Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
First ever female MI6 chief appointed
The first ever female Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) has been announced by the Prime Minister today.
The first ever female Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) has been announced by the Prime Minister today.
Blaise Metreweli CMG will be the 18th Chief in the organisation’s history and the first woman to hold the role, at a time when the United Kingdom faces increased threats from our adversaries.
Commonly referred to as ‘C’, the Chief has operational responsibility for MI6, and is the only publicly named member of the organisation. They are accountable to the Foreign Secretary.
She is currently Director General ‘Q’, responsible for technology and innovation in MI6, and has previously held a Director-level role in MI5. She will succeed Sir Richard Moore, who leaves the Service in the autumn.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer:
The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital.
The United Kingdom is facing threats on an unprecedented scale – be it aggressors who send their spy ships to our waters or hackers whose sophisticated cyber plots seek to disrupt our public services.
I’d like to thank Sir Richard Moore for his dedicated service, and I know Blaise will continue to provide the excellent leadership needed to defend our county and keep our people safe – the foundation of my Plan for Change.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:
I am delighted to appoint Blaise Metreweli as the next Chief of MI6. With a wealth of experience from across our national security community, Blaise is the ideal candidate to lead MI6 into the future.
At a time of global instability and emerging security threats, where technology is power and our adversaries are working ever closer together, Blaise will ensure the UK can tackle these challenges head on to keep Britain safe and secure at home and abroad.
Every day, our intelligence services work behind the scenes to protect our national security and compete with our adversaries. That’s why I am proud that we are investing an extra £600 million in our intelligence community so they can continue to defend our way of life.
I would also like to pay tribute to Sir Richard Moore for his service and leadership. I have worked closely with him over the past year and thank him for his valuable contribution enhancing our national security and protecting the British public.
Cabinet Secretary Christopher Wormald said:
Blaise Metreweli’s experience and leadership in the intelligence community will help MI6 protect the foundation of our national security and project our interests overseas. Blaise will be an excellent Chief, who will embody the values of the Service and act as a fine role model to its staff.
I would also like to thank Sir Richard Moore for his excellent leadership of the Service over the past five years and his contribution to UK national security during that time and over his long career.
Blaise Metreweli CMG said:
I am proud and honoured to be asked to lead my Service. MI6 plays a vital role – with MI5 and GCHQ – in keeping the British people safe and promoting UK interests overseas. I look forward to continuing that work alongside the brave officers and agents of MI6 and our many international partners.
Outgoing Chief, Sir Richard Moore, said:
I am absolutely delighted by this historic appointment of my colleague, Blaise Metreweli to succeed me as ‘C’. Blaise is a highly accomplished intelligence officer and leader, and one of our foremost thinkers on technology. I am excited to welcome her as the first female head of MI6.
Biography:
Blaise Metreweli is Director General Technology and Innovation in MI6. She has previously held a Director-level roles in MI5.
She is a career intelligence officer, having joined the Service as a case officer in 1999.
She has undertaken a range of roles across the Service. She has spent most of her career in operational roles in the Middle East and Europe.
She studied Anthropology at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Last night, President Donald J. Trump and the First Lady — along with members of his Administration and military leaders — joined veterans, active-duty troops, wounded warriors, Gold Star Families, and patriotic Americans from all over the country in the nation’s capital to celebrate the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army.
An iconic grand parade wrapped up a day of festivities celebrating the legacy of the U.S. Army and the generations of heroes who have protected our country with strength, selflessness, and bravery — and looking boldly forward to the next 250 years of patriotism and military achievement.
As President Trump said in his remarks: “Tonight, we affirm with unwavering certainty that in the years ahead, and in every generation hence, whenever duty calls and whatever danger comes, the American Soldier will be there. No matter the risks, no matter the obstacles, our warriors will charge into battle, they will plunge into the crucible of fire, and they will seize the crown of victory because the United States of America will always have the grace of Almighty God and the iron will of the United States Army.”
The federal government wants to boost Australia’s productivity levels – as a matter of national priority. It’s impossible to have that conversation without also talking about innovation.
We can be proud of (and perhaps a little surprised by) some of the Australian innovations that have changed the world – such as the refrigerator, the electric drill, and more recently, the CPAP machine and the technology underpinning Google Maps.
Australia is continuing to drive advancements in machine learning, cybersecurity and green technologies. Innovation isn’t confined to the headquarters of big tech companies and university laboratories.
Small and medium enterprises – those with fewer than 200 employees – are a powerhouse of economic growth in Australia. Collectively, they contribute 56% of Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employ 67% of the workforce.
Our own Reserve Bank has recognised they also have a huge role to play in driving innovation. However, they still face many barriers to accessing funding and investment, which can hamper their ability to do so.
Finding the funds to grow
We all know the saying “it takes money to make money”. Those starting or scaling a business have to invest in the present to generate cash in the future. This could involve buying equipment, renting space, or even investing in needed skills and knowledge.
A small, brand new startup might initially rely on debt (such as personal loans or credit cards) and investments from family and friends (sometimes called “love money”).
Having exhausted these sources, it may still need more funds to grow. Bank loans for businesses are common, quick and easy. But these require regular interest payments, which could slow growth.
Selling stakes
Alternatively, a business may want to look for investors to take out ownership stakes.
This investment can take the form of “private equity”, where ownership stakes are sold through private arrangement to investors. These can range from individual “angel investors” through to huge venture capital and private equity firms managing billions in investments.
It can also take the form of “public equity”, where shares are offered and are then able to be bought and sold by anyone on a public stock exchange such as the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Unfortunately, small and medium-sized companies face hurdles to accessing both kinds.
Companies need access to finance to turn ideas into reality. Kvalifik/Unsplash
Private investors’ high bar to clear
Research examining the gap in small-scale private equity has found 46% of small and medium-sized firms in Australia would welcome an equity investment – despite saying they were able to acquire debt elsewhere.
They preferred private equity because they also wanted to learn from experienced investors who could help them grow their companies. However, very few small and medium-sized enterprises were able to meet private equity’s investment criteria.
When interviewed, many chief executives and chairs of small private equity firms said their lack of interest in small and medium-sized enterprises came down to cost and difficulty of verifying information about the health and prospects of a business.
In contrast, small private companies can use a simplified set of rules and do not have to share their statements of profit and loss with the general public.
Share markets are costly and complex
Is it possible to list on a stock exchange instead? An initial public offering (IPO) would enable the company to raise funds by selling shares to the public.
Unfortunately, the process of issuing shares on a stock exchange is time-consuming and costly. It requires a team of advisors (accountants, lawyers, and bankers) and filing fees are high.
There are also ongoing costs and obligations associated with being a publicly traded company, including detailed financial reporting.
Last week, the regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), announced new measures to encourage more listings by streamlining the IPO process.
Despite this, many small companies do not meet the listing requirements for the ASX.
These include meeting a profits and assets test and having at least 300 investors (not including family) each with A$2,000.
There is one less well-known alternative – the smaller National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX), which focuses on early-stage companies. Ideally, this should have been a great alternative for small companies, but it has had limited success. The NSX is now set to be acquired by a Canadian market operator.
Making companies more attractive
Our previous research has highlighted that small and medium-sized businesses should try to make themselves more attractive to private equity companies. This could include improving their financial reporting and using a reputable major auditor.
At their end, private equity companies should cast a wider net and invest a little more time in screening and selecting high-quality smaller companies. That could pay off – if it means they avoid missing out on “the next Google Maps”.
There are other opportunities we could explore. Australia’s pool of superannuation funds, for example, have begun growing so large they are running out of places to invest.
That’s led to some radical proposals. Ben Thompson, chief executive of Employment Hero, last year proposed big superannuation funds be forced to invest 1% of their cash into start-ups.
There is an ongoing debate about whether the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which regulates banks and superannuation, is too cautious. Some believe APRA’s focus on risk management hurts innovation and may result in super funds avoiding startups (which generally have a higher likelihood of failure).
In response, APRA has pointed out the global financial crisis reminded us to be cautious, to ensure financial stability and protect consumers.
This article is part of The Conversation’s series, The Productivity Puzzle.
The author would like to acknowledge her former doctoral student, the late Dr Bruce Dwyer, who made significant contributions to research discussed in this article. Bruce passed away in a tragic accident earlier this year.
Colette Southam 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.
The federal government wants to boost Australia’s productivity levels – as a matter of national priority. It’s impossible to have that conversation without also talking about innovation.
We can be proud of (and perhaps a little surprised by) some of the Australian innovations that have changed the world – such as the refrigerator, the electric drill, and more recently, the CPAP machine and the technology underpinning Google Maps.
Australia is continuing to drive advancements in machine learning, cybersecurity and green technologies. Innovation isn’t confined to the headquarters of big tech companies and university laboratories.
Small and medium enterprises – those with fewer than 200 employees – are a powerhouse of economic growth in Australia. Collectively, they contribute 56% of Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employ 67% of the workforce.
Our own Reserve Bank has recognised they also have a huge role to play in driving innovation. However, they still face many barriers to accessing funding and investment, which can hamper their ability to do so.
Finding the funds to grow
We all know the saying “it takes money to make money”. Those starting or scaling a business have to invest in the present to generate cash in the future. This could involve buying equipment, renting space, or even investing in needed skills and knowledge.
A small, brand new startup might initially rely on debt (such as personal loans or credit cards) and investments from family and friends (sometimes called “love money”).
Having exhausted these sources, it may still need more funds to grow. Bank loans for businesses are common, quick and easy. But these require regular interest payments, which could slow growth.
Selling stakes
Alternatively, a business may want to look for investors to take out ownership stakes.
This investment can take the form of “private equity”, where ownership stakes are sold through private arrangement to investors. These can range from individual “angel investors” through to huge venture capital and private equity firms managing billions in investments.
It can also take the form of “public equity”, where shares are offered and are then able to be bought and sold by anyone on a public stock exchange such as the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Unfortunately, small and medium-sized companies face hurdles to accessing both kinds.
Companies need access to finance to turn ideas into reality. Kvalifik/Unsplash
Private investors’ high bar to clear
Research examining the gap in small-scale private equity has found 46% of small and medium-sized firms in Australia would welcome an equity investment – despite saying they were able to acquire debt elsewhere.
They preferred private equity because they also wanted to learn from experienced investors who could help them grow their companies. However, very few small and medium-sized enterprises were able to meet private equity’s investment criteria.
When interviewed, many chief executives and chairs of small private equity firms said their lack of interest in small and medium-sized enterprises came down to cost and difficulty of verifying information about the health and prospects of a business.
In contrast, small private companies can use a simplified set of rules and do not have to share their statements of profit and loss with the general public.
Share markets are costly and complex
Is it possible to list on a stock exchange instead? An initial public offering (IPO) would enable the company to raise funds by selling shares to the public.
Unfortunately, the process of issuing shares on a stock exchange is time-consuming and costly. It requires a team of advisors (accountants, lawyers, and bankers) and filing fees are high.
There are also ongoing costs and obligations associated with being a publicly traded company, including detailed financial reporting.
Last week, the regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), announced new measures to encourage more listings by streamlining the IPO process.
Despite this, many small companies do not meet the listing requirements for the ASX.
These include meeting a profits and assets test and having at least 300 investors (not including family) each with A$2,000.
There is one less well-known alternative – the smaller National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX), which focuses on early-stage companies. Ideally, this should have been a great alternative for small companies, but it has had limited success. The NSX is now set to be acquired by a Canadian market operator.
Making companies more attractive
Our previous research has highlighted that small and medium-sized businesses should try to make themselves more attractive to private equity companies. This could include improving their financial reporting and using a reputable major auditor.
At their end, private equity companies should cast a wider net and invest a little more time in screening and selecting high-quality smaller companies. That could pay off – if it means they avoid missing out on “the next Google Maps”.
There are other opportunities we could explore. Australia’s pool of superannuation funds, for example, have begun growing so large they are running out of places to invest.
That’s led to some radical proposals. Ben Thompson, chief executive of Employment Hero, last year proposed big superannuation funds be forced to invest 1% of their cash into start-ups.
There is an ongoing debate about whether the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which regulates banks and superannuation, is too cautious. Some believe APRA’s focus on risk management hurts innovation and may result in super funds avoiding startups (which generally have a higher likelihood of failure).
In response, APRA has pointed out the global financial crisis reminded us to be cautious, to ensure financial stability and protect consumers.
This article is part of The Conversation’s series, The Productivity Puzzle.
The author would like to acknowledge her former doctoral student, the late Dr Bruce Dwyer, who made significant contributions to research discussed in this article. Bruce passed away in a tragic accident earlier this year.
Colette Southam 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.
This year alone, 12 Indigenous people have died – 31% of total custodial deaths.
The raw numbers are a tragic indictment of government failure to implement in full the Commission’s 339 recommendations.
We are potentially further away from resolving this crisis than we were 34 years ago.
Recent deaths
Kumanjayi White was a vulnerable young Warlpiri man with a disability under a guardianship order. He stopped breathing while being restrained by police in an Alice Springs supermarket on May 27. His family is calling for all CCTV and body camera footage to be released.
Days later a 68-year-old Aboriginal Elder from Wadeye was taken to the Palmerston Watchhouse after being detained for apparent intoxication at Darwin airport. He was later transferred to a hospital where he died.
Alice Springs protest over the death of Kumanjayi White.
Both were under the care and protection of the state when they died. The royal commission revealed “so many” deaths had occurred in similar circumstances and urged change. It found there was:
little appreciation of, and less dedication to, the duty of care owed by custodial authorities and their officers to persons in care.
Seemingly, care and protection were the last things Kumanjayi White and the Wadeye Elder were afforded by NT police.
Preventable deaths
The royal commission investigated 99 Aboriginal deaths in custody between 1980 and 1989. If all of its recommendations had been fully implemented, lives may have been saved.
For instance, recommendation 127 called for “protocols for the care and management” of Aboriginal people in custody, especially those suffering from physical or mental illness. This may have informed a more appropriate and therapeutic response to White and prevented his death.
Recommendation 80 provided for “non-custodial facilities for the care and treatment of intoxicated persons”. Such facilities may have staved off the trauma the Elder faced when he was detained, and the adverse impact it had on his health.
More broadly, a lack of independent oversight has compromised accountability. Recommendations 29-31 would have given the coroner, and an assisting lawyer, “the power to direct police” in their investigations:
It must never again be the case that a death in custody, of Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal persons, will not lead to rigorous and accountable investigations.
Yet, the Northern Territory police has rejected pleas by White’s family for an independent investigation.
Another audit?
Northern Territory Labor MP Marion Scrymgour is calling on the Albanese government to order a full audit of the royal commission recommendations.
She says Indigenous people are being completely ostracised and victimised:
People are dying. The federal government, I think, needs to show leadership.
It is unlikely another audit will cure the failures by the government to act on the recommendations.
Instead, a new standing body should be established to ensure they are all fully implemented. It should be led by First Nations people and involve families whose loved ones have died in custody in recognition of their lived expertise.
In 2023, independent Senator Lidia Thorpe moved a motion for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner to assume responsibility for the implementation of the recommendations. While the government expressed support for this motion, there has been no progress.
Another mechanism for change would be for governments to report back on recommendations made by coroners in relation to deaths in custody. Almost 600 inquests have issued a large repository of recommendations, many of which have been shelved.
Leadership lacking?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently conceded no government has “done well enough” to reduce Aboriginal deaths in custody. But he has rejected calls for an intervention in the Northern Territory justice system:
I need to be convinced that people in Canberra know better than people in the Northern Territory about how to deal with these issues.
Albanese is ignoring the essence of what is driving deaths in custody.
Reflecting on the 25-year anniversary of the royal commission in 2016, criminology professor Chris Cunneen wrote that Australia had become much less compassionate and more ready to blame individuals for their alleged failings:
Nowhere is this more clear than in our desire for punishment. A harsh criminal justice system – in particular, more prisons and people behind bars – has apparently become a hallmark of good government.
There are too many First Nations deaths in custody because there are too many First Nations people in custody in the first place.
At the time of the royal commission, 14% of the prison population was First Nations. Today, it’s 36%, even though Indigenous people make up just 3.8% of Australia’s overall population.
Governments across the country have expanded law and order practices, police forces and prisons in the name of community safety.
This includes a recent $1.5 billion public order plan to expand policing in the Northern Territory. Such agendas impose a distinct lack of safety on First Nations people, who bear the brunt of such policies. It also instils a message that social issues can only be addressed by punitive and coercive responses.
The royal commission showed us there is another way: self-determination and stamping out opportunities for racist and violent policing. First Nations families have campaigned for these issues for decades.
How many more Indigenous deaths in custody does there have to be before we listen?
Thalia Anthony receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Eddie is an Independent Representative on the Justice Policy Partnership under the Closing the Gap Agreement.
Protesters parade through the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans as part of the nationwide No Kings protest against President Donald Trump, on June 14, 2025. Patt Little/Anadolu via Getty Images
In the last few months, large numbers of anti-Trump protesters have come out in the streets across the U.S., on occasions like the April 5 Hands Off protests against safety net budget cuts and government downsizing. Many of those protesters assert they are protecting American democracy.
The Trump administration has decried these protesters and the concept of protest more generally, with the president recently calling protesters “troublemakers, agitators, insurrectionists.” A few days before the June 14 military parade in Washington, President Donald Trump said of potential protesters: “this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
As co-director of the Crowd Counting Consortium, which compiles information on each day’s protests in the U.S., I understand that protests sometimes can advance the goals of the protest movement. They also can shape the goals and behavior of federal or state governments and their leaders.
Opportunity for expressing or suppressing democracy
Protests are an expression of democracy, bolstered by the right to free speech and “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
At the same time, clamping down on protests is one way to rebut challenges to government policies and power.
Widespread, well-attended demonstrations can represent a mass movement in favor of democracy or other issues as well as serve as an opportunity to expand participation even further. Large events often lead to significant press coverage and plenty of social media posting. The protests may heighten protesters’ emotional connection to the movement and increase fundraising and membership numbers of sponsoring organizations.
Though it is not an ironclad law, research shows that when at least 3.5% of the total population is involved in a demonstration, protesters usually prevail over their governments. That included the Chilean movement in the 1980s that toppled longtime dictator Augusto Pinochet. Chileans used not only massive demonstrations but also a wide array of creative tactics like a coordinated slowdown of driving and walking, neighbors banging pots outside homes simultaneously, and singing together.
Protests are rarely only about protesting. Organizers usually seek to involve participants in many other activities, whether that is contacting their elected officials, writing letters to the editor, registering to vote or running a food drive to help vulnerable populations.
In this way of thinking, participation in a major street protest like No Kings is a gateway into deeper activism.
Risks and opportunities
Of course, protest leaders cannot control everyone in or adjacent to the movement.
Other protesters with a different agenda, or agitators of any sort, can insert themselves into a movement and use confrontational tactics like violence against property or law enforcement.
In one prominent example from Los Angeles, someone set several self-driving cars on fire. Other Los Angeles examples included some protesters’ throwing things like water bottles at officers or engaging in vandalism. Police officers also use coercive measures such as firing chemical irritants and pepper balls at protesters.
When leaders want to concentrate executive power and establish an autocracy, where they rule with absolute power, protests against those moves could lead to a mass rejection of the leader’s plans. That is what national protest groups like 50501 and Indivisible are hoping for and why they aimed to turn out millions of people at the No Kings protests on June 14.
But while the Trump administration faces risks from protests, it also may see opportunities.
Misrepresenting and quashing dissent
Protests can serve as a justification for a nascent autocrat to further undermine democratic practices and institutions.
Take the recent demonstrations in Los Angeles protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Autocrats seek to politicize independent institutions like the armed forces. The Los Angeles protests offered the opportunity for that. Trump sent troops from the California National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to contain the protests. That domestic deployment of the military is rare but not unheard of in U.S. history.
And the deployment was ordered against the backdrop of the president’s partisan June 10 speech at a U.S. military base in North Carolina. The military personnel in attendance cheered and applauded many of Trump’s political statements. Both the speech and audience reactions to it appeared to violate the U.S. military norm of nonpartisanship.
This deployment of military personnel in a U.S. city also dovetails with the expansion of executive power characteristic of autocratic leaders. It is rare that presidents call up the National Guard; the Guard is traditionally under the control of the state governor.
The contrast on June 14 was striking. In Washington, D.C., Trump reviewed a parade of troops, tanks and planes, leaning into a display of American military power.
At the same time, from rainy Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to sweltering Yuma, Arizona, millions of protesters embraced their First Amendment rights to oppose the president. It perfectly illustrated the dynamic driving deep political division today: the executive concentrating power while a sizable segment of the people resist.
Jeremy Pressman 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.
Australia’s rooftop solar industry has renewed calls for a mandatory recycling scheme to deal with the growing problem of solar panel waste. Only about 10% of panels are currently recycled. The rest are stockpiled, sent overseas or dumped in landfill.
One in three Australian homes now have rooftop solar panels, and new systems are being installed at the rate of 300,000 a year. Meanwhile, older systems are being scrapped – often well before the end of their useful life.
Clearly, solar panel waste is a major problem for Australia. Recycling is one part of the solution. But Australia also needs new rules so solar panels can be repaired and reused.
Millions of solar panels dumped as upgrades surge (ABC News, June 12, 2025)
What are product stewardship schemes?
The Smart Energy Council, which represents the solar industry, is calling for a national product stewardship scheme.
Product stewardshipschemes share responsibility for reducing waste at the end of a product’s useful life. They can involve people all along the supply chain, from manufacturers to importers to retailers.
Such schemes may be voluntary, and industry-led, or mandatory and legislated. Alternatively, they can be shared – approved by government but run by an organisation on behalf of industry.
Depending on the product, a levy is paid by the manufacturer, product importer, network service provider (in case of mobile muster), retailer or consumer – or a combination of these. The money raised is then invested in recycling, research or raising awareness and administering the scheme.
Establishing a solar panel product stewardship scheme
Solar panel systems were added to a national priority list for a product stewardship scheme in 2017.
The government released a discussion paper for comment in 2023. The scheme has not yet been established.
This is particularly problematic given Australia’s commitment to renewable energy, which will entail a rapid expansion of solar technology.
Recycling should be the last resort
Product stewardship schemes assume recycling is the main solution to the waste problem.
Australia’s National Waste Policy also focuses on on recycling, rather than reuse or repair. This is despite recycling being the last resort on the “waste hierarchy”, just slightly above disposal.
Solar photovoltaic panels are built to last 30 years or more, and are “not made to be unmade”. They are not easy to dismantle for recycling because they are built to withstand harsh conditions.
It’s difficult for Australia to influence the design of solar panels, given 99% are imported. Just one manufacturer, Tindo Solar in Adelaide, assembles solar panels on Australian soil, using imported silicon cells.
Many solar panels are being removed well before their end of life, generating waste ahead of time. This is rarely because they have stopped producing power.
In our previous research, we found many reasons why people chose to take solar panels down. Consumers are often advised to replace the whole system when just a few panels are faulty. Or they may simply be upgrading to a larger, more efficient system. Sometimes it’s because they want to access a new renewable energy subsidy.
Renewable subsidies and other solar panel policies should be redesigned to keep panels on roofs for longer.
Functioning solar panels removed before the end of their life should be reused. This would require new regulations including quality-control measures certifying second-hand solar panels, and second-hand markets. This is a much neglected field of research and development.
We think the scheme should also involve collecting and transporting panels around Australia, including remote areas.
Unfortunately, existing product stewardship schemes do not differentiate between urban, regional and remote areas. The same is likely to be the case for a solar panel collection and recycling scheme.
This leaves regional and remote areas with fewer recycling facilities and collection points. With a growing number of large solar projects in Northern Australia, reducing waste is imperative.
Remote island communities in the Northern Territory bundle up their recyclables and ship it to Darwin. Removed solar panels are then transported to urban Victoria, New South Wales or South Australia for processing. Who should bear the cost of transporting this waste? Consumers, remote regional councils with small ratepayer bases, or manufacturers and retailers?
A well-designed scheme would help recover valuable resources across Australia for reuse in new products.
However, large volumes of solar panels would be required for recycling schemes to become commercially viable. That’s why the solar recycling industry is concerned about exporters and scrap dealers collecting panels rather then certified solar panel recyclers.
Even if the technology for recycling solar panels is nascent in Australia, it’s worth stockpiling panels in Australia for later.
Considering these issues in the design of a product stewardship scheme would help ensure we can maximise the benefits of renewable energy, while minimising waste.
Deepika Mathur has received research funding from the Northern Territory and federal governments.
Robin Gregory is affiliated with Regional Development Australia Northern Territory
New York, June 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — XRP cannot seem to stay out of the news, but for once, the XRP news may be good. The beleaguered coin needs some good news, and judging by the XRP news headlines, it is. But there may be bigger issues ahead for XRP. A new player in town is already delivering on promises XRP has been making for more than a decade. Remittix may just spoil XRP’s fun and give investors a token with much more room to grow to invest in.
XRP(XRP): Headlines forXRP newsbullish, but is it enough?
In XRP news this year, Ripple pulled the trigger on one of its boldest plays yet acquiring institutional brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. That’s not a headline stunt. It’s a serious move to bring post-trade services clearing, settlement and brokerage onto the XRP Ledger itself. For a project that’s always talked about global finance, this finally feels like the architecture is catching up to the ambition. It gives Ripple the tools to offer banks and funds something real and puts XRP back in the conversation as more than just a cross-border token.
Meanwhile, the bigger-picture XRP news is what Brad Garlinghouse is aiming for: 14% of SWIFT’s global liquidity. That’s not just marketing spin, it’s a direct challenge to how money moves internationally. SWIFT is still slow, expensive and clunky. If Ripple can undercut that with speed and scale, XRP could be handling trillions in volume within a few years. It’s bold, but Ripple’s been quietly laying the rails for over a decade.
The XRP price has been up just over 2% in the last 7 days, but it is still in red on the 30-day candle. Hopefully, its latest moves could bolster the price, but with players like Remittix doing the rounds, XRP could be in trouble.
Even CoinCodex’s price prediction for Ripple does not make great XRP news as the token is expected to become more volatile and erratic until the close of the decade; a trading pattern investors do not like.
Remittix doesn’t have Ripple’s war chest or legacy clout, but what it does have is traction and in 2025, that’s proving more valuable than brand recognition. While XRP is still laying down infrastructure, Remittix is already moving money across borders. The platform focuses squarely on crypto-to-fiat remittances, allowing users and businesses to send crypto and have it land as local fiat, straight into a bank account. No fuss, no waiting, no wallet setup required on the other side.
It’s not just practical, it’s compliant, fast and built for scale. With support for over 30 fiat currencies and 40 crypto assets, Remittix isn’t pitching the dream. It’s already shipping it. Investors are paying attention, too. A $15.5 million raise in its presale phase has given it room to grow, while whispers in analyst circles are calling it “XRP 2.0” not because it’s copying Ripple, but because it’s quietly delivering the kind of real-world utility XRP has been promising for over a decade.
If 2025 is about function over flash, Remittix may be the one to watch. It’s not trying to win a branding war, it’s trying to fix a broken payment system. And so far, it looks like it’s working.
Conclusion
While the crypto headlines are dominated by XRP news, the real star of the show is Remittix, delivering on the dreams Ripple Labs had more than a decade ago. With the XRP price stalling, Remittix could just be the token to pick up the slack. Even YouTube crypto vloggers are now starting to pick up on the action and with 540 million tokens already sold, Remittix is making its name as the go-to investment of the year.
Remittix is now available at $0.0781 directly from their website.
Discover the future of PayFi withRemittixby checking out their presale here:
Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.
by Javier TraperoPort Moresby (Agenzia Fides) – Blessed Martyr Peter To Rot will be canonised on October 19, 2025. His sainthood is the fruit of close cooperation between priests and laity in the evangelising task of mission, specifically that of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC).‘He, the ‘mission boy’, was very ill and has died’. This was the ironic way the policeman To Metapa spoke when he went to see with his own eyes that Peter To Rot was dead. Shortly before, the doctor at the prison where he was being held had injected him with a so-called medicine and given him a syrup to cure him of a cold. The administration of these substances caused him to vomit, which the doctor himself did not allow him to expel by covering his mouth.Such was the martyrdom of this ‘mission boy’. The martyrdom of a person tremendously committed to missionary work. That of a native Papuan catechist who learned to love Jesus, together with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.Peter To Rot was born in Rakanui, a village on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, in 1912. But the story of his sainthood, so to speak, began 14 years earlier, with the baptism of his parents. This was tremendously important for the evangelisation of this part of the Pacific.His father, Angelo To Puia, was chief of his community. He was among the first to be baptised at the mission, along with his wife, Maria Ia Tumul. For an authority among the natives to receive this sacrament of Christian initiation meant acceptance of the teachings of Jesus and, very importantly, renunciation of the practices of witchcraft and cannibalism that were very much a part of the culture of those people, as well as others that were contrary to the Gospel.Peter To Rot’s sister spoke of her family when questioned during the beatification process: ‘My father was one of the leaders of the clan. He always took good care of his children, and was concerned about our education, the advice we received and our general welfare. Our family was known as a truly Catholic family, and our parents brought us up according to that faith’.Peter to Rot’s parents had a very close relationship with the missionaries. They helped build the mission, donated the land for the church, the school and the missionary house. They were a very kind and committed family, always ready to lend a helping hand to anyone in need.Fr Joseph Theler, MSC, explains in the Positio for the beatification of Peter To Rot that ‘Angelo To Puia was a wealthy leader with a gentle character. He was undoubtedly the most respected person by all in the Navunaram and Rakunai areas. He was considered the protector of the indigenous people.With this family background, Peter To Rot showed a very special interest in the Eucharist from a very young age, volunteering to help at daily mass. The Eucharist was for him a fundamental pillar in his life of faith. Ulrich, MSC, who had been appointed in charge of the mission in 1926, wanted volunteer acolytes to make up the weekly list, but at the same time he wanted them to be responsible and to come regularly. Once again, To Rot was the first to give his name. When the children at school were asked which of them had said their morning and evening prayers, To Rot always raised his hand to show that he had done so.Such was Peter To Rot’s religious sense that Fr Carl Laufer, MSC, raised the possibility of his becoming a priest, to which his father replied: ‘No, Father, I don’t think one of our generation is ready to become a priest. It’s too early for that. Maybe one of my grandchildren or great- grandchildren will be that lucky. But if you want To Rot to be a catechist, send him to the Taliligap Catechist School’.At the age of 18, Peter To Rot entered the catechists’ school run by Fr. Joseph Lakaff, MSC. It must be said that the concept of a catechist in the mission is that of a person who is very committed to the community, a guide, a point of reference for all its members. Lakaff defined it as follows: ‘The catechist is a true missionary. He is an explorer, a teacher in the most remote places, a watchman. He softens the soil in the unploughed fields where the seed of faith will be planted. He warns against dangers and prepares the way for the final triumph of faith. Because catechists are familiar with the mentality of their own people, their lifestyles, traditions, ideas about various aspects of life and their language, they give the priest working among a native people, with their help, a clear advantage over the unaided foreign missionary’.Catechists are such committed people that, in many parts of the world, they have even given their lives to continue their evangelising mission when priests, missionaries or missionaries have been expelled, imprisoned or killed. This is the case of Peter To Rot.In 1942, in the middle of World War II, the Japanese army invaded Papua New Guinea. In a first phase, they arrested all the priests, but allowed the pastoral activity of the missions. This is where catechists in general and Peter To Rot in particular played a key role in maintaining the faith in their communities. Gradually, religious freedom was curtailed and certain religious manifestations were banned, until in 1944 the ban was total. Laufer wrote: ‘The huts of the natives were regularly searched for religious books, crucifixes, medals, stamps, etc. Possession of any written document was dangerous. To Rot had in his possession the mission register which, together with his personal notes, he managed to hide in the thatched roof of the school. What had been permitted up to this point and carried out in terms of prayers, Sunday services and instructions, was now forbidden, at least outwardly’.The authorities gathered the catechists in the police stations and forced them to stop their pastoral activities. Laufer, Peter To Rot’s reaction was firm: ‘They have taken away our priests, but they cannot forbid us to be Catholics and to live and die as Catholics. I am your catechist and I will do my duty, even if it costs me my life’. Clandestinely, he went out in the evenings to meet with small groups of the faithful. He gave them catechesis, presided at prayers and, when necessary, administered baptisms or blessed marriages. He consciously assumed his responsibility as a catechist in the absence of the missionaries, determined not to abandon the Christian communities.In addition to this prohibition of any religious manifestation, the Japanese army, in order to curry favour with the most sympathetic leaders, restored practices that had almost disappeared, such as polygamy. From then on, Peter To Rot became a staunch defender of marriage. He openly opposed the practice, which led him to oppose influential members such as policemen and judges who wanted to take married women as wives. For this reason, the policeman To Metapa, who had sufficient power to order his arrest, denounced him. During his time in prison, Peter To Rot showed great composure and conviction. He firmly defended his decisions and his fidelity to the Christian faith, without any regrets. He remained steadfast as a catechist and witness to the Gospel to the very end. Hours before his martyrdom he said: ‘I am in prison for those who break their marriage vows and for those who do not want to see God’s work go forward. That is all. I must die. I have already been condemned to death.’ (Agenzia Fides, 15/6/2025)
Share:
Taz and Peg are now based in the FBI’s Atlanta and Dallas field offices, respectively. That way, they can quickly deploy nationwide to the scenes of violent crimes, mass violence incidents, courtroom appearances, forensic interviews, and other sensitive scenarios to support victims.
While the dogs recently completed their last round of training, their journeys to public service actually started as soon as they were born into human hands at ADW’s puppy enrichment center in New Mexico.
ADW trainers begin exposing their puppies to unfamiliar smells, sounds, and other stimuli while some of their senses are still fully forming.
“So, of course, they cannot see, they cannot hear until about 14 days old, but they can smell,” said ADW Lead Instructor and Trainer Aimee Brown. “They’re moving around. They feel vibrations. They have taste. And so, they’re being exposed to a wide variety of things.”
The puppies also learn to love people from their earliest days.
As they grow, the trainers keep an eye on traits that can make or break their success as service or facility dogs—such as their gait and their ability to take commands from multiple people. The trainers also look for natural areas of interest or aptitude, essentially allowing the dogs to choose their own vocational adventure.
“They tell us through the training,” explained Jill Felice, founder, vice president, and program director at Assistance Dogs of the West.
The dogs’ presence in the immediate aftermath of a crisis has a scientifically proven ability to decrease the likelihood of victims’ bodies storing their experiences as long-term trauma.
According to Assistance Dogs of the West Vice President and Program Director Jill Felice, this is because the mere act of petting a dog causes the human body to release oxytocin—a hormone that induces calmness.
“What they’re finding now with the release of oxytocin,” she added, “is the faster you can get oxytocin into your brain when a traumatic event has happened, the less it stays in long-term memory and long-term trauma. And that’s one of the hardest things about crises.”
And over the course of an investigation and judicial process, crisis response canines can help victims calm their nerves enough to share their stories with investigators and juries, alike. In turn, this helps our Justice Department partners secure convictions in violent crime and terrorism cases.
The dogs also help the Bureau establish rapport and build trust with victims.
“Victims are volunteers,” explained Staci, a victim services coordinator. Staci became the Bureau’s second-ever crisis-response canine handler when she was paired with English Labrador Wally. “They don’t have to speak with us.
“In a lot of cases, without victims, you don’t have a case. And so, if we can implement tools to assist victims to be able to want to speak with us—to make it easier for them to speak with us—it’s a win-win, because if victims speak with us, it gives us more information to help with our investigations and hopefully holding people accountable for their victimization, which keeps our streets safer and really helps society overall.”
In this way, these canine-handler teams are critical to the Bureau’s efforts to crush violent crime, defend the homeland, and rebuild public trust.
Following in unparalleled paw prints
The FBI’s inaugural crisis response canines, Wally and Gio, joined the Bureau in October 2015 after their ADW training.
“Early on, the mission of the program really was to leverage the canine-human bond to mitigate stress and anxiety of victims following mass violence incidents,” said Melody, who was paired with Gio in what became one of the Bureau’s first crisis response canine teams.
“Soon after that, we branched out, and we started providing support to critical incidents and violent crime. So, that means Gio and Wally would assist across all threat programs in the Bureau. And that could look like court support, forensic interviews, briefings, hostage reunifications, and so on.”
The December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, marked their first deployment to a mass violence incident. The canines and their handlers went on to support victims in the wake of eight additional mass violence incidents—including the Pulse nightclub, Parkland, and Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shootings.
But they’ve also supported victims in other settings. Notably, Gio and Wally became the first two facility dogs to ever support victims in a courtroom setting.
Protesters parade through the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans as part of the nationwide No Kings protest against President Donald Trump, on June 14, 2025. Patt Little/Anadolu via Getty Images
In the last few months, large numbers of anti-Trump protesters have come out in the streets across the U.S., on occasions like the April 5 Hands Off protests against safety net budget cuts and government downsizing. Many of those protesters assert they are protecting American democracy.
The Trump administration has decried these protesters and the concept of protest more generally, with the president recently calling protesters “troublemakers, agitators, insurrectionists.” A few days before the June 14 military parade in Washington, President Donald Trump said of potential protesters: “this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
As co-director of the Crowd Counting Consortium, which compiles information on each day’s protests in the U.S., I understand that protests sometimes can advance the goals of the protest movement. They also can shape the goals and behavior of federal or state governments and their leaders.
Opportunity for expressing or suppressing democracy
Protests are an expression of democracy, bolstered by the right to free speech and “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
At the same time, clamping down on protests is one way to rebut challenges to government policies and power.
Widespread, well-attended demonstrations can represent a mass movement in favor of democracy or other issues as well as serve as an opportunity to expand participation even further. Large events often lead to significant press coverage and plenty of social media posting. The protests may heighten protesters’ emotional connection to the movement and increase fundraising and membership numbers of sponsoring organizations.
Though it is not an ironclad law, research shows that when at least 3.5% of the total population is involved in a demonstration, protesters usually prevail over their governments. That included the Chilean movement in the 1980s that toppled longtime dictator Augusto Pinochet. Chileans used not only massive demonstrations but also a wide array of creative tactics like a coordinated slowdown of driving and walking, neighbors banging pots outside homes simultaneously, and singing together.
Protests are rarely only about protesting. Organizers usually seek to involve participants in many other activities, whether that is contacting their elected officials, writing letters to the editor, registering to vote or running a food drive to help vulnerable populations.
In this way of thinking, participation in a major street protest like No Kings is a gateway into deeper activism.
Risks and opportunities
Of course, protest leaders cannot control everyone in or adjacent to the movement.
Other protesters with a different agenda, or agitators of any sort, can insert themselves into a movement and use confrontational tactics like violence against property or law enforcement.
In one prominent example from Los Angeles, someone set several self-driving cars on fire. Other Los Angeles examples included some protesters’ throwing things like water bottles at officers or engaging in vandalism. Police officers also use coercive measures such as firing chemical irritants and pepper balls at protesters.
When leaders want to concentrate executive power and establish an autocracy, where they rule with absolute power, protests against those moves could lead to a mass rejection of the leader’s plans. That is what national protest groups like 50501 and Indivisible are hoping for and why they aimed to turn out millions of people at the No Kings protests on June 14.
But while the Trump administration faces risks from protests, it also may see opportunities.
Misrepresenting and quashing dissent
Protests can serve as a justification for a nascent autocrat to further undermine democratic practices and institutions.
Take the recent demonstrations in Los Angeles protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Autocrats seek to politicize independent institutions like the armed forces. The Los Angeles protests offered the opportunity for that. Trump sent troops from the California National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to contain the protests. That domestic deployment of the military is rare but not unheard of in U.S. history.
And the deployment was ordered against the backdrop of the president’s partisan June 10 speech at a U.S. military base in North Carolina. The military personnel in attendance cheered and applauded many of Trump’s political statements. Both the speech and audience reactions to it appeared to violate the U.S. military norm of nonpartisanship.
This deployment of military personnel in a U.S. city also dovetails with the expansion of executive power characteristic of autocratic leaders. It is rare that presidents call up the National Guard; the Guard is traditionally under the control of the state governor.
The contrast on June 14 was striking. In Washington, D.C., Trump reviewed a parade of troops, tanks and planes, leaning into a display of American military power.
At the same time, from rainy Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to sweltering Yuma, Arizona, millions of protesters embraced their First Amendment rights to oppose the president. It perfectly illustrated the dynamic driving deep political division today: the executive concentrating power while a sizable segment of the people resist.
Jeremy Pressman 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.
Protesters parade through the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans as part of the nationwide No Kings protest against President Donald Trump, on June 14, 2025. Patt Little/Anadolu via Getty Images
In the last few months, large numbers of anti-Trump protesters have come out in the streets across the U.S., on occasions like the April 5 Hands Off protests against safety net budget cuts and government downsizing. Many of those protesters assert they are protecting American democracy.
The Trump administration has decried these protesters and the concept of protest more generally, with the president recently calling protesters “troublemakers, agitators, insurrectionists.” A few days before the June 14 military parade in Washington, President Donald Trump said of potential protesters: “this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
As co-director of the Crowd Counting Consortium, which compiles information on each day’s protests in the U.S., I understand that protests sometimes can advance the goals of the protest movement. They also can shape the goals and behavior of federal or state governments and their leaders.
Opportunity for expressing or suppressing democracy
Protests are an expression of democracy, bolstered by the right to free speech and “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
At the same time, clamping down on protests is one way to rebut challenges to government policies and power.
Widespread, well-attended demonstrations can represent a mass movement in favor of democracy or other issues as well as serve as an opportunity to expand participation even further. Large events often lead to significant press coverage and plenty of social media posting. The protests may heighten protesters’ emotional connection to the movement and increase fundraising and membership numbers of sponsoring organizations.
Though it is not an ironclad law, research shows that when at least 3.5% of the total population is involved in a demonstration, protesters usually prevail over their governments. That included the Chilean movement in the 1980s that toppled longtime dictator Augusto Pinochet. Chileans used not only massive demonstrations but also a wide array of creative tactics like a coordinated slowdown of driving and walking, neighbors banging pots outside homes simultaneously, and singing together.
Protests are rarely only about protesting. Organizers usually seek to involve participants in many other activities, whether that is contacting their elected officials, writing letters to the editor, registering to vote or running a food drive to help vulnerable populations.
In this way of thinking, participation in a major street protest like No Kings is a gateway into deeper activism.
Risks and opportunities
Of course, protest leaders cannot control everyone in or adjacent to the movement.
Other protesters with a different agenda, or agitators of any sort, can insert themselves into a movement and use confrontational tactics like violence against property or law enforcement.
In one prominent example from Los Angeles, someone set several self-driving cars on fire. Other Los Angeles examples included some protesters’ throwing things like water bottles at officers or engaging in vandalism. Police officers also use coercive measures such as firing chemical irritants and pepper balls at protesters.
When leaders want to concentrate executive power and establish an autocracy, where they rule with absolute power, protests against those moves could lead to a mass rejection of the leader’s plans. That is what national protest groups like 50501 and Indivisible are hoping for and why they aimed to turn out millions of people at the No Kings protests on June 14.
But while the Trump administration faces risks from protests, it also may see opportunities.
Misrepresenting and quashing dissent
Protests can serve as a justification for a nascent autocrat to further undermine democratic practices and institutions.
Take the recent demonstrations in Los Angeles protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Autocrats seek to politicize independent institutions like the armed forces. The Los Angeles protests offered the opportunity for that. Trump sent troops from the California National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to contain the protests. That domestic deployment of the military is rare but not unheard of in U.S. history.
And the deployment was ordered against the backdrop of the president’s partisan June 10 speech at a U.S. military base in North Carolina. The military personnel in attendance cheered and applauded many of Trump’s political statements. Both the speech and audience reactions to it appeared to violate the U.S. military norm of nonpartisanship.
This deployment of military personnel in a U.S. city also dovetails with the expansion of executive power characteristic of autocratic leaders. It is rare that presidents call up the National Guard; the Guard is traditionally under the control of the state governor.
The contrast on June 14 was striking. In Washington, D.C., Trump reviewed a parade of troops, tanks and planes, leaning into a display of American military power.
At the same time, from rainy Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to sweltering Yuma, Arizona, millions of protesters embraced their First Amendment rights to oppose the president. It perfectly illustrated the dynamic driving deep political division today: the executive concentrating power while a sizable segment of the people resist.
Jeremy Pressman 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.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Oliver Schmidtke, Professor, Director of the Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria
In response to a report on the virulence of antisemitism in Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently cast the blame on attitudes held by immigrants.
Merz stated in a Fox News interview that Germany has “imported antisemitism with the big numbers of migrants we have within the last 10 years.”
Merz is pointing to a real and pressing issue. Yet his emphasis on so-called “imported antisemitism” serves as a convenient diversion from Germany’s persistent failure to confront home-grown antisemitism.
His remarks also risk emboldening those who weaponize antisemitism as a rhetorical tool to fuel anti-immigrant sentiments.
Antisemitism in Germany
Antisemitic incidents in Germany have been on the rise since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and the subsequent war in Gaza.
According to a survey by the Research and Information Centre on Antisemitism (RIAS), antisemitic occurrences rose by more than 80 per cent in 2023. That year, 4,782 occurrences were documented, the highest number since the organization began tracking such cases in 2017.
However, RIAS’s most recent report found that the primary motive behind antisemitic crimes remained right-wing extremist ideology (48 per cent). It also noted that, since 2023, there has been a marked increase in incidents attributed to “foreign ideology.” These are understood as originating outside Germany and often linked to Islamist or anti-Israel sentiments, which accounted for 31 per cent of cases in 2024.
It should be noted that RIAS’s approach to classifying antisemitism has been subject to controversy, especially with regard to its treatment of criticism of or protest against the Israeli government’s actions.
The ‘imported antisemitism’ narrative
A recent survey of antisemitic attitudes among immigrants in Germany found that such attitudes are more prevalent among Muslim respondents compared to their Christian or religiously unaffiliated counterparts. The study revealed particularly high levels of antisemitism among individuals from the Middle East and North Africa.
Approximately 35 per cent of Muslim respondents — especially those with strong religious convictions and lower levels of formal education — “strongly agreed with classical antisemitic statements.” These statements reflect classical antisemitic tropes, such as attributing too much influence over politics or finance to Jews, accusing Jews of driving the world into disaster or relativizing the Holocaust.
At the same time, there is evidence that immigrants successfully integrating into German society is associated with lower levels of antisemitism.
Yet blaming a rise in antisemitism on “imported” attitudes or “foreign ideologies” signals a crude simplification. Antisemitism has remained prevalent in German society even after the Second World War, and political movements or leaders can easily mobilize it.
Although Holocaust education is mandatory in German schools, knowledge about the Shoah and the legacy of antisemitism remains limited among younger generations. A recent study by the Jewish Claims Conference found that among Germans aged 18 to 29, around 40 per cent were not aware that approximately six million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators.
According to a 2023 MEMO survey, more than 50 per cent of 14- to 16-year-old students in Germany did not know what Auschwitz was.
Blaming immigrants for challenges in Germany’s memory culture oversimplifies a deeper issue: the growing difficulty of making the country’s dominant remembrance — centred on the horrors of the Nazi dictatorship and the Holocaust — politically meaningful and emotionally resonant for younger generations.
For many young Germans, the memory of the Holocaust feels increasingly remote, lacking the emotional immediacy that vanishing eyewitnesses once provided.
This problem is further exacerbated by the absence of innovative, impactful teaching capable of conveying the continued relevance of Holocaust memory and its political message.
In a 2023 article, American journalist Masha Gessen highlighted how Holocaust remembrance in Germany was becoming an elite-driven ritual, one that risks preventing a meaningful connection between its moral imperatives and today’s political realities.
The AfD has made it a central objective to challenge the primacy of Holocaust memory, calling for a U-turn in Germany’s remembrance culture.
Leading party members have labelled Holocaust memorials “monuments of shame,” reflecting the party’s broader effort to promote nationalist reinterpretations of history.
Furthermore, the AfD’s staunchly anti-immigrant stance exposes a fundamental flaw in the imported antisemitism narrative. Across Europe, populist right-wing movements have increasingly mobilized anti-Muslim rhetoric under the banner of defending so-called “Judeo-Christian values,” even as they simultaneously draw on classic antisemitic tropes targeting “globalist elites” and conspiratorial power structures.
This use of Jewish identity as a rhetorical weapon against Islam, while perpetuating antisemitism in other forms, reveals the deep contradictions and opportunism underlying imported antisemitism claims.
Blaming Muslim immigrants for the rise of antisemitism offers German political leaders a convenient excuse for their own failure to confront entrenched antisemitic beliefs within German society.
In addition, Holocaust remembrance can sometimes exclude immigrants. For example, Germany recently added questions about the Holocaust and Nazi crimes to its citizenship test, committing newcomers to its memory culture.
Research shows this kind of policy can have unintended effects. It can make immigrants feel excluded if they are seen as not fully sharing in “our” nation and “our” history. Given the universalist values it is meant to embody, the commemoration of the Holocaust can also serve to alienate immigrants from full cultural citizenship.
Framing antisemitism primarily as an imported problem risks strengthening those forces that actively seek to undermine and ignore Germany’s confrontation with its Nazi past.
Instead, what is needed is a more nuanced approach, one that bridges the divide between antiracist and anti-antisemitism efforts, and aligns more faithfully with the moral and political commitments that this collective memory is meant to uphold.
Oliver Schmidtke receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
JERUSALEM, June 15 (Xinhua) — At least six people were killed and 140 others were wounded in Iranian airstrikes on Israel early Sunday, Israeli authorities said.
Air raid sirens and explosions sent millions of people fleeing for shelters in dozens of cities across Israel, the military said in a statement.
A rocket hit a residential building in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, causing it to collapse. Another rocket hit a residential area in Rehovot, a city in central Israel, injuring dozens of people.
A police statement said at least two of the dead were children, adding that at least seven people were still missing.
Several buildings on the Weizmann Institute of Science campus in Rehovot were damaged by Iranian rocket fire, but there were no reports of casualties, the institute said in a statement.
At least 140 people were wounded in the two attacks, Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said, adding that the vast majority were lightly injured.
Also overnight, the death toll from a rocket attack on Tamra, an Arab town in Israel’s Northern District, on Saturday night rose to four, Magen David Adom reported. Among the dead were a mother, her two daughters and another relative. Dozens were injured.
On Sunday morning, the Israeli Air Force said it had intercepted seven drones launched toward northern and southern Israel in about an hour.
Israeli warplanes continued to strike targets in Iran overnight, including the capital Tehran, fuel tankers and suspected nuclear sites, the Israeli military said in a statement. A second wave of airstrikes targeted missile launchers and storage facilities in western Iran. –0–
TALLINN, Estonia, June 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitcoin Solaris (BTC-S), a next-generation blockchain built for speed, accessibility, and long-term sustainability, has officially entered the seventh phase of its token presale, with the public launch now just weeks away. With over $4.5 million already raised and more than 11,500 participants onboard, momentum is surging.
Final Opportunity Before Public Launch
The presale is currently in Phase 7’s last day, with BTC-S tokens priced at $7. The next presale phase will raise the price to $8, with a launch price set at $20. This structured pricing reflects strong demand and limited availability, given the project’s fixed supply of 21 million tokens—identical in scarcity to the original Bitcoin.
With fewer than eight weeks remaining before public launch, this is the last opportunity for early supporters to participate before BTC-S becomes tradable on major platforms.
A Scarcity-Driven Token Built for Scalability
Bitcoin Solaris takes the best parts of Bitcoin, the 21 million supply cap, and upgrades everything else. While Bitcoin transactions take about 10 minutes to finalize, Bitcoin Solaris pushes blocks every 15 seconds and confirms them in under 2 seconds.
This performance comes from a hybrid structure that combines a Proof-of-Work Base Layer with a high-throughput Delegated Proof-of-Stake Solaris Layer. This dual-consensus model:
Supports 10,000+ TPS
Slashes energy usage by over 99.95% compared to Bitcoin
Enables lightning-fast smart contract execution
Rotates validators based on weighted contribution and uptime
It’s the kind of blockchain performance that fits perfectly in a bull market narrative—fast, efficient, and decentralized.
Beyond the tech, Bitcoin Solaris backs its vision with powerful tokenomics. The hard cap of 21 million BTC-S tokens mirrors Bitcoin’s scarcity, but the utility goes far beyond holding.
Here’s how the tokenomics create upward pressure:
Tokens are required for staking, validating, and interacting with the ecosystem
No inflationary print cycles—only mined or earned tokens
The low total supply paired with strong use cases builds consistent demand
BTC-S isn’t just another asset to flip, it’s a network to participate in.
Referral-Driven Growth Fueling Viral Expansion
Bitcoin Solaris’s Double Rewards Referral Program is a major catalyst behind its exponential community growth. Here’s how it works:
Anyone who refers new investors earns 5% of their purchases in BTC-S tokens
New users who join via a referral also get 5% bonus tokens
All rewards are credited automatically via the user dashboard on bitcoinsolaris.com
This viral mechanic has powered over 11,500 users to join the presale in just weeks, turning BTC-S into one of the fastest-growing ecosystems of this cycle. The community is now spreading across Telegram and X, further accelerating its altcoin season momentum.
Presale Is Almost Over: The Window Is Closing
A detailed video review by 2Bit Crypto breaks down exactly why BTC-S is gaining this much traction—including its audit-approved smart contracts and high-performance infrastructure.
The Engine of Wealth in Altcoin Season
What sets Bitcoin Solaris apart in this altcoin season isn’t just hype—it’s architecture. By allowing anyone to participate in mining from a laptop, browser, or upcoming mobile platform, it reduces barriers for earning crypto at scale.
Its validator reward structure balances decentralization and speed. Blocks are mined via Proof-of-Work, then delegated for verification in a DPoS layer with built-in slashing and validator rotation. This ensures fair payouts, lower risks, and a healthy ecosystem long-term.
Add in audits from Cyberscope and Freshcoins, and you’ve got one of the most technically complete altcoins on the rise.
Conclusion
Altcoin season is known for turning obscure projects into household names. With Bitcoin Solaris, we’re watching that transformation in real time. It blends Bitcoin’s scarcity with elite performance, DeFi-ready tokenomics, and viral growth mechanics. As the presale comes to a close, BTC-S is looking more and more like the best coin of this cycle.
Disclaimer:This is a paid post and is provided byBitcoin Solaris. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented.We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article.This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital.It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose.Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release.In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.
Legal Disclaimer:This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied.We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions.We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
CAIRO, June 15 (Xinhua) — Egypt has postponed the long-awaited grand opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) due to the escalation of military confrontation between Israel and Iran, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced Saturday.
Speaking at a press conference during a tour of the northern province of Beheira, Madbouly said the current regional climate was not conducive to hosting a major international event. The museum’s opening, originally scheduled for July 3, has now been postponed to the fourth quarter of this year.
“Tensions in the region could persist for several weeks,” Madbouly said. “We have concluded that the right decision is to postpone this major event so that it gains the right global momentum and takes place in the right atmosphere.”
He added that a new opening date will be announced depending on future developments in the region.
Madbouly also issued a stark warning about the wider implications of the Israeli-Iranian conflict, noting the growing risk of a wider confrontation in the Middle East.
Situated near the famous Giza pyramids and covering an area of almost 500,000 square meters, the Grand Egyptian Museum is considered the world’s largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilization. According to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, it will house some 57,000 artifacts. –0–
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
TEHRAN, June 15 (Xinhua) — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a “large-scale combined offensive operation” against Israel late on Saturday, using a large number of missiles and drones, the IRGC’s official Sepah News reported.
The IRGC’s aerospace unit carried out the attack, saying it was in response to Israel’s “repeated aggression” against Iran, Sepah reported.
A rocket hit a residential building in a northern community in Israel, killing one woman and wounding 13 others, the national emergency medical service Magen David Adom reported. Several others were moderately and lightly wounded, and four were treated for anxiety, the service said.
Earlier in the day, Magen David Adom reported that at least three people had been killed and 204 others wounded since the Iranian offensive began.
Following the latest wave of attacks, Israel’s Home Front Command advised residents outside Haifa and areas in the north of the country to leave bomb shelters but remain near secure areas.
The Israeli military said its air defense systems were actively intercepting incoming projectiles while Israeli Air Force units were striking military targets in Tehran.
Iran’s Oil Ministry confirmed that two oil depots in Tehran were damaged in the attacks. Residents reported two powerful explosions in the capital that were felt in both western and northern areas. The ministry said the situation was under control.
Meanwhile, Jordan temporarily closed its airspace late on Saturday as a precaution following a rocket attack from Iran. The country’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission said the move was taken to ensure the safety of civil aviation.
The Iranian offensive was in response to Israeli airstrikes early Friday in Tehran and several other cities. Iranian officials said the Israeli strikes killed several senior military commanders, nuclear scientists and dozens of civilians. –0–
President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated the Proteas on their historic victory in the International Cricket Council’s Test Championship, after five-wicket win over Australia at Lord’s, England, on Saturday.
South Africa beat Australia on the fourth day, through a superb team effort at the home of cricket.
“Your win is a major boost for cricket in South Africa, and you have inspired a new generation of cricketers. I call on the nation to come and greet the Cricket World Champions when they arrive back in the country this week,” the President said in a statement on Saturday.
The President described the win as being built around excellent performances by the batsmen in the second innings.
There was the brilliant batting by Aiden Markram who scored 136 and the captain, Temba Bavuma with his 66 runs.
Their match-winning partnership was pivotal in the team’s success.
The bowlers, led by Kagiso Rabada, also kept the pressure on the Australian batsmen and never allowed them to dominate.
“Coach Shukri Conrad, captain Bavuma and the team have done South Africa proud. They started the match as underdogs but that indomitable spirit, that is a characteristic of our nation, carried the team through. The Proteas underlined the importance of being focussed on the field and triumphed,” the President said. –SAnews.gov.za
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga, has welcomed the return of 249 South African troops who were deployed to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as part of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC).
The first group of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) heroes and heroines arrived at the Air Force Base Waterkloof in Pretoria on Friday from Tanzania, following South Africa’s phased withdrawal from the regional peacekeeping mission.
“The idea of seeing our soldiers in good spirits and genuinely excited to be home not only speaks volumes of their unwavering patriotism but is also a powerful expression of their steadfast commitment to defend the territorial integrity of the Republic and support its people – a constitutional mandate every member of the South African National Defence Force lives and serves by,” Motshekga said.
The withdrawal of the soldiers was announced by the Minister in May, following a “high level consultation with several role-players in the peacekeeping efforts within the eastern DRC”.
Earlier this year, 14 troop members lost their lives and others sustained injuries during clashes with the M23 rebel group, as fighting in the Goma region escalated.
The rebel group fought intensely against the Congolese armed forces, resulting in the deaths of soldiers from 23 to 27 January 2025 during M23’s advance on Sake and Goma.
The South African soldiers were part of the SAMIDRC, which aims to help restore peace, security, and stability in Africa’s second-largest country.
Motshekga noted that part of the meticulous withdrawal process includes safe retrieval of all Prime Mission Equipment (PME), which is currently underway.
“As stated by the Chief of the SANDF during our last media briefing on this matter, we shall not leave even a pin behind. All necessary logistical support will continue until the withdrawal is fully completed.
“We are fully aware that half the work is done in terms Prime Mission Equipment movement, hence we are working around the clock with our counterparts in the region to ensure that the process runs expeditiously with minimal logistical risks,” the Minister said.
She assured the people of South Africa that government will continue to provide the latest developments as the process unfolds.
“Our main focus from now on is to prioritise their standard procedure of demobilisation. This will include crucial psychosocial sessions, after which they will return to their respective units and, thereafter, be reunited with their families,” the Minister said.
Motshekga reaffirmed South Africa’s continued commitment to a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Southern African region. –SAnews.gov.za
Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)
SUVA, Fiji – Pacific Partnership has returned to Fiji to conduct the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster response preparedness mission in the Indo-Pacific region, June 8, 2025.
Pacific Partnership fosters collaboration to enhance natural disaster response preparedness and builds lasting relationships between Fiji, the United States, and participating nations. Engagements for this year’s iteration will occur in the cities of Suva and Nadi.
At Fiji’s invitation, Pacific Partnership’s mission is to collaborate in several humanitarian and civic readiness workshops in areas such as engineering, natural disaster response, public health, and Fijian community outreach projects. This year’s mission, featuring about 58 personnel, is primarily a collective effort between Fiji, New Zealand and the United States.
“I am honored to oversee this year’s return of Pacific Partnership to the nation of Fiji,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Mark B. Stefanik, mission commander. “The continued opportunity to build upon our enduring relationship with the Fijian community further emphasizes a shared support of a free and resilient Indo-Pacific.”
While in Fiji, the Pacific Partnership 2025 team will focus on subject-matter exchanges and community education in permaculture, spearhead emergency preparedness and disaster response training, and conduct the foundational construction of a local schoolhouse. Additionally, the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, accompanied by members of the Scots Guard, Royal Australian and Royal Canadian navies, will perform during a variety of community outreach engagements.
“We really appreciate Fiji welcoming us for Pacific Partnership 2025,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Gibson, Officer in Charge for the Fiji mission. “It’s awesome to be working alongside our Fijian counterparts, building a stronger, healthier, and more resilient Indo-Pacific together.”
Now in its 21st iteration, the Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kim Gurney, Senior Researcher, Centre for Humanities Research — Platform: SA-UK Bilateral Digital Humanities Chair in Culture & Technics, University of the Western Cape
Independent art spaces are collectives of artists (and others) who club together to set up a communal space – often in former industrial sites and more affordable parts of the city – to further their practice. These spaces are DIY art institutions, if you like, that operate largely under the radar. In art world lingo, “offspaces”.
Designed for purpose over profit, they encourage experimental work and creative risk-taking. They also favour art in public space, which provides an intriguing lens on the city.
My Africa-wideresearch took me to five such spaces, each at least 10 years old, so that I could learn their secret sauce of sustainability. I found it’s largely about shapeshifting, a capacity for constant reinvention. The key ingredient is artistic thinking, made up of five key principles highlighted in the examples below.
Offspaces are found everywhere but have notably grown across Africa over the past couple of decades, along with fast-changing cities and a resurgent art scene. One big picture point is crucial, and that’s about urbanisation. Globally, more and more people are moving to cities and most of them are young – by 2050, one in three young people in the world will be of African origin and the continent will be largely urban.
There can be a lack of imagination about what all this means and that’s where artists come in. They offer new ideas to help build the world we want to live in, rather than reinforce the one we already have.
Offspaces in Africa have to navigate prevailing uncertainty, which is a daily reality for most people living in cities. In response, artists band together to build their own pseudo institutions, bit by bit. These self-made pathways offer useful navigational tactics for others – or “panya routes”, as Kenyans call the trails that motorbike taxis invent.
The spaces I visited were all moving away from reliance on foreign donor funding (given little or no state support) towards a hybrid model that blends with local philanthropy, collaborative economies and self-generated income schemes. They also want to own their own land and hold assets so that they can think about the future.
1. The GoDown Arts Centre – Nairobi, Kenya
Murals at the former GoDown (2010), currently being rebuilt. Katy Fentress/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
The GoDown Arts Centre was established in 2003. Previously a large compound of repurposed warehouses (“godowns”) in Nairobi’s industrial area, right now it’s a construction site as it morphs into an iconic cultural hub. GoDown 2.0 is a multipurpose vision that works at different scales, like a fractal. There will be a large, welcoming facade leading into a semi-public section for music and dance, with artist studios at the heart. Plus galleries, library, museum, auditorium, offices, hotel, a restaurant, conference facilities and parking.
Its rebuild is a great example of how artists create public space: in phases. It follows a radical “design-with-people” approach, starting with years of input from all directions to reconsider the building and its relationship to the city.
This ground-up ethos of horizontality, the first key principle, also shapes its signature event, an annual public arts festival called Nai Ni Who? (Who is Nairobi?). Local residents are the curators, and the everyday city is the artwork. Participants are taken around neighbourhoods on foot to experience the good, the bad, and the possibilities. These grounded insights also inform ongoing engagements GoDown has with policymakers about the shape of a future Nairobi.
2. ANO Institute – Accra, Ghana
ANO, established in 2002, repurposed a former workshop for car repairs into a gallery, after starting life in a public park. On the other side of the road, opposite the gallery, stood its office, residency space and growing library.
Most intriguingly, a striking rectilinear structure was positioned alongside. This Mobile Museum mimics the trading kiosks that line every street. Many are also shapeshifters: kindergarten by day, church by night, for example.
ANO’s empty museum, collapsible and see-through, went on a countrywide adventure in 2018 and 2019, asking people to imagine its contents, and later revisited with the results. It signalled a larger and ongoing effort, Future Museum, to find a more relevant exhibition form that’s alive to the fluid way culture is threaded here into everyday life.
ANO demonstrates the second principle of performativity – that is, not only saying things with art but doing things too. More recently, it rebuilt on a new site in central Accra, designed by 87-year-old Ophelia Akiwumi, entirely from raffia palm in a focus on indigenous knowledge systems.
3. Townhouse Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
I visited Townhouse just after it reclaimed its inner-city premises following a partial physical collapse. But this turned out to be a false restart. It closed for good not long after, citing a complex brew of factors that ended 21 years of various battles and resurrections. That it survived so long – from 1998 until 2019 – is remarkable for an offspace.
Part of the reason was its solidarity networks, including with neighbourhood communities – mostly mechanic shops and other artisanal trades who even helped Townhouse rebuild. In its heyday, Townhouse comprised an art gallery, library, theatre and performance venue, and notably hatched other spaces.
The latest rose like a phoenix from its ashes – Access Art Space, which reanimates the same physical space with visual art exhibitions. The legacy of Townhouse is the third principle of elasticity – responding nimbly to constant flux but also being able to refuse impossible conditions with “the right no” (a necessary response in certain situations).
4. ZOMA Museum – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ZOMA Museum has also lived many lives. Starting small, its roots were in a three-day public arts festival called Giziawi #1 (Temporary). It comprised performances and exhibitions across the city but focused on Meskel Square, a key public space.
Zoma Contemporary Art Centre grew out of that in 2002, followed in 2019 by Zoma Museum when its co-founders bought a plot of polluted land. Its rehabilitation into an ecological haven has become a case study in sustainable architecture.
Zoma is built by local artisans from mud and straw using indigenous technologies going back centuries. Yet its elegant buildings look futuristic. Zoma is all about the fourth principle of convergence – the past, present and future all happening at once. It’s also about doing multiple things, like running Zoma School, an inherited kindergarten. The land is part of the curriculum.
Just a year after it opened, Zoma spawned yet another life, an offshoot in a newly opened park blending nature with culture and recreation.
5. Nafasi Art Space – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Nafasi is Swahili for opportunity or chance, which fittingly describes the workings of Nafasi Art Space, established in 2008 – that is, second chance. This fifth and final principle of artistic thinking means giving materials, people and situations another go.
A good example of this is Nafasi’s new art school, built using repurposed shipping containers, like the rest of its premises – artist studios, a spacious gallery and performance arena. In the 2022 academy cohort, a general practice lawyer and an accountant were learning alongside artists, with a biologist at the helm.
Nafasi Art Academy cites the city’s biggest local market, Kariakoo, as design reference, particularly its distinctive elevated canopy and swirling stairwell. The curriculum also takes local context as a starting point, structured in themes to answer community-led questions. Its key function, like all the other offspaces, is storytelling. And the story it tells best is about institution-building as art.
The research behind this article was supported by the South African Research Chair in Urban Policy at UCT’s African Centre for Cities, where the author was previously affiliated.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kim Gurney, Senior Researcher, Centre for Humanities Research — Platform: SA-UK Bilateral Digital Humanities Chair in Culture & Technics, University of the Western Cape
Independent art spaces are collectives of artists (and others) who club together to set up a communal space – often in former industrial sites and more affordable parts of the city – to further their practice. These spaces are DIY art institutions, if you like, that operate largely under the radar. In art world lingo, “offspaces”.
Designed for purpose over profit, they encourage experimental work and creative risk-taking. They also favour art in public space, which provides an intriguing lens on the city.
My Africa-wideresearch took me to five such spaces, each at least 10 years old, so that I could learn their secret sauce of sustainability. I found it’s largely about shapeshifting, a capacity for constant reinvention. The key ingredient is artistic thinking, made up of five key principles highlighted in the examples below.
Offspaces are found everywhere but have notably grown across Africa over the past couple of decades, along with fast-changing cities and a resurgent art scene. One big picture point is crucial, and that’s about urbanisation. Globally, more and more people are moving to cities and most of them are young – by 2050, one in three young people in the world will be of African origin and the continent will be largely urban.
There can be a lack of imagination about what all this means and that’s where artists come in. They offer new ideas to help build the world we want to live in, rather than reinforce the one we already have.
Offspaces in Africa have to navigate prevailing uncertainty, which is a daily reality for most people living in cities. In response, artists band together to build their own pseudo institutions, bit by bit. These self-made pathways offer useful navigational tactics for others – or “panya routes”, as Kenyans call the trails that motorbike taxis invent.
The spaces I visited were all moving away from reliance on foreign donor funding (given little or no state support) towards a hybrid model that blends with local philanthropy, collaborative economies and self-generated income schemes. They also want to own their own land and hold assets so that they can think about the future.
1. The GoDown Arts Centre – Nairobi, Kenya
Murals at the former GoDown (2010), currently being rebuilt. Katy Fentress/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
The GoDown Arts Centre was established in 2003. Previously a large compound of repurposed warehouses (“godowns”) in Nairobi’s industrial area, right now it’s a construction site as it morphs into an iconic cultural hub. GoDown 2.0 is a multipurpose vision that works at different scales, like a fractal. There will be a large, welcoming facade leading into a semi-public section for music and dance, with artist studios at the heart. Plus galleries, library, museum, auditorium, offices, hotel, a restaurant, conference facilities and parking.
Its rebuild is a great example of how artists create public space: in phases. It follows a radical “design-with-people” approach, starting with years of input from all directions to reconsider the building and its relationship to the city.
This ground-up ethos of horizontality, the first key principle, also shapes its signature event, an annual public arts festival called Nai Ni Who? (Who is Nairobi?). Local residents are the curators, and the everyday city is the artwork. Participants are taken around neighbourhoods on foot to experience the good, the bad, and the possibilities. These grounded insights also inform ongoing engagements GoDown has with policymakers about the shape of a future Nairobi.
2. ANO Institute – Accra, Ghana
ANO, established in 2002, repurposed a former workshop for car repairs into a gallery, after starting life in a public park. On the other side of the road, opposite the gallery, stood its office, residency space and growing library.
Most intriguingly, a striking rectilinear structure was positioned alongside. This Mobile Museum mimics the trading kiosks that line every street. Many are also shapeshifters: kindergarten by day, church by night, for example.
ANO’s empty museum, collapsible and see-through, went on a countrywide adventure in 2018 and 2019, asking people to imagine its contents, and later revisited with the results. It signalled a larger and ongoing effort, Future Museum, to find a more relevant exhibition form that’s alive to the fluid way culture is threaded here into everyday life.
ANO demonstrates the second principle of performativity – that is, not only saying things with art but doing things too. More recently, it rebuilt on a new site in central Accra, designed by 87-year-old Ophelia Akiwumi, entirely from raffia palm in a focus on indigenous knowledge systems.
3. Townhouse Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
I visited Townhouse just after it reclaimed its inner-city premises following a partial physical collapse. But this turned out to be a false restart. It closed for good not long after, citing a complex brew of factors that ended 21 years of various battles and resurrections. That it survived so long – from 1998 until 2019 – is remarkable for an offspace.
Part of the reason was its solidarity networks, including with neighbourhood communities – mostly mechanic shops and other artisanal trades who even helped Townhouse rebuild. In its heyday, Townhouse comprised an art gallery, library, theatre and performance venue, and notably hatched other spaces.
The latest rose like a phoenix from its ashes – Access Art Space, which reanimates the same physical space with visual art exhibitions. The legacy of Townhouse is the third principle of elasticity – responding nimbly to constant flux but also being able to refuse impossible conditions with “the right no” (a necessary response in certain situations).
4. ZOMA Museum – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ZOMA Museum has also lived many lives. Starting small, its roots were in a three-day public arts festival called Giziawi #1 (Temporary). It comprised performances and exhibitions across the city but focused on Meskel Square, a key public space.
Zoma Contemporary Art Centre grew out of that in 2002, followed in 2019 by Zoma Museum when its co-founders bought a plot of polluted land. Its rehabilitation into an ecological haven has become a case study in sustainable architecture.
Zoma is built by local artisans from mud and straw using indigenous technologies going back centuries. Yet its elegant buildings look futuristic. Zoma is all about the fourth principle of convergence – the past, present and future all happening at once. It’s also about doing multiple things, like running Zoma School, an inherited kindergarten. The land is part of the curriculum.
Just a year after it opened, Zoma spawned yet another life, an offshoot in a newly opened park blending nature with culture and recreation.
5. Nafasi Art Space – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Nafasi is Swahili for opportunity or chance, which fittingly describes the workings of Nafasi Art Space, established in 2008 – that is, second chance. This fifth and final principle of artistic thinking means giving materials, people and situations another go.
A good example of this is Nafasi’s new art school, built using repurposed shipping containers, like the rest of its premises – artist studios, a spacious gallery and performance arena. In the 2022 academy cohort, a general practice lawyer and an accountant were learning alongside artists, with a biologist at the helm.
Nafasi Art Academy cites the city’s biggest local market, Kariakoo, as design reference, particularly its distinctive elevated canopy and swirling stairwell. The curriculum also takes local context as a starting point, structured in themes to answer community-led questions. Its key function, like all the other offspaces, is storytelling. And the story it tells best is about institution-building as art.
The research behind this article was supported by the South African Research Chair in Urban Policy at UCT’s African Centre for Cities, where the author was previously affiliated.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Seth Asare Okyere, Visiting lecturer, University of Pittsburg and Adjunct Associate Professor, Osaka University, University of Pittsburgh
Africa’s urban future will be shaped not only by large cities and capitals but also by its many small and medium-sized towns.
Large capital cities are no longer the hotspots of rapid urban growth. According to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat), small and medium-sized towns are growing faster than large cities. These smaller towns often start as rural settlements.
Despite their rapid growth, many small towns lack infrastructure and planning capacity, leaving them vulnerable to environmental risks.
Ghana offers a telling example. While the spotlight is often on the rapid growth of the two major cities, Accra or Kumasi, dozens of smaller towns across the country are booming. At the same time, they are struggling with environmental problems such as decline in green spaces, flooding and pollution, usually associated with much larger cities.
Our research examined this issue, arguing that overlooking small towns has put them on an unsustainable path. In Ghana, small towns often “rest in the shadows” of bigger cities when it comes to resource distribution and development priorities. They receive less funding, fewer services, and scant regulatory oversight compared to major urban centres.
We conducted research in Somanya, Ghana. It lies in the eastern region, about 70km from Accra, the national capital. Our aim was to establish whether emerging sites of urbanisation like Somanya were developing in ways that made them sustainable, or replicating environmental problems seen in large cities.
To identify the drivers of environmental risks in the town, we used geographic information data and interviewed residents, institutional representatives and local assembly members.
We found that the urban growth of Somanya was linked with a decline in vegetation cover and loss of biodiversity. The main factors at play were: pollution from mining, political neglect, and lack of infrastructure facilities and services.
We concluded that current realities pointed towards unsustainable futures where environmental problems will become pronounced and the impacts on everyday life will be destructive. Based on our findings we recommend that Ghana’s national urban sustainable development policies and international development programmes must not fixate solely on big cities. Small towns require attention and investment commensurate with their growth.
Environmental risks in a rapidly growing small town
Somanya’s population grew from 88,000 people in 2010 to over 122,000 by 2021. The proportion of the municipality’s population living in urban areas jumped from 31% to 47% in that period.
Local leaders and officials we interviewed painted a worrying picture of a town rapidly growing without proactive environmental planning, grappling with multiple hazards at once.
Declining ecological resources: Rapid expansion has led to the loss of green spaces and forests around Somanya. Hillsides that used to be covered with vegetation have been cleared for large mango plantations or speculative estate development. This situation has made the area more prone to erosion and flash floods. One community elder observed:
The trees on the hills are almost all gone now. Without those natural buffers, flooding has become more frequent and severe, threatening homes built in low-lying areas.
Pollution and toxicity from industry: Somanya’s growth has attracted extractive industries, notably stone quarries and small-scale mining. These bring jobs, but also environmental hazards. Residents described clouds of dust hanging over communities near a quarry. There are also reports of chemical runoff polluting local streams and soil. Heavy dust and particulate pollution have become part of daily life, and people worry about the health effects. One resident said:
The dusty conditions are not only an infrastructure problem, but also an environmental risk for us, especially if you have underlying health conditions.
Strained and inadequate infrastructure: Basic environmental infrastructure in Somanya has not kept pace with its growth. The town’s drains and gutters are few and often clogged, so even moderate rainstorms result in street flooding. Proper sewage and waste treatment facilities are non-existent. Piles of uncollected refuse are commonly seen, sometimes burnt in the open, posing health risks. One community leader remarked that:
It is only when there’s a major flood or disaster outbreak that they pay us attention.
These infrastructure deficits mean that as the town grows, so do the environmental health risks – from water-borne diseases to flooding and pollution.
Governance lapses and political indifference: Underlying many of these problems is a sense of neglect and weak institutional capacity. Local authorities in Somanya operate with limited funding and fragmented responsibilities, and higher-level support from the central government is minimal. As an Assembly member put it:
We live in a constant state of perpetual waiting for the crumbs after big cities have taken their lion’s share of available funding. If you are not connected to the ruling party, it’s hard to get the support you need.
All these factors put small towns on a path to unsustainable futures.
Steering towards sustainable urban futures
Our research highlights the need to adopt a cross-sector, integrated approach to environmental planning at the local level. In practice, that means urban planners, environmental agencies, and community leaders all working together on development plans. For example, in Koa Hill settlement, Solomon Islands, a community-led development team with support from local groups and university experts led to the successful pilot of nature-inspired disaster risk reduction programmes.
Therefore, communities should be involved in co-designing solutions, from problem identification to experimenting strategies and evaluating outcomes. After all, residents know the local risks and resources best.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Seth Asare Okyere, Visiting lecturer, University of Pittsburg and Adjunct Associate Professor, Osaka University, University of Pittsburgh
Africa’s urban future will be shaped not only by large cities and capitals but also by its many small and medium-sized towns.
Large capital cities are no longer the hotspots of rapid urban growth. According to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat), small and medium-sized towns are growing faster than large cities. These smaller towns often start as rural settlements.
Despite their rapid growth, many small towns lack infrastructure and planning capacity, leaving them vulnerable to environmental risks.
Ghana offers a telling example. While the spotlight is often on the rapid growth of the two major cities, Accra or Kumasi, dozens of smaller towns across the country are booming. At the same time, they are struggling with environmental problems such as decline in green spaces, flooding and pollution, usually associated with much larger cities.
Our research examined this issue, arguing that overlooking small towns has put them on an unsustainable path. In Ghana, small towns often “rest in the shadows” of bigger cities when it comes to resource distribution and development priorities. They receive less funding, fewer services, and scant regulatory oversight compared to major urban centres.
We conducted research in Somanya, Ghana. It lies in the eastern region, about 70km from Accra, the national capital. Our aim was to establish whether emerging sites of urbanisation like Somanya were developing in ways that made them sustainable, or replicating environmental problems seen in large cities.
To identify the drivers of environmental risks in the town, we used geographic information data and interviewed residents, institutional representatives and local assembly members.
We found that the urban growth of Somanya was linked with a decline in vegetation cover and loss of biodiversity. The main factors at play were: pollution from mining, political neglect, and lack of infrastructure facilities and services.
We concluded that current realities pointed towards unsustainable futures where environmental problems will become pronounced and the impacts on everyday life will be destructive. Based on our findings we recommend that Ghana’s national urban sustainable development policies and international development programmes must not fixate solely on big cities. Small towns require attention and investment commensurate with their growth.
Environmental risks in a rapidly growing small town
Somanya’s population grew from 88,000 people in 2010 to over 122,000 by 2021. The proportion of the municipality’s population living in urban areas jumped from 31% to 47% in that period.
Local leaders and officials we interviewed painted a worrying picture of a town rapidly growing without proactive environmental planning, grappling with multiple hazards at once.
Declining ecological resources: Rapid expansion has led to the loss of green spaces and forests around Somanya. Hillsides that used to be covered with vegetation have been cleared for large mango plantations or speculative estate development. This situation has made the area more prone to erosion and flash floods. One community elder observed:
The trees on the hills are almost all gone now. Without those natural buffers, flooding has become more frequent and severe, threatening homes built in low-lying areas.
Pollution and toxicity from industry: Somanya’s growth has attracted extractive industries, notably stone quarries and small-scale mining. These bring jobs, but also environmental hazards. Residents described clouds of dust hanging over communities near a quarry. There are also reports of chemical runoff polluting local streams and soil. Heavy dust and particulate pollution have become part of daily life, and people worry about the health effects. One resident said:
The dusty conditions are not only an infrastructure problem, but also an environmental risk for us, especially if you have underlying health conditions.
Strained and inadequate infrastructure: Basic environmental infrastructure in Somanya has not kept pace with its growth. The town’s drains and gutters are few and often clogged, so even moderate rainstorms result in street flooding. Proper sewage and waste treatment facilities are non-existent. Piles of uncollected refuse are commonly seen, sometimes burnt in the open, posing health risks. One community leader remarked that:
It is only when there’s a major flood or disaster outbreak that they pay us attention.
These infrastructure deficits mean that as the town grows, so do the environmental health risks – from water-borne diseases to flooding and pollution.
Governance lapses and political indifference: Underlying many of these problems is a sense of neglect and weak institutional capacity. Local authorities in Somanya operate with limited funding and fragmented responsibilities, and higher-level support from the central government is minimal. As an Assembly member put it:
We live in a constant state of perpetual waiting for the crumbs after big cities have taken their lion’s share of available funding. If you are not connected to the ruling party, it’s hard to get the support you need.
All these factors put small towns on a path to unsustainable futures.
Steering towards sustainable urban futures
Our research highlights the need to adopt a cross-sector, integrated approach to environmental planning at the local level. In practice, that means urban planners, environmental agencies, and community leaders all working together on development plans. For example, in Koa Hill settlement, Solomon Islands, a community-led development team with support from local groups and university experts led to the successful pilot of nature-inspired disaster risk reduction programmes.
Therefore, communities should be involved in co-designing solutions, from problem identification to experimenting strategies and evaluating outcomes. After all, residents know the local risks and resources best.
– Small towns are growing fast across Ghana – but environmental planning isn’t keeping up – https://theconversation.com/small-towns-are-growing-fast-across-ghana-but-environmental-planning-isnt-keeping-up-257766
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kim Gurney, Senior Researcher, Centre for Humanities Research — Platform: SA-UK Bilateral Digital Humanities Chair in Culture & Technics, University of the Western Cape
Independent art spaces are collectives of artists (and others) who club together to set up a communal space – often in former industrial sites and more affordable parts of the city – to further their practice. These spaces are DIY art institutions, if you like, that operate largely under the radar. In art world lingo, “offspaces”.
Designed for purpose over profit, they encourage experimental work and creative risk-taking. They also favour art in public space, which provides an intriguing lens on the city.
My Africa-wideresearch took me to five such spaces, each at least 10 years old, so that I could learn their secret sauce of sustainability. I found it’s largely about shapeshifting, a capacity for constant reinvention. The key ingredient is artistic thinking, made up of five key principles highlighted in the examples below.
Offspaces are found everywhere but have notably grown across Africa over the past couple of decades, along with fast-changing cities and a resurgent art scene. One big picture point is crucial, and that’s about urbanisation. Globally, more and more people are moving to cities and most of them are young – by 2050, one in three young people in the world will be of African origin and the continent will be largely urban.
There can be a lack of imagination about what all this means and that’s where artists come in. They offer new ideas to help build the world we want to live in, rather than reinforce the one we already have.
Offspaces in Africa have to navigate prevailing uncertainty, which is a daily reality for most people living in cities. In response, artists band together to build their own pseudo institutions, bit by bit. These self-made pathways offer useful navigational tactics for others – or “panya routes”, as Kenyans call the trails that motorbike taxis invent.
The spaces I visited were all moving away from reliance on foreign donor funding (given little or no state support) towards a hybrid model that blends with local philanthropy, collaborative economies and self-generated income schemes. They also want to own their own land and hold assets so that they can think about the future.
1. The GoDown Arts Centre – Nairobi, Kenya
Murals at the former GoDown (2010), currently being rebuilt.Katy Fentress/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
The GoDown Arts Centre was established in 2003. Previously a large compound of repurposed warehouses (“godowns”) in Nairobi’s industrial area, right now it’s a construction site as it morphs into an iconic cultural hub. GoDown 2.0 is a multipurpose vision that works at different scales, like a fractal. There will be a large, welcoming facade leading into a semi-public section for music and dance, with artist studios at the heart. Plus galleries, library, museum, auditorium, offices, hotel, a restaurant, conference facilities and parking.
Its rebuild is a great example of how artists create public space: in phases. It follows a radical “design-with-people” approach, starting with years of input from all directions to reconsider the building and its relationship to the city.
This ground-up ethos of horizontality, the first key principle, also shapes its signature event, an annual public arts festival called Nai Ni Who? (Who is Nairobi?). Local residents are the curators, and the everyday city is the artwork. Participants are taken around neighbourhoods on foot to experience the good, the bad, and the possibilities. These grounded insights also inform ongoing engagements GoDown has with policymakers about the shape of a future Nairobi.
2. ANO Institute – Accra, Ghana
ANO Institute’s Mobile Museum in Accra.Kim Gurney
ANO, established in 2002, repurposed a former workshop for car repairs into a gallery, after starting life in a public park. On the other side of the road, opposite the gallery, stood its office, residency space and growing library.
Most intriguingly, a striking rectilinear structure was positioned alongside. This Mobile Museum mimics the trading kiosks that line every street. Many are also shapeshifters: kindergarten by day, church by night, for example.
ANO’s empty museum, collapsible and see-through, went on a countrywide adventure in 2018 and 2019, asking people to imagine its contents, and later revisited with the results. It signalled a larger and ongoing effort, Future Museum, to find a more relevant exhibition form that’s alive to the fluid way culture is threaded here into everyday life.
ANO demonstrates the second principle of performativity – that is, not only saying things with art but doing things too. More recently, it rebuilt on a new site in central Accra, designed by 87-year-old Ophelia Akiwumi, entirely from raffia palm in a focus on indigenous knowledge systems.
3. Townhouse Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
Townhouse Gallery in 2019, exhibiting paintings by Imane Ibrahim.Kim Gurney
I visited Townhouse just after it reclaimed its inner-city premises following a partial physical collapse. But this turned out to be a false restart. It closed for good not long after, citing a complex brew of factors that ended 21 years of various battles and resurrections. That it survived so long – from 1998 until 2019 – is remarkable for an offspace.
Part of the reason was its solidarity networks, including with neighbourhood communities – mostly mechanic shops and other artisanal trades who even helped Townhouse rebuild. In its heyday, Townhouse comprised an art gallery, library, theatre and performance venue, and notably hatched other spaces.
The latest rose like a phoenix from its ashes – Access Art Space, which reanimates the same physical space with visual art exhibitions. The legacy of Townhouse is the third principle of elasticity – responding nimbly to constant flux but also being able to refuse impossible conditions with “the right no” (a necessary response in certain situations).
4. ZOMA Museum – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
One of Zoma Museum’s buildings crafted by local artisans using time-honoured building techniques.Kim Gurney
ZOMA Museum has also lived many lives. Starting small, its roots were in a three-day public arts festival called Giziawi #1 (Temporary). It comprised performances and exhibitions across the city but focused on Meskel Square, a key public space.
Zoma Contemporary Art Centre grew out of that in 2002, followed in 2019 by Zoma Museum when its co-founders bought a plot of polluted land. Its rehabilitation into an ecological haven has become a case study in sustainable architecture.
Zoma is built by local artisans from mud and straw using indigenous technologies going back centuries. Yet its elegant buildings look futuristic. Zoma is all about the fourth principle of convergence – the past, present and future all happening at once. It’s also about doing multiple things, like running Zoma School, an inherited kindergarten. The land is part of the curriculum.
Just a year after it opened, Zoma spawned yet another life, an offshoot in a newly opened park blending nature with culture and recreation.
5. Nafasi Art Space – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The classroom at Nafasi’s self-built art school in Dar es Salaam.Kim Gurney
Nafasi is Swahili for opportunity or chance, which fittingly describes the workings of Nafasi Art Space, established in 2008 – that is, second chance. This fifth and final principle of artistic thinking means giving materials, people and situations another go.
A good example of this is Nafasi’s new art school, built using repurposed shipping containers, like the rest of its premises – artist studios, a spacious gallery and performance arena. In the 2022 academy cohort, a general practice lawyer and an accountant were learning alongside artists, with a biologist at the helm.
Nafasi Art Academy cites the city’s biggest local market, Kariakoo, as design reference, particularly its distinctive elevated canopy and swirling stairwell. The curriculum also takes local context as a starting point, structured in themes to answer community-led questions. Its key function, like all the other offspaces, is storytelling. And the story it tells best is about institution-building as art.
– 5 indie art spaces in African cities worth knowing more about – https://theconversation.com/5-indie-art-spaces-in-african-cities-worth-knowing-more-about-258009
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has urged the Ugandan diaspora to invest back home and also use their global exposure, networks and influence to attract more tourists to visit Uganda.
The President made the remarks on Saturday, 14th June, 2025 while meeting a delegation of 25 members of the NRM Diaspora Cadres Initiative, led by Mr. Boaz Byayesu Kabururu and Mr. Richard Kyabihende Nkuru from the United States of America.
The in-depth engagement at State House Entebbe focused on key issues, namely, savings and investing back home, identifying markets across North America for Ugandan products, promoting and increasing tourism to Uganda, countering misinformation and promoting Uganda’s image, attracting investors to Uganda, facilitating skills and technology transfer, and advocating for strategic unity of all Ugandans abroad.
The team presented a strategic framework aimed at strengthening the bond between Uganda and its global diaspora while enhancing national development efforts.
The President pointed out possible areas of investment, such as establishing low-cost housing in the areas near the industrial parks to save Ugandans the burden of trekking long distances to and from work.
According to President Museveni, the industrial parks such as Namanve, Mukono, Kapeeka, Mbale, and others employ thousands of workers who are struggling with accommodation.
“These industrial parks are capturing big populations, and low-cost houses would help us so that these people just walk to their workplaces,” President Museveni said.
About saving and investing back home, the diaspora team emphasized the need to encourage structured savings and collective investment.
Proposals included launching Diaspora-led cooperative investment schemes, real estate ventures, and SMEs to tap into Uganda’s fast-growing sectors.
President Museveni welcomed this initiative, noting that channelling foreign remittances into productive enterprises is vital for national wealth creation.
Mr. David Matanda informed President Museveni that they are orienting fellow colleagues in smart ways of saving, such as opening up fixed deposit accounts, which would generate 10 to 15% annual interest, and also investing in stock markets and real estate.
“All those are wonderful ideas, because treasury bills are secure money, where the government borrows from the public and then gives you interest, for sure. So, this is a smart move,” said President Museveni as he welcomed the move.
On the issue of identifying markets across North America and connecting consumers for Ugandan products, the team pledged to actively scout for niche markets for Ugandan goods such as coffee, vanilla, tea, crafts, and agricultural produce. By establishing diaspora-led trade channels, they aim to bridge supply chains and connect Ugandan producers directly to consumers and retailers abroad.
President Museveni encouraged this approach, describing it as a step towards export-led industrialization. He also urged the diaspora to invest in commercial agriculture back home, especially crops and fruits that are on high demand in Europe, such as passion fruits.
Mr. Brian Kwesiga, a former President of the Uganda North American Association (UNAA) based in Washington, DC, informed President Museveni that he had already secured an importer’s license to import alcoholic beverages, such as wine and spirits, into the United States.
About promoting and increasing tourism to Uganda, the delegation committed to boosting Uganda’s visibility as a prime tourism destination through digital marketing, diaspora-led tours, and partnerships with travel influencers.
President Museveni noted that tourism is a key pillar in the economy and welcomed all efforts to increase visitor numbers.
Ms. Brenda Nangasha requested President Museveni for land to establish state-of-the-art lodges in the national parks so as to attract more tourists, who will, in turn, counter the negative publicity about Uganda abroad.
“We have worked with the ruler of Sharjah in the UAE to build an international Airport and hotels at his cost. So, you’re right, these are the ones who will tell their colleagues to ignore the bad publicity,” President Museveni noted.
“But it’s better if you lure those indigenous African people there to come and visit Uganda. Our climate and the food are very good. Everyone who comes here does not want to return,” he added.
President Museveni also officially recognized the group as the principal NRM Diaspora Cadres Initiative, tasked with coordinating all diaspora engagement efforts moving forward.
“The endorsement marks a significant milestone in formalizing diaspora contributions toward Uganda’s development agenda,” Team leader Byayesu said.
The meeting marks a renewed commitment by the government to actively involve the Ugandan diaspora in national development and global advocacy. The endorsed team is expected to begin immediate implementation of their action points, working closely with key ministries and agencies.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Uganda.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Gold medalists Team China pose on the podium during the awarding ceremony of the team free event at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2025-Super Final in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province,June 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Zou Jingyi)
China showcased commanding form at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final here on Saturday, sweeping gold in the men’s solo free, women’s duet free and team free events. Spain prevented a complete Chinese triumph by claiming victory in the mixed duet technical – the sole discipline to elude the home team’s grasp.
China executed a phenomenal free show to the theme of “Gravitation”, earning 324.3538 points to win the gold. Japan took silver in 310.0788, while Spain came third in 308.4859.
China’s head coach Zhang Xiaohuan cried with joy after her team’s victory. “This gold medal lifts a huge weight off our shoulders,” she admitted. “Chang Hao was injured during training and she showed incredible grit to compete through injury, and while our new routine still needs refinement, the team’s courage under pressure was extraordinary.”
“The team executed the routine with remarkable composure, just like in our daily training sessions. Today we delivered it steady and clean,” said Chang. “My neck rotation is still slightly [limited], so I’ll need treatment tonight. For tomorrow, our focus is hitting every lift perfectly.”
Twin sisters Lin Yanjun and Lin Yanhan won the duet free in 266.1442 points with powerful movements. Spain’s duo Lilou Lluis and Iris Tio came second with 260.9325, while the bronze went to newly paired Japanese duo Uta Kobayashi and Tomoka Sato.
“We lost to Spain last time, but we performed very well today, though we still have lots of details to improve,” said Lin Yanhan.
Despite the victory, Zhang remained cautious on China’s prospects at the upcoming World Championships and 2028 Olympic Games. “Strong contenders like Austria, the Netherlands and Great Britain all have world-class duet pairs,” Zhang noted. “And we can never underestimate Russia.”
China’s 17-year-old Guo Muye took a gold and silver medal on Saturday, first clinching the men’s solo free title before teaming with Guo Sitong to secure mixed duet technical silver.
Spain’s Dennis Gonzalez and Mireia Hernandez won the mixed duet technical with 219.7700, over six points higher than China’s second-placed duo. Great Britain took the bronze.
“These World Cup competitions are crucial for us – they’re making us sharper for the World Championships. After feeling strong at last week’s European Championships, we’re aiming to replicate that form here,” said Gonzalez, men’s solo free world champion at the 2023 World Championships. Spain had dominated last week’s European Championships with five gold medals.
“The Chinese duo are very young and talented,” commented Hernandez. “We will have good competition at the World Championships.”
The World Cup Super Final concludes on Sunday with the women’s solo free, mixed duet free and team aerobatics competitions.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, June 15 /Xinhua/ — Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the escalation of tensions in the Middle East during a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said. The information was released by the Russian president’s press service on the same day.
“The conversation between the Russian President and the US President lasted 50 minutes. The exchange of opinions focused on the dangerous escalation of the situation in the Middle East. V. Putin, having condemned Israel’s military operation against Iran, expressed serious concern about the possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the region,” noted Yu. Ushakov.
According to him, V. Putin informed his American colleague about the telephone contacts he had with the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Iran. The importance of preventing the escalation of the conflict and the readiness of the Russian side to carry out possible mediation efforts were emphasized.
“Russia’s fundamental approach and interest in the settlement remain unchanged. And, as V. Putin noted, we will continue to act based on this. D. Trump, for his part, also assessed the situation as very alarming, although he acknowledged the effectiveness of Israel’s strikes on targets in Iran. But it is characteristic that the Russian and American presidents, despite such a complicated situation, do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on the Iranian nuclear program,” emphasized Y. Ushakov.
He also reported that, as D. Trump noted, the team of American negotiators is ready to resume work with Iranian representatives.
“In addition, during the conversation, V. Putin informed D. Trump about the implementation of the agreements reached at the meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on June 2. V. Putin noted that these days, an exchange of prisoners of war is taking place, including seriously wounded, and prisoners of war under 25 years of age. Ukraine also accepted two batches of bodies of the dead. The Russian side expressed its readiness to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians, as agreed, after June 22. D. Trump took note of this information and once again noted his interest in the speedy end of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” Y. Ushakov summarized. –0–
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
SANAA, June 15 (Xinhua) — Israel carried out an airstrike on Sunday night on a house in the Yemeni capital Sanaa where a source close to the Houthis said a “secret meeting of senior Houthi leaders” was taking place.
The house, located in southern Sanaa, was surrounded by Houthi security forces as ambulances rushed to the scene.
Local anti-Houthi media reported on social media that the meeting was chaired by Supreme Political Council head Mahdi al-Mashat and Houthi army chief of staff Abdulkarim al-Ghumari.
Other media reported that the secret meeting was also attended by Houthi top leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, head of the Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee Mohammed Ali al-Houthi and Houthi military intelligence chief Abu Ali al-Hakim.
The Houthis have not yet made an official statement.
Residents living near the attack site told Xinhua they saw at least 10 charred bodies at the scene.
The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, have been launching attacks on Israel since November 2023 in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war in Gaza.
The Houthis strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran, vowing in a statement to step up attacks on Israel with long-range missiles. -0-
Iran and Israel have entered their deadliest phase of direct conflict yet, with at least 10 people killed in Israeli cities and massive fires reported at an oil depot in Tehran following reciprocal strikes on June 15. This marks the third consecutive day of military exchanges, as both governments vow further action amid a rising humanitarian toll and growing regional instability.
Devastation in Israeli Cities
Emergency services in Israel are racing against time to locate seven individuals still trapped beneath rubble. Ongoing rocket fire has hampered rescue operations, even as more than 300 Israelis have been injured since Iran launched its missile barrage on Friday. Hospitals in central and northern Israel are operating at full capacity.
Air raid sirens wailed throughout the day across Israeli cities as residential areas suffered direct hits. In Bat Yam, six people were killed after an Iranian missile struck an apartment building. Rescue workers sifted through collapsed concrete and twisted metal to reach survivors. In Tamra, near Haifa, four individuals were confirmed dead after a two-story home was destroyed in the attacks.
The Weizmann Institute of Science, a leading research university located in Rehovot, also sustained damage during the missile onslaught, with several of its facilities reportedly hit.
Israeli Strikes on Tehran
In retaliation, Israeli warplanes launched a barrage of airstrikes on key infrastructure in Iran, including a major oil facility in Tehran. The attack sparked massive fires that sent thick plumes of black smoke over the city. The Israeli military dubbed the retaliatory operation “Operation Rising Lion,” targeting Iran’s Defense Ministry headquarters and other nuclear-linked sites.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made his first public appearance since the strikes began, stating, “If Israeli attacks cease, our responses will also stop.”
Regional Fallout
Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen claimed responsibility for coordinating their own strikes on Israeli targets, signaling the potential expansion of the conflict into a broader regional confrontation.
The violence has already disrupted diplomatic processes. Oman confirmed the cancellation of the sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations scheduled in Muscat today, citing the “ongoing hostilities” as the reason.
The Israeli intelligence operation that preceded Iran’s retaliation reportedly led to the deaths of three senior Iranian military commanders and two nuclear scientists—described by analysts as one of the most significant Israeli blows to Iran in years.
Although no nuclear accidents have been confirmed, international observers have voiced concern over potential radiation and chemical exposure due to strikes on sensitive Iranian sites.
Escalating Rhetoric and Military Posture
Both countries have enacted military censorship and closed parts of their respective airspaces. In a stark warning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Iran has seen only a fraction of what Israel is capable of.” Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have promised a “far more forceful” response should Israeli attacks continue.
