islamo-Chrétienne in Bamako. (Agenzia Fides, 22/2/2025)
Share:
Peter Dutton has launched a game of one-upmanship after Anthony Albanese at the weekend unveiled Labor’s $8.5 billion health policy that promises near universal bulk billing for GP visits by 2030.
Dutton wants to neutralise health as an election battleground. So he immediately pledged to match the Albanese policy. He’s included another $500 million, from an already announced Coalition policy for mental health, so he can get to the bigger number of $9 billion.
What’s more, the Opposition leader said the government should legislate the health plan before the election. There are two issues with that call.
On the present parliamentary sitting timetable, legislation could in theory be passed in budget week, which is set to start March 25. But, as everyone who’s paying attention knows, the current speculation is there probably won’t be a budget, with many players and observers anticipating Albanese will soon announce an April election.
Secondly, however, legislation is not needed. The changes can be made by regulation.
The Coalition decision to take over the Labor health policy holus bolus may be tactically smart – time will tell. Fixing up bulk billing will be popular; the opposition knows it would be on risky ground getting into an argument about it, even on detail.
But just adopting such a big Labor policy, within hours of seeing it, without further thought or strutiny, raises questions about the Coalition’s policy rigour.
Doesn’t it have a few ideas of its own? Labor’s policy, while welcomed, has already come under some criticisms. For instance, there are suggestions it might be harder to address the bulk billing issue in certain areas than in others, so maybe the claims for the policy are too sweeping. And some experts would prefer greater attention on more fundamental reforms to Medicare.
In strict policy terms, as distinct from political expediency, the Coalition’s approach just seems lazy. Shadow health minister Anne Ruston is said to have been out and about with stakeholders – did she come to exactly the same policy conclusions as Labor? Presumably, given the policy’s expense, a Coalition government would not be able to spend more on other health initiatives, which restricts its scope to do further or different things.
On the fiscal side, Dutton is looking for general spending cuts but says there will be no cuts in health. “The Coalition always manages the economy more effectively and that’s why we can afford to invest in health and education,” he said on Sunday.
Can we believe in this “no cuts” line? The government points back to Tony Abbott’s time when similar promises were made and the reality didn’t match the rhetoric. Dutton was health minister then and the government tried to introduce a Medicare co-payment. That attempt fizzled in face of opposition, but some voters might think that a Coalition that puts on Labor’s clothes so readily might shed some of them when in office, pleading the weather was hotter than it expected. That’s especially possible when it is a policy that stretches out several years, as this one does.
Certainly Labor has already been homing in on Dutton’s record from more than a decade ago.
None of this alters the fact that something needs to be done to boost bulk billing, which has now fallen to about 78% of GP visits. The govenrment’s disputes the opposition’s figure that it reached 88% under the Coalition but indisputably, it has certainly tumbled from where it once was.
The question now is, who will people trust more to fix it up?
Dr Chalmers goes to Washington
Meanwhile, the government is still battling on all fronts to make its case heard in Washington for an exemption from the US tariffs on aluminium and steel.
In a flying trip at the start of this week Treasurer Jim Chalmers will be the first Australian minister to visit there since President Trump announced the tariffs.
The treasurer will have discussions with the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, whom he met (courtesy of ambassador Kevin Rudd) before the presidential election. So the talks will have the advantage of familiarity.
Chalmers on Sunday played down the prospect of any finality on tariffs coming out of his visit, which will also take in a conference of superannuation fund investors looking to put money into American businesses. The conference is being held at the Australian embassy.
If Australia eventually gets a favourable result on tariffs in the near term, the treasurer will be able to claim at least a tick for his efforts.
Michelle Grattan 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.
Amid the immense popularity of “Ne Zha 2,” fans of the Chinese blockbuster are facing a race against time to purchase blind boxes featuring the film’s main character, as stocks quickly deplete both online and at retail locations.
“Ne Zha-themed products sell out quickly as soon as they are put on the shelf. Recently, we’ve seen dozens of people signing up for pre-sales every day,” said a staff member at Pop Mart, China’s popular toy maker, in Beijing.
Like “Black Myth: Wukong,” the country’s first 3A video game taking the world by storm in 2024, “Ne Zha 2” has become another cherished domestic creation rooted in traditional Chinese culture. Both cultural phenomena have successfully turned fan enthusiasm for their intellectual properties (IPs) into lasting profits.
As of Saturday, the sequel to the Chinese mythical franchise “Ne Zha” has seen its box office revenue worldwide, including presales, surpass 13 billion yuan (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars), securing the eighth spot on the list of highest-grossing films of all time worldwide, according to ticketing platforms.
Beyond the silver screen, the animation is also making waves in other areas of the consumer market. Sales of its merchandise on Taobao, a leading e-commerce platform in China, surpassed 50 million yuan earlier this month.
Noticing the surge in demand for “Ne Zha 2” merchandise, an authorized manufacturer in Dongguan, located in south China’s Guangdong Province, quickly ramped up production after the film’s Chinese New Year release, aiming to seize the significant market opportunity created by the rise of Chinese IP.
“We have received orders for nearly 1.4 million sets of peripheral products. While operating overtime every day to produce the products, our factory is also developing new items based on the film,” said Chen Qi, general manager of the company, noting that the company hopes to cooperate with more domestic brands to develop IP derivatives in the future.
This growing interest in domestic IPs is reflected across factories in China, where companies are shifting their focus from exports to tapping into the expanding opportunities within the domestic market.
This year, China’s IP derivatives market is expected to exceed 500 billion yuan, CITIC Securities said in a research report.
More than 49,000 enterprises in China are involved in the trendy toy economy, with approximately 13,000 of them having registered in 2024, according to Tianyancha, a corporate information provider.
The rapid growth of China’s trendy toy market highlights the country’s strengths in IP, supply chain capabilities and consumer potential, said Li Yongjian, a researcher at the National Academy of Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
“Ne Zha 2” isn’t the first IP to spark a surge in merchandise consumption in China. In 2023, another domestic hit, “The Wandering Earth 2,” raised over 140 million yuan through crowdfunding for its merchandise.
Moreover, in January, Chinese retailer MINISO launched a store themed around “Black Myth: Wukong” in Beijing, attracting considerable attention as fans eagerly queued to purchase limited-edition items.
As the IP economy continues to grow, retailers like MINISO are capitalizing on the cultural and emotional appeal of beloved franchises.
Ye Guofu, founder of MINISO, said that Chinese consumers, especially younger generations, are increasingly prioritizing the emotional value attached to products, and this shift is expected to further drive the demand for IP-based merchandise.
These IPs not only showcase the depth of China’s cultural heritage but also demonstrate how modern technology and creativity can breathe new life into ancient stories, making them relevant and appealing to today’s generation. This synergy between tradition and innovation has laid a solid foundation for the booming IP derivatives market.
“Traditional culture needs to be revitalized with a modern touch,” said “Ne Zha 2” director Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi, adding that literary classics are the most valuable source of cultural IPs for animated films.
Zhao Xinli, dean of the Advertising School at the Communication University of China, noted that with the vast potential of the domestic consumer market, a well-established animation production system and the rich heritage of China’s traditional culture, the country’s cultural industry is set for an even brighter future.
The Hoyts Sunnybank cinema in Brisbane, Australia’s third largest city, presented 14 sessions of the Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2” on Sunday, significantly more than other popular films including “Captain America: Brave New World” which was shown in eight sessions.
This photo taken on Feb. 13, 2025 shows a projected poster for the Chinese fantasy feature “Ne Zha 2” at a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)
While Sunnybank has a concentrated Chinese diaspora population, another Brisbane cinema Event Garden City Mt Gravatt showed “Ne Zha 2” in 11 sessions, the same as “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.”
About two weeks after the release and pre-screening of the Chinese animation blockbuster, mainstream Australian cinemas have greatly increased their screening schedules of “Ne Zha 2” across the country due to strong demand from local audiences, with a majority of the seats taken in most sessions.
“Ne Zha 2” entered the top three at Australia’s weekend box office in its debut last week in 91 cinemas, following “Captain America” and “Bridget Jones” last weekend, according to box office reporting company Numero on Monday.
Where was the marketing
Peter Koevari, director of GP2 Entertainment, a Brisbane-based independent film production company, attended the opening screening of “Ne Zha 2” and was shocked by how little promotion this film received, although “the cinema was absolutely packed out and the film was excellent.”
“Fantastic sound, fantastic imagery and characterization … but … where was the marketing?” said Koevari who is also director at Queensland-based FilmLab Academy. His voice-acting students recently tried their hand at dubbing a trailer for “Ne Zha 2.”
Following the tale of an iconic boy god from Chinese mythology, “Ne Zha 2,” the highest-grossing animated movie of all time globally, has seen its box office revenue worldwide, including presales, surpass 13 billion yuan (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars), according to ticketing platforms on Saturday.
“The film is breaking records worldwide at exceeding levels, but it hasn’t really been marketed at all in the West — there wasn’t even a poster up and the trailers cannot be seen anywhere. The only people that know about this are those in the Chinese community or those who know people in the Chinese community… Just imagine how this film would be doing if it was marketed properly,” Koevari said.
Ancient philosophies
“Ne Zha 2,” the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha,” is more than a high-octane, action-packed and visually stunning animated spectacle, full of hilarious moments and thrilling fight scenes. Beneath all that, it’s something much deeper: a bold re-imagining of Chinese traditional mythology, cultural history and philosophies, said Hong Yanyan, PhD candidate in communication and media studies at the University of Adelaide.
“Ne Zha 2” carries the weight of Eastern cultural essence — Daoist balance, Confucian ethics, Mohist resistance, Legalist reform and the strategic wisdom of “The Art of War,” Hong said.
In Daoist philosophy, evil and good, often known as Yin and Yang, are not absolute, but are rather shifting, interconnected forces, which is embodied in Ne Zha’s character in the film, she said, adding the film proves that even the smallest, most underestimated individual can change the world.
Maryam, a viewer from Adelaide, said, “The movie really made me think about how good people are not always good, and bad people are not always bad, which made me really even look into human nature more deeply.”
“Ren” (benevolence), a core Confucian virtue, is reflected in the film’s emotional climax when Ne Zha is struck by the “heart-piercing curse,” a brutal spell that covers his body in ten thousand thorns, causing unbearable pain and keeping him under control by targeting his heart. Ne Zha’s human mother, Lady Yin, clings to him as his thorns pierce her skin — yet she refuses to let go.
“It’s a moment of heartbreak, parental love and inner awakening. As his mother takes her final breath, in Ne Zha’s grief, his body shatters into a million pieces. And then, he is reborn,” Hong said.
She also highlighted the most profound transformation which comes from the dragon prince Ao Bing, whose once-imposing father Dragon King releases his grip: “Your path is yours to forge.” The weight of tradition gives way to something new, reflecting a changing China where younger generations are defining their own paths, she added.
Beyond Daoist and Confucian ideals, “Ne Zha 2” also weaves in Legalist reform and Mohist resistance, she said, adding these philosophies challenge rigid hierarchies, or in Ne Zha’s case, “divine order,” and advocate for collective justice. The celestial-demon war itself plays out like a lesson in Sun Tzu’s Art of War.
Penetrating cultural barriers
“‘Ne Zha 2’ is undoubtedly another success story. People love the imaginative and legendary old story, and the high-tech special effects give the movie a new charm,” Associate Professor Gong Qian at the School of Education of Curtin University told Xinhua.
Despite the expansion of the Chinese community in Australia, young people’s enthusiasm for Chinese culture is still some way off compared to their affinity for Japanese and Korean culture, she said.
While lion and dragon dances, kung fu, dragon boats and Chinese festivals, often with fixed ritual times, are not easily integrated into the daily lives of Australians, Chinese vlogger Li Ziqi’s short videos, the video game “Black Myth: Wukong,” the TV series Three-Body, and TikTok are popular among Australian young people because they are more modern forms of art and entertainment, Gong added.
“Ne Zha 2” has a “coolness” that easily penetrates cultural barriers and enters the hearts and minds of Australians, Gong said, adding there are still countless intellectual properties (IPs) in Chinese culture that need to be developed.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
Labor yesterday foreshadowed a major Medicare change to address the falling rate of bulk billing, with an A$8.5 billion election announcement. The government said it would increase incentive payments for GPs to bulk bill all patients, from November 1 2025.
Today the Coalition said it would match Labor’s Medicare investment dollar-for-dollar.
Medicare was designed as a universal scheme to eliminate financial barriers to access to health care. The contemporary slogan is that you only need your Medicare card, not your bank card, to see your doctor.
But fewer than half of Australians are always bulk billed when the see a doctor. So how did we get into this situation? And what could these changes mean for access to care?
Until changes introduced by then Health Minister Tony Abbott in 2003, Medicare was the same for everyone.
But in response to declining rates of GP bulk billing at the time, the then Coalition government backed away from Medicare’s universality and introduced targeted bulk billing incentives for pensioners and health-care card-holders, children, people in rural and remote Australia and, in a political fix to appease then Tasmanian independent Senator Brian Harradine, all Tasmanians.
Fast-forward to 2014 and then Health Minister Peter Dutton introduced legislation as part of the budget for a compulsory copayment for GP consultations – a proposal that did not survive six months and failed in the Senate. A smaller optional payment also failed to get approval.
But the idea of getting Australians to pay out of pocket to see a GP survived. It was introduced by stealth by freezing GP rebates, rather than adjusting them to inflation. This slowly forced GPs to introduce patient co-payments as their costs increased and their rebates didn’t.
By the time Labor was elected, bulk billing was said to be in freefall.
Labor’s first response was to restore the indexation of rebates, so they increase increase in line with inflation in November of each year.
It then tripled the bulk billing incentive. This meant GPs received a greater rebate when they didn’t charge patients an out-of-pocket fee.
But the new incentive was not enough to cover the gap between rebate and fees in metropolitan areas.
What proportion of Australians are now bulk billed?
Only about 48% of people have the security of “always” being bulk billed when they see a GP. A further 24% are “usually” bulk billed.
Bulk billing rates are highest in poorer areas – South West Sydney has an “always” rate of 81%, almost quadruple the rate in the ACT (23%), which has Australia’s lowest “always” rate.
The always bulk billed rate – excluding special COVID items which required bulk billing – has dropped from about 64% in 2021–22.
The rate of bulk billing as a percentage of all visits to the GP, rather than people, is much higher. Around 78% of all attendances (aka visits) in the second half of 2024 were bulk billed. The higher rate is because more frequent users, such as older Australians, are bulk billed at a higher rate than younger people.
What does the new bulk billing package include?
The initiative announced yesterday includes three positive changes.
First, it again increases the bulk billing incentive.
It also introduces an additional bonus for general practices which achieve 100% billing.
The new combined Medicare rebate in metropolitan areas for a standard bulk billed visit to the GP is A$69.56 when both changes are applied. This is $27 above the current rebate of $42.85 (without any bulk billing incentive).
The current average out-of-pocket payment when a service is not bulk billed is $46. So there will still be a gap, but the difference between bulk billing and not is now significantly smaller.
*Totals include item Medicare rebate, Bulk Billing Incentive item rebate, and 12.5% Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program payment. Government Press Release
The government expects a major uplift – to 90% of visits bulk billed – as a result.
State government payroll taxes, also encourage bulk billing, by not requiring GPs to pay payroll tax on consultations that are bulk billed. This will provide a further incentive to increase the bulk billing rate.
The second positive change is that the new initiatives are for everyone. This ends the two-tiered incentive the Coalition introduced in 2003 and restores Medicare as a truly universal scheme.
Australia will now rejoin all other high-income countries (other than the United States) in having health funding underpinned by universality.
Third is the introduction of a 12.5% “practice payment” bonus for practices that bulk bill all patients.
This starts the necessary transition from a reliance on fee-for-service payments as the main payment type for general practice.
A “practice payment” is more holistic and better suited to a world where more people have multiple chronic disease which require care for the whole person, rather than episodic care. It signals payments need to be redesigned for that new reality.
Over time, this could fund and encourage multi-disciplinary teams of GPs, nurses and allied health professionals such as psychologists and physiotherapists – rather than patients always seeing a GP.
The downsides
The main risk practices face in contemplating these changes is the fear of how long this new scheme will last. A previous Coalition government showed it was prepared to use a rebate freeze to achieve its policy of a shift away from Medicare as a universal scheme.
The best way of reducing that risk would be to build in indexation of the rebate, and the incentive, into legislation.
The Royal Australian College of GPs says not everyone will be bulk billed because rebates are still too low to cover the cost of care.
This is true, as the gap between the prevailing metro bulk billed fee and the new rebate plus incentive will be about $20. But the aim is to increase bulk billing to 90% not 100% – and that is probably achievable.
Bottom line
The new arrangements will likely reverse the decline in the rates of bulk billing. The government can reasonably expect a bulk billing rate of around 90% of visits in the future.
For consumers facing cost-of-living pressures, it will be a very welcome change. There will be more 100%-bulk-billing practices and patients will no longer face a lottery based on a doctor’s or receptionist’s mood or whim about whether they will be bulk billed.
Yesterday’s announcement and the Coalition’s backing is a watershed, benefiting patients and general practices.
Labor is playing to its strengths and it will hope to reverse its current polling trends with this announcement.
The Coalition obviously hopes to negate the impact of a popular announcement by matching it. What will weigh in voters’ minds, though, is whether today’s Coalition announcement will be delivered after the election. The Coalition has a long history – dating back to Malcolm Fraser – of promising one thing about health policy before an election and reversing it after the vote, and this will probably fuel a “Mediscare” campaign by Labor.
Stephen Duckett 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.
Peter Dutton has launched a game of one-upmanship after Anthony Albanese at the weekend unveiled Labor’s $8.5 billion health policy that promises near universal bulk billing for GP visits by 2030.
Dutton wants to neutralise health as an election battleground. So he immediately pledged to match the Albanese policy. He’s included another $500 million, from an already announced as Coalition policy for mental health, so he can get to the bigger number of $9 billion.
What’s more, the Opposition leader said the government should legislate the health plan before the election.
On the present parliamentary sitting timetable, legislation could in theory be passed in budget week, which is set to start March 25. But, as everyone who’s paying attention knows, the current speculation is there probably won’t be a budget, with many players and observers anticipating Albanese will soon announce an April election.
The Coalition decision to take over the Labor health policy holus bolus may be tactically smart – time will tell. Fixing up bulk billing will be popular; the opposition knows it would be on risky ground getting into an argument about it, even on detail.
But just adopting such a big Labor policy, within hours of seeing it, without further thought or strutiny, raises questions about the Coalition’s policy rigour.
Doesn’t it have a few ideas of its own? Labor’s policy, while welcomed, has already come under some criticisms. For instance, there are suggestions it might be harder to address the bulk billing issue in certain areas than in others, so maybe the claims for the policy are too sweeping. And some experts would prefer greater attention on more fundamental reforms to Medicare.
In strict policy terms, as distinct from political expediency, the Coalition’s approach just seems lazy. Shadow health minister Anne Ruston is said to have been out and about with stakeholders – did she come to exactly the same policy conclusions as Labor? Presumably, given the policy’s expense a Coalition government would not be able to spend more on other health initiatives, which restricts its scope to do further or different things.
On the fiscal side, Dutton is looking for general spending cuts but says there will be no cuts in health. “The Coalition always manages the economy more effectively and that’s why we can afford to invest in health and education,” he said on Sunday.
Can we believe in this “no cuts” line? The government points back to Tony Abbott’s time when similar promises were made and the reality didn’t match the rhetoric. Dutton was health minister then and the government tried to introduce a Medicare co-payment. That attempt fizzed, but some voters might think that a Coalition that puts on Labor’s clothes so readily might shed some of them when in office, pleading the weather was hotter than it expected. That’s especially possible when it is a policy that stretches out several years, as this one does.
Certainly Labor has already been homing in on Dutton’s record from more than a decade ago.
None of this alters the fact that something needs to be done to boost bulk billing, which has now fallen to about 78% of GP visits. The govenrment’s disputes the opposition’s figure that it reached 88% under the Coalition but indisputably, it has certainly tumbled.
The question now is, who will people trust more to fix it up?
Dr Chalmers goes to Washington
Meanwhile, the government is still battling on all fronts to make its case heard in Washington for an exemption from the US tariffs on aluminium and steel.
In a flying trip at the start of this week Treasurer Jim Chalmers will be the first Australian minister to visit there since President Trump announced the tariffs.
The treasurer will have discussions with the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, whom he met (courtesy of ambassador Kevin Rudd) before the presidential election. So the talks will have the advantage of familiarity.
Chalmers on Sunday played down the prospect of any finality on tariffs coming out of his visit, which will also take in a conference of superannuation fund investors looking to put money into American businesses. The conference is being held at the Australian embassy.
If Australia eventually gets a favourable result on tariffs in the near term, the treasurer will be able to claim at least a tick for his efforts.
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
A unique historical situation has developed – today we celebrate Defender of the Fatherland Day in the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland. After all, 2025 is dedicated simultaneously to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and to all those who are now defending the Motherland during a special military operation, restoring the infrastructure of historical territories, conducting scientific research, diversifying production, training new generations of Russian specialists, collecting humanitarian aid, fighting for the truth in the information field, defining the country’s strategic objectives and managing national projects.
State University Rector Vladimir Stroev:
“Colleagues, friends, students of the State University of Management, I congratulate you on Defender of the Fatherland Day! In recent years, this holiday has become increasingly national in nature and concerns not only men who have completed military service, but also broader sections of the population. All those who, in their place, make a certain contribution to the well-being of society, the achievement of technological and cultural leadership by our country, the construction of a new model of world order based on the principles of justice and equality. Nevertheless, special honor and respect from all of us go to the fighters who, with weapons in their hands, at the risk of their lives and health, defend the honor of our state. Without their victories on the fields of special military operations, any discussions about the essence of the holiday would have no basis. However, the unity of the people around them allows us to say that February 23 today is Defender of the Fatherland Day and the citizens who help him, among whom are women and children, the elderly, representatives of absolutely peaceful professions that are in no way connected with the military-industrial complex. Their material and moral support is also important, they are also part of the steel shell of our Motherland, but not the outer hard armor, but the inner soft lining.
Therefore, this time I would like not only to congratulate our defenders on the holiday, but also to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who, with their work on the front lines and in the rear, brings Russia’s global success closer. Including, of course, students and employees of the State University of Management, who, in addition to their main activities, participate in the “State University of Management – SVOim” campaign, conduct “University Shifts”, clean the Black Sea, develop unmanned systems and agricultural complexes. Thank you for your concern and responsible life position. Be happy in the vast expanses of our reliably protected Fatherland!”
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 02/23/2025
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 Child Poverty Action Group has today told the Government that reversing cuts to school lunches is an achievable way to address rising child poverty levels in New Zealand.
Official statistics released last week showed an extra 36,600 children are likely to be living in material hardship compared to two years ago.
Speaking to Guyon Espiner on TVNZ’s Q+A on Sunday, CPAG Executive Officer Sarita Divis said she was heartened to hear the Minister of Child Poverty Reduction Louise Upston mention the healthy school lunches programme as a key commitment of this government in tackling child poverty.
This year the Government scrapped the previous model of healthy school lunches, many of which created jobs in local communities. Instead, it switched to a for-profit model delivered under an $85 million annual contract with the School Lunch Collective, a partnership between Compass Group NZ, Libelle Group and Gilmours.
The new lunch programme has a budget of $3 per meal, about $5 cheaper than the previous model.
“One in four children do not have enough food. That could be that they don’t have breakfast and dinner so we need to make sure that the lunch that they receive is nutritious, healthy and delicious so that they do get those educational benefits and those health benefits.”
The new model has been beset by problems, with late deliveries, culturally insensitive food, and a largely repetitive, unappetising menu with questionable nutrition value since its implementation at the start of the school year.
“Education is one of the key ways to break the cycle of poverty.”
Ka Ora, Ka Ako only provides for about 40 percent of NZ children living in food poverty and there was a strong argument to not only reverse the cuts, but increase the number of children who receive the meals, Ms Divis said.
“When you do proactive policies like this it can make a difference,” Ms Divis said.
“Reverse those cuts. We think that is really achievable for the government.”
Ms Divis said CPAG was disappointed the Government’s Budget policy statement in December – which gives an early indication about priorities in May’s Budget – had no mention of child poverty.
Under the Child Poverty Reduction Act (2018), the Government is legally required to address child poverty rates in the Budget with specific policies.
Last year, CPAG along with Health Coalition Aotearoa and the NZEI Te Riu Roa, campaigned to stop cuts to the programme with 26,000 people signing a petition to save school lunches.
Washington’s escalating protectionist policies, grounded in the “zero-sum” logic, risk destabilizing the global economic order and deepening recessionary pressures, an expert has said.
The Trump administration’s tariff-driven agenda, which prioritizes short-term domestic gains, threatens to fracture international supply chains and undermine multilateral institutions, said Vlade Simovic, a professor of the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In an interview with Xinhua, he depicted the Trump administration’s move to revive high tariffs as a return to mercantilist principles.
While Washington seeks to reshore manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports, this approach ignores the realities of globalization, said Simovic.
Though tariffs may be politically appealing to Washington, the expert warned, they may trigger retaliatory cycles.
“Modern economies thrive on interdependence. Disrupting this balance risks inflation, supply chain chaos and a collapse of multilateral frameworks,” he said.
U.S. unilateralism is eroding the World Trade Organization (WTO), with Washington prioritizing bilateral deals over multilateral rules, said Simovic. “The WTO is increasingly irrelevant to the U.S. that writes its own playbook.”
Historical parallels are alarming — protectionism in the 1930s worsened the Great Depression, he added.
Simovic said that the European Union, as a key U.S. trade partner, faces acute vulnerabilities under U.S. tariff threats on steel, aluminum and automobiles, which pose risks to Europe’s social stability and economic growth.
The international community must prioritize inclusive reforms to avert a preventable crisis — one where short-term political wins pave the path to long-term collective loss, he said.
In a lecture hall at the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), a series of striking photographs transported the audience across the Pacific — into the bustling markets of south China’s Guangdong Province, the serene villages of the Yao ethnic minority, and the rhythmic movements of the traditional Yingge folk dance.
The images were part of a special exhibition capturing the essence of China through the creative lens of four award-winning American photographers.
Last November, the photographers embarked on an 11-day journey across Guangdong, exploring its rich history, diverse communities, and evolving modern identity. From daily life to traditional celebrations, they documented the province’s vibrancy, culture, and rapid development.
At a storytelling event at CSULB on Thursday, the photographers shared their experiences with students, scholars, and faculty, offering a firsthand account of their journey.
Fresh perspectives on China
“One thing that really impressed me about China, particularly in Guangdong Province, is the widespread use of electric vehicles — not just cars, but also motor scooters and other transportation,” said Michael Nelson, a recipient of the U.S. National Press Photographers Association’s Best of Photojournalism award.
“In downtown areas of these massive cities with populations exceeding 20 million, it’s surprisingly quiet. You don’t smell exhaust fumes, and the air feels clean. It’s a healthier environment,” Nelson added, recalling his time in China.
He told Xinhua he was struck by China’s technological advancements, openness, and commitment to environmental sustainability.
From intricate face painting and traditional folk dances to enduring Kung Fu practices and local delicacies, the photographers sought to document not only China’s landscapes and traditions, but also the spirit of its people and the dynamic transformation of modern Chinese society.
“We were free to take pictures, and the people we met were very friendly,” said Irfan Khan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer recognized for his team’s breaking news coverage of the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack.
“Chinese people enjoy their lives. They are hardworking, disciplined, and very well-organized,” Khan noted, calling the culture “vibrant” and “colorful.”
He was particularly impressed by China’s advanced digital payment systems. “Even in the smallest villages, at tiny kiosks selling candies and other goods, you can use Alipay or scan a QR code to pay instead of using cash,” Khan said.
Nelson echoed this sentiment: “From rural areas to major cities, technology is making life more convenient and improving efficiency for people everywhere.”
Bridging cultures through photography
For the four photographers, the trip left a lasting impact, deepening their understanding of China’s culture and way of life.
For many in the audience, the exhibition and storytelling session provided a rare, unfiltered view of China beyond the headlines. Some were particularly drawn to the depictions of daily life — children playing in village courtyards, artisans crafting intricate works, and elders practicing Tai Chi in local parks.
“It’s amazing to experience cultural differences through their photography,” Mariana Barrios, a staff member of the International Training Program at CSULB, told Xinhua.
“You see a little bit of everything — choreographed performances, food, people’s daily activities, stunning architecture, and the unique atmospheres they captured,” she noted.
“The expressions on people’s faces in these photos really convey their emotions. Whether it’s a group gathering around a table or someone quietly enjoying a cup of tea, these images help us better understand how Chinese people live their daily lives,” Barrios added.
CSULB President Jane Close Conoley underscored the importance of fostering cultural understanding in today’s world.
“This is a time when we should be doubling down on building person-to-person and culture-to-culture understanding,” she said.
She reaffirmed the university’s commitment to organizing more events like this to facilitate cultural connections and deepen mutual understanding between different communities.
How is “Ne Zha 2” being received in the U.S.? American “TikTok refugees” on Xiaohongshu, the Chinese social media app known overseas as “rednote,” have ready answers.
Tony Oswald, a freelance filmmaker based in New York, shared his observations in a short video that garnered more than 2,500 likes and 700-plus comments. Some users thanked him for “answering their burning question” and — despite his apology for not speaking fluent Chinese — some even called him “a quick language learner.”
Regarding whether American cinema-goers understand the Chinese legend-inspired story, Oswald’s answers were straight: “The story is very simple. Everyone can understand. Some Chinese myths… Americans possibly don’t quite understand, but the jokes, emotions and animation all very good.”
When asked for his personal comment as a director by netizen Joylion, Oswald replied: “I could never in a million years make something as intricate as ‘Ne Zha.’ But my personal taste calls for more minimalist human dramas!”
One month after rednote received a massive influx of TikTok refugees, Oswald is among the American netizens who remain active on the app helping maintain the new bridge of grassroots exchanges between the two countries.
In mid-January, the U.S. government’s looming TikTok ban drove a significant number of the app’s American users onto rednote, which fuses the features of Instagram and Pinterest, in search of a new community.
Their arrivals were then met with an overwhelmingly warm welcome from Chinese netizens, and what started as a temporary “refuge” has evolved into a space for grassroots communications, from sharing daily life experiences to exchanging cooking tips and cute pet photos.
Since the TikTok ban was temporarily postponed in late January, many American netizens have returned to TikTok and bid emotional farewells to their new Chinese friends on rednote while promising to remember “the encounter.”
Others decided to stay, drawn to the friendly and positive vibe.
“I intend on staying because it’s objectively nicer over here,” said “finnfinndog,” a netizen from Michigan. Another American user, “Inspiration,” added that “those who like to be calm and at peace will stay here on rednote.”
“I like the content, people and cultural sharing here, that’s why I still want to stay on rednote,” said Cristian from the state of New York.
“This app opened my eyes to how hospitable the Chinese people can be. I’ve met some friends here and we sent pictures of our lives to each other. One of my friends sent me pictures of the Forbidden City and that was awesome,” Cristian added.
Observers have noted that the appeal of rednote extends beyond its friendly atmosphere, as it provides a space for American and Chinese users to connect at a grassroots level, sharing cultural experiences and forming bonds.
Many American reviewers of “Ne Zha 2” said they had received recommendations from their Chinese followers, which prompted them to watch a film that “many other Americans have not heard about.” The animated feature has become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time globally, with more than 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in the box office.
Even professional exchanges have flourished. Kevin, an electrician from Florida, has 13,000 fans after posting regular updates about American construction practices and engaging with Chinese electricians in technical discussions.
Ruthie, also from Florida, shared her decision to study in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. The post prompted Shenzhen University, where she is headed, to issue a post welcoming the American student. Many Shenzhen locals have also joined the discussion, offering tips on local food, transportation and tourist spots.
“Don’t sweat it homie, Shenzhen’s basically China’s litty Miami — we got palm trees, beaches and that 24/7 vibe,” one netizen from Guangdong Province, where Shenzhen is located, commented.
“Come visit me, I’ll buy you the best bubble tea,” remarked another.
