Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements
The King has been pleased to approve the following appointment.
The King has been pleased to approve the following appointment:
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE
Headline: OSCE hands over ambulance vehicles and equipment to Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs
(left-right) Major General Azizulozoda Safialo, National Coordinator for Police Reform at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Miroslav Milojevic, Adviser on Police Affairs at the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, during the handover ceremony of ambulance vehicles and equipment to Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Dushanbe, 11 April 2025. (OSCE/Atodzhon Salibaev) Photo details
On 11 April 2025, the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe officially handed over two ambulance vehicles and five sets of equipment to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan.
This donation supports the Government of Tajikistan’s efforts to advance internal reforms and strengthen police services. Specifically, the ambulance vehicles will enhance the capacity of the Medical Service of the Ministry to provide on-site first aid and emergency medical transportation for police personnel.
The five sets of equipment will be awarded as prizes in the “Best Territorial Police Inspector” competition, organized by Public Councils across five regions of the country.
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE
Headline: OSCE trains Uzbek border and customs officers in identifying suspected foreign terrorist fighters
The OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the Border Troops and Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, held a national training course on identifying suspected foreign terrorist fighters and other criminals at border crossings in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 4 to 7 April.
Twenty-two first- and second-line border and customs officers sharpened their skills through practical exercises on identity management, detecting illicit small arms and light weapons (SALW), profiling techniques, risk analysis, and methods for preventing trafficking in human beings.
The training course was delivered by seven members of Uzbekistan’s National Mobile Training Team as part of their third deployment mission since they completed their advanced training with support of the OSCE-led Mobile Training Team in 2023. International experts from Belgium, North Macedonia and the United Kingdom as well as the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and the OSCE also contributed with their expertise and provided training materials.
The course was followed by an official opening of the OSCE classroom at the Advanced Training Faculty under the Customs Committee of Uzbekistan. This included a handover ceremony of two servers to improve the video surveillance system at Uzbek border checkpoints as well as 100 copies of Frontex guidebooks on SALW in the Uzbek language. The classroom and donations are expected to enhance the effectiveness of local customs and border officers’ daily work.
These activities are part of the OSCE extrabudgetary project “Strengthening the resilience of Uzbekistan to address cross-border challenges emanating from Afghanistan” funded by Germany, Sweden and the United States of America. Further training courses are scheduled in 2025.
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science, Macalester College
Once upon a time, “revisionist power” was a term reserved for nations trying to overturn the postwar liberal order – the usual suspects being countries like Russia, China or Iran.
But lately, that concept is starting to fray. When Beijing’s top diplomat says the United States is the one disrupting global stability, and respected analysts argue that Washington itself is acting like a revisionist state, the label suddenly looks a lot less tidy.
And yet the term is everywhere – in think tank reports, in political speeches, in headlines about political hot spots.
But what does revisionist really mean? And why should we care?
At its core, “revisionist power” is a label applied to nations that want to change the way the world is ordered. The concept dates back to the period between the two world wars, when it described countries opposing the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. Political scientist Hans Morgenthau later distinguished between status quo powers and those seeking to overturn the balance of power.
The label itself was popularized in the mid-20th century, especially through A.F.K. Organski’s 1958 work on power transition, which defined revisionist powers as those dissatisfied with the existing order and determined to reshape it.
The change desired by nations can take many forms: redrawing borders, rebalancing regional power balances or creating alternative rules, norms and institutions to the ones that currently structure international politics. The key is that revisionists nations aren’t just unhappy with specific policies – they’re dissatisfied with the broader system and want to reshape it in fundamental ways.
The concept comes out of the realist tradition in international relations, which sees the world as an arena of power politics.
In that framework, countries operate in an anarchic international system with no higher authority to enforce the rules. The most powerful nations construct or impose a particular set of rules, norms and institutions on the international system, creating an order that reflects their values and serves their interests.
In this tradition, status quo powers benefit from the system and want to keep it more or less as it is. But revisionist powers see the system as constraining or unjust – and seek to alter it.
This doesn’t always mean war or open confrontation. Revisionism isn’t inherently aggressive, nor is it always destabilizing. It simply describes a nation’s support for or opposition to the prevailing international order. How that desire is expressed can include diplomacy, economic coercion or even armed conflict.
Consider Russia. Its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 were not just violations of international law – they were clear efforts to overturn the post-Cold War, NATO-based security order in Europe. Russia was not lashing out at individual policies; it was challenging – or seeking to revise – the legitimacy of the existing system.
China presents a different kind of case. Beijing has made use of existing international institutions and benefited enormously from global trade, but it’s also been building alternatives, including regional banks, trade blocs and digital infrastructure designed to reduce dependence on Western systems. China’s expanding presence in the South China Sea, its pressure on Taiwan and its desire to shape global norms on everything from human rights to internet governance point to a broader effort to revise the current order – though more gradually than Russia’s approach.
Iran, meanwhile, operates mostly at the regional level. Through its support for proxy groups like Hezbollah, its influence in Iraq and Yemen, and its confrontational stance toward Israel and the Gulf monarchies, Iran has long sought to reshape the Middle East’s power dynamics. It’s not trying to rewrite the entire international system, but it’s certainly revisionist in the region.
Of course, calling a nation “revisionist” is not a neutral act. It reflects a judgment about whose vision of world order is legitimate and whose is not. A rising power might see itself as correcting historical imbalances, not disrupting stability. The term can be useful, but it can also obscure as much as it reveals.
Still, the label captures something real – though maybe not as cleanly as it used to. Much of today’s geopolitical tension does hinge on a basic divide: Some nations want to preserve the existing order, and others want to reshape it. But it’s no longer obvious who belongs in which camp.
Now, when the U.S. sidelines institutions it once championed, imposes extraterritorial sanctions or pushes for new tech and trade regimes that bypass rivals, it starts to blur the line between defender and challenger of the status quo.
Maybe the more useful question now isn’t just which great power is revisionist – but whether any of them are still committed to the post-World War II international order created in the U.S.’s image.
This article is part of a series explaining foreign policy terms commonly used, but rarely explained.
Andrew Latham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. What is a ‘revisionist’ state, and what are they trying to revise? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-revisionist-state-and-what-are-they-trying-to-revise-252966
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By John Calabrese, Assistant Professor, School of Public Affairs and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute, American University
Chinese researchers have unveiled a new deep-sea tool capable of cutting through the world’s most secure subsea cables − and it has many in the West feeling a little jittery.
The development, first revealed in February 2025 in the Chinese-language journal Mechanical Engineering, was touted as a tool for civilian salvage and seabed mining. But the ability to sever communications lines 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) below the sea’s surface − far beyond the operational range of most existing infrastructure − means that the tool can be used for other purposes with far-reaching implications for global communications and security.
That is because undersea cables sustain the world’s international internet traffic, financial transactions and diplomatic exchanges. Recent incidents of cable damage near Taiwan and in northern Europe have already raised concerns of these systems’ vulnerabilities − and suspicions about the role of state-linked actors.
The growing sophistication and openness of underwater technology evidenced by the latest news from China suggest that undersea infrastructure may play a larger role in future strategic competition. Indeed, this development adds a new layer to the broader challenge of securing critical infrastructure amid expanding technological reach and the rise of so called “gray zone” tactics – antagonisms that take place between direct war and peace.
Despite their unassuming appearance, undersea cables form the backbone of modern communication systems. Stretching around 870,000 miles (over 1.4 million kilometers) across every ocean, these cables transmit almost 100% of global internet communication.
These information superhighways are a major engine for the modern economy and are indispensable for things such as almost instantaneous financial transactions and real-time diplomatic and military communications.
If all these cables were suddenly severed, only a sliver of U.S. communication traffic could be restored using every satellite in orbit.
The entire system is built, owned, operated and maintained by the private sector. Indeed, approximately 98% of these cables are installed by a handful of firms. As of 2021, the U.S. company SubCom, French firm Alcatel Submarine Networks and Japanese firm Nippon Electric Company collectively held an 87% market share. China’s HMN Tech holds another 11%.
Tech giants including Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft now own or lease roughly half of the undersea bandwidth worldwide, according to analysis by the U.S.-based telecommunications research group TeleGeography.
The very characteristics that make undersea cables effective also render them highly vulnerable. Built to be lightweight and efficient, they are exposed to a variety of natural hazards, including underwater volcanic eruptions, typhoons and floods.
But human activity is still the primary cause of cable damage, whether it’s from accidental anchor drags or inadvertent entanglement with trawler nets.
Now, security experts are increasingly concerned that future human disruptions might be intentional, with nations launching coordinated attacks on undersea cables as part of a hybrid war strategy.
Such assaults could disrupt not only civilian communications but also critical military networks.
An adversary, for example, could cut off a nation’s command structures from intelligence feeds, sensor data and communication with deployed forces. The ramifications extend even to nuclear deterrence: Without reliable communication, a nuclear-armed state might lose the ability to control or monitor its strategic weapons.
The loss of communications, even for a few minutes, could be catastrophic. It could mean the difference between a successful defense and a crippling first strike.
In recent years, Western policymakers have become particularly concerned about the capabilities of Russia and China to exploit the vulnerabilities of undersea cables.
One particularly illustrative incident occurred in 2023 when Taiwanese authorities accused two Chinese vessels of cutting the only two subsea cables supplying internet to Taiwan’s Matsu Islands.
The resulting digital isolation of 14,000 residents for six weeks was not an one-off episode. Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party has pointed to a pattern, noting that Chinese vessels have disrupted cable operations on 27 occasions since 2018.
In January 2025, Taiwan’s coast guard blamed a Cameroon- and Tanzania-flagged vessel crewed by seven Chinese nationals and operated by a Hong Kong-based company when an undersea cable was severed off the island’s northeastern coast.
Such incidents, often described as gray-zone aggression, are designed to wear down an adversary’s resilience and test the limits of response.
China’s recent push to enhance its cable-cutting capabilities coincides with a surge in its military drills around Taiwan, including a number of recent exercises.
Similar cable disruptions have occurred in the Baltic Sea. In October 2023, a telecom cable connecting Sweden and Estonia was damaged along with a gas pipeline. In January 2025, a cable linking Latvia and Sweden was breached, triggering NATO patrols and a Swedish seizure of a vessel suspected of sabotage tied to Russian activities.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, even hinted at the possibility of targeting undersea communication cables as retaliation for actions such as the Nord Stream pipeline explosions in 2023.
The involvement of state-linked vessels in incidents operating under flags of convenience − that is, registered to another country − further complicates efforts to attribute and deter such attacks.
It isn’t just security and defense at risk. The modern financial system is predicated on the assumption of continuous, high-speed connectivity; any interruption, however brief, could disrupt markets, halt trading and lead to significant monetary losses.
Given the strategic importance of undersea cables and the multifaceted risks they face, Western governments intent on preventing further conflict would be wise to find a comprehensive and internationally coordinated way to secure the infrastructure against threats.
One clear option would be to bolster repair and maintenance capacities. Currently, a significant vulnerability stems from the overreliance on Chinese repair ships. China’s robust maritime industry and state-supported investments in global telecommunications has contributed to the Asian nation taking a prominent position when it comes to cable repair ships.
The protection of undersea cables should not, I believe, be viewed as the responsibility of any single nation but as a collective priority for all nations reliant on this infrastructure. As such, international frameworks and agreements could facilitate information sharing, standardize security protocols and establish rapid response mechanisms in the event of a cable breach.
But such international efforts would be fighting against the tide. The incidents in Taiwan, the Baltic Sea and elsewhere come as great power competition intensifies between the U.S. and China.
China, in developing deep-water cable-cutting technology, may be sending a message of intent. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s “America First” approach signals a shift that could complicate efforts to foster partnerships for the general global good.
The defense of undersea cables reflects the challenges of our hyperconnected world, requiring a balance of innovation, strategy and cooperation. But as nations including China and Russia seemingly test and probe this vital global infrastructure, it appears the systems underpinning the West’s prosperity and security could become one of its greatest vulnerabilities.
John Calabrese does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. China’s new underwater tool cuts deep, exposing vulnerability of vital network of subsea cables – https://theconversation.com/chinas-new-underwater-tool-cuts-deep-exposing-vulnerability-of-vital-network-of-subsea-cables-251877
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
This report was issued in April 2025 and covers the time period 1 March 2025 to 31 March 2025 inclusive.
March saw continued high levels of space activity which saw both uncontrolled re-entry and collision alerts at levels above the 12-month rolling average. All NSpOC warning and protection services functioned as expected throughout the period.
March has seen a reduction in the number of objects re-entering Earth’s atmosphere when compared with the previous two months.
Of the 85 objects that re-entered, 73 were satellites, 7 were rocket bodies, 1 was a piece of debris and 4 were unidentified objects, likely to be either a rocket body or a satellite.
April: 22, May: 56, June: 48, July: 44, August: 89, September: 50, October: 35, November: 47, December: 83, January: 115, February: 129, March: 85
Collision risks to UK-licensed satellites remained steady in March with a 1% increase compared with February, above the rolling average of 2,434.
April: 1,899, May: 2,560, June: 1,881, July: 1,795, August: 2,137, September: 3,041, October: 3,181, November: 2,722, December: 2,142, January: 2,694, February: 2,567, March: 2,588
There was an increase to the in-orbit population during March, with 285 newly catalogued objects added to the US Satellite Catalogue.
131 newly catalogued objects were attributed to the Starlink constellation with a further 74 catalogued objects coming from the Falcon 9 Transporter 13 mission on 15 March.
April: 28,752, May: 28,850, June: 28,931, July: 28,917, August: 29,297, September: 29,678, October: 29,665, November: 29,826, December: 29,921, January: 29,985, February: 30,163, March: 30,323
There have been no new fragmentation (break-up) incidents this month.
Space weather was relatively quiet during March 2025 with a general absence of significant solar activity. Key events this period included:
Periods of enhanced geomagnetic activity were observed throughout the month. Possible impacts on satellites include increased drag on those in LEO which may have required corrective manoeuvres. High frequency radio propagation may also have been degraded at higher latitudes.
One of the more notable events from last month was a strong high-frequency radio blackout, affecting much of the sunlit side of the Earth for about an hour. Low frequency navigation systems may have been degraded for a similar amount of time.
A minor radiation storm occurred, with satellites likely to have experienced a modest increase in Single Event Upsets (SEUs).
The National Space Operations Centre combines and coordinates UK civil and military space domain awareness capabilities to enable operations, promote prosperity and protect UK interests in space and on Earth from space-related threats, risks and hazards
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Yii-Jan Lin, Associate Professor of New Testament, Yale University
In Antalya, Turkey, in the early hours of March 27, 2025, Pikachu was spotted fleeing the police, making a getaway as fast as his short yellow legs could waddle.
The person dressed as the popular Pokémon character had been objecting to the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, whose political party later posted on X, “Pepper spray, which even affects Pikachu, won’t do anything to you or me! #ResistPikachu.”
At the same time, the internet was having a field day with another stalwart of Japanese anime, deploying generative AI to infuse famous memes, family portraits and movie scenes with a patina of cuteness by recasting them in the style of the Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli.
Never mind that Studio Ghibli director and founder Hayao Miyazaki famously denounced AI-generated art as “an insult to life itself.” Both the Pikachu protester and the viral Studio Ghibli-esque animations demonstrate the global appeal of cuteness.
But to me, there’s more to cute than its ability to go viral.
Cuteness can be used politically. It can highlight injustices against the vulnerable, and it can boost support of the underdog.
It’s a form of soft power in the truest sense of the term.
As a Taiwanese American, I’ve been a lifelong fan of the cuteness that’s part of East Asian cultures: cute cartoon characters, cute stationery and even cute-looking food.
Now I study cuteness: what makes something “cute,” and how it operates in culture and politics.
Many well-known, cute, pop culture characters and products can be traced to Japan, particularly after World War II, when Japanese animation – known as anime – and a style of Japanese comics called manga became popular.
Their narratives and aesthetics spoke to a country still reeling from devastation wrought by the atomic bombs and the humiliation of U.S. occupation.
Anime and manga imagined both dystopian and utopian futures, using stories that were nostalgic, upsetting, or a blend of both to process collective trauma.
In many cases, cute characters guided viewers and readers through grief, guilt and loss. For example, the manga “Barefoot Gen” details the adventures of 6-year-old Gen after he survives the bombing of Hiroshima. Likewise, Studio Ghibli’s “Grave of the Fireflies” tells the story of two young siblings, Seita and Setsuko, who face starvation after the bombing of Kobe in the waning days of World War II. They’re drawn with large eyes and expressive faces, evoking innocence and powerlessness.
Both Studio Ghibli and the Pokémon franchise emerged in the latter half of the 20th century, along with other titans of cuteness, such as Hello Kitty – she just celebrated her 50th birthday – Doraemon, and popular Nintendo characters Kirby and Yoshi.
Cuteness now dominates East Asian cultures.
Cute mascots such as Tencent’s QQ Penguin hawk products in China; popular cartoon characters plaster the sides of Japanese trains; and Taipei’s subway cards come in the shape of pink bunnies and miniature rice cookers.
In Japan, the term “kawaii” refers to the lovable and cute. This includes not only cartoon characters and plush dolls, but also clothing and even speech, such as talking with a pout or in a childlike voice.
Across Asia, you can see cuteness celebrated in the way people flash heart symbols with their fingers – a gesture originating in South Korea – and you can hear it in the way celebrities sometimes speak with a baby voice, puff out their cheeks or bat their eyelashes.
Cuteness has a place in American culture. But it has nowhere near the cultural cachet that it has in Asia.
Yet to me, the Studio Ghibli memes that swept American social media platforms revealed a widespread longing for tenderness at a time when the world seems particularly harsh, violent and unpredictable.
Theorist Sianne Ngai has argued that cuteness is usually based on the power differential between the observer and the cute object: A small kitten, a stuffed animal or a cooing baby are cute, in part, because they’re so vulnerable.
I think that’s why the White House’s efforts to join in on the Ghibli memes fell flat. Its X account posted a Ghibli-esque image of a Dominican woman crying while being handcuffed by an ICE agent. The depiction generated outrage.
The cartoon imagines that the audience would revel in punching down. It’s a perversion of how cuteness works, celebrating the powerful – the ICE agent and the U.S. government – and not the powerless. Contrast the White House’s image with the “Grave of the Fireflies,” which highlighted the vulnerability of children during war.
Yet the powerlessness of cute characters can also, paradoxically, be powerful: Most onlookers can’t help but cheer for a furry, yellow cartoon animal fleeing from riot police. A cute character can look helpless, but it can rally support for the underdog.
Perhaps that’s why Pikachu again popped up at two other protests: at an anti-Netanyahu demonstration in Israel on April 5, 2025, and at an anti-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. that same day.
Cuteness, perhaps not surprisingly, has been used as a political tool in Asia. The Milk Tea Alliance, which formed in 2020, is a pan-Asian, pro-democracy movement that unites communities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Myanmar and beyond.
Organizers pointedly emphasize the effectiveness of cuteness and humor as a tool to condemn violence and denounce authoritarianism. Online images shared by the movement include anime-style drawings of young student protestors and cartoons of anthropomorphized cups of Taiwan bubble tea, Thai cha and Hong Kong milk tea holding hands.
Comedy can be subversive. Political cartoons and comedians, of course, have long tapped into this dynamic.
But cuteness adds a touch of whimsical absurdity that further defangs the power hungry. Is it any wonder Chinese officials banned the release of a Winnie-the-Pooh movie after memes comparing Xi Jinping to the beloved stuffed bear went viral?
Despite its cuddly, quaint and charming exterior, cuteness contains hidden superpowers: It celebrates the vulnerable, while sapping authoritarians of gravitas they seek to project.
Yii-Jan Lin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Pikachu protesters, Studio Ghibli memes and the subversive power of cuteness – https://theconversation.com/pikachu-protesters-studio-ghibli-memes-and-the-subversive-power-of-cuteness-253909
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Nathanael Andrade, Professor of History, Binghamton University, State University of New York
It’s a straightforward part of the Easter story: The Roman governor Pontius Pilate had Jesus of Nazareth killed by his soldiers. He imposed a sentence that Roman judges often inflicted on social subversives – crucifixion.
The New Testament Gospels say so. The Nicene Creed, one of Christianity’s key statements of faith, says Jesus “was crucified under Pontius Pilate.” The testimony of Paul, the first person whose preaching in the name of Jesus Christ is preserved in the New Testament, refers to the crucifixion.
But over the past 2,000 years, it was common for some Christians to deem Pilate almost blameless for Jesus’ death and treat Jews as responsible – a belief that has shaped the global history of antisemitism.
Throughout medieval times, Easter was often a dangerous time for Jewish communities, whom Christians targeted as “Christ-killers”. This perception was integral to the hate that motivated mass violence in Europe as late as the 19th and 20th centuries, including pogroms in Russia and even Nazi genocide.
Why did Christian teachings practically let Pilate off the hook? Why did many Christians allege Jews were to blame?
In the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, Pilate believes Jesus innocent of any crime. In some of them, he even proclaims so in public.
But the chief priests of the ancient Jewish temple at Jerusalem see Jesus as a charismatic and popular Jewish preacher who challenges their authority. They have Jesus arrested and tried before Pilate during the week of Passover.
Pilate schemes for Jesus’ release, but a riotous crowd clamors for his death. Pilate caves and decides to crucify Jesus, whom Christians believe rose from the dead three days later.
Any reader of the Gospels knows the sequence, though it varies somewhat in each of them. The earliest Gospels, composed at least a generation after Jesus’ death, blamed the chief priests and attending crowd for persuading Pilate to have Jesus crucified. The Gospel of John, written some decades after the other three, portrayed Jews in general as responsible, and so did much of early Christian literature.
One account, written in the mid-second century or later, and not included in the New Testament, even claimed that Jesus’ crucifixion was not ordered by Pilate. Instead, it blamed Herod Antipas, the Jewish ruler of Galilee – the region where Jesus grew up. Other texts from after the first few centuries A.D. said that Pilate became a Christian.
Scholars have long debated the historical facts of Jesus’ trial. In my 2025 book, “Killing the Messiah,” I do too.
The Gospel testimonies capture the basics of criminal trials before Roman judges, which were held in public. Judges posed questions to prosecutors and defendants, and had ample power to decide whether a person was innocent or guilty and impose a punishment.
Writers who lived in the Roman Empire portrayed judges as capricious, unaccountable or swayed by menacing crowds. The Gospels reflect this attitude by making Pilate appear bullied into condemning an innocent man.
But from a historian’s viewpoint, there is a crucial problem with the Gospels’ description. Roman judges could and sometimes did face removal from office, property confiscation, exile or even death for executing clearly innocent people. In other words, it seems unlikely that Pilate would have proclaimed Jesus guiltless, but then conceded to pressure and condemned him anyway.
Other ancient writers describe Pilate as someone who was not above offending the Jews of Judaea. According to the first-century Jewish philosopher Philo and the historian Josephus, Pilate had his soldiers carry objects that honored Roman emperors into Jerusalem, which Jewish residents saw as sacrilegious. When crowds protested, he sometimes backed down. But his soldiers attacked an agitated crowd that opposed Pilate’s use of Temple money to build an aqueduct. They also massacred an insurrection of Samaritans – people who also claimed descent from Israelites.
Pilate did not cave to hostile crowds indiscriminately, or do whatever the chief priests wanted. Since Roman prefects like him had to coordinate with Jewish priests to govern Jerusalem, he likely viewed people who incited social disturbance against them as subversive. Jesus would have fit in that category, but neither Philo nor Josephus provides examples of Pilate killing people after acquitting them.
Why, then, did Pilate have Jesus crucified? As many scholars have argued, the simple answer would be that he believed Jesus committed some sort of sedition – not that the crowd simply pressured Pilate into doing so.
Yet, when the Gospels were composed a generation after the crucifixion, they portrayed Pilate as convinced of Jesus’ innocence. As more time passed, other works of ancient Christian literature shifted accountability from Pilate to Jews.
The experiences of Jesus’ early followers help explain this shift. They, like Jesus himself, were Jewish, and they considered him a heaven-sent Messiah. But over the course of the first and second centuries, they increasingly separated themselves from other Jews, until they began to see themselves as members of a non-Jewish movement: Christianity.
In Roman authorities’ eyes, the Christians were troublesome, and they sometimes faced prosecution and capital punishment. In addition, Rome had inflicted atrocities and punitive measures upon Jews after insurgencies – further motivating Jesus’ followers to distance themselves. Their literature became increasingly hostile toward Jews.
Historians and biblical scholars continue to debate why Pilate condemned Jesus. Was it for suggesting that he was the Messiah, or, in Pilate’s wording, “King of the Jews”? Did Jesus incite a crowd disturbance at the Temple during Passover – or were officials worried he could, even inadvertently? Were Jesus and his followers engaged in armed insurrection?
But regardless of the answer, as I argue in my book, responsibility for the crucifixion lies with Pilate – not the chief priests and the Jewish crowd at Jerusalem.
Nathanael Andrade has received fellowship funding from the Andrew Mellon Foundation/the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
– ref. A Roman governor ordered Jesus’ crucifixion – so why did many Christians blame Jews for centuries? – https://theconversation.com/a-roman-governor-ordered-jesus-crucifixion-so-why-did-many-christians-blame-jews-for-centuries-250231
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Briana Pobiner, Research Scientist and Museum Educator, Smithsonian Institution
Looking again through the magnifying lens at the fossil’s surface, one of us, Sabrina Curran, took a deep breath. Illuminated by a strong light positioned nearly parallel to the surface of the bone, the V-shaped lines were clearly there on the fossil. There was no mistaking what they meant.
She’d seen them before, on bones that were butchered with stone tools about 1.8 million years ago, from a site called Dmanisi in Georgia. These were cut marks made by a human ancestor wielding a stone tool. After staring at them for what felt like an eternity − but was probably only a few seconds − she turned to our colleagues and said, “Hey … I think I found something.”
What she’d spotted in 2017 was our team’s first evidence that hominins butchered several animals at the site of Grăunceanu, in Romania, at least 1.95 million years ago. Before this discovery, those other cut marks from Dmanisi were the oldest well-dated evidence in Eurasia of the presence of hominins − our direct human ancestors.
Other scientists have reported sites in Eurasia and northern Africa with either hominin fossils, stone tools or butchered animal bones from around this time. Our recently published research adds to this story with well-dated, verified evidence that hominins of some kind had spread to this part of the world by around 2 million years ago.
A little background on Grăunceanu: This open-air site was originally excavated in the 1960s, and researchers found thousands of fossil animal bones there. It’s one of the best-known Early Pleistocene sites in East-Central Europe. Many of the fossil animal bones are quite complete and at the time of excavation lay together as they were positioned in life. The original deposition was called a “bone nest” because of how densely packed the bones were.
If you were to stand on the hillside surrounding Grăunceanu almost 2 million years ago, it would likely have seemed familiar: a river channel surrounded by a forest that fades into more open grasslands to the foothills. Occasionally that river floods its banks, inundating the valley with rich soils, providing nutrients for the plants that the resident animals feed on. All pretty familiar, until you look more closely at those animals: ostriches, pangolins, giraffes, saber-toothed cats and hyenas − in Europe!
It’s the fossil bones of these ancient animal inhabitants that were excavated at Grăunceanu. Unfortunately, most of the excavation records and provenance data for the site have been lost. Even without those, though, the Grăunceanu fossils are so remarkably preserved that they offer up a wealth of paleontological information.
A few years after finding those first cut marks, our team, including biological anthropologist Claire Terhune, zooarchaeologist Samantha Gogol, and paleoanthropologist Chris Robinson, spent several weeks carefully studying all 4,524 Grăunceanu fossils, looking for more marks.
We examined all surfaces of every fossil bone with a magnifying lens and low-angled light. Most of these fossils have root etching on them − sinuous, shallow, overlapping marks made by plant roots that grew nearby. But whenever we saw a linear mark that looked interesting, we took an impression of that mark with dental molding material.
We can’t go back in a time machine to watch when these marks were made. Yes, ancient human butchers wielding stone tools would leave marks on bone. But mammalian predators or crocodiles could also leave marks with their sharp teeth. Sediments in rivers could scratch any bones rolling around in the water. Large animals walking across the landscape could move and scrape bones with their steps.
So how can we be confident that they’re cut marks? That’s where our zooarchaeologist collaborators Michael Pante and Trevor Keevil came in.
Within the past decade, Pante developed a novel method for identifying the source of marks left on bones. The first step is capturing precise 3D measurements of the mark impressions using an advanced microscope called a noncontact 3D optical profiler.
Then they compare the 3D shape data from the ancient marks with a reference set of 898 marks on modern bones made by known processes, including stone tool butchery, carnivore feeding and sedimentary abrasion.
This new method adds to the more qualitative, descriptive criteria many researchers, including our team, use to make mark identifications. For instance, we consider things such as mark location: Is the mark near a muscle attachment site, where you might expect to find a cut mark if a hominin were removing meat from a bone?
Based on our analyses, we determined that 20 Grăunceanu fossils are marked by cuts, with eight displaying high-confidence cut marks. Most of those marks are on fossils of hoofed animals, including a few deer; one is a small carnivore leg bone. When we could identify the type of bone, the cut marks are always in anatomical locations consistent with cutting meat off bones.
While the fossil species present can give us a rough age estimate of the site, we used uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating to get more precise age information. This technique relies on the fact that naturally occurring uranium decays over long but well-known periods of time to eventually transform into lead. Geologists use the ratio of these two elements like a radiometric clock to determine how old something is.
When one of us, Virgil Drăgușin, asked geochemist Jon Woodhead to use U-Pb dating to estimate the age of the Grăunceanu fossils based on several small tooth fragments, he was reluctant. Teeth do not usually work well for this dating technique. But he agreed to a test run, and to his surprise the teeth he tried worked very well.
Together with his colleague John Hellstrom, they calculated a much more precise date for the site. We now know the Grăunceanu site is older than 1.95 million years.
All of this data together − the very well-calibrated and tightly clustered dates of the specimens plus at least 20 cut-marked bones verified both by qualitative and quantitative methods − provides very reliable evidence that hominins were indeed in Eurasia by at least 1.95 million years ago, even though there are no hominin fossils from Grăunceanu.
Sometimes when we look through our magnifying lenses, it almost feels like we can peer into the past. That’s impossible − but we can piece together lines of evidence to paint a clearer picture of what happened in the past at Grăunceanu.
Now, imagining the view 1.95 million years ago, we see scenes of deer cautiously drinking from the river, majestic mammoths in the distance, a herd of horses grazing, a saber-toothed cat stalking a large monkey, a bear teaching her cubs to hunt … and a small group of hominins butchering a deer.
Briana Pobiner has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Sabrina Curran has received funding from The Leakey Foundation, National Science Foundation, and Ohio University.
Virgil Drãgușin received funding from CNCS-UEFISCDI (Department of Education, Romanian Government).
– ref. Tiny cut marks on animal bone fossils reveal that human ancestors were in Romania 1.95 million years ago – https://theconversation.com/tiny-cut-marks-on-animal-bone-fossils-reveal-that-human-ancestors-were-in-romania-1-95-million-years-ago-249838
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3
Following the Court of Appeal judgement on 17 March on matters with significant readout across to this issue, the government is updating on the publication of the consultation on the tax treatment of predevelopment costs.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the government committed to publishing a consultation on the tax treatment of predevelopment costs. On 17 March, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgement in the case of Orsted West of Duddon Sands (UK) Limited and others v HMRC.
Following the Court of Appeal judgement on 17 March on matters with significant readout across to this issue, the publication of the consultation on the tax treatment of predevelopment costs is being postponed. The government is considering the implications of the judgment for the consultation. To give stakeholders and government time to reflect on the judgement, the government will determine its next steps in respect to this consultation in due course.
In the interim, the government welcomes views on what this judgement means for you or the businesses you represent. Do let us know via predevcosts@hmtreasury.gov.uk
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
The King has been graciously pleased to signify His intention of conferring Peerages of the United Kingdom for Life.
The King has been graciously pleased to signify His intention of conferring Peerages of the United Kingdom for Life.
Amanda Spielman – Former HM Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills.
Amanda Spielman has worked in the public, voluntary and private sectors. Her main interests are in education, children’s services and regulation, where she has worked for 20 years. She served two terms as His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted, promoting substance and integrity in education for all children and young people, and also high-quality social care. She previously chaired the exam regulator Ofqual, overseeing the programme of qualification reform.
She spent a decade with the ARK Schools academy trust, mainly as Research and Policy Director. She led a cross-government review of non-economic regulators. Her earlier career was in accounting, investment banking and private equity. She is now a trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum and chair of the Academic Council at GEMS Education. She is also a Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE. She was born in London and brought up in Glasgow. She is married with two children.
Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police
Two men have been convicted of the fatal stabbing of 38-year-old Jack Hague in Tower Hamlets last year.
Umair Rafiq, 36 (21.12.88) of no fixed address was found guilty of murder at Inner London Crown on Thursday, 10 April.
Mohammed Ikram Uddin, 24 (27.08.99), of no fixed address was also found guilty of manslaughter at the same court on Thursday, 10 April.
In a trial which started on Monday, 17 March, the court heard that police were called at around 20:20hrs on Sunday, 5 May 2024 to reports of a fight on Corfield Street, E2. The jury were told that this followed an initial exchange of words between the three men which quickly escalated and led to Jack’s fatal stabbing.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services, Jack died at the scene as a result of multiple stab wounds across his body.
A manhunt began immediately, with officers painstakingly combing through hours of CCTV footage to understand what took place, identify the attackers and track their movements after they fled the scene. Uddin was arrested on Thursday, 9 May 2024 and charged the following day. Rafiq was arrested on Sunday, 12 May 2024 and charged the following day.
A knife and Rafiq’s glasses were both discarded at the scene and were sent for forensic testing. DNA found on the items provided a match to Rafiq – further proof that he had been at the scene.
Jack’s mother Lesley said:
“Last year our lives changed forever. Ever since, I do not feel like I used to. I am not living, just existing, with no joy, life appears to be an act. I think I am truly only happy when my grandkids are around, they help me forget about things for a little while, and I enjoy them. Jack was my blue eyed boy and called me “mummsy”. His loss has caused an emptiness and void nothing can fill. I feel like I am at the edge of it looking in but noting can fill it.
“I miss him so much. A mother should not have to bury her son. We are in mourning at the loss of my precious child but also because of the loss of so many hopes, dreams and expectations.
“Today’s result will not bring back my son but I hope that it will keep those responsible from committing such a monstrous crime again.”
Detective Sergeant Brian Jones who led the investigation said:
“There is nothing that can be done to bring back Jack, but I hope today’s result brings some closure at this terrible time.
“By carrying and using a knife, Rafiq’s callous act demonstrates once again the devastating and far-reaching effects of knife crime.
“I therefore commend the officers who worked incredibly hard to build evidence against Rafiq and Uddin in order to prove that there could be no doubt as to their guilt. London will be a safer place with them taken off the streets”.
Umair Rafiq and Mohammed Uddin will be sentenced on Friday, 6 June at Inner London Crown Court.
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
LOS ANGELES, April 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hanmi Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: HAFC) (“Hanmi”), the holding company for Hanmi Bank, today announced that it will report first quarter 2025 financial results after the market close on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Management will host a conference call that same day, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss the results.
Investment professionals and all current and prospective shareholders are invited to access the live call on April 22 by dialing 1-877-407-9039 before 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, using access code “Hanmi Bank”. To listen to the call online visit the investor relations page of Hanmi’s website at www.hanmi.com. The webcast will also be available for replay approximately one hour following the call.
About Hanmi Financial Corporation
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Hanmi Financial Corporation owns Hanmi Bank, which serves multi-ethnic communities through its network of 32 full-service branches, five loan production offices and three loan centers in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington and Georgia. Hanmi Bank specializes in real estate, commercial, SBA and trade finance lending to small and middle market businesses. Additional information is available at www.hanmi.com.
Contact
Romolo (Ron) Santarosa
Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
213-427-5636
Lisa Fortuna
Investor Relations
Financial Profiles, Inc.
310-622-8251
Source: Hanmi Bank
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Consuelo Thiers, Lecturer in International Relations, University of Edinburgh
The question “Who is Keir Starmer?” echoed across headlines before and after he took office in 2024. Despite leading the Labour party for years, his personality, leadership style and core motivations remained something of a mystery. Now in office, that question matters more than ever. In moments of crisis, a national leader’s psychology plays a decisive role.
The UK faces a difficult foreign policy landscape. Post-Brexit Britain is still rebuilding alliances amid economic strain and Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency has put a more transactional, Russia-friendly approach in the White House. The UK’s balancing act has become even more precarious. Starmer must back Ukraine, strengthen ties with the EU and manage an unpredictable relationship with Trump. For any leader, it’s a high-stakes task.
Traditional international relations theories often treat states as rational actors, with little attention paid to who is making the decisions. In this view, leaders are interchangeable; internal traits are “black-boxed” and considered irrelevant.
But political psychology challenges this. Leaders are not all the same. How they perceive and respond to constraints – be they economic, institutional, or geopolitical – varies dramatically.
Faced with similar conditions, different leaders make different choices. Their decisions are shaped by traits, motivations, emotions and deeply held beliefs.
Political psychology provides tools for assessing leaders by analysing their public statements. Since traditional psychological assessments are rarely feasible, researchers rely on at-a-distance methods, based on the premise that the way leaders speak and the language they use can reveal underlying traits, motivations and beliefs.
One of the most widely used approaches is leadership trait analysis (LTA), developed by psychologist Margaret Hermann. It employs computational content analysis to systematically code language and produce comparable personality profiles.
To reduce the influence of speechwriters, the analysis focuses on spontaneous material such as interviews and press conferences. The framework identifies seven core traits that are particularly relevant to foreign policy decision-making.
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Applying this framework to Starmer’s public appearances since taking office reveals notable differences between his profile and that of the average UK prime minister.
Of the seven core traits measured by the framework, Starmer scores within the typical range on task orientation, in-group bias, self-confidence, and conceptual complexity. But he stands out in three areas: distrust, belief in his ability to control events, and need for power. In these, he scores significantly above average.
These traits suggest a leader who is confident in his influence, driven to shape outcomes, and inclined to assert control when faced with obstacles. Leaders high in belief in their ability to control events tend to be proactive and view challenges as manageable. When paired with a high need for power, this reflects a strong drive to steer the political environment, often through strategic manoeuvring and behind-the-scenes influence.
These leaders test boundaries and thrive in direct, high-stakes negotiations. This combination has been seen in figures like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.
Compared with his most recent predecessors – Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson – Starmer shares certain traits but also diverges in meaningful ways. Like Johnson and Sunak, he shows a strong belief in his ability to control political events and a high need for power.
However, what sets him apart most clearly is his elevated level of distrust, which surpasses even Sunak’s. Research links this trait to risk-prone, uncooperative leadership styles.
Distrustful leaders often view others as potential threats, are less inclined to compromise, and fall back on control rather than collaboration. It’s a hallmark of hawkish leadership and has been associated with costly policy errors, such as George W. Bush’s misjudgement of Iraq’s weapons capabilities.
At the same time, Starmer differs from Johnson and Sunak in his greater cognitive complexity. He sees nuance, tolerates ambiguity and avoids black-and-white thinking.
He appears more open to new information and more flexible in adapting his approach. While Johnson and Sunak were more people-focused and scored low on task orientation, Starmer brings a balanced leadership style, combining interpersonal awareness with a clear focus on results. He can build relationships while staying goal-driven – an essential combination in today’s global landscape.
What does this suggest about Starmer’s potential relationship with Trump? While research on leader-to-leader dynamics is still developing, Trump’s leadership profile is well-established.
He scores high in self-confidence, low in task orientation, places a strong emphasis on loyalty, and shows high levels of distrust. His self-confidence means he rarely seeks disconfirming information, often filtering reality to fit his beliefs.
His low task focus reflects a preference for group loyalty over detailed policy. Combined with a deep suspicion of others, this results in a transactional, uncompromising leadership style centred on personal allegiance.
This presents challenges for Starmer, whose high distrust and tendency to defy constraints could complicate efforts to build mutual understanding. Yet his adaptability, pragmatism, and balanced focus on people and tasks, combined with confidence in his ability to shape outcomes, may help him navigate this volatile relationship.
His assertive style, however, could still surprise or alienate some supporters as he makes bold moves beyond expectations.
Starmer’s leadership may lack the charisma or flair of his predecessors, but his personality profile reveals a distinct and consequential approach to power. Confident, strategic, and distrustful, he is not a passive figurehead but a leader likely to assert control, challenge limits, and drive his vision.
When the stakes are this high, Starmer’s psychology may not just influence Britain’s path – it could determine it.
Consuelo Thiers 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.
– ref. Why Keir Starmer’s psychological profile is different from other prime ministers – and what it means for his dealings with Donald Trump – https://theconversation.com/why-keir-starmers-psychological-profile-is-different-from-other-prime-ministers-and-what-it-means-for-his-dealings-with-donald-trump-254242
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Linda Yueh, Fellow in Economics/Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
“Iron-clad” and “non-negotiable” is how UK prime minister Keir Starmer recently described the country’s fiscal rules. The government has been coming under pressure to relax the rules and cut itself some financial slack. But according to the PM, these self-imposed restrictions are vital for maintaining UK economic stability.
What Starmer is referring to is notably the “stability” rule, which says that the UK will balance day-to-day public spending with tax receipts, rather than by borrowing, over the course of the parliament.
But the volatility unleashed by US president Donald Trump’s tariff plans has challenged this rule. US tariffs could have a significant economic impact on the UK and the world economies.
Indeed, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that 10% across-the-board tariffs, if they ultimately result in retaliation from China and the EU, could cut global economic growth by 0.5% in 2026.
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Unsurprisingly, the UK’s independent economic forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), estimates a similar impact on the UK. It predicts that if the trade wars result in 20% tariff rates between the US and the rest of the world, it could reduce economic growth by as much as 1%. This, it says, could slash the expected UK budget surplus in 2029-30 to “almost zero”.
And herein lies the challenge for the UK’s fiscal rules. Due to the stability rule, a cut to GDP growth would reduce the tax take. That would require either raising taxes or cutting public spending, due to the rule that this cannot be funded by borrowing.
Fear that the government’s nearly £10 billion spending buffer will disappear by the end of the parliament puts pressure on the government to say how it would continue to stick to its fiscal rule. If it did result in spending cuts or tax rises, this could dampen economic growth and negatively affect people’s lives. And the decisions would have been taken on the basis of economic forecasts that may not come to pass.
This is particularly true when the forecasts are based on US tariffs that were imposed and then paused in the space of just a week.
This problem was also evident in the spring statement in March, when the chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, announced spending cuts because the GDP growth forecast had been halved from 2% to 1% for this year.
And the vast swaths of tariffs later announced by US president Donald Trump could have a similar impact on the UK’s growth rate.
If the UK were to relax or abolish its fiscal rules, that may ease the pressure to react to a potential growth downgrade – which may or may not happen given the volatile nature of the US tariffs announced so far.
But the prime minister and the chancellor have both resisted this change. They are concerned about the UK’s credibility in the eyes of its creditors, who buy government debt in the bond markets based on their assessment of the fiscal position of the British government.
The UK, like other advanced economies, borrows from bond markets to fund its budget deficits. The government is concerned that with a debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 95%, creditors may be reluctant to lend to the UK. To do so, they might want to charge more.
A higher interest rate on the UK’s national debt would of course reduce the amount available for public spending.
The UK spends more than £100 billion a year on debt interest payments. This is more than it spends on education or investment.
The amount increased rapidly in recent years due to the global financial crisis and the COVID pandemic. And, relatively speaking, the UK spends more money on paying interest on its debt than other G7 economies (3.3% of its GDP compared with the G7 average of 1.7% in 2022).
Part of this is due to the UK having more inflation-linked debt than comparable economies. About one-quarter of the UK’s debt repayment is linked to inflation, which is double that of Italy, the next highest in the G7, at 12%. And, as everyone in the UK has experienced, inflation has been high in the past few years.
This makes the UK particularly susceptible to movements in bond markets. For instance, if the UK’s borrowing costs were to decline by one percentage point, that would save £21 billion over five years. That’s double the current “fiscal headroom” (effectively the government’s spending buffer) that is at risk from US tariffs.
Without knowing for sure how bond markets would react, it would be challenging for the government to change its fiscal rules. But it’s also challenging to apply the stability rule during times of high volatility like this. Given the unpredictable nature of the US tariff regime, this debate is likely to go on for some time.
Linda Yueh 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.
– ref. US tariffs will squeeze the UK economy. Could the government buy itself some breathing space? – https://theconversation.com/us-tariffs-will-squeeze-the-uk-economy-could-the-government-buy-itself-some-breathing-space-254347
Source: City of Coventry
RailAdventure UK, a specialist transport company in the West Midlands, will operate the Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) vehicle for the on-road test in the city centre in May and June this year.
CVLR is a new and innovative transportation system that is using the region’s advanced automotive expertise to provide a flexible and affordable alternative to traditional light rail. It features a modern vehicle and a unique, revolutionary track design, aiming to offer a reliable, frequent, and eco-friendly ‘hop-on, hop-off’ service for Coventry residents.
RailAdventure UK has earned its reputation by providing support services for rail operations, moving trains, testing them, and running passenger services. The company has now secured the contract that will see a father-and-son team driving the vehicle and its passengers on the 220-metre demonstration track.
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration, and Climate Change at Coventry City Council, said: “This is a significant step in our ongoing testing of Very Light Rail, and it’s fantastic that we’re working with RailAdventureUK to demonstrate this innovative model and prove the benefits it will bring to Coventry.
“Very Light Rail is just the beginning of our plans to revolutionise transport in our city, tackle climate change, improve air quality, and provide a reliable and accessible travel option.
“We will be running Very Light Rail for four weeks, and residents will have the opportunity to experience this one-of-a-kind vehicle and track system and provide feedback on the experience.
“I look forward to travelling in our vehicle on our track and encourage all residents to sign up when available. Details of how to apply will be made available on the council website soon.”
Kevin Walker, Managing Director of RailAdventure UK, said: “This project is a perfect fit for RailAdventure – it’s local, innovative, and uses our operational expertise and passion for bringing new ideas to life! Our local teams will be working on this test.
“With our experience as a rail operator, including battery-powered traction, we are excited to showcase why we believe there is a strong future for this type of operation. We look forward to playing a role in shaping it.”
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands and West Midlands Combined Authority chair, said: “Very light rail is a revolutionary technology being developed and delivered here in our region – so it’s right that the operator for this first test track should be a West Midlands company.
“The speed at which we can move from starting work to running a tram through Coventry city center shows the world how fast and efficiently a tram system can be installed. CVLR will play a huge role in delivering on my vision to connect more communities with affordable and accessible public transport.”
Graham Dibbins, Train Driver at RailAdventure, said: “It’s an extraordinary feeling to be involved in such an innovative project and at the same time to be working with my son for the first time in a professional capacity as train drivers.”
Joe Dibbins, Train Driver at RailAdventure, said: “It seems unbelievable that I am working with the one person I respect more than anyone else – my dad. The fact that this Very Light Rail project is technologically advanced is simply the icing on the cake.”
The West Midlands Combined Authority funds CVLR through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.
During the four-week test, members of the public and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to experience CVLR between Greyfriars Road and Queen Victoria Road and provide feedback. Coventry City Council is leading this groundbreaking project to create the city’s first route. In the long term, the Council plans to establish a network of routes around Coventry.
Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University is actively promoting Russian engineering education in Morocco. An important step was opening of the SPbPU Information Center and the Russian-African Network University (RANU) consortium in December 2024 in partnership with the Russian-Moroccan Alliance (RMA). In a few months, the center has become a key platform for career guidance for applicants and presentations of the university’s educational programs. Polytechnic in Morocco was represented by Deputy Head of the International Education Department Tatyana Sytnikova and Project Office Specialist Alexandra Le Gall, and President Said Zuhir was present at the exhibition from the RMA.
The educational initiative gained momentum in April 2025. A delegation from SPbPU joined a large-scale exhibition at the Russian Cultural Center in Rabat, organized with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo. The event brought together more than 400 participants: schoolchildren, their parents, and journalists. The guests studied in detail the undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering, as well as the conditions for receiving scholarships, including quotas from the Government of the Russian Federation. The head of the Russian House in Rabat, Alexander Sen, noted at the opening that interest in the Russian language in Morocco has grown significantly.
It is interesting that the children want to learn Russian in Russia, although we also offer courses in Morocco. As parents and teachers explain, the key factor is immersion in the cultural environment. St. Petersburg with its unique atmosphere is becoming an ideal choice for them, emphasized Tatyana Sytnikova.
The next stage of the tour was a visit to Casablanca, where the SPbPU delegation held a series of meetings in three Moroccan international schools and a lyceum. More than 800 students learned about promising areas of training: biomedical technologies, artificial intelligence, civil engineering and international trade.
On April 10, at the largest educational exhibition in Morocco — the International Student Forum in Casablanca, SPbPU presented a unique pre-university training program in French. The course includes not only intensive study of the Russian language, but also training in mathematics, physics, and the basics of engineering. This will allow students to smoothly integrate into the Russian academic environment. Already in the first days of the exhibition, more than 600 applicants and their parents visited the Polytechnic University stand. Special emphasis was placed on working with parents: university representatives spoke in detail about the safety, infrastructure of the SPbPU international campus, and the cultural adaptation program. Visitors were especially interested in internship opportunities in partner companies.
The Casablanca Student Forum will continue until Sunday. Organizers note that by the second day, the exhibition had already been visited by several thousand guests: not only schoolchildren and parents, but also university graduates, students from Europe and Asia, and representatives of recruiting agencies. The latter are actively seeking sustainable educational partnerships for African applicants, noting the growing demand for Russian programs in IT, energy, and bioengineering.
North Africa today is one of the most open regions for educational export. SPbPU as a flagship of engineering education is becoming a key “hub” for such collaborations, explained Tatyana Sytnikova.
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.
Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
Over the year and a half of the existence of the discussion club “You have the floor!” many interesting people have become its guests. But it is especially pleasant when such a guest is not just a successful and bright person, but also a graduate of the Polytechnic University. So, the eleventh hero of the project was the founder and chairman of the board of directors of the RBI Group Eduard Tiktinsky.
Eduard Saulevich graduated from the economics department of the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute and the advanced courses in economics and privatization of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. His company is engaged in development activities in the field of residential and commercial construction. More than 80 projects have been implemented.
Eduard Tiktinsky is an honorary builder of Russia, recipient of the Order of Merit in Construction, member of the Board of Trustees of the World Club of Petersburgers, initiator and ideological inspirer of the social project for talented youth “School of Leaders of the Future”, holder of the title “Expert of the Year” in the nominations “Expert in Business and Innovation” (2017) and “Expert in Education” (2021). In 2024, he entered the top 50 most famous people in St. Petersburg according to Sobaka.ru magazine. According to the Person 2024 rating from RQ Index and Urban, he is the first in management efficiency among CEOs of development companies in Russia.
At the meeting at the Polytechnic, Eduard Tiktinsky thanked the organizers for the opportunity to speak to students and emphasized that his goal was not to limit himself to a simple dialogue, but to convey to the audience truly valuable knowledge that could help them in the future.
This is what Eduard Tiktinsky said.
On the influence of parents
— My parents gave me a lot of freedom of choice and independence. From an early age I understood that I had to rely on myself, and I started earning money at 19. My parents also gave me a good education: I studied at an English school, then, until the 8th grade, at an English boarding school in Pushkin, and the 9th and 10th grades — at a good physics and mathematics school. As a child, I didn’t say that I would be an entrepreneur, because there was no such profession in the USSR, but I dreamed of becoming a lawyer, it seemed to me that it was such a competitive independent profession.
About student life at the Polytechnic
— When I was studying, it was a completely different era. Interesting, with a lot of challenges. It implied a lot of opportunities and an empty market that was slowly filling up, and the window of opportunity was slowly closing. So I will honestly say that I spent little time at the Polytechnic. Only in the first year, and then I came to take exams. And at the same time I studied at advanced training courses held by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, it was a high level and a powerful impetus.
And now times have changed, and the university years seem extremely important to me. For you, student years are a period of establishing social connections, refining some hypotheses, an opportunity to try and figure out what you want. Plus an element of a carefree life.
About starting a business in the 90s
— The vast majority of entrepreneurs who started their activities in the late 80s — early 90s will not tell you that it was a difficult period. It was a romantic period, a time of a free market, weak competition, where many things had to be built from scratch: inventing new schemes, literally creating industries — it was an interesting challenge. And the most difficult thing — and nothing has changed here today — is to go through your own crises. Everyone faces them, but if you are an entrepreneur, then your crises, as a rule, concern not only you, but also your business and the people you are responsible for. My crises were difficult, but useful, they gave the greatest impetus for further development. When you cope with this, you seem to be renewed, you become a little — or not a little — a different person.
On how to choose your path
— I am often asked: how to determine what to do in the future? I used to answer that you need to get to know yourself as early as possible, understand how you are structured, where your strengths are, where your weaknesses are — developmental books, various courses, psychology can help with this. And once we answered this question together with the outstanding world entrepreneur Len Blavatnik, and he said: you need to try a lot. He spoke about his experience, and he is also right. I had no forks or doubts about which path to choose, but if they are, then you need to try a lot.
On the difficulties of development activities in a museum city
— Now that we have dozens of cultural heritage sites behind us, there are no such difficulties. In our work, we need to be open, tell people about our completed projects — this creates trust and the opportunity to have a constructive dialogue with urban conservationists. I think that “urban conservationist” is a good word, for example, Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky is an urban conservationist, he and the “World Club of Petersburgers” helped us a lot when we were restoring the Levashovsky Bakery and building our Futurist facility on Barochnaya Street and Levashovsky Prospekt. But it can be difficult to negotiate with those people who only call themselves urban conservationists: they often do not accept any arguments, they simply implement their request for aimless social activity. But we love our city, what we do is our life’s work, this is why we came to this world.
About digital products and artificial intelligence
— For the development business, AI projects are still secondary things. But we don’t realize how quickly the world will change. As a physicist friend of mine used to say: At bifurcation points, all events happen much faster. We are at such a point now, and if we talk about key industries, then in the “robotics and artificial intelligence” bundle, the world will change very soon and very much. We still need to “pump up the muscle”, track everything that appears, and teach people to use these tools.
About a place of power and living life to the fullest
— My place of power now is the Central Park of Culture and Leisure. I hold meetings with colleagues and friends there, we walk and discuss things. Another place of power is the dacha. Whatever you do, it is important to live a full life: diverse, complex, multi-component. A person can achieve unrealistically great success by doing only one thing. But will such a person be happy? I have big doubts. It is very important to devote time to loved ones, communicate with friends, attend cultural events, play sports — this is what I call living to the fullest.
About sources of inspiration and energy
— I get my inspiration from the fact that I love my job very much. I try to do only what I like, what gives me strength and energy. And I am proud of what we do, although we are far from perfect. We measure customer loyalty, the willingness to recommend us, at six stages: buying an apartment, waiting, moving in, renovation, living up to five years, and living after five years. And at the living stage, the loyalty index drops because various everyday difficulties arise. And we get upset if something is not good enough, we try to improve: in the Futurist house, some residents are unhappy with the size of the gym, in our next house “MIR” the gym will be twice as big.
On the solution to the problem of the “gray belt” of St. Petersburg
— The “Grey Belt” is a serious conceptual project. There should be an understanding of how much the enterprises there can be modernized, how environmentally neutral they are, whether they can be left in a residential area. And if so, then that’s great, because we need short “transport shoulders”, we don’t need people to go one way in the morning, and then drive kilometers in the other direction in the evening, get stuck in traffic jams. Housing, production, and recreation areas need to be connected.
On the “excellent strategy” of real estate sales, or how the company plans to stand out from other developers
— I like your expression “excellent strategy”. Our strategy as premium developers is an outstanding product and outstanding service. When you come to us to buy an apartment, in our sales department you find yourself in an atmosphere of beauty, exquisite aromas, jazz music. You are treated to craft coffee and an exclusive dessert. One of our regular customers recently came to us again to buy an apartment, and he was offered a cheesecake, and he remembered that a year ago he was treated to some unforgettable golden eclairs. And he was a little upset that they were not available today. Then colleagues contacted the manufacturer of these eclairs, found out that they were no longer making them, but somehow agreed to make us a few as an exception. And they delivered a box of golden eclairs to the client in the evening. This is what I call outstanding service. Doing everything for the client and a little more, exceeding expectations.
At the end of the meeting, Eduard Tiktinsky was traditionally presented with a branded Lepota project T-shirt with number 11. Now we have a full football team, joked the host of the meeting, the head of the news portal department, Evgeny Gusev. And on the second T-shirt, which remained at the Polytechnic, the hero of the evening left an autograph and, apparently inspired by the last question, the following wish: “Become better than yesterday.”
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.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alisa van de Haar, Assistant Professor in Historical French Literature, Leiden University
French researchers recently published an edition of a previously unknown 17th-century French play that they argue could be attributed to the French satirist and dramatist Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac.
Bibliophiles and literary historians like myself are rejoicing at this discovery, which sheds new light on 17th-century literary, political and libertine culture. However, questions remain regarding the authorship of the comedy.
Cyrano de Bergerac is best known as the big-nosed protagonist in a 19th-century eponymous play by Edmond Rostand. Adapted for the screen most recently in 2021, Rostand’s play portrays Cyrano de Bergerac as a flamboyant young man who combines the arts of duelling and poetry and is tormented by love for his cousin, Roxane. It caricatures the real Cyrano, who led a tumultuous life that ended tragically when he was only 35.
Contrary to what Rostand’s play suggests, historians have argued that Cyrano de Bergerac was homosexual. While he enlisted as a musketeer serving the French king for some time, he quit after suffering several wounds. He is often associated with libertine culture, questioning the core dogmas of Christianity and the moral, sexual and political values of 17th-century France.
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Cyrano de Bergerac wrote a variety of plays, letters and novels, often in a satirical vein. Few were published during his lifetime and his most famous works, Les États et Empires de la Lune (The States and Empires of the Moon) and a sequel on the Sun, were both published posthumously.
These novels have been characterised as early forms of science fiction. They describe voyages to the Moon and Sun, where the protagonist encounters utopian societies inspired by some aspects of libertine thought. While Cyrano de Bergerac became the object of ridicule by some contemporaries, others – including the acclaimed French playwright Molière – were inspired by his works.
The 17th-century manuscript now tentatively attributed to Cyrano de Bergerac was brought to the attention of lead researcher Guy Fontaine by the previous owners, who asked him to determine its possible author.
However, in 2022, before Fontaine and his research team were able to draw any conclusions, the manuscript was sold at an auction for the low sum of €300 (£257). The auction catalogue attributed it to the minor playwright Gabriel Gilbert.
But Fontaine and his team later concluded that the attribution to Gilbert was unlikely. According to them, the manuscript, which contains a comedy written out over 70 pages, points in the direction of Cyrano de Bergerac.
The play, entitled L’Art de Persuader (The Art of Persuasion), tells the story of two young men seeking to marry two women, incidentally both named Julie, in a traditional structure in five acts. The play shows an experienced playwright at work, aware of both classical and contemporary models.
Set against the backdrop of Paris during the political upheavals involving Cardinal Mazarin and the thirty years’ war, the political events described in the play allowed the researchers to situate its creation in the final years of the 1640s or first half of the 1650s. These dates are corroborated by physical evidence. The play is written in a mid-17th-century handwriting style, and watermarks found in the paper were only in use until 1656.
This timeline corresponds to the the active years of Cyrano de Bergerac, who emerged as a potential author because of the combined presence of a number of elements in the comedy. The play’s references to libertine ideas and Epicurean philosophy, a topic with which Cyrano de Bergerac was familiar, point in his direction.
L’Art de Persuader’s style, including many Latin influences, and division into acts and scenes bear similarity to Cyrano de Bergerac’s known plays, as does the pairing of its characters, who often appear in duos. The locations mentioned in the play all have some connection to the historical Bergerac – and the author’s most famous theme, the Moon, is also mentioned.
Despite the clear similarities with the style and themes preferred by Cyrano de Bergerac, the researchers remain cautious with their claim – and rightly so. Many of the elements that correspond with his style, such as the pairing of characters, were in fashion in the mid-17th century and can be found in the works of other writers, too.
No single element connects the play irrefutably to this particular libertine author. An additional problem is that an expert in 17th-century handwriting who was consulted by the research team was unable to definitively match the writing of the manuscript to Cyrano de Bergerac’s.
The edition of L’Art de Persuader published by the research team will enable other experts of Cyrano de Bergerac to shed their light on the authorship question. But whoever the author is, this play is of interest to literary historians as it provides new insights into the interplay between political history and theatre culture, as well as into libertine writing and the influence of Latin comedy – in particular Plautus – on baroque literature.
For any bibliophile or historian, finding such an important text at an auction is a dream come true. And though rare, this is not the only major literary find of recent years. Take, for example the handwritten poems by Emily Brontë and the sole surviving copy of an early edition of the Bay Psalm Book, both of which came up for auction in 2021.
When part of a private collection, however, these materials are difficult for researchers to access. It is therefore all the more valuable when owners contact specialists themselves, which is how Fontaine and his team first learned about this precious French play. For now, their edition is the only way to study this manuscript as, following the auction, it is in private hands.
Alisa van de Haar 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.
– ref. Manuscript sold for €300 is now attributed to Cyrano de Bergerac – but questions remain about the play’s authorship – https://theconversation.com/manuscript-sold-for-300-is-now-attributed-to-cyrano-de-bergerac-but-questions-remain-about-the-plays-authorship-254315
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Answering the myths and misconceptions.
Porton Down carries out research to ensure that the UK’s military and wider public benefit from the latest technical and scientific developments. In the interests of national security much of this work is secret. Inevitably this has led to many myths and misconceptions springing up about Porton Down and the wider work carried out by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
The UK’s chemical and biological weapons programme was closed down in the 1950s. Since then Porton Down has been active in developing effective countermeasures to the constantly evolving threat posed by chemical and biological weapons. To help develop effective medical countermeasures and to test systems, we produce very small quantities of chemical and biological agents. They are stored securely and disposed of safely when they are no longer required.
Safe and effective protective measures for the UK and its Armed Forces could not, currently, be achieved without the use of animals. Examples include:
All of these countermeasures are available for use by both the UK’s military and wider civilian population.
It is also notable that several products and procedures developed by Dstl are now used in the NHS. Dstl research, for example, provided evidence that giving specific blood products before casualties reach hospital could help save lives as it improves the ability to form blood-clots.
Dstl is committed to reducing the number of animal experiments. The “three Rs” of ‘reduce’ (the number of animals used), ‘refine’ (animal procedures) and ‘replace’ (animal tests with non-animal tests) are integral to our testing programme. We only apply for licenses if the research cannot be obtained without the use of animals. Dstl Porton Down currently uses less than half of one per cent of the total number of animals used in experimentation in the UK. All research involving animals is licensed by the Home Office, in accordance with relevant legislation, who carry out both announced and unannounced visits several times a year and can access the laboratories at any time.
Since 1916 over 20,000 volunteers have taken part in studies at Porton Down. Without their involvement we could not have developed the highly effective protective clothing and medical countermeasures that our armed forces rely on.
The Volunteer Programme has always been operated to the highest ethical standards of the day.
We still carry out trials with human volunteers to make the protective equipment easier to wear and to develop better training procedures. These trials comply with all nationally and internationally accepted ethical standards. All of the trials are approved by the Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committees (MODREC) process.
If any ex Porton Down Volunteer has any concerns about the trials in which they participated or any subsequent effects on their health they should contact the Porton Down Volunteers Helpline on 0800 7832521.
The death of Aircraftsman Ronald Maddison in 1953 was a tragic and regrettable incident. He died following participation in a trial in which a number of small drops of the nerve agent sarin were applied to the forearm through two layers of cloth. An inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing in 2004. He is the only member of the UK Armed Forces to have died as the direct result of participation in experimental tests carried out at Porton Down on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
Porton Down has always been open about the fact that Aircraftsman Maddison died at the site. The Wiltshire coroner held the original inquest in secret, on the grounds of national security, recording a verdict of misadventure. The pathologist’s report stated that he had died from asphyxia. The subsequent inquest into his death overturned the coroner’s original findings, recording a verdict of unlawful killing.
During the cold war period between 1953 and 1976, a number of aerial release trials were carried out to help the government understand how a biological attack might spread across the UK. Given the international situation at the time these trials were conducted in secret. The information obtained from these trials has been and still is vital to the defence of the UK from this type of attack. Two separate and independent reviews of the trials have both concluded that the trials did not have any adverse health effects on the UK population.
Dstl has an active research programme on Ebola and played an important role in the UK’s support to Sierra Leone during the recent outbreak. Dstl’s scientists provided advice on the biological and physical aspects of the virus, as well as deploying highly skilled research scientists to the diagnostic laboratory at the Kerry Town Ebola Treatment Unit.
During the Second World War, Porton Down scientists developed a biological weapon using anthrax spores. Trials were held on Gruinard Island off the coast of Scotland. Anthrax spores can remain active for decades and Gruinard was finally decontaminated in 1986.
Each year small quantities of old chemical weapons are found in the UK. Dstl possesses the only licensed UK facility for the receipt, storage, breakdown and safe disposal of old chemical weapons. We currently have around 1,000 munitions that are in the process of being safely disposed of.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) makes annual inspections at Dstl to assess compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) by confirming it is making accurate returns on munition types and numbers and is undertaking control and disposal of the UK’s old chemical weapons. We share our world leading expertise on the disposal of legacy weapons with other nations. As part of this we host an annual conference in support of the OPCW.
No aliens, either alive or dead have ever been taken to Porton Down or any other Dstl site.
Dstl and its predecessors do not and have never grown cannabis at Porton Down.
Source: United Kingdom UK House of Lords (video statements)
Neil Kinnock, Lord Kinnock, reflects on his time as leader of the Labour Party in the latest Lord Speaker’s Corner, including some of his regrets.
Watch or listen now. Search ‘House of Lords’ wherever you get your podcasts or visit https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/lord-kinnock-lord-speakers-corner/
#HouseOfLords #LordSpeakersCorner #LordsMembers
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE
Headline: OSCE PCUz organizes workshop on gender mainstreaming in anti-corruption
Representatives of the OSCE PCUz, OSCE Gender Issues Programme and Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan open the workshop. (OSCE) Photo details
On 11 April, the OSCE PCUz organized a workshop on gender mainstreaming in anti-corruption at the Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Representatives from government ministries and agencies as well as academia and NGOs were involved in the workshop, led by OSCE Adviser on Gender Issues Javiera Thais Santa Cruz, to discuss the role of gender in anti-corruption work.
Through discussions and examples of gendered corruption, such as job discrimination, unequal access to services and sextortion, participants examined the impact of corruption on men and women, and identified tools needed to improve current approaches. The session emphasized the importance of mainstreaming gender into anti-corruption policies and included interactive group work where participants developed practical examples and strategies for incorporating gender perspectives into institutional frameworks. The event concluded with a collaborative session aimed at identifying challenges and solutions to stakeholder engagement.
Opening the event, Dr. Lara Scarpitta, OSCE Senior Adviser on Gender Issues stated that “corruption is not a gender-neutral topic. Research from the past 20 years shows that women often face corruption differently than men due to societal roles, existing stereotypes, and sometimes limited access to information and justice.”
PCUz Head of Office, Ambassador Antti Karttunen underlined the importance of the event, stating: “the objective of this workshop is to work towards exploring issues of gender equality in relation to anti-corruption and we hope to build on the efforts already accomplished by the OSCE.”
This event comes as part of the PCUz’s support in improving Uzbekistan’s reforms in the sphere of good governance as well as women empowerment.
Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On the eve of Cosmonautics Day, Rosneft and the Kaluga Region Tourism Development Center presented four new routes for auto tourists traveling around the Kaluga Region.
Rosneft actively supports initiatives to develop domestic tourism and aims to create comfortable conditions for car travelers. Developing roadside service and improving the level of customer service provided at Rosneft filling stations is one of the Company’s priority areas of activity.
The presentation of new auto routes took place at the Rosneft gas station in Kaluga. Thanks to carefully designed logistics, tourists can rationally use their time during their trip and see the main attractions of the region, which is considered the “cradle of cosmonautics”. At the same time, the Rosneft gas station mobile application will make it easy to find the nearest gas station along each route.
The “Space” route includes several interesting locations. The first stop is the city of Borovsk, where the apartment museum of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the founder of theoretical cosmonautics, is located. Here, tourists will be told about the scientific works and life of the scientist. The next point is the Tsiolkovsky Memorial House Museum in Kaluga, where he lived for almost 30 years. Most of the exhibits are authentic and belonged to the scientist himself and his family members. Another point on the route is the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, the first stone of which was laid by Yuri Gagarin. It contains one of the world’s largest collections of Soviet and Russian space technology, as well as rarities and documents on the history of cosmonautics. The final point of the route is the monument to the 600th anniversary of Kaluga, located at the entrance to the city. Its steles depict important pages of the city’s history.
The launch of the second route, the Patriotic Route, is timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. It takes you through the places of military glory of the Kaluga Region, where fierce battles took place at that heroic time. Among the main attractions of the route is the first museum in Russia dedicated to the Marshal of Victory, Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. It is located in the city of Kremenki and houses the most complete collection of items related to the life of the great commander. The next stop is the Ilyinskye Rubezhi memorial complex, one of the key places of memory of the Battle of Moscow. The memorial is dedicated to the feat of 3,500 cadets of the Podolsk military schools, who held back the advance of German tanks on Moscow in October 1941. Two more points on the route are the Voenfilm cinema complex, created for filming military history films, reenactments and patriotic projects; as well as the Soyuz Museum of Small Arms, which contains various exhibits dating back to the Patriotic War of 1812.
You can see the Kaluga Region through the eyes of poets and painters by choosing the route “In the Footsteps of Tsvetaeva”. It runs through the city of Tarusa. Thanks to its picturesque landscapes, this settlement, located on the banks of the Oka River, was the cultural capital of the Russian intelligentsia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tourists traveling along the car route will see the Tarusa Art Gallery with works by Vasily Polenov and Vasily Vatagin, the Tsvetaev Family Museum, which is also called the “Tyo House”, the Sergei Zharov Museum, the K.G. Paustovsky House Museum, the House of Writers and much more. The final point is the arboretum garden of the agronomist Rakitsky with rare plants and cozy tea parties.
For those who come to the region for the first time, the route “Kaluga for Beginners” has been developed. It includes the largest art park in Russia and Europe “Nikola-Lenivets”, which presents landscape installations, as well as land art objects by the best Russian and foreign authors. Another stop is the largest bird park in the country “Vorobyi”. This is both an amusement park and a zoo. Currently, it contains almost 500 different species of animals. Among other points of the route is the unique ethnographic park-museum “Ethnomir”, as well as the art museum of garbage “Mu-Mu”.
Each of the four routes passes through a Rosneft gas station, where tourists can fill up their cars with high-quality fuel, relax and have a tasty snack.
Detailed information about new tourist routes in the Kaluga region can be obtained at Rosneft gas stations in the region, as well as on the website of the Tourism Development Center “Kaluga Region”.
Reference:
Rosneft’s retail network is the largest in the country in terms of geographic coverage and number of stations. It includes almost 3,000 petrol stations in 62 regions of the Russian Federation, as well as in the Republic of Belarus, Abkhazia and Kyrgyzstan.
Guests of Rosneft filling stations have access to a wide range of goods and services: from shops and cafes to roadside services. For example, you can stay overnight in roadside hotels at filling stations and multifunctional complexes of the Company.
Rosneft is developing a new customer service area, “cafes on wheels” – food trucks. They are available at gas stations in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other regions where the retail chain is present.
In 2023, Rosneft launched a special information and service platform, Horizons of Russia: Come with Us! It allows you to plan a trip to interesting places through the infrastructure of Rosneft roadside services and gas stations in constructor mode. Currently, tourists have access to 14 developed routes, both regional and federal.
Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft April 11, 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.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Encouraging clients to annotate their bank statements with the nature, source, and frequency of credits when applying for a representation order
Sometimes applicants have no other evidence of their income other than bank statements. For example, if they are recently self-employed. In such instances we will include all credits shown on the bank statements as income unless it appears appropriate not to include certain credits. Annotating bank statements may therefore provide suitable reason for a credit not to be included as self-employed income. In addition, for any bank statements provided in support of an application, we will include any credits that appear to form regular income. For example, regular credits from friends and family, online sales, and gambling.
If applicants annotate their bank statements before submitting them this will assist us in accurately assessing their means on first submission.
The Criminal Legal Aid Manual – Criminal Legal Aid Manual – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police
A woman has been sentenced to life for murdering her two young sons in their east London home in 2022.
Kara Alexander, 47 (23.12.77), of Cornwallis Road, Dagenham was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 24 years in prison at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 11 April for drowning her children.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Waller of the Metropolitan Police, who led the investigation, said:
“This is an incredibly tragic case, which has left a father without his two beloved boys and a family without two young brothers.
“Kara Alexander will spend the next two decades behind bars, where the memory of what she has done will haunt her forever.
“To the family and friends of Elijah and Marley, while no amount of time will erase the pain of such a loss, I hope this sentence serves to bring some semblance of justice.
“I hope you can now move on with your life, remembering the boys as you knew them, and treasuring the happy times you spent with them.”
Emergency services were called at around 14:00hrs on 16 December 2022, after the bodies of two young children were found by their father in their shared bunkbed inside their house in Dagenham.
Two-year-old Elijah Thomas and five-year-old Marley Thomas were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the discovery, their mother Kara Alexander ran from the house, but was arrested nearby a short time later.
Post-mortem examinations identified drowning as the cause of death for both boys.
Detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command launched an investigation, reviewing footage from local CCTV cameras and doorbells and forensically analysing Alexander’s phone.
Alexander was charged on 19 December 2022 with two counts of murder and was convicted at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 21 February following a three-week trial.
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
The Board of directors of Fluxys Belgium SA has the honour to invite the shareholders of the company to attend the Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meetings to be held on Tuesday 13th May 2025 as from 2.30 pm at the BNP Event Center, Rue Royale 20, 1000 Brussels.
Download below the notice of these General Meetings (in Dutch or French).
The other documents related to these General Meetings, as well as the integrated annual report 2024, are available on the Fluxys Belgium website.
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements
This is the final Environment Agency consultation on plans for the proposed site, so don’t miss your chance to give us any new and relevant information.
If you wish to make comments about the application, please do so by 11.59pm on Friday 23 May.
The Environment Agency has today launched the final consultation into an environmental permit application for an incinerator in Canford Magna.
Following earlier consultations, we have now reached the stage where we are likely to grant the permit, having received all of the necessary information from the applicant, MVV Environment Ltd.
The company has applied for the permit to operate an incinerator on the Canford Resource Park. This does not mean a final decision has been taken, only that we will grant the permit unless we receive new information that gives cause for not allowing it. This consultation gives you the opportunity to let us know any new information.
Issues that we consider are:
We do not look at issues around vehicle movements to and from the site, working hours and whether or not the site is suitable for this kind of work. All of those are matters dealt with through the planning process. However, in order to build and operate the proposed incinerator, the company will need to be granted both planning permission and an environmental permit.
The agency is now consulting the public again on our draft decision and has made the draft permit and draft decision document available to view. The permit sets out the conditions being imposed on the applicant.
The company wants to burn up to 260,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste each year in the incinerator. The proposed facility will, if given permission, burn waste to produce energy in the form of electricity. Power from this process will be exported to the National Grid.
Once the consultation closes, the Environment Agency will review all the comments received before reaching a final decision. MVV Environment Ltd has the right to appeal if the permit is refused.
If you wish to make comments about the application, please do so by 11.59pm on Friday 23 May.
You can comment by:
Environment Agency Permitting and Support Centre,
Land Team,
Quadrant 2,
99 Parkway Avenue,
Sheffield,
S9 4WF.
If you need help accessing this consultation in another format or would like to be added to the mailing list for this application, please contact us by emailing: wessexenquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk or call 03708 506506.
We may charge for copying costs.
Please use the application number EPR/SP3127SF/A001 when you contact us.
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements
UK and other OSCE participating States express concern over the deteriorating human rights situation and call on Georgia to open an inclusive dialogue with political parties, civil society and the OSCE institutions.
Thank you, Madam Chair,
I am delivering this statement on behalf of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and my own country, Germany.
As OSCE participating States, we have committed to upholding and defending fundamental human rights, democracy, and the rule of law—not only within our own borders, but across our shared OSCE region. This commitment carries a responsibility: to hold each other accountable when we witness signs of democratic backsliding.
It is in this spirit that we express again our deep concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in Georgia. Since our last discussion in February, we have regretfully witnessed Georgian authorities taking further steps away from their democratic and human rights commitments.
Madam Chair,
Our main concerns are threefold: the legislative restriction of civic space, the targeting of independent media, and the continued lack of accountability for excessive use of force by police, the use of indiscriminate violence by unidentified groups against peaceful protesters as well as unnecessarily long pre-trial detention periods and the reported ill-treatment of those in pre-trial detention.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires all individuals and organisations receiving foreign funding to register as so-called “Foreign Agents,” with financial sanctions and criminal penalties imposed on those who refuse. We share ODIHR’s concern that “this law, along with other recent legislative initiatives, could further curtail the activities of civil society organizations and human rights defenders by removing the safeguards needed for them to carry out their work”. This law lacks the legal safeguards that prevent civil society, media and private individuals from being branded as instruments of foreign influence based solely on funding sources, which strongly suggests that this law is not about transparency, but about suppressing dissent and tightening the grip on civil society. This is of particular concern in view of the upcoming local elections.
We are also closely monitoring recent amendments to Georgia’s electoral legislation. It is essential that any changes to the electoral framework enhance transparency and public trust, and that reforms are developed through inclusive dialogue and in line with OSCE commitments. Relatedly, we are concerned about legislative amendments undermining freedom of peaceful assembly, including the amendments to the Criminal and Administrative Offences Codes and the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations. The amendments undermine the principle of equal suffrage and restrict freedom of assembly, as stated in relevant ODIHR’s and Venice Commission latest opinions. We urge the Georgian authorities to implement their recommendations.
Madam Chair,
We are alarmed by the escalating threats and intimidation faced by journalists in Georgia. The Public Defender’s 2024 Human Rights Report highlights a significant decline in media freedom, exacerbated by restrictive laws—such as the recent amendments to the Law on Broadcasting—and growing hostility toward journalists.
Notably, there have been incidents where journalists were being targeted by police while covering protests, including physical assaults and equipment seizures. Furthermore, reports of targeting journalists in exile and negative rhetoric from high-ranking officials and politicians have further eroded media freedom and increased risks for journalists.
We call for the immediate cessation of these practices and the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained journalists, including Mzia Amaghlobeli, who remains in detention on charges of up to 7 years in prison.
Finally, we remain deeply troubled by the persistent lack of accountability for police violence. We have seen no evidence of credible efforts by the Georgian authorities to investigate reports of disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters, arbitrary detentions, excessive over-reliance on long pre-trial detention periods, and mistreatment of detainees.
We call on the Georgian authorities to take immediate action to protect the rights of those exercising their fundamental freedoms and to conduct a thorough investigation of the use of police force during peaceful protests since 28 November 2024 in order to hold those responsible for human rights violations to account. Failure to do so further undermines public trust in Georgia’s institutions.
Madam Chair,
Despite repeated statements by Georgia reaffirming their commitment to dialogue and the OSCE principles and commitments, we have yet to see any concrete and genuine steps toward meaningful engagement. Instead, recent actions by the Georgian authorities have moved Georgia further away from democracy. We call on the Georgian authorities to open an inclusive dialogue with all political parties and civil society organisations in order to find peaceful and democratic solutions to the ongoing crisis.
We welcome recent statements by ODIHR and RFoM and strongly urge Georgia to continue to constructively engage with OSCE institutions and make use of their expertise. As fellow OSCE participating States, we will explore all available tools and mechanisms within the OSCE context going forward. In this spirit, we call on Georgian authorities to implement recommendations by ODIHR with regard to the upcoming elections.
Our unwavering commitment to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity remains unchanged. We stand steadfast in our support for the Georgian people and their pursuit of a democratic, stable and European future, and we remain ready to work with Georgia to ensure it upholds its international obligations and ensures that human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully respected.
Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The SPbPU Public Relations Department, the Higher School of Media Communications and Public Relations of the Humanitarian Institute and Polyclinic No. 76 held Health Week for students and staff of the university as part of the Lepota project. It is traditionally timed to coincide with the celebration of World Health Day, which is celebrated on April 7. The theme for 2025 is balanced nutrition.
Being healthy is not just a fashion trend, but a vital necessity. During the week, participants learned how to eat tasty and healthy food without buying expensive products.
On April 3, a live broadcast with fitness trainer Tatyana Krutko took place. Viewers learned how sports can help in studying, whether it will be effective without proper nutrition, and much more.
The key event of the Health Week was a Q&A session with endocrinologist-nutritionist of Polyclinic No. 76 Ekaterina Medvedeva in the Polytechnic Tower. Together with the speaker, the students discussed what healthy eating is and how to make it part of their lives, how to replace bad habits with useful tips, and what is actually considered a “balanced diet.” At the end of the meeting, the participants consolidated their knowledge with a quiz and won gifts from partners.
“We are proud that Polytechnic University supports the project that we have been implementing for the third year already,” said the head of the organizing team, fourth-year student of the Advertising and Public Relations program Ekaterina Dyakova. “We are very glad that this time Polyclinic No. 76 helped to hold the event. Thanks to this, we were able to really delve deeply into the topic of balanced nutrition and prepare useful materials and activities. We want as many Polytechnic students as possible to take care of themselves and eat right – after all, health is built in youth!”
All week long, participants received advice on diet planning, budget nutrition and physical activity, as well as healthy snack recipes. Students were also able to take part in the Healthy Plate drawing and shared their meal plans. The winners received gifts for a healthy lifestyle.
Health Week has become a good tradition at the Polytechnic University. At the online intensive course “GET A GOOD SLEEP!” in 2023, participants learned about the importance of quality sleep and rest, and also received recommendations from a psychologist and somnologist on how to improve their well-being. In 2024, as part of Health Week, students were able to learn about dopamine addiction, physical inactivity, and biohacking from specialists in improving physical and mental health.
Join us next year and stay healthy!
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.
Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The results of the final of the 10th RBC Petersburg foresight “Petersburg project. City of the new era with Petersburg identity” have been summed up. Senior students determined how to preserve the unique image of the city in the era of new technologies and approaches in architecture and urban development. Six teams presented their projects, three of which included students from the Polytechnic University.
The jury included representatives of universities and development companies. Polytechnic was represented by ISI teacher, member of the Union of Architects and guide of the company “Petersburg through the eyes of an engineer” Alexandra Zatsepin. The chairman of the jury was the vice-governor of St. Petersburg Vladimir Knyaginin.
The winner of the foresight was the project “Capillary City”, developed by students of SPbPU, ITMO, SPbAH, EUSP and RANEPA under the supervision of the head of the MLA Yana Golubeva and assistant of the Department of Public Administration of the Higher School of Management of St. Petersburg State University Egor Starshov.
An interdisciplinary team, which included 6th-year students of the specialty “Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures” of SPbPU Ekaterina Zorina and Lyudmila Morshchakova, presented a network of artificial channels that will work like capillaries in the body.
By distributing and recycling water, they will prevent the city from flooding due to global warming and solve transport problems. The students also designed different water transport station pavilions depending on the architecture of the area in which they will be located and calculated the cost of implementing the project.
At the presentation, the guys demonstrated flooding on a model of St. Petersburg, and then invited the participants on a virtual tour of the designed area that solves this problem.
The team, led by Fyodor Konkov, managing partner of the Urbanika Institute of Territorial Planning, included SPbPU students Valeria Kozodaeva and Lyudmila Suslina. They decided to combine the main elements of St. Petersburg identity with the familiar image of a chubby girl.
We took as a basis the idea of a constructor, which implies a systemic approach and can be used in old and new buildings. The donut symbolizes the identity of St. Petersburg, which we propose to extrapolate to the outskirts of the city. By highlighting the improvement, characteristic materials, development and lifestyle, we offer an approach that can achieve the integrity of the city’s image, which is also economically feasible, – said 6th-year student of the specialty “Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures” Valeriya Kozodayeva.
The team, which performed under the supervision of the honored architect of Russia, professor of the International Academy of Architecture Vladimir Linov, included a first-year student of the master’s program at SPbPU, Kerim Ibragimov. The guys presented the St. Petersburg identity in the form of an updated concept of an apartment building.
The lower floors will house commercial premises, parking and public areas, including a possible kindergarten, while apartments of varying comfort levels will be located above. The unique feature is the use of stained glass art, which links the architecture with Russia’s historical heritage. The name of the Ville de verre complex, which translates as “Glass Town”, refers to the glass factory that was once located near the area. Stained glass will decorate the facades of the buildings and infrastructure facilities, such as a noise barrier and a pedestrian bridge, Kerim Ibragimov commented.
The winning team was awarded a certificate for 100,000 rubles, and the organizers presented certificates for 40,000 rubles to the five teams that received participant diplomas.
Thanks to RBC for the opportunity to work on an interesting project in an interdisciplinary team. Our project turned out to be futuristic: we drew new canals on the general plan of St. Petersburg, came up with stations along the route of motor ships and even developed boarding passes for jury members, – shared 6th-year student of the specialty “Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures” Ekaterina Zorina.
Foresight became a platform for students, the jury and guests of the event to exchange ideas. Such events are very necessary for the city, because they raise the general professional level of participants and move architecture forward, – added ISI teacher Alexandra Zatsepina.
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.
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