Jerusalem (Agenzia Fides) – A day of prayer, penance and fasting to invoke the gift of peace in the Holy Land exactly one year after the rekindling of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The initiative was launched by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, through a letter addressed to the entire Diocese of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. “The month of October is approaching, and with it the awareness that for a year the Holy Land, and not only, has been plunged into a vortex of violence and hatred never seen and never experienced before. In these twelve months we have witnessed tragedies that, due to their intensity and impact, have deeply torn our conscience and our sense of humanity,” writes the cardinal, calling “once again on governments and those who have the grave responsibility of decisions to a commitment to justice and to respect for the right of each person to freedom, dignity and peace.” “I invite you, therefore, to a day of prayer, fasting and penance, for the next 7th October, a date that has become symbolic of the drama we are experiencing. The month of October is also the Marian month and on 7th October we celebrate the memory of Mary Queen of the Rosary,” the appeal of the Patriarch, who adds: “Each one, with the rosary or in the ways he deems appropriate, personally but even better in community, find a moment to stop and pray, and bring to the ‘merciful Father and God of all consolation’ (2 Cor 1:3), our desire for peace and reconciliation.” At the bottom, the cardinal also attaches a prayer, composed ad hoc, “to be used freely”. Below is the text:Lord our God, Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and Father of all humanity, who in the cross of your Son and through the gift of his own life at great cost wanted to destroy the wall of enmity and hostility that separates peoples and makes us enemies: send into our hearts the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that he may purify us from every feeling of violence, hatred and revenge, enlighten us to understand the irrepressible dignity of every human person, and inflame us to the point of being consumed for a world at peace and reconciled in truth and justice, in love and freedom.Almighty and eternal God, in your hands are the hopes of men and the rights of every people: assist with your wisdom those who govern us, so that, with your help, they may become sensitive to the sufferings of the poor and of those who suffer the consequences of violence and war; make them promote in our region and throughout the earth the common good and a peace lasting.Virgin Mary, Mother of hope, obtain the gift of peacefor the Holy Land that gave birth to youand for the whole world. Amen.(Agenzia Fides 26/9/2024)Share:
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.
Detroit, Sept. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE), Michigan’s largest producer of and investor in renewable energy, today announced that it has broken ground on three new solar parks in the last four months, in response to growing customer support for clean, renewable energy. The Fish Creek and Mission Road solar parks, located in mid-Michigan, and the Little Trout Solar Park, located in northern Michigan, are all funded by customers who voluntarily enrolled in DTE’s CleanVision MIGreenPower program.
In addition to the three solar parks referenced above, three other solar parks funded through MIGreenPower are currently under construction. Together, all six developments will add 800 megawatts to DTE’s renewable energy portfolio, enough to power more than 220,000 homes. These solar developments are yet another step toward the company’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions and reaching Michigan’s new renewable energy standard of 60% by 2035.
“It’s an exciting time for DTE’s clean energy journey as we continue to make industry-leading advancements in our renewable energy portfolio and overall sustainability goals,” said Joe Musallam, vice president, renewable energy development, DTE Energy. “We’ll continue to build on this momentum with additional renewable energy developments in the coming years, so we not only meet Michigan’s aggressive renewable energy standard but also deliver on our commitment to a cleaner future for our customers, our communities and our state.”
DTE already generates enough clean energy from wind and solar to power more than 750,000 homes and plans to power approximately 5.5 million homes with renewable energy by 2042. MIGreenPower is helping accelerate this clean energy transition, as DTE plans to add more than 2,400 megawatts of new wind and solar energy to support enrolled customers in the coming years. This demand for clean energy comes from nearly 100,000 residential and 1,900 business customers who are using MIGreenPower to reduce their environmental impact and meet key sustainability goals.
“We recently enrolled in MIGreenPower to help meet our goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035,” said Denise Carlson, vice president of DENSO’s North America Production Innovation Center and leader of the Sustainability Promotion Department. “We’re proud that our participation not only makes operations cleaner at our enrolled facilities, but also supports future wind and solar park developments, enhancing clean energy access across Michigan.”
DTE’s investment in renewable energy is delivering cleaner energy to customers while strengthening Michigan’s economy. Since 2009, the company’s renewable energy developments have created an estimated 20,000 local jobs. Additionally, communities that host DTE’s wind and solar parks receive millions of dollars in added tax revenue over years of operation, funding used for roads, schools, first responders and other vital community services. DTE is proud to play a role in helping Michigan communities thrive as the company works to create a more sustainable future for all.
About DTE Energy DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric company serving 2.3 million customers in Southeast Michigan and a natural gas company serving 1.3 million customers across Michigan. The DTE portfolio also includes energy businesses focused on custom energy solutions, renewable energy generation, and energy marketing and trading. DTE has continued to accelerate its carbon reduction goals to meet aggressive targets and is committed to serving with its energy through volunteerism, education and employment initiatives, philanthropy, emission reductions and economic progress. Information about DTE is available at dteenergy.com, empoweringmichigan.com, x.com/dte_energy and facebook.com/dteenergy.
MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –
Source: Switzerland – Canton Government of Geneva in French
Focus on two complementary medical-technical professions: operating room technician and medical device technologist.
Start of the day in the operating room. The operating room technician (OT) goes through the patient’s file being cared for by the care team. In this work, it is essential to be prepared for any eventuality, to think about the complications that may arise during a surgical procedure.
The TSO is one of the links in the treatment chain, guaranteeing hygiene, safety and good care. This is why checking the patient’s identity and identifying any allergies and medical history are the first essential steps before any procedure in the operating room. Then, she puts on her sterile pajamas and proceeds to surgical hand washing.
Unite around the patient
Continuation of the adventures in the operating room. The final preparations are finalized: the surfaces disinfected, the devices necessary for the intervention checked.
The operation can then begin. Silence takes over the operating room. The interdisciplinary team is focused, hypervigilant. “Like an orchestra conductor, the TSO coordinates each step precisely,” explains Luzia Stettler, a teacher at the École supérieure de la santé. “She anticipates the surgeon’s actions by presenting him with the instruments and, in particular, guarantees that the operations go smoothly. Given the complexity of the profession, it requires three years of higher education after a secondary II diploma.”
Now comes the reprocessing of medical devices, “an activity that occurs after their use on the patient,” explains Hervé Ney, sterilization expert at HUG and president of the Swiss Society for Hospital Sterilization. Coordination between TSOs and medical device technologists is therefore essential.”
During this time
A stone’s throw from the operating room, Djésika Anani is busy at Steriswiss, an outsourced sterilization company for clinics and medical centers. She is an apprentice medical device technologist (MDT) in her third and final year. A job that is also behind the scenes, straddling care and technology.
After the crucial step of hand washing, she puts on her personal protective equipment and joins the sterilization team. Sorting, washing, disinfecting, packaging and sterilizing the medical instruments used now hold no more secrets for the apprentice.
“After the TSO sends the used equipment for sterilization, there are several steps in three separate areas, from the dirtiest to the cleanest,” Djésika specifies. “In a rigorously followed order, we check the proper functionality and cleanliness of the medical devices after they have passed through the washer-disinfector. Then, we package them and sterilize the instrument sets that will be part of the surgeon’s instrument tray.”
Four hours have passed since the beginning of the day. Time for the new patient.
“All TSO ES students find a job before the final exams”
Three questions for Luzia Stettler, TSO teacher at the École supérieure de la santé.
Can a medical device technologist (CFC) continue in the “higher education” program as an operating room technician?
Yes, directly after validating their CFC. Currently, we have two students who have gone through this route. They are exempt from courses and exams concerning sterilization, which represents an entire module (out of the nine in the training plan).
What about employability?
100%! All TSO ES students find a job before the final exams, as the shortage of manpower in care, and particularly in the operating room, is significant.
Are there other opportunities to enter such a profession?
Of course! However, you don’t improvise as a TSO: providing patients with services with a high degree of quality and safety remains our leitmotif. Nursing graduates who wish to specialize in the operating room field can have their acquired experience recognized and valued, thus validating one year of TSO training, and therefore train in two years. Exemptions are also possible for people who have worked in the operating room for several years and do not have an officially recognized qualification.
Career focus dedicated to medical-technical care.
Operating room professionals, TSO students and TDM apprentices will share their experience on Wednesday, October 9 between 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), at 4, rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, in Geneva. Zoom professions by registration (45 places).
The Government of Canada recognizes the national historic significance of the Amos Indian Residential School, commemorated as part of the Indian Residential School System National Historic Event
September 26, 2024 Saint-Marc-de-Figuery (Quebec) Parks Canada
Parks Canada and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada will participate in the unveiling ceremony of two commemorative plaques highlighting the national historic significance of the Amos Indian Residential School, which is commemorated as part of the Indian Residential School System National Historic Event.
Open from 1955 to 1973, the Amos Indian Residential School was part of the system of residential schools for Aboriginal children officially established by the federal government during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Please note that this notice is subject to change without notice.
Here are the details:
Date: Monday, September 30, 2024
Time: The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. (EDT) Media are asked to arrive by 9:45 a.m. (EDT)
Location: Saint-Marc-de-Figuery (Quebec)
The venue for the press conference will be confirmed only to accredited media representatives. Media representatives wishing to participate in the press briefing must register with pc.media@pc.gc.ca.
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Information and RSVP: Media RelationsParks Canada Agency855-862-1812pc.media@pc.gc.ca
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.
Headline: Barre Disaster Recovery Center to Close September 28
Barre Disaster Recovery Center to Close September 28
Williston, Vt. – In coordination with state and local partners, we will be permanently closing the Disaster Recovery Center in Barre at 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 28, 2024.
The center is currently open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturdays at:
Barre Municipal Auditorium
20 Auditorium Hill
Barre, Vermont 05641
The adjustment of hours for these temporary centers is coordinated with state and local partners generally based on the volume of visitors and needs of the community.
Vermonters can visit Disaster Recovery Centers to get in-person help regarding disaster assistance. Specialists from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration are available to help upload documents, answer questions and guide you through the appeals process.
Four other Disaster Recovery Centers will remain open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until further notice. These centers are located at:
Brighton Town Hall Gym – 49 Mill Street, Island Pond, VT 05846
Lyndon Public Safety Facility – 316 Main Street, Lyndonville, VT 05851
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
The highway in Shcherbinka from Yuzhnaya Street to Zalineyny Lane is a quarter complete. This was reported by the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development Policy and Construction Vladimir Efimov.
“Since joining Moscow, more than 400 kilometers of roads have been built and reconstructed in TiNAO. And we continue to actively develop the transport framework of the new districts. One of the projects that we are implementing today is a four-lane highway from Yuzhnaya Street to Zalineyny Lane in Shcherbinka, near Varshavskoye Shosse with exits to this highway. The length of the facility will be about three kilometers, now it is 25 percent ready. Thus, the embankment has been fully prepared, the road surface is being laid and utility lines are being installed,” said Vladimir Efimov.
Thanks to the new road, residents will find it convenient to leave Shcherbinka for Varshavskoe Shosse. In addition, it will be easier to get from the eastern part of the city to the Ostafyevo platform of the second Moscow Central Diameter.
“During the work, Yuzhnaya Street and Zalineyny Lane will be widened to four lanes – two in each direction. A U-turn for public transport will be built near the Ostafyevo railway platform. Also, as part of the project, a pedestrian sidewalk and a bicycle path will be installed, and outdoor lighting will be installed along the highway,” said the head of the Department for the Development of New Territories of the City of Moscow.
The route will be equipped with traffic lights. After the main works are completed, the adjacent territory will be landscaped, including near Yashkin Pond.
Earlier, Sergei Sobyanin opened new site the main highway of TiNAO Solntsevo – Butovo – Varshavskoe shosse. In 2026, the highway will be connected to the Moscow High-Speed Diameter. As a result, traffic without traffic lights will be organized from New Moscow through the entire city to Leningradskoe shosse and the overpass that leads to St. Petersburg.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
Every senior Muscovite can fill their lives with bright events. This summer, participants in the Moscow Longevity project attended training sessions with famous athletes, met with actors and writers, went kayaking and SUP boarding, went Nordic walking, opened an exclusive route along Arbat, and participated in many other events.
In 2024, the project’s summer season lasted four months, thanks to September being one of the warmest in the history of the capital.
Training with celebrity guests and outdoor activities
One of the most striking events of the summer season was the “Longevity Exercises”. For 17 weeks, senior citizens participated in morning warm-ups at sites organized in all districts, including in iconic places of the capital – for example, on Sparrow Hills, near the Bolshoi Theater and at the Northern River Terminal. During this time, 87 training sessions were held, which were attended by more than 14 thousand people.
Once a week, the “Longevity Exercises” were held by invited guests, including Roman Kostomarov, Evgenia Medvedeva, Tatyana Totmianina, Ilya Averbukh, Alexey Nemov, Alexey Yagudin, Artur Dalaloyan, Irina Slutskaya, Nikita Nagorny, Daria Dontsova, Anna Semenovich, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Elena Vorobey, Yulia Mikhalkova.
Participants of the “Longevity Exercises” mastered qigong, attended dance training, classes with gymnastic ribbons, and even warm-ups with drums.
Throughout the summer, outdoor activities were held for senior citizens in more than 1,500 groups at 800 outdoor venues throughout the city – at the Moscow Zoo, the equestrian club, parks, the City Farm at VDNKh, and other places.
New water directions
In July, the Moscow Longevity project opened classes in SUP surfing and kayaking for the first time. About 1,500 senior Muscovites learned the history of these sports and learned how to operate watercraft.
The classes took place in the waters of the Moscow River at the Academy Rowing Club under the guidance of experienced coaches. Despite the fact that SUPs and kayaks are considered popular among young people, the groups in these areas already broke the record for the number of older participants in the first days.
In August, a new exclusive excursion route, “Not Old Arbat”, was opened for participants of “Moscow Longevity”. It was created especially for the project by writer and Moscow expert Alexander Vaskin and is dedicated to long-livers whose fate was connected with the most famous pedestrian street of the city.
The walk includes nine thematic points, each of them is connected with the biographies of famous long-livers: writers, actors, sculptors and composers. For example, the excursionists learned about the philosopher Alexey Losev, who continued to pass on knowledge to his students until his last days, and the writer Marietta Shaginyan, who never abandoned her favorite work.
The guides were the participants of Moscow Longevity themselves, who had completed training at the Silver University in the field of Excursion Guidance. 11 graduates mastered a new profession, were employed in the project and regularly conduct excursions for groups.
Fashion collections about family, city and future
This summer, the project held its fourth season of creative laboratories “Designers’ Workshop”, dedicated to the Year of the Family. The final show, held at the forum-festival “Territory of the Future. Moscow 2030” in Gostiny Dvor, was attended by more than 600 people, another 135 thousand watched the live broadcast of the show.
Participants of “Moscow Longevity” under the mentorship of five famous fashion designers – Leonid Alekseev, Igor Gulyaev, Denis Eremkin, Ksenia Novikova and Vadim Merlis – created five clothing collections. They were demonstrated on the podium by “silver” age models from the beauty and style school “Royal Posture”.
The Family Albums line is based on the 1970s style, with prints on clothes that bring to life photographs of the designers’ grandparents, fathers and mothers. The creators of the feminine and elegant Mom collection were inspired by touching memories. Each participant imagined her mother, images from her youth. The Bright Age, Urban Romance and We Are 2030 collections are dedicated to the future, the city and longevity. Bright textured fabrics and artificial intelligence capabilities were used in their creation.
New spaces for healthy living and socializing
The network of Moscow longevity centers continues to expand: 14 spaces opened this summer, now there are 134. Older city residents can do their favorite things in a circle of like-minded people, communicate and lead a healthy lifestyle. Since September 1, the centers have switched to a new, convenient work schedule.
Along with the expansion of the network of centers, new services are also appearing in them. Thus, since this summer, they have been providing consultations on obtaining electronic government services. In each center, city residents can find out how to apply for 71 government services, including obtaining a Muscovite social card, a spa voucher, or housing subsidies.
Bright events of the summer season
Muscovites of the “silver” age celebrated the middle of summer at the festival “Long-lasting Moscow”, which took place on Vorobyovy Gory and brought together more than three thousand guests.
The most popular outdoor classes of Moscow Longevity were held on one site – dancing, Nordic walking, drawing, as well as Longevity Exercises, educational lectures and much more.
One of the central events was a mass gathering of Nordic walking enthusiasts, in which even city residents over 90 years old took part. A choreography master class for guests was conducted by dancer Evgeny Papunaishvili, and in the open air one could compete in drawing caricatures of singer Anna Semenovich and writer Daria Dontsova.
The combined choir of the Moscow Longevity project performed at the Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival on Red Square. A program of 13 songs was presented by 350 people. The choir was accompanied by the Central Military Orchestra of the Russian Ministry of Defense under the direction of Honored Artist of Russia Colonel Sergei Durygin.
In addition, this summer the group gave five master classes. Choirmasters held open vocal lessons, where they introduced guests to the techniques and methods of choral singing.
In July, the Sokolniki Park hosted the “Dance Stories of Moscow Longevity” festival. One of the main events was the “Purple Waltz” flash mob, which brought together 500 senior citizens. On this day, people of different ages took to the dance floor – from 55 to 90 years old, and the oldest was 90-year-old project participant Valentina Semenova. A competition was also held: 18 couples and 10 groups competed for the title of the best dancers of the project.
“Boulevard of Moscow Longevity”
One of the most striking expositions of the forum-festival “Territory of the Future. Moscow 2030” in Gostiny Dvor was “Boulevard of Moscow Longevity”. Guests immersed themselves in a multimedia space dedicated to a healthy lifestyle and learned how to maintain activity, stay young and happy for many years. During the days of the forum-festival, over 50 thousand people looked into the future, making a “Portrait of Longevity” with the help of neural networks. Guests also walked about seven thousand virtual kilometers on the excursion “Not Old Arbat”, almost 15 thousand visitors participated in a sociological survey, which helped to find out how different generations of Muscovites relate to longevity.
Ahead of the city residents there is an equally busy autumn-winter season. All Muscovites of the “silver” age – women from 55 years old and men from 60 years old – can join the “Moscow Longevity” project. You can sign up at any Moscow Longevity Center or the “My Documents” government services center, as well as online on the mos.ru portal.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
It joins a series of regular in person support groups which meet across the city, including at:
Bingley Family Hub, WV3 0JE, on Tuesdays from 12 noon to 2pm
Children’s Village Family Hub, WV11 1PE, on Wednesdays from 10am to 12 noon
Bilston Library, WV14 7LU, on Thursdays from 12 noon to 2pm
and Whitmore Reans Family Hub, WV1 4AL, on Fridays from 10am to 12 noon.
All groups are drop in, with no need to book. New parents, pregnant people and toddlers are always welcome and free refreshments are provided.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, added: “Breastfeeding has long term benefits for mother and baby and so we’re keen to encourage it.
“Research shows that babies who are breastfed are less likely to develop a range of illnesses such as ear infections and upset tummies. It also sets the child on a healthy growth path. And the longer you breastfeed, the longer the protection lasts and the greater the benefits.
“These support groups, including the new virtual group which has just been launched, give new and expectant parents the help and guidance they need around feeding, and to support and develop their relationship with their baby. They can also get advice about a range of other issues which will benefit themselves and their child, and have the chance to meet other new parents.”
Poppy Davies, Breastfeeding Support Co-ordinator at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: “We know how difficult breastfeeding can be, especially in the early days, so we hope that parents and parents to be will come along to one of our regular breastfeeding support groups to find out more about feeding their babies and see what help is on offer for them.”
There is also lots of advice available online at Feeding your baby or by calling the Infant Feeding Team directly on 01902 695578.
Families can also visit their local Family Hub, which act as ‘one stop shops’, offering guidance and advice to support families through pregnancy and beyond, including infant feeding, mental health and wellbeing, health visiting support and parenting classes. For details of your nearest Family Hub, please visit Family Hubs.
Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering –
A special issue of the newspaper “For Construction Personnel” was published, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Economics and Management of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.
In the latest issue read:
Selection of profiles – according to the needs of the labor market
Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management Galina Tokunova talks about the rich history of training specialists in the field of construction economics at our university and why applicants’ interest in these professions is growing.
How to become successful in your profession, head a university and build a business
The pages of the newspaper present two paths to success for specialists from different eras: Yuri Panibratov, a professor-consultant who previously held the position of rector of SPbGASU, and Sergey Veselov, a 2009 graduate, PhD in Economics and founder of the Development Systems group of companies. Their experience shows that the main components of success are relevant at any time.
Department – industry: six areas of interaction
Educational process in partnership with the industry. We tell how the cooperation of the construction management department with industry companies helps in updating the curriculum, professional orientation and employment of students.
Scientific research in a foreign language
Why are scientific events in a foreign language a step into the future of a specialist? Find out from the head of the Department of Intercultural Communication Elena Selezneva and student Sofia Myagkaya.
Teaching stimulates self-development
Get a diploma and stay at the university! Associate Professor of SPbGASU Olga Bochkareva spoke about the advantages of teaching, the key to success in it, and how communication with students helps keep abreast of modern times.
FEU is a faculty of energetic and creative people
Students talk about the great opportunities at the faculty and at the university, and first-year students share their emotions about admission and impressions from the first month of study.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
The Army Mission – our purpose – remains constant: To deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt & sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spectrum of conflict as part of the joint force.
Interested in joining the U.S. Army?
Visit: spr.ly/6001igl5L
Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hosts a Ministerial on Addressing the Urgent Situation in Venezuela in New York City, New York, on September 26, 2024.
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Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.
The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.
Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Egyptian-British activist Aala Abdel Fattah who will have completed the length of his unjust five-year prison sentence in three days on 29 September, said Amnesty International today.
In reprisal for his activism, Egyptian authorities last arrested Alaa Abdel Fattah on 29 September 2019, and subsequently, following a grossly unfair trial, sentenced him to five years in prison on charges including “spreading false news.” There is a risk that the authorities will refuse to release the prominent political activist, despite having served the full five years in prison, by refusing to count time spent in pre-trial detention as part of his prison sentence already served.
“Alaa Abdel Fattah has spent most of the last decade being repeatedly arrested and unjustly imprisoned simply for peacefully exercising his human rights. He is a prisoner of conscience – he should never have been forced to spend a single minute behind bars. The prospect that the authorities could further extend his unlawful imprisonment instead of releasing him is appalling,” said Mahmoud Shalaby, Amnesty International’s Egypt Researcher.
“Egyptian authorities have a dreadful track record of indefinitely detaining political dissidents by concocting new reasons to keep them locked up. If the authorities fail to release Alaa Abdel Fattah this would further compound the cruelty and injustice he has already suffered in custody. The Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release him and allow him to reunite with his loved ones at long last.”
The authorities may also seek to extend his arbitrary detention by bringing fresh charges against him – Egyptian authorities have a track record of indefinitely detaining individuals imprisoned for political reasons by bringing new bogus identical or similar charges, even after a court has ordered their release or they have completed their sentence; an abusive practice known as “rotation”.
For years Alaa Abdel Fattah was detained in deplorable conditions and security officials subjected him to torture and other ill-treatment in custody. Following a public outcry, he was transferred to Wadi al-Natroun Prison in May 2022 where his health and detention conditions improved. It was only recently that authorities finally allowed him access to reading material as well as television and written correspondence.
However, prison authorities have continued to deny him access to fresh air and sunlight for the past five years, only allowing him to exercise in an indoor hall. Authorities also continue to deny him access to his lawyer as well as to consular visits from the British authorities.
On 20 December 2021, an Emergency State Security Court (ESSC) convicted Alaa Abdel Fattah on charges including “spreading false news” and sentenced him to five years in prison following a grossly unfair trial in reprisal for his activism. Human rights lawyer Mohamed Baker and blogger Mohamed Radwan “Oxygen” were also convicted on similar charges and sentenced to four years in prison. On 19 July 2023, following sustained campaigning for his release, Mohamed Baker received a presidential pardon after nearly four years of arbitrary detention.
Background
Alaa Abdel Fattah is a prominent political activist and government critic who has been targeted for his role in the 2011 uprising. He is among thousands of individuals who continue to be arbitrarily detained without legal basis in Egypt solely for exercising their human rights and/ or following proceedings violating fair trial rights.
Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s reactivation of the Presidential Pardons Committee (PPC) in April 2022, the Egyptian authorities released hundreds of individuals held for political reasons, including prominent activists, but Alaa Abdel Fattah was excluded from this process. Egyptian authorities continued to carry out arrests of actual or perceived critics amid an unrelenting crackdown on dissent.
The Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced that the Bank’s 10th Annual Meeting will be held in Beijing in June 2025.
A ceremony took place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan to mark the end of the 2024 AIIB Annual Meeting and the handover to the host country of the 2025 AIIB Annual Meeting.
Lan Foan, AIIB Governor for China, Chair of the AIIB Board of Governors for 2025 and host of the 2025 AIIB Annual Meeting, received the gavel in a ceremonial transfer from Laziz Kudratov, AIIB Governor for Uzbekistan and Chair of the AIIB Board of Governors for 2024 and host of the 2024 AIIB Annual Meeting.
“We are grateful for the continued support from both the Governments of China and Uzbekistan,” said Jin Liqun, AIIB President and Chair of the Board of Directors. “The AIIB Annual Meetings are an important opportunity to seek invaluable insights and guidance from our shareholders on our Bank’s strategic direction and initiatives. Active engagement with our shareholders has been essential for promoting transparency and cooperation, which underpins AIIB’s growth and impact.”
“Since its establishment, with the joint support of all Members and the joint efforts of the Management and staff led by President Jin Liqun, AIIB has achieved remarkable results in its business operations and has been fully recognized by the international community,” said Minister Lan Foan. “AIIB has become a new and important member of the multilateral development bank family and has made positive contributions to promoting global economic governance reform and achieving common global development. 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of AIIB, and we look forward to reflecting on the Bank’s achievements over the past decade and collaborating to shape the development blueprint of the Bank for the next 10 years.”
The dignitaries also expressed their appreciation to the people and government of Uzbekistan for hosting the 2024 AIIB Annual Meeting.
About AIIB
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank whose mission is Financing Infrastructure for Tomorrow in Asia and beyond—infrastructure with sustainability at its core. We began operations in Beijing in 2016 and have since grown to 110 approved Members worldwide. We are capitalized at USD100 billion and AAA-rated by the major international credit rating agencies. Collaborating with partners, AIIB meets clients’ needs by unlocking new capital and investing in infrastructure that is green, technology-enabled and promotes regional connectivity.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated September 20, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.50 lakh (Rupees One Lakh Fifty thousand only) on The Bihar Awami Co-operative Bank Ltd., Patna (the bank) for contravention of the provisions of section 26A read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act) and for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI, conferred under the provisions of section 47A(1)(c) read with sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of BR Act.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of contravention of statutory provisions and non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.
After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made by it during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges against the Bank were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty.
The bank had:
failed to transfer eligible amounts to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within the prescribed period; and
failed to review risk categorisation of its customers as per the prescribed periodicity.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has announced that highly efficient and dedicated teams are on standby with an expected drop in temperatures later this week, with a possibility of snow.
While the South African Weather Service (SAWS) has not issued an official weather warning, the weather service predicts the possibility of snow over the high lying areas of the Western Cape from 29 September 2024, which will spread into the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal by 30 September 2024.
Addressing a media briefing on Thursday, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said the Road Incident Management Systems (RIMS) led by South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) comprising of all key role players on the national, provincial, and municipal road networks were putting together a consolidated plan.
“They are identifying areas where joint operations and coordination will be established – covering all notorious roads and areas identified from past experiences.
“The department’s Road Traffic Inspectorate is establishing a satellite centre on top of Van Reenen’s Pass to ensure quick action and road closure to mitigate against people getting trapped in the snow,” the MEC said.
This satellite centre will start operating on Saturday afternoon and operate on a 12-hour shift.
Traffic law enforcement officials are already involved in the coordination of possible road closures and observation of major routes in consultation with the N3 Toll Concession.
“The focus is on the N3 between Harrismith, Tugela Toll, R617 between Kokstad and Underberg, N2 Ingeli and N3 Mooi River, and others. We wish to indicate that the team will also be responsible for escorting trucks and vehicles to ensure that there is no congestion on the road.
“However, members of the public and motorists are urged to reschedule or postpone their journeys in anticipation of any eventuality. Prevention is better than cure.
“Motor graders are currently being sharpened to respond with … urgency to remove any snow before accumulating on the road. More than 10 graders will be stationed in identified routes to ensure that our response is faster,” the MEC said.
The province has 21 graders which will be on standby as part of strengthening prevention measures.
“On Wednesday, we interacted with SAWS. They informed us that KwaZulu-Natal will be affected by snowfall from Monday into Tuesday. The areas that are expected to be affected include Ladysmith, Underberg, Drakensberg as well as Giant Castle, and other high-ground area.
“In addition, they emphasised that, in all likelihood, snowfall will stop on Tuesday but will be followed by rainfall in various parts of the province, including Durban and other coastline areas,” Duma said.
The MEC said the provincial government has started engaging with key stakeholders to ensure that everyone works together to avoid any crisis and ensure the safety of road users.
“We have continuous engagements with road freight industry stakeholders such as operators – trucking companies – companies that are managing and supplying drivers.
“The South African National Taxi Council and bus councils, bus and truck associations are key stakeholders as we strengthen our road safety measures. We do not want to leave out port operators and the entire value chain of fast-moving consumer goods,” Duma said.
The provincial government has assigned engineers in consultation with SANRAL to look at the impact of the recent heavy snowfall on the road infrastructure.
“The truck congestion on N3 last weekend compels us to intensify our plans aimed at modernisation and development of rail transport – both freight and passenger.
“Working with the Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and other main roleplayers, as KwaZulu-Natal we believe that we must ensure that we deploy wagons to move cargo from road to rail, with a specific focus on certain goods, such as coal.
“In addition, we want to improve rail services in the province so that it could serve as the backbone of public transport while at the same time recognising the huge challenges currently facing commuter rail services in KwaZulu-Natal and throughout the country,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Sept. 26 — Water reclaimed from treated residential sewage and collected rainwater has become the second most important urban water supply source for the Chinese capital of Beijing, according to the municipal water authority.
In the year 2023, the city recycled 1.28 billion cubic meters of water, of which 1.18 billion cubic meters was used for ecological and environmental purposes to replenish the city’s natural water resources, according to the department’s data.
“The amount of recycled water accounted for nearly 30 percent of the city’s total water consumption last year, a record high, making it the stable second water source in Beijing,” said Fu Chaochen, Beijing Water Authority director of sewage treatment and reclaimed water management.
Since the beginning of 2023, Beijing has extended its sewage collection pipe network by 729 km and renovated 50 km long rainwater drainage pipelines. The city’s sewage treatment capacity has reached 7.85 million cubic meters per day, said Fu.
Six water recycling plants are currently under construction in Beijing. Meanwhile, the water authority has launched a massive cleaning work of rainwater drainage ditches and outlets for better rainwater collection.
On September 26, 2024 the Trade Remedy Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) made an affirmative preliminary determination in its injury investigation involving the antidumping duty case concerning Portland Cement and its Clinker from Vietnam.
According to the affirmative preliminary determination, the Trade Remedy Commission found that there is a reasonable indication that an industry in Taiwan(ROC) is threatened with materially injured by reason of imports of Portland Cement and its Clinker from Vietnam that are alleged to be sold in Taiwan(ROC) at less than normal value.
Under the jurisdiction set forth in the Regulations Governing the Implementation of the Imposition of Countervailing and Antidumping Duties, the MOEA shall make an investigation, conducted by the International Trade Administration, as to whether there is any injury to a Taiwan(ROC) industry. As a result of the MOEA’s affirmative preliminary determination, the Ministry of Finance will continue to conduct a dumping investigation of imports of Portland Cement and its Clinker from Vietnam, and its preliminary determination will be made within 70 days (if not extended) after the next day of receipt of a notice of the foregoing determination.
A public version of the injury investigation report in Chinese will be available after October 26, 2024 from the International Trade Administration’s website (https://www.trade.gov.tw/).
The Government of Canada recognizes the national historic significance of the Amos Indian Residential School, commemorated under the Residential School System National Historic Event
September 26, 2024 Saint-Marc-de-Figuery, Quebec Parks Canada
Parks Canada and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada will participate in the unveiling ceremony of two commemorative plaques highlighting the national historic significance of the Amos Indian Residential School, which is commemorated under the Residential School System National Historic Event.
Open from 1955 to 1973, the Amos Indian Residential School was part of the residential school system for Aboriginal children that was formally established by the federal government during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Please note that this advisory is subject to change without notice.
The details are as follows:
Date: Monday, September 30, 2024
Time: Ceremony begins at 10 a.m. (EDT) Media are requested to arrive by 9:45 a.m. (EDT)
Location: Saint-Marc-de-Figuery, Quebec
The exact location of the press conference will be given to accredited media only. Media representatives wishing to participate in the media availability should register with pc.media@pc.gc.ca.
-30-
Information and RSVP: Media Relations Parks Canada Agency 855-862-1812 pc.media@pc.gc.ca
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Speech by CE at Kick-off Ceremony of 40th Anniversary Celebration of Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (English only) (with video) Speech by CE at Kick-off Ceremony of 40th Anniversary Celebration of Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (English only) (with video) ******************************************************************************************
Following is the video speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the Kick-off Ceremony of the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) today (September 26): Mr Charles Yang (Council Chairman of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts), Professor Gillian Choa (Director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts), staff and students of the HKAPA, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to speak to you all, as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. First of all, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the Academy on its ruby jubilee, a key milestone in the institution’s development. Since its establishment in 1984, the Academy has remained committed to nurturing new generations of performing arts professionals in a diverse, cross-disciplinary learning environment. The Academy has gone from strength to strength in the past four decades, becoming Asia’s top performing arts institution. The Academy’s international reputation is testament to its holistic approach to performing arts education. This year heralds the beginning of a new chapter for the Academy, with the launch of its visionary 10-year strategic plan from 2024 to 2033. From talent development and technology-enabled arts practices, to campus development and cultural influence, the exciting plans and new projects will further consolidate the strengths of the Academy. The Government supports the Academy’s efforts in nurturing cultural talent for Hong Kong and the country. We believe that the Academy’s potential establishment of a new campus in the Northern Metropolis could provide much-needed space for programme development. Meanwhile, we also support the Academy in bringing in a higher proportion of non-local students to its programmes. These developments, I am certain, could enrich Hong Kong’s talent pool in performing arts in light of the industry’s evolving needs. As an international metropolis boasting a fine blend of cultures, Hong Kong enjoys unparalleled connectivity with the Mainland and the rest of the world. I am confident that the Academy will continue to thrive as a performing arts educational hub, nurturing artists and arts practitioners that shape Hong Kong’s future as a dynamic East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. I take the opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts and dedication of the Academy’s Council, teaching staff, students and alumni. Your passion and hard work are key to the Academy’s success. My appreciation also goes to donors, industry partners and everyone who has supported the Academy all along. The Government looks forward to continuing joining hands with you in advancing Hong Kong’s cultural development. On that note, I wish the Academy a wonderful celebratory year ahead and every success in the future. Thank you.
Ends/Thursday, September 26, 2024Issued at HKT 20:00
Some nanoparticles take the form of sheets or fibres. But nanomaterials all have one thing in common – their structure contains components with dimensions in the nanometre scale – that’s more than 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Research shows that nanomaterials often perform better than the same materials made at a larger scale. They have huge potential, but currently their manufacture can result in harmful environmental effects due to the use or production of hazardous chemicals.
I’m one of many researchers studying how to create, manipulate and apply these materials sustainably to develop new technologies and improve existing ones. This offers advantages across many applications, including aerospace, solar panels and electronics.
Silica nanomaterial is already all around you, but you probably don’t even realise it. Silica (SiO₂), a compound that contains both silicon and oxygen, is commonly found in rocks. It is one of the most mass produced nanomaterials worldwide, with an expected market of US$5 trillion (£3.8 trillion) by 2025.
It’s used to make things you encounter every day, from improving the strength of concrete or the durability of rubber tyres, plus it enhances the cleaning properties and consistency of toothpaste. Silica nanomaterial could have exciting high-value applications, like medicines and wastewater treatment.
While silica products might be great, the way they are made is often not great for the environment, or even economically feasible. Manufacture is key to overall product sustainability, but it’s often invisible to consumers. As such, it’s an aspect that most people consider far less than, for example, whether something will be recycled.
Making silica often requires energy-intensive processes, or makes nasty waste products that are difficult to safely dispose of. Trying to reduce the environmental footprint for existing processes is not enough. Developing new production methods is paramount to ensuring that new technologies, such as more advanced solar panels, can both help society and have less impact on the environment than traditional manufacture.
I am part of the Green Nanomaterials Research Group at the University of Sheffield, where my colleagues and I are working hard to develop sustainable, scalable and economical routes to functional nanostructured materials. We address aspects from discovery to manufacturing, applications and commercialisation, considering the performance, scalability, environment and cost.
A greener approach to chemistry
We aim to make better nanomaterials for important applications, while considering the environmental impact at every stage of a nanomaterial’s life, from raw materials through to the use and disposal of product and any by-products. This approach is known as “green chemistry”, a concept developed in 1998 that has been used to develop strategies for greener routes to nanomaterials.
Some algae, including these diatoms, make silica naturally to build cell walls and are studied in the development of bio-inspired silica. Diana Will/Shutterstock
Silica nanomaterial suits this green chemistry approach because it is already made in nature by plants and sponges as structural support. What better teacher for green chemistry than to learn from nature itself? My research group created bio-inspired silica, a product that can be made at room temperature, and in the mild conditions under which silica is made in biology naturally.
Now, colleagues in my research group are scaling up bio-inspired silica production, exploring its use in different applications and making different nanomaterials. Meanwhile, I’m exploring how changing the conditions under which we make silica can improve the properties, like surface area, that make it function better.
There’s huge scope for green nanomaterials to advance essential technologies, and if green silica could be scaled up, the potential for substantial change drug delivery and renewables is vast.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
In a surprise announcement, Keir Starmer told Labour party conference that his government would end homelessness for veterans. “Homes will be there for heroes,” the prime minister said.
Labour has promised to build 1.5 million new homes as part of its manifesto. In his speech, Starmer also said that care leavers and victims of domestic abuse will have a “guaranteed roof over their head”.
I’ve been involved in research about veteran homelessness for ten years. While Starmer’s promise is welcome, it will be hard to achieve. Government data reported that there were 2,110 homeless families with an armed forces veteran in England in 2022-23, a 14% increase from the previous year.
But that figure is likely to underestimate overall levels of housing insecurity among veterans. Many people who leave military service could be considered “hidden homeless”, particularly female veterans who are unlikely to engage with formal services and young service leavers who easily slip through the cracks of existing provision.
Those who have been lucky enough to find the right service at the right time may live in veteran-specific housing, including supported accommodation. Others may have found help through Operation Fortitude. This government-run referral scheme for veterans at risk of homelessness has housed over 400 people since it began in September 2023. But these services aren’t enough to ensure stable and secure housing for all veterans.
The scale of the housing crisis has widened the gap between military and civilian life. Service leavers now need to save more and for longer than they did in the past to have any hope of closing the gap between their entitlements in military accommodation and the cost and availability of civilian housing.
While in the military, service members’ accommodation is deeply subsidised. Today, a service family with two children could be entitled to a three-bedroom house, paying around £320 a month. For single personnel, it could be as little as £106 per month. In 2013 (the most recent available data), most personnel paid less than 12% of their salary for accommodation charges. The civilian population at the time paid between 20% and 40% for housing.
However, many service members do not consider what they might do once that support ends. The people most vulnerable to homelessness after military service are those who are discharged quickly, for example for medical or disciplinary reasons. They might be required to leave military accommodation within weeks (or sometimes hours), and haven’t had chance to plan for life after the military.
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Many of the veterans and service members my colleagues and I interviewed for our research spoke of the lack of planning and ability to save. One told us: “When you join at 18 and get a salary at the same time as all my mates’ student loans, you think you’re a multi-millionaire.”
Our research suggests that home ownership at the point of discharge is out of reach for many. Social housing is not an option for many veterans, who do not qualify if they are single or have available savings.
Social housing allocation rules require applicants to have a local connection to qualify. The government said it will bring in changes to fully exempt veterans, care leavers and domestic abuse survivors. Veterans are currently exempt from this for five years. But the exemption is irrelevant if there are no suitable properties available, and veterans are consequently likely to be in temporary accommodation.
Housing in the private rented sector is expensive to secure and costly to maintain. Many service leavers find themselves returning to the parental home, sometimes after many years of successful service.
Transitioning to civilian life
The move from military to civilian life is hard to navigate. While it is certainly true that many service leavers thrive in civilian life, others struggle to find the right support and resources. They may not have the financial literacy and planning to know how to navigate the housing system. One veteran described feelings of “abandonment” after leaving service:
I joined at 16. I did 15 years. I left at 31. The Royal Navy were my parents. … I didn’t know where to go or what to do.
Many service leavers are affected by trauma and PTSD, as well as other mental health or substance abuse problems. Like civilians suffering from these conditions, these interconnected issues can exacerbate housing insecurity. And long wait times for mental health services can reduce the chances of finding long-term housing as they struggle to maintain tenancies, pay bills on time and keep stable employment.
How then, can the government and military best help veterans at risk?
The first 12 months after leaving service are critical to help the transition to civilian life and ensure service leavers have accommodation. In that time, service leavers should be given an automatic referral to a time-limited housing support scheme if they have nowhere to go.
They could also be given the option to remain in military accommodation with support to give them time to transition. Another direct solution would be to give service leavers money for private rented sector or mortgage deposits.
These solutions can’t just start when people leave service. Better mental health support and improving financial literacy while still in service is critical.
And any solutions can’t be short-term. The homeless veterans I have met over the years were often discharged many years before they experienced homelessness. Evidence suggests that within five years post-discharge is a critical time for rough sleeping to be established. Support for those who left service some years ago also needs to be part of the offer.
Lisa O’Malley receives funding from Forces in Mind Trust.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jenny Woodley, Senior Lecturer in Modern American History, Nottingham Trent University
For decades, Black history in the UK has been siloed from the mainstream, as if incidental to the nation’s history. Black History Month in October is dedicated to celebrating Black heritage, but the rest of the year, it feels largely neglected and ignored. Public historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, is at the forefront of efforts to integrate Black history into our national story.
His latest book, Black History for Every Day of the Year, co-created with two of his siblings, Yinka and Kemi, is another contribution to that work. This attractive and substantial book has an entry for each calendar day detailing an event, person, place, or theme associated with black history.
There are biographies of artists, musicians, activists, politicians, filmmakers, writers, and scientists. We learn about legal cases, such as Brown v Board of Education, when racial segregation in US schools was ruled unconstitutional, and the Mansfield Judgment, a 1772 British ruling which decided the fate of enslaved African James Somerset, and was used by abolitionists in their campaign to end slavery.
We get to see important objects, like the Benin Bronzes, a collection of sculptures created by skilled artisans in the Kingdom of Benin – now part of Nigeria – which were looted by British forces in 1897. They were then given to institutions like the British Museum, where some are still on display.
The book narrates histories of violence and injustice, from centuries of enslavement and brutal colonial rule, to South Africa’s Sharpeville massacre when, in March 1960, 69 people protesting apartheid laws were killed by the police.
The tragedy of the 1981 New Cross fire in south London, where 14 young Black people were killed in a suspected arson attack on a house party, is recounted as is the racist murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence, also in south London in 1993.
It tells stories of resistance and resilience, such as the uprising of enslaved people in Jamaica in 1760, known as Tacky’s revolt, and the 1961 Freedom Rides, when Black and white students challenged racial segregation on American buses and were met with violence.
In Britain it examines the Bristol bus boycott of 1963, a four-month-long protest against the bus company’s refusal to hire Black or Asian drivers. Many of the events and names will be familiar to some readers but there is likely to be plenty that is new and novel.
It is not a book which invites intensive reading, but rather the joy is to dip in and out, finding connections between entries, dates and themes. The popularity of social media “On This Day” posts suggests many readers will enjoy connecting past with present.
At the end of the volume, as well as a glossary of terms, are 12 timelines which place some of the entries into a more cohesive – though potentially more limiting – narrative.
For example, they outline Black resistance to slavery, abolitionist movements, and histories of imperialism and colonialism. Both here and throughout the book readers are pointed to connections between the entries. The text is enhanced by beautiful illustrations at the beginning of each month, which explore objects, places and themes associated with the entries, and the timelines are likewise creatively illustrated.
Black History for Every Day is educational and informative, but it is written with a deft touch and its format, along with the illustrations and inclusion of photographs, mean it is also engaging and accessible.
The scope of the histories included is global and many are transnational, showing the connections between the struggles and stories of people of African descent across the world. However, the majority of entries are associated with British and US history. This is not surprising given the authors’ research interests and the likely market for the book.
While it is apparent that an attempt has been made to be geographically and chronologically diverse, around a third of the 366 entries deal with US history, suggesting that our understanding of Black history is still often dominated by its American iterations.
The book is not attempting to break new ground. The timeline of the US civil rights movement, for example, begins with the Supreme Court ruling to desegregate education in 1954 and includes the acts of nonviolent direct action which have dominated the widely accepted “master narrative” of the era.
However, the book does at least go slightly beyond the usual cut-off point to include the Black Panther Party’s breakfast program, which addressed poverty and hunger in the Black community between 1969 and 1980, and the murder of Black Panther deputy chairman Fred Hampton, who was killed in 1969 at the age of 21.
The entry for Martin Luther King Jr. claims he organised the Montgomery bus boycott, ignoring the contributions of black women who were the driving force behind the movement. This is somewhat modified by the entry for activist Rosa Parks, which acknowledges the work of the Women’s Political Council in Montgomery.
The book’s purpose is not to be comprehensive; it cannot be, given its breadth. Rather, each entry is intended to serve as an introduction. The authors explain they hope people will be inspired to find out more after reading it.
Taken together, the daily entries narrate centuries of discrimination, violence and injustice against people of African descent. But they also tell stories of Black resilience, innovation, talent and achievement. The Olusogas’ book is published in time for Black History month in the UK, but it makes the case for engaging with black history beyond a single month every year.
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Jenny Woodley has received funding from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust.
Cosmic microwave background shows fluctuations in temperature.ESA/Planck Collaboration
Given how unfathomably large the universe is, it is perhaps understandable that we haven’t yet cracked all its secrets. But there are actually some pretty basic features, ones we used to think we could explain, that cosmologists are increasingly struggling to make sense of.
The standard model originated some 25 years ago and has successfully reproduced a whole plethora of observations. But some of the latest measurements of large-scale structure, a topic which I work on, indicate that the matter is less clustered (smoother) than it ought to be according to the standard model.
This result has cosmologists scratching their heads looking for explanations. Some solutions are relatively mundane, such as unknown systematic errors in the measurements. But there are more radical solutions. These include rethinking the nature of dark energy (the force causing the universe’s expansion to accelerate), invoking a new force of nature or even tweaking Einstein’s theory of gravity on the largest of scales.
At present, the data cannot easily distinguish between different competing ideas. But the measurements from forthcoming surveys are poised to take a giant leap forward in precision. We may be on the cusp of finally breaking the standard model of cosmology.
This is article is part of our series Cosmology in crisis? which uncovers the greatest problems facing cosmologists today – and discusses the implications of solving them.
The early universe
To understand the nature of the current tension and its possible solutions, it is important to understand how structure in the universe formed and subsequently evolved. Much of our understanding comes from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The CMB is radiation that fills the universe and is a leftover relic from the first few hundred thousand years of cosmic evolution after the Big Bang (for comparison, the universe is estimated to be 13.7 billion years old).
Scientists discovered the CMB by accident in 1964 (garnering them a Nobel prize), but its existence and properties had been predicted years earlier.
In excellent agreement with some of the earliest theoretical work, the observed temperature of the CMB today is an incredibly chilly 3 Kelvin (-270°C). However, at very early times, it was sufficiently hot (millions of degrees) to enable the fusion of all of the light elements in the universe, including helium and lithium, into heavier ones.
The CMB’s spectrum (light broken down by wavelength) suggests it must have been in thermal equilibrium with matter in the past – meaning they had the same distribution of energies. Matter and radiation can only reach thermal equilibrium in very dense environments. So measurements of the CMB convincingly demonstrate that the universe was once an extremely hot and dense place, with all the matter and radiation packed into a very small space.
As the universe expanded, it quickly cooled. And as it did so, some of the free electrons that existed at the time were captured by protons, forming atoms of hydrogen. This “era of recombination” happened around 300,000 years after the Big Bang. After this point, the universe was suddenly less dense so the CMB radiation was “released” to travel without impediment, and it has not significantly interacted with matter since.
As the radiation is very old, when we make measurements of the CMB today, we are learning about the conditions of the early universe. But detailed mapping of the CMB tells us a great deal more than this.
A key insight from CMB maps obtained with the Planck telescope is that the universe was also exceptionally smooth at early times. There was only a 0.001% variation from place to place in the density and temperature of the matter and radiation in the universe. If there had been more extreme variation, that matter and radiation would have been much more clustered.
These variations, or “fluctuations”, are of fundamental importance to how structure subsequently evolved in the universe. Without these fluctuations, there would be no galaxies, no stars or planets – and no life. A very interesting question is, where did these fluctuations come from?
Our current understanding is that they are a result of quantum mechanics, the theory of the microcosmos of atoms and particles. Quantum mechanics shows that empty space has some background energy which allows sudden, local changes, such as particles popping in and out of existence. The quantum nature of matter and energy has been verified to remarkable accuracy in the laboratory.
These fluctuations are thought to have been blown up to large scales in a very rapid period of expansion in the early universe called “inflation”, although the detailed mechanism behind inflation is still not fully understood.
Over time, these fluctuations grew and the arrangement of matter and radiation in the universe became more clustered. Regions that were slightly denser had a stronger gravitational pull and so attracted even more matter, which increased the density, which strengthened the gravitational pull, and so on. Regions of slightly lower density lost out, becoming emptier with time – a cosmic case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
The fluctuations grew to such an extent over time that galaxies and stars started to form, with galaxies being distributed in and along the familiar filaments and nodes that make up a “cosmic web”.
The standard explanation
The rate at which fluctuations grow over time, and how they are clustered in space depends on several factors: the nature of gravity, the constituent components of matter and energy in the universe, and how these components interact (both with themselves and with each other).
These factors are encapsulated in the standard model of cosmology. The model is based on a solution to Einstein’s general theory of relativity (our best understanding of gravity) that assumes the universe is homogeneous and isotropic on large scales – meaning it looks the same in every direction to every observer.
It also assumes that the matter and energy in the universe is composed of normal matter (“baryons”), dark matter consisting of relatively heavy and slow-moving particles (“cold” dark matter) and a constant amount of dark energy (Einstein’s cosmological constant, denoted Lambda).
Since its origin approximately 25 years ago, the model has successfully explained a great many observations of the universe on large scales, including the [detailed properties of the CMB].
And until very recently, it also provided excellent fits to a variety of measurements of the clustering of large-scale structure at late times. In fact, some measurements of large-scale structure are still very well described by the standard model and this may be providing an important clue as to the origin of the current tension.
Remember that the CMB shows us the clustering of matter (the fluctuations) at early times. So we can use the standard model to evolve that forward in time and predict what it should, theoretically, look like today. If there is a fit between this prediction and observations, that is a very strong indication that the ingredients of the standard model are correct.
The ‘S8’ tension
What has changed recently is that our measurements of large-scale structure, particularly at very late times, have significantly improved in their precision. Various surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey and the Kilo Degree Survey have found evidence for inconsistencies between observations and the standard model.
In other words, there is a mismatch between the early time and late time fluctuations: the late-time fluctuations are not as large as expected. Cosmologists refer to this clash as the “S8 tension”, as S8 is a parameter that we use to characterise the clustering of matter in the late-time universe.
Depending on the particular data set, the chance of the tension being a statistical fluke may be as low as 0.3%. But from a statistical point of view, that is not enough to firmly rule out the standard model.
However, there are strong hints of the tension in a variety of independent observations. And attempts to explain it away due to systematic uncertainties in the measurements or modelling have simply not been successful to date.
For example, it had previously been suggested that perhaps energetic non-gravitational processes, such as winds and jets from supermassive black holes, could inject enough energy to alter the clustering of matter on large scales.
However, we have shown using state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulations (called Flamingo) that such effects appear to be too small to explain the tension with the standard model of cosmology.
If the tension is indeed pointing us to a flaw in the standard model, this would imply that something in the basic ingredients of the model is not correct.
This would have huge consequences for fundamental physics. For example, the tension may be indicating that something is wrong about our understanding of gravity, or the nature of the unknown substance called dark matter or dark energy. In the case of dark matter, one possibility is that it interacts with itself via an unknown force (something beyond just gravity).
Alternatively, perhaps dark energy is not constant but evolves with time, as early results from the Dark Energy Survey Instrument (Desi) may indicate. Some scientists are even considering the possibility of a new (fifth) force of nature. This would be a force of similar strength to gravity that operates over very large scales and would act to slow the growth of structure.
But note that any modifications of the standard model would also need to account for the many observations of the universe that the model successfully explains. This is no simple task. And before we jump to grand conclusions, we must be sure that the tension is real and not simply a statistical fluctuation.
The good news is that forthcoming measurements of large-scale structure with Desi, the Rubin Observatory, Euclid, the Simons Observatory and other experiments will be able to confirm if the tension is real with much more precise measurements.
They will also be able to thoroughly test many of the alternatives to the standard model that have been proposed. It may be that within the next couple of years we will have ruled out the standard model of cosmology and profoundly changed our understanding of how the universe works. Or the model may be vindicated and more reliable than ever. It’s an exciting time to be a cosmologist.
Ian G. McCarthy receives funding from UKRI’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). He works for Liverpool John Moores University.
A glistening big wheel and Christmas market are set to return to Broadgate as part of the city’s Christmas offer.
The big wheel will be open from Friday 15 November for both adults and children to ride throughout the day and into the evening, whilst market stalls selling a range of festive food, drinks and gifts will be in place in Broadgate too.
Festive lights will be on in the city centre on the same day, ahead of a magical free family event, the Festival of Christmas.
The Festival of Christmas will take place on the evening of Wednesday 20 November, the same date that sees the start of late-night shopping in Coventry. Details are yet to be revealed but visitors can expect a trail of festivities in locations around the city centre from 4pm – 9pm.
Cllr Abdul Salam Khan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Events, Coventry City Council said: “We are delighted to see the return of our popular Christmas market to Broadgate along with the big wheel which was enjoyed by so many last year. There will be no price increase for the big wheel – all ticket prices will remain the same as last year.
“This year the city centre will see a new event, the Festival of Christmas, which will be free to attend and will replace the traditional Christmas lights switch on.
“It will allow us to utilise our city space effectively and means everyone can enjoy the big wheel and Christmas market at the same time as our new Festival of Christmas, which I am sure will be a big hit with young people and families.”
Late night shopping will start on Wednesday 20 November. Coventry City Council will be offering free parking for entry after 3pm on the following dates in Council run, city centre car parks:
Wednesday 20 November 2024
Wednesday 27 November 2024
Wednesday 4 December 2024
Wednesday 11 December 2024
Wednesday 18 December 2024
Cllr Patricia Hetherton, Cabinet Member for City Services, added: “The arrival of our big wheel, Festival of Christmas and Christmas market shows we are committed to having a Christmas offer in the city centre that residents can enjoy.
“The festive lights really do brighten our city centre. They can be enjoyed by those who are in the city centre in the evening late night shopping or spending time in Coventry’s restaurants and bars. The lights are used for a number of occasions including Remembrance Day and Christmas, as well as Diwali where lights will also be switched on along Foleshill Road.
“The financial challenges that we face as a council mean we may not be able to do as much as we would like or what we have done in the past, but I’m sure the offer will see people enjoy them whilst visiting the city centre.”
Joanne Glover, chief executive of Coventry BID, said: “Christmas is always a very special time in the city centre and it’s set to be a jam-packed six weeks for businesses and families alike.
“There will be plenty to see and do and we are looking forward to the celebrations and making it another festive season to remember.”
Supplied by The Giant Wheel Company, the wheel is over 100ft at its highest point, and provides stunning views of the city.
Subject to planning permission approval, the wheel and markets will open to the public on Friday 15 November. The wheel and markets will operate every day until Sunday 5 January, except Christmas Day.
The city’s Christmas offer is being delivered by Coventry City Council in partnership with Visit Coventry and Coventry BID.
More details about the Festival of Christmas, the big wheel and Christmas market will be revealed soon.
In 2018, the Australian philosopher Kate Manne coined the word “himpathy” to describe what she called “the inappropriate and disproportionate sympathy powerful men often enjoy in cases of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, homicide and other misogynistic behavior”.
What makes somebody more likely to feel himpathetic, either to somebody facing accusations in the public eye, or in their own workplace?
In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to a human behaviour expert whose research seeks to understand what makes some people more inclined to support perpetrators of sexual misconduct than the victims.
Samantha Dodson is an assistant professor of organisational behaviour and human resources at the University of Calgary in Canada. She first started researching the ways people react to accusations of sexual misconduct around the time of the #MeToo movement, as women came forward with accusations of sexual harassment in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein case.
Dodson and her colleagues wanted to understand why some people are predisposed to express sympathy towards male perpetrators of sexual misconduct, or himpathy. Over a series of five studies, both analysing public comments on X related to the #MeToo movement and through lab-based psychology experiments. Her team used moral foundations theory to build a profile of the kinds of people more likely to be himpathetic.
Moral foundations theory argues that there are innate moral concerns that everybody holds to different levels. These concerns include respect for authority, loyalty, staying pure, being fair and being caring toward other people.
Don’t rock the boat
What we found is that when people strongly value things like loyalty, respect for authority and purity, they’re more likely to feel sympathy toward the man accused of sexual misconduct and feel anger toward the women who made that allegation.
Dodson says people who hold these moral values very strongly are more likely to see allegations as a threat to the stability of a company, or institution. And, as a result, they’re also less likely to believe a victim.
It also leads to people being more likely to seek punishment for the women who made the accusations and less likely to seek punishment for the men who have been accused.
Overall, Dodson found the vast majority of people in their studies were “not himpathetic” and it’s just a small subset of people who react this way.
The challenge is if those people are in positions of authority, or … if you have one person that you work with who’s himpathetic and you’re a victim you might experience some iciness from them or ostracism.
Their work also looks at how managers can better deal with accusations of sexual harassment in the workplace as a result of their findings.
Listen to Samantha Dodson talk about her research and the recommendations from it on The Conversation Weekly podcast, which also features an introduction from Eleni Vlahiotis, business and economy editor at The Conversation in Canada.
A transcript of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts.
This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Katie Flood with assistance from Mend Mariwany. Sound design was by Michelle Macklem, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive producer.
Scientists will work with Medannex to help accelerate treatment for bone cancer
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is collaborating with Scottish biopharmaceutical company Medannex on a £313,000 project to develop a new treatment for a childhood bone cancer.
Thanks to funding from Innovate UK’s Cancer Therapeutics programme, Medannex will work with senior scientists at ARU’s School of Life Sciences and world-leading paediatric oncologists to prepare its first-in-class therapy MDX-124 for a clinical study focusing on paediatric osteosarcoma.
MDX-124 is the first clinic-ready agent to target annexin-A1, a protein known to drive numerous cancers and other diseases. In preclinical tests, MDX-124 has been shown to stop the growth and spread of certain cancers, as well as harnessing the immune system to attack tumours. MDX-124 is currently being evaluated in a first-in-human Phase 1b oncology study in adults (‘ATTAINMENT’).
Recent data mining of a paediatric genomics database and staining of tumour tissue has revealed that annexin-A1 is highly expressed in osteosarcoma, making MDX-124 a strong candidate to treat this form of cancer.
Osteosarcoma is a rare primary cancer of the bone characterised by a high degree of malignancy, strong invasiveness, rapid disease progression and a high mortality rate. Approximately 50% of cases are in children and young adults, representing about 2% of all paediatric cancers.
In the UK, around 65% of children with osteosarcoma survive for five years after diagnosis, however this drops to only 24% for those with metastatic disease. Therefore, there remains a significant unmet clinical need for novel therapies like MDX-124.
“We’re delighted to be collaborating with Medannex to explore this innovative approach to childhood cancer treatment and we look forward to generating key data in the coming months.”
The project’s Clinical Advisory Board is led by Professor Pamela Kearns, Chair of Clinical Paediatric Oncology at the University of Birmingham, who said:
“This grant award will allow Medannex to tackle the critical unmet need for new treatments in osteosarcoma. I look forward to helping guide the company’s development in this area and exploring the potential of MDX-124 to radically improve patient outcomes.”
Medannex CEO, Ian Abercrombie, said:
“We’re grateful to Innovate UK for this resounding endorsement of the potential of our first-in-class therapy to make a real difference to osteosarcoma patients and their families. Our team is excited to drive the project forward with the support of our scientific collaborators and specialist clinical advisors.”
Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, will fund £231,000 of the project costs, with the remainder financed by Medannex.
Around 70 of the best independent traders will be heading to St George’s Hall next month to showcase a vast array of stunning and unique products.
The artisan market, which has FREE entry, returns on Sunday 6 October, after the huge success of the inaugural event back in June. Running from 10am to 4.30pm expect stalls filled with beautiful artwork, jewellery, candles and one-off homeware pieces.
There will also be a whole host of goodies ranging from chocolates, to cheeses and chutneys, right through to a large selection of crafted pieces.
Outside the Hall, the food zone will be the perfect place to take a break from browsing, with a variety of hot food vendors offering light bites or more substantial meals. And why not sit back and relax inside with a drink and enjoy the live music performances which will be taking place throughout the day.
The first market took place on 16 June and attracted more than 3,000 visitors. There are already plans for a winter instalment of the market, which will take place on Sunday 3 November.
Liverpool is home to a well-established markets offer, from the weekly Great Homer Street Market (Greatie Market) – to a regular programme of farmers’ and craft markets. Please visit the Council’s markets webpages for more information.
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Health and Wellbeing, Councillor Harry Doyle, said: “There is already an autumnal nip in the air and this artisan market is the perfect, family-friendly way to while away an October day.
“We were delighted with the numbers who came out in June to support local traders, so we knew it couldn’t be just a one-off event. We know that markets, done right, can be hugely popular and we have never been shy about our ambition to grow our markets and make them a key part of our destination offer which will not only appeal to residents, but will also bring in visitors from outside of the city.
“I’m sure this next instalment will prove to be popular once again, and that we can make this a permanent, seasonal offer at the Hall.”
Local trader and textile designer specialising in unique, bespoke city landscapes, Sandra Hepworth, said: “The market was a big hit in June, and I’m so pleased we’re returning to St George’s Hall again. It’s a place where visitors can enjoy a vast array of high-quality products created by local traders, and get that personal, friendly interaction that makes artisan markets like this really stand out from the crowd.
“And of course being located in such amazing surroundings really gives this venue the edge. I know so many people who are excited to come along in October – not only to check out the unique pieces for sale, but also to enjoy this incredible heritage gem, which many will be visiting for the first time.”
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitwave, the leading enterprise finance platform for digital assets, is excited to announce an important platform update, expanding its powerful segregated inventory tracking capability to all customers as part of the core service offering.
With this update, every Bitwave customer can now benefit from account-specific cost basis tracking, ensuring compliance with the latest IRS rules without any added cost or system changes.
With the release of final IRS regulations (T.D. 10000), the long-standing “universal wallet accounting” standard will sunset, significantly shifting how many businesses manage and report digital assets across multiple self-custody wallets and addresses. Starting Jan 1, 2025, the cost basis of digital assets must be individually tracked for each account (like a wallet or exchange).
Bitwave’s account-level cost basis tracking function has long been an essential part of the platform for businesses managing digital assets. Previously available as part of the Bitwave Advanced Accounting module, this powerful feature is now included in the Bitwave Core offering for all customers.
“At Bitwave, we’ve always prioritized giving our customers the tools they need to stay ahead of regulatory changes,” said Bitwave CEO and Co-Founder Pat White.
“Our account-level tracking feature has been a key part of our platform for years, and we’re excited to make this functionality available to all customers to make compliance simple and secure.”
Key benefits of the product change include:
Seamless Compliance: Businesses can now track cost basis by individual wallet, ensuring full compliance with the IRS’s new digital asset reporting regulations.
Feature Now Available to All: Wallet-by-wallet tracking, which has always been a part of the Bitwave platform, is now included in the Bitwave Core service, giving all customers access to this critical functionality.
Effortless Implementation: Existing Bitwave users can immediately take advantage of this feature, ensuring compliance with no additional costs or system upgrades.
As regulatory guidance for digital assets evolves, Bitwave remains at the forefront with innovative tools that enable businesses to operate with confidence.
This latest update demonstrates Bitwave’s commitment to empowering its customers with cutting-edge solutions for digital asset tax tracking, accounting, and regulatory compliance.
About Bitwave
Bitwave is the #1 digital asset sub-ledger and on-chain finance platform. Built for enterprises and institutions, Bitwave delivers the reliability, security, and control demanded by today’s leading finance teams.
Bitwave automates on-chain accounting workflows, streamlines regulatory compliance, and simplifies tax reporting complexity with a comprehensive, audit-ready platform. Trusted by Fortune 100 companies and pioneering crypto-native projects alike, Bitwave enables the digital asset economy with scalable financial operations.
