BUENA PARK, Calif., July 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ria Money Transfer (Ria), a global leader in the money transfer industry, and Xe, a global payments provider with 30 years of experience and trusted expertise moving money around the world — both business segments of Euronet (NASDAQ: EEFT) — announced today a collaboration with Google to make cross-border money transfers more accessible. The companies will work together to make it easier for Google users to find and conduct cross-border money transfers via Ria and Xe’s services.
In 2024, the total revenue for the global digital remittance market was forecasted at USD $23.4 billion, and it is projected to rise swiftly at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.5%, reaching USD $83.2 billion by the end of 2034. Part of the growth of digital remittances has been driven by the increased use of embedded finance. The global embedded finance market size was valued at USD $104.8 billion in 2024.
Today, Ria and Xe already support 3.2 billion mobile wallet accounts, 4 billion bank accounts, 4 billion Visa cards and 624,000 locations across nearly 200 countries and territories. This strategic collaboration between Ria, Xe and Google aims to simplify access to cross-border payments for more people around the world, helping Google users discover and transact more easily.
“Thanks to the convenience of digital channels, more and more customers are choosing to send money online,” said Juan Bianchi, Euronet’s EVP & CEO Money Transfer segment. “We are thrilled to be working with Google, and through their vast reach, make Ria and Xe’s money transfer service available to millions of people who haven’t experienced it before.”
About Ria Money Transfer
Ria Money Transfer, a business segment of Euronet (NASDAQ: EEFT), delivers innovative financial services including fast, secure, and affordable global money transfers. With the world’s largest cross-border real-time money movement network, Ria moves money where it matters.
Bridging the gap between digital and physical spaces, Ria’s omnichannel products and services provide unprecedented consumer choice, including real-time payments, mobile wallets, currency exchange, home delivery, and cardless ATM payouts. Ria’s global infrastructure, powered by the Dandelion real-time, cross-border payments network, facilitates financial access to customers, agents and partners alike. By creating new market opportunities and promoting economic growth around the world, Ria opens ways for a better everyday life.
About Xe
Xe is a trusted global payments provider with 30 years of experience and expertise moving money around the world. Thousands of businesses rely on our services every day to manage their international payments and support their FX risk management strategies.
Xe helps you navigate the complexities of international business, offering preferred FX rates, and structured products that allow you to protect your bottom line.
We are proud to be part of Euronet Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT), with a multi-billion-dollar market capitalization and investment grade credit rating.
SAN MATEO, Calif., July 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SIOS Technology Corp., a leading provider of application high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) solutions, today announced that EGGER Group, a global leader in wood-based materials manufacturing, has achieved 99.99% uptime for its mission-critical applications using SIOS LifeKeeper for Linux. With SIOS, EGGER has ensured uninterrupted operations across its 22 manufacturing facilities in 11 countries, safeguarding essential SAP, Oracle, and custom applications from downtime.
EGGER, headquartered in St. Johann, Tyrol, Austria, operates over 5,000 virtual machines on 350 physical servers, supporting a wide range of systems including delivery logistics, inventory management, and enterprise resource planning. To meet its demanding uptime requirements, the company selected SIOS LifeKeeper for its exceptional reliability, simplicity, and ability to support both off-the-shelf and custom services within a Linux-based enterprise infrastructure.
“We have nearly zero downtime and have improved system robustness. One of the key points is that the solution is easy to use and nearly maintenance-free. I can’t even remember when I hit the last bug,” said Oliver W., Manager Datacenter Operations team at EGGER Group.
More than 20 years ago, the EGGER IT team began its search for an HA solution that could scale with its growing global footprint while minimizing system complexity. After evaluating several alternatives, including open source and traditional clustering tools, the team chose SIOS LifeKeeper. The solution provided seamless support for complex database environments, including SAP HANA, Oracle, and customized PostgreSQL, as other internal services.
A critical advantage was the SIOS Application Recovery Kit (ARK), which enabled EGGER to tailor HA protection for its custom applications and services. Combined with a user-friendly GUI and powerful command-line capabilities, SIOS LifeKeeper has allowed EGGER to simplify configuration, reduce setup errors, and streamline management across two-node clusters in its virtualized environment.
“EGGER Group’s long-term success with LifeKeeper is a powerful testament to the scalability, reliability, and versatility of our solution,” said Masahiro Arai, COO of SIOS Technology. “We are proud to support EGGER’s mission-critical operations and global growth with a high availability platform that adapts to their needs today and into the future.”
With SIOS, EGGER has not only reduced downtime risk but also gained the ability to perform maintenance and upgrades without taking systems offline. The company continues to evolve its infrastructure strategy, with SIOS LifeKeeper remaining a key pillar in its ongoing innovation.
About SIOS Technology Corp.
SIOS Technology Corp. high availability and disaster recovery solutions ensure availability and eliminate data loss for critical Windows and Linux applications operating across physical, virtual, cloud, and hybrid cloud environments. SIOS clustering software is essential for any IT infrastructure with applications requiring a high degree of resiliency, ensuring uptime without sacrificing performance or data, protecting businesses from local failures and regional outages, planned and unplanned. Founded in 1999, SIOS Technology Corp. (https://us.sios.com) is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices worldwide.
SIOS, SIOS Technology, SIOS DataKeeper, SIOS LifeKeeper,and associated logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of SIOS Technology Corp. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Media Contact:
Beth Winkowski Winkowski Public Relations, LLC for SIOS 978-649-7189 bethwinkowski@US.SIOS.com
As I scrolled through social media on a hot afternoon in late June, a meme caught my attention. A black and white photo. A smiling young woman with water up to her knees. She appeared to be in a fountain, with many others dipping their legs in the water.
The caption read “On this day in 1976, the British heatwave started. It would last until the 27th August, during which time Britain would experience extreme temperatures and widespread droughts. And we all had a wonderful summer and survived.”
This immediately struck me: it was a boiling hot day. As I sat at my office desk keeping hydrated with a fan pointed directly at my face, I felt the rage burning inside me. How could people be so irresponsible? Heat can be dangerous. But the implication of the meme was clear: if people managed back then, surely today’s warnings about heatwaves, climate change, and public health are exaggerated. These rose-tinted memories obscure a darker truth.
I am a historical criminologist. This meme had the rare effect of deeply troubling both of my areas of expertise.
As a historian, this meme concerns me because it perpetuates the myth of the “good old days”. A selective, nostalgic vision of the past that smooths over complexity and hardship in favour of a comforting, idealised narrative. Flattening history into feelgood folklore, erasing the social inequalities and governmental failures.
It echoes a broader cultural tendency: from “Make America great again” to the “Blitz spirit”, representing Britain’s nostalgia for wartime resilience, a romanticised past is often used by politicians to legitimise political ideas in the present. But history is not a comfort blanket. It is a critical tool.
My work explores how institutions respond to crisis and how narratives of success or failure are constructed. In 1976, advice for dealing with the water shortage was to share a bath with the wife and drive a dirty car. Areas without domestic tap water had to use communal street pipes.
The government did not appoint a minister for drought until the end of August, despite mounting evidence from meteorologists and public health officials. Emergency measures were piecemeal and unevenly applied.
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The suggestion that “we all had a wonderful summer and survived” is misleading. It was reported that “200 people a day were apparently dying who would not have died if the weather had been normal”. During the peak of the heatwave, deaths increased by 28% in the southeast England and 33% in Greater London.
As a criminologist, I know that it is not only natural deaths that can increase during a hot weather. The number of violent deaths also increased in 1976 as well as in other heatwaves. Thermic law is the concept that violent crime is higher in hotter seasons. These patterns might be explained by temperature-aggression theory: that hot weather can cause an increase in aggressive behaviours.
For other criminologists, it is not the temperature itself that causes increased violence, but how people’s behaviour changes due to the heat. For example, people are taking time off work or school, socialising, and drinking. Unstructured time and spaces, combined with alcohol and a holiday feel all lead to increases in violence.
Misrepresenting risk
By sentimentalising the summer of 1976, we strip away its lessons. Worse, we risk repeating its mistakes. One Conservative MP described people concerned about the 2022 heatwave as “snowflakes” and “cowards”. Quite an odd response after the British public was asked to “protect the NHS” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This protection apparently did not extend to looking after each other in a heatwave. In fact, heatwaves are largely an invisible risk. We are told not to fuss, but there is often little communication on how to keep safe.
A lack of policy and examples of political scepticism connect with a key theme in the comments under that meme: climate change denial. If we had a heatwave in 1976 then what we are experiencing now is nothing new, right? Wrong.
The heatwave in 1976 was bad: thousands died, fires raged, and water ran dry. But it was also an anomaly; a hot summer in a relatively cool decade. Heatwaves are now more frequent, more intense and longer lasting. Temperatures reached over 40°C in 2022, while the maximum in 1976 was 4°C-5°C cooler.
Still, each time a weather warning is issued, it is met with a wave of derision. There is the same online discourse as is expressed in this meme. This attitude is not just flippant, it is dangerous. It undermines vital public messaging, discourages precautionary action, and fuels complacency among those least at risk, while leaving the most vulnerable even more exposed.
History can offer crucial perspective. But only if we treat it honestly. That means moving beyond memeified memories of the past and reckoning with the complexity of what really happened. It means challenging the stories we tell ourselves. Many did live through the 1976 heatwave. But many also died: quietly, invisibly and avoidably. Their stories are not part of the nostalgia. They should be.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Stephanie Brown does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The right to trial by jury is a fundamental part of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. But under new proposals to address a record backlog of almost 77,000 Crown Court cases, some cases could now be heard by judge alone.
Sir Brian Leveson has delivered part one of his independent review of the criminal courts, making 45 recommendations to address delays in the criminal justice process. One of his recommendations is that serious offences could be tried by a judge alone without a jury. Our evidence to the review explored how judge-alone trials have been used in other countries.
Currently, a person can only be tried without a jury at Crown Court if there is a risk of jury tampering. Under Leveson’s proposal, judge-alone trials will be expanded to cases where a defendant requests to be tried without a jury, serious and complex fraud offences and where the case is likely to be lengthy or particularly complex.
To understand how this might work, we can to look to other countries where judge-alone trials are used. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US all permit judge-alone trials in circumstances similar to what Leveson is recommending. A defendant can choose to be tried by a judge instead of a jury in certain circumstances.
Defendants tend to express a preference for trial by judge alone if they are concerned that prejudicial media coverage or the nature of the offences might bias jurors against them. Leveson recommends that judges should decide whether a defendant’s request for a judge-alone trial should be granted, but stops short of identifying the factors that a judge should consider.
Leveson leaves open the question of whether judge-alone trials should be available for all offences, or whether certain offences should be exempt. Some countries limit which offences can be heard without a jury. For example, in the Australian Capital Territory, a defendant cannot request a trial without a jury for murder or certain sexual offences.
In New South Wales, judges are advised against permitting a judge-alone trial when the offence involves consideration of “community standards”. This recognises that members of the community have an important role to play in deciding whether a defendant has acted “reasonably”, “negligently” or “dishonestly”. For example, if a person is charged with manslaughter the jury may need to consider whether the defendant’s actions were “unreasonable”, which is best determined by members of the community.
Are judge-alone trials unfair to defendants?
Lawyers often raise concerns about judge-alone trials being unfair to defendants. Based on what we know from other countries, there is no strong evidence that this is the case. However, that is not to say that concerns about unfairness are unwarranted.
If judges convict at higher rates than juries, that might suggest that judge-alone trials are unfair. However, the best available study, conducted in New South Wales, found that judges were actually slightly less likely than juries to find a defendant guilty.
Juries do not explain their verdicts. In all countries which use judge-alone trials, judges must give reasons for their decisions. Knowing why a defendant was found guilty might make trials even more fair, providing a basis for an appeal against conviction if an error was made.
One key issue with judge-alone trials is inadmissible evidence. Ordinarily, jurors are sent out of the courtroom while the judge and lawyers make decisions about what evidence the jury is allowed to hear. Evidence might be excluded because it is irrelevant, prejudicial or was collected in breach of the defendant’s rights. In these scenarios, the jury is never made aware of the evidence.
However, in a judge-alone trial, the judge sees all the evidence, even if they decide that some of it should not be used. There is a risk that judges might be subconsciously impacted by inadmissible evidence in reaching their verdict.
Judge-alone trials also raise issues about diversity of decision-makers. In England and Wales, only 11% of judges are from an ethnic minority background compared to 18% of the population. Ideally, juries contain people from a range of backgrounds. Some defendants might feel more confident that they will be tried fairly by a jury than a judge.
Ultimately, one way to safeguard against concerns about unfairness is to give defendants the ability to choose whether or not they would like to be tried by a judge alone. Leveson’s recommendations suggest that most judge-alone trials would occur at the request of the defendant. However, judge-alone trials could be ordered against the defendant’s wishes in cases involving fraud or that are long and complex.
Juries play an important role in the legal system in England and Wales. Through jury service, members of the community contribute to the administration of justice. The inclusion of a range of viewpoints and experiences in determining criminal verdicts enhances the legitimacy of the justice system.
It is important that we continue to have juries in criminal trials. However, that is not to say that judge-alone trials cannot or should not play a role. The current backlog means that victims and defendants are having to wait years for their day in court. We desperately need to address this, and allowing defendants to elect a judge-alone trial may help to reduce delays to justice.
While judge-alone trials are not inherently unfair, any rollout in England and Wales should be closely monitored and evaluated. It is important that we do not sacrifice fairness for efficiency as we work to address the issues affecting our justice system.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Christian Heiss, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Head of Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Surrey
We’re constantly told to “eat healthy” – but what does that actually mean? Even doctors sometimes struggle to offer clear, practical advice on which specific foods support health, why they work and what real benefits people can expect.
A growing body of research is starting to offer some answers. Along with colleagues, I have researched whether a group of plant compounds called flavan-3-ols could help lower blood pressure and improve blood vessel function. The results suggest these everyday compounds may have real potential for protecting heart health.
Flavan-3-ols – sometimes called flavanols or catechins – are natural plant compounds that belong to the flavonoid family. They’re part of what gives plants their colour and helps protect them from sunlight and pests.
For us, they show up in some of our most familiar foods: cocoa, green and black tea, grapes, apples and even some berries. That slightly tart or bitter note you taste in dark chocolate or strong tea? That’s flavan-3-ols at work.
Scientists have long been interested in their health effects. In 2022, the Cosmos trial (Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study), which followed over 21,000 people, found that cocoa flavanols, but not multivitamin supplements, reduced deaths from cardiovascular disease by 27%. Our study set out to dig even deeper, focusing specifically on their effects on blood pressure and endothelial function (how well blood vessels dilate and respond to blood flow).
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We analysed data from 145 randomised controlled trials involving more than 5,200 participants. These studies tested a range of flavan-3-ol-rich foods and supplements, including cocoa, tea, grapes, apples and isolated compounds like epicatechin, and measured their effects on two key cardiovascular markers: blood pressure and flow-mediated dilation (FMD): a measure of how well the inner lining of blood vessels functions.
The studies ranged from short-term (a single dose) to longer-term interventions lasting weeks or months. On average, participants consumed about 586 mg of flavan-3-ols daily; roughly the amount found in two to three cups of tea, one to two servings of dark chocolate, two tablespoons of cocoa powder, or a couple of apples.
Regular consumption of flavan-3-ols led to an average drop in office blood pressure of 2.8 mmHg systolic (the top number) and 2.0 mmHg diastolic (the bottom number).
But for people who started with elevated blood pressure or diagnosed hypertension, the benefits were even greater with reductions of up to 6–7 mmHg systolic and 4 mmHg diastolic. That’s comparable to the effects of some prescription blood pressure medications and could significantly lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
We also found that flavan-3-ols improved endothelial function, with an average 1.7% increase in FMD after sustained intake. This benefit appeared even in participants whose blood pressure was already normal, suggesting these compounds may help protect blood vessels through multiple pathways.
Side effects were uncommon and typically mild, usually limited to minor digestive issues, suggesting that adding flavan-3-ol-rich foods to your diet is generally safe.
Supporting cardiovascular health
While the benefits were most pronounced in those with high blood pressure, even people with normal readings saw improvements in vascular function. This suggests flavan-3-ols may help prevent cardiovascular problems before they begin.
High blood pressure is one of the major drivers of heart disease worldwide, even at levels that don’t qualify as full-blown hypertension (140/90 mmHg or higher). Recent guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology now recognise that even “elevated” blood pressure (120–139 systolic and 70–89 diastolic) carries increased risk.
Lifestyle changes, particularly diet and exercise, are recommended by doctors as first-line strategies. But patients and even healthcare providers often lack clear, specific guidance on which foods truly make a difference. Our findings help fill this gap by showing that boosting flavan-3-ol intake through everyday foods may offer a simple, evidence-based way to support cardiovascular health.
What about supplements?
Some studies tested supplements or isolated flavan-3-ol compounds, but these generally showed smaller effects than whole foods like tea or cocoa. This may be because other beneficial compounds in whole foods work together, enhancing absorption and effectiveness.
At present, it appears both safer and more effective to focus on getting flavan-3-ols from foods rather than high-dose supplements, especially for people taking medications, since interactions are not fully understood.
The studies we reviewed suggest that 500–600 mg of flavan-3-ols daily may be enough to see benefits. You could reach this by combining two to three cups of green or black tea, one to two servings (about 56g) of dark chocolate or two to three tablespoons of cocoa powder, two to three apples, plus other flavan-3-ol-rich fruits like grapes, pears and berries
Small daily swaps, then, like trading a sugary snack for an apple and a piece of dark chocolate or adding an extra cup of tea, could gradually improve your heart health over time. Because flavan-3-ol content can vary between foods, monitoring your blood pressure at home may help you see if it’s making a difference for you.
More research is needed, particularly in people with diabetes, where the results were less consistent. We also need to better understand how flavan-3-ols interact with medications and whether even greater benefits can be achieved when combined with other healthy habits.
But the evidence is now strong enough to recommend flavan-3-ol-rich foods as part of a heart-healthy diet. As clinicians seek practical, affordable lifestyle strategies for patients, these findings bring us closer to the idea of using food as medicine.
Of course, flavan-3-ols aren’t a magic fix. They won’t replace medication for everyone. But combined with other healthy habits, they may offer a meaningful – and delicious – boost to cardiovascular health. And unlike many health fads, this isn’t about exotic superfoods or expensive powders. It’s about foods many of us already enjoy, used a little more intentionally.
Christian Heiss has received funding from Lipton Teas & Infusions, Ageless Science, iThera, the Medical Research Council, the EPSRC, European Partnership on Metrology, co-financed from European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme and UK Research and Innovation. He is member of the board of the European Society of Vascular Medicine, president of the Vascular, Lipid and Metabolic Medicine Council of the Royal Society of Medicine, and chairperson-elect of the ESC WG Aorta and Peripheral Vascular Diseases.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Taylor, Early Career Researcher and Ecotherapist, Queen’s University Belfast
Brussels, Belgium. 21st February 2019. High school and university students stage a protest against the climate policies of the Belgian government.Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com
There’s a popular quote by the 13th-century poet and spiritual teacher Rumi: “The cure for the pain is in the pain.” This line often echoes through my mind when I’m working with clients, especially those experiencing ecological grief and climate anxiety.
As an ecotherapist – a therapist guided by nature and nature-based therapeutic approaches – and environmental researcher, I work with people who are navigating the emotional weight of ecological breakdown.
Ecotherapy helps people reconnect with the natural world as a way to support mental and emotional wellbeing. It might involve walking in green spaces, mindfulness practices in nature, working with natural materials, or nature-based rituals.
Whether it’s planting a garden, sitting under a tree, or engaging in conservation efforts, ecotherapy helps people feel more grounded, more connected and more resilient both emotionally and spiritually.
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In my practice, I’ve noticed that younger people are more likely to experience climate anxiety, while older generations tend to experience ecological grief. The difference is subtle but important. Anxiety often relates to what lies ahead and a sense of powerlessness. Grief is about what has already been lost.
This emotional divide makes sense when we consider what has happened to the natural world over recent decades. Older adults have witnessed the loss of species, habitats and biodiversity in real time. Many have rich memories and relationships with landscapes that no longer exist as they once did. Meanwhile, younger generations face the terrifying uncertainty of a rapidly changing climate and an increasingly unstable future.
Both grief and anxiety are valid, but they are not the same.
I have explored these experiences in depth while researching nature connection, mental health and how the climate and ecological crisis is reshaping this relationship.
At the outset, I assumed that greater connection with nature would always lead to improved mental wellbeing. But that wasn’t the full picture.
What I found instead was that deepening our connection with the natural world can indeed foster healing, but it can also sharpen our awareness of the damage being done. This heightened sensitivity can trigger emotional pain, despair and even a decline in mental wellbeing.
Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl Jung once said, “There is no coming to consciousness without pain.” That’s exactly what climate-anxious and ecologically grieving people are expressing: the deep psychological toll of recognising the scale of the crisis we’re facing. For some, it affects their ability to function, to enjoy their lives and to maintain relationships.
How to stay well
The question I kept returning to in my work was this: how do we stay well in a time of collapse? My research pointed to one consistent answer: action.
Engaging in pro-environmental actions emerged as the most effective way people coped with emotional strain. These weren’t merely acts of activism — they became spiritual practices, grounded in care, connection and meaning. Through these actions, people began to reclaim a sense of power and purpose in the face of overwhelming ecological loss.
For many, this was also a path back to what eco-philosophers call the ecological self: the part of us that extends beyond the individual and identifies with the living world.
This self isn’t driven by ego or personal gain, but by the impulse to build relationships, nurture communities and support the flourishing of all life. It represents an expanded way of being; one that understands health and healing as collective, not just personal.
Importantly, these actions don’t have to be large-scale. They might involve growing your own herbs or vegetables, for instance, or joining a local conservation effort, forming a community group to protect waterways or green spaces, or participating in climate strikes and land defence work. What matters is that the action is relational: rooted in reciprocity and care.
The conclusion of my research was clear: in the face of ecological distress, mental wellbeing is sustained not by thoughts, but by meaningful action.
Healing through action
In Northern Ireland, where I live and work, I’ve seen a growing grassroots environmental movement. Communities are stepping up to protect landscapes under threat, from campaigns to defend the Sperrin Mountains from gold mining, to local resistance against the pollution that’s devastating Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in Ireland and the UK.
This is unpaid, often invisible labour, but it’s powerful. It gives people a way to process their emotions, to feel less helpless and to turn grief into agency.
Many environmentalists talk about “saving the planet”. But the truth is, the Earth will go on. What’s under threat is us: our ways of life, our communities, our ability to thrive. The dread we feel is rooted in the enormity of this realisation.
To stay well while caring deeply about the Earth means learning to live with this pain, and still choosing to act. It requires us to show up, to be present and to tend to both the human and non-human world with care and reciprocity. As we do, we become more empowered and less overwhelmed.
If you are struggling with climate anxiety or ecological grief, know this: the goal isn’t to suppress your feelings. The goal is to acknowledge them, and then use them as fuel for meaningful action.
Don’t underestimate small acts. The way forward isn’t to wait for hope: it’s to create it through connection, courage and commitment.
In a time of ecological uncertainty, wellness doesn’t come from thinking differently. It comes from doing differently.
Louise Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
For years, people living with obesity have been given the same basic advice: eat less, move more. But while this mantra may sound simple, it’s not only ineffective for many, it can be deeply misleading and damaging.
A new report estimates the rapidly growing number of people that are overweight or obese costs the UK £126 billion a year. This includes £71.4 billion in reduced quality of life and early mortality, £12.6 billion in NHS treatment costs, £12.1 billion from unemployment and £10.5 billion in informal care.
Food campaigners and health experts have called for urgent government action, including expanding the sugar tax to more products, restricting junk food advertising and mandating reformulation of ultra processed foods. As Henry Dimbleby, author of a government-commissioned independent report called the National Food Strategy, warned: “We’ve created a food system that’s poisoning our population and bankrupting the state.”
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Without significant policy change, these costs are projected to rise to £150 billion a year by 2035. Despite this, much of the UK’s approach continues to frame obesity as a lifestyle issue that can be tackled by emphasising personal responsibility. But this framing ignores the bigger picture.
We now understand that obesity is multifactorial. Genetics, childhood experiences, cultural norms, economic disadvantage, psychological health, mental illness and even the kind of job you have all play a role. These aren’t things you can simply change with a Fitbit and salad.
This “obesogenic environment” refers to the world we live in. Its one where high-calorie, low-nutrient foods are cheap and everywhere, and where physical activity has been engineered out of everyday life, from car-centric cities to screen-dominated leisure time.
Outdated obesity advice isn’t working.
These environments don’t affect everyone equally. People in more deprived areas are significantly more exposed to conditions that drive obesity, such as food deserts (areas with limited access to affordable, nutritious food), poor public transport and limited green space. In this context, weight gain becomes a normal biological response to an abnormal environment.
Why “eat less, move more” falls short
Despite growing awareness of these systemic issues, most UK obesity strategies still centre on individual behaviour change, often through weight management programmes that encourage people to cut calories and exercise more. While behaviour change has a place, focusing on it exclusively creates a dangerous narrative: that people who struggle with their weight are simply lazy or lack willpower.
It’s clear many people still don’t understand the role of structural and socioeconomic factors in shaping obesity risk. And this misunderstanding leads to judgement, shame and stigma, especially for children and families who are already vulnerable.
What should good obesity care look like?
Instead of outdated advice and blame, we need a holistic, stigma-free and science-informed approach to obesity care, one that reflects current Nice guidelines and the Obesity Health Alliance’s recommendations. There are several things that need to be done.
First, we should recognise obesity as a chronic disease. Obesity is not a failure of willpower. It’s a relapsing, long-term medical condition. Like diabetes or depression, it requires structured, ongoing support, not short-term fixes or crash diets.
Second, we need to tackle weight stigma head-on. Weight-based discrimination is widespread in schools, workplaces and even healthcare settings. We need training for professionals to reduce bias, promote inclusive care and adopt person-centred, non-stigmatising language. Discriminatory practices must be challenged and eliminated.
Third, deliver personalised, multidimensional support. Treatment plans should be tailored to each person’s life, including their cultural background, psychological history and social context. This includes shared decision-making, regular follow-up and integrated mental health support.
And fourth, focus on changing the environment, not just people. We must shift the focus to the systems and structures that make healthy choices so hard. That means investing in affordable, nutritious food; improving access to physical activity; and tackling inequality at its roots.
Time for a systemic shift
Obesity isn’t just about what people eat or how often they exercise. It’s shaped by biology, experience and the environment we build around people. Framing it as a personal failure not only ignores decades of evidence – it actively harms the very people who need support.
If we want to reduce stigma, improve health outcomes – and avoid a £150bn crisis – then the “eat less, move more” era must come to an end. What we need instead is a bold, compassionate, evidence-based systems approach – one that sees the whole person and the world they live in.
Lucie Nield receives funding from NIHR.
Catherine Homer receives funding from NIHR. She is affiliated with Royal Society of Public Health.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) — A special exhibition of works by the great Russian artist Ilya Repin will open to the public at the National Museum of China (NMC) on July 23. It is jointly organized by the NMC and the State Tretyakov Gallery with the support of the State Russian Museum.
The exhibition will feature 92 works in such techniques as oil painting and drawing, systematically revealing the creative path of Ilya Repin. It will be the largest and most representative exhibition of its kind ever held in China, according to a statement published on the official website of the NMC on Wednesday.
According to the NMC, the upcoming exhibition will combine the collections of two leading Russian art institutions and, for the first time in China, a comprehensive picture of the great artist’s work will be presented on a large scale.
In particular, such famous masterpieces by Repin as “Tsarevna Sophia”, “Religious Procession in Kursk Province”, “They Didn’t Expect Him” and “Sadko” will be delivered to China for the first time and presented to the Chinese public. Among them, the painting “Religious Procession in Kursk Province” with a width of almost 4 meters will be impressively demonstrated to visitors.
The exhibition consists of 8 creative groups of important works by I. Repin, which reveal the artist’s entire creative path – from field sketches to the creation of monumental canvases. This will allow viewers to more clearly feel the strict methodology of the master’s work.
In particular, the creative team dedicated to the creation of “Barge Haulers on the Volga” will demonstrate portrait sketches of barge haulers, script sketches, oil sketches and other materials related to this most recognizable famous painting in China. This will provide viewers with a unique opportunity to deeply immerse themselves in the history of the birth of this masterpiece and feel how I. Repin step by step transformed the initial idea into a work that conquered the whole world, the NMC statement notes. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
WUHAN, July 9 (Xinhua) — The Wuhan-Moscow-Wuhan direct flight will officially resume on Sept. 9, the branch of China Southern Airlines in central China’s Hubei Province said Wednesday.
Flights between Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, and the Russian capital will reportedly be operated by wide-body Airbus A350-900 passenger aircraft on Tuesdays and Sundays.
The aircraft will depart from Wuhan Airport at 15:10 Beijing time and arrive at Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport at 19:15 local time, and depart in the opposite direction from Moscow at 21:15 local time, arriving in Wuhan at 10:30 the following day Beijing time. The one-way flight will take approximately 8 hours.
Let us recall that this air route was launched on July 30, 2014, becoming the first direct flight in history connecting central China with Russia.
According to the Hubei branch of China Southern Airlines, along with the recent implementation of a series of measures to facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and Russia, the resumption of direct flights will further promote humanitarian exchanges between the two countries. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
KUNMING, July 9 (Xinhua) — Five people are missing after heavy rains hit Zhaotong city in southwest China’s Yunnan Province since 7 a.m. Tuesday, local authorities said Wednesday.
In one of the villages of Weixing County of this city prefecture, the rampage of the elements caused by heavy rainfall led to the collapse of two buildings. According to preliminary data, five people are missing. Rescuers are looking for them.
The authorities of Zhaotong city have begun work to eliminate the consequences of the emergency.
As of 14:00, more than 7,000 local residents had been evacuated to safer places. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
TIC2026 will bring together nuclear safety regulators, plant designers and operators, technical support organizations, and other stakeholders from various countries, along with international organizations. The goal is to build on insights on key topics related to nuclear installation design safety, safety assessment, siting, construction, operation and regulation for both operating and new nuclear installations.
“The conference will provide a comprehensive forum for nuclear safety stakeholders from various generations of nuclear projects, and a wide range of nuclear safety fields, to address different issues in nuclear installation safety, making it an inclusive event,” said Ana Gomez, Head of the IAEA Safety Assessment Section.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
TIANJIN, July 9 (Xinhua) — The “World Mayors – SCO Summit Cities Dialogue” was held in Tianjin, north China, from July 6 to 9, attended by mayors, diplomats accredited in China and experts from think tanks from SCO countries.
At the event, participants discussed expanding consensus, deepening practical cooperation in the areas of connectivity, trade and economic investment, green development and cultural exchanges.
At the opening ceremony, Vice Chairperson of the SCO Chinese Committee on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation Cui Li noted that the unique cultural images of cities, the spirit of inclusiveness and viable cultures of the SCO countries serve as an inexhaustible incentive for strengthening intercity friendly cooperation within the SCO.
During the event, participants also visited one of the intelligent container terminals of Tianjin Port and Tianjin Light Industry Vocational and Technical College. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
XINING, July 9 (Xinhua) — Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), has called on lawmakers to ensure good performance of their legislative, oversight and parliamentary duties, thereby contributing to the successful completion of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).
Zhao Leji, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour of northwest China’s Qinghai Province from Sunday to Tuesday.
During his visit to Xining and Haidong, Zhao Leji visited legislators’ workplaces, enterprises and rural areas, talking with legislators and local residents to solicit their opinions and advice on promoting high-quality development of legislative work.
Stressing the importance of maintaining the Party’s comprehensive leadership, Zhao Leji called on the legislative organs to comprehensively implement the major principles and policies as well as the important decisions and plans of the Party in their legislative work.
He called on legislatures at various levels in Qinghai to focus on more effectively protecting the ecological environment in the province in the spirit of the rule of law, especially when it comes to protecting the ecology in the Sanjiangyuan area, which is known as the “water tower of China” and is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow River and Lancang, China’s three largest rivers.
Stressing the need to uphold a people-centered stance and consciously put the people’s democracy of the whole process into practice, Zhao Leji called on legislators to conduct in-depth research and actively solicit opinions and suggestions from all sectors.
He stressed that deputies must strictly fulfill their duties in accordance with the Constitution and other laws, stressing the need to strengthen the NPC’s oversight work by fully implementing the revised Oversight Law.
Zhao Leji also called for strengthening the work of improving the people’s congresses and strictly implementing the eight guidelines issued by the CPC Central Committee to improve the behavior style of party cadres and civil servants. This, he said, will create an atmosphere of purity, honesty and enterprise, thereby continuously strengthening their ability to perform their duties in accordance with the law. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
TIC2026 will bring together nuclear safety regulators, plant designers and operators, technical support organizations, and other stakeholders from various countries, along with international organizations. The goal is to build on insights on key topics related to nuclear installation design safety, safety assessment, siting, construction, operation and regulation for both operating and new nuclear installations.
“The conference will provide a comprehensive forum for nuclear safety stakeholders from various generations of nuclear projects, and a wide range of nuclear safety fields, to address different issues in nuclear installation safety, making it an inclusive event,” said Ana Gomez, Head of the IAEA Safety Assessment Section.
CHARLOTTETOWN — The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and the Honourable Gilles Arsenault, Prince Edward Island’s Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, will hold a joint media availability to conclude the Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference (EMMC) in Charlottetown.
Date: Friday, July 11, 2025
Time: 1:30 p.m. AT
Later that afternoon, Minister Hodgson will make an announcement regarding energy investments for Atlantic Canada. He will be joined by Minister Arsenault and leaders from the Maritime energy sector. A media availability will follow.
Date: Friday, July 11, 2025
Time: 3 p.m. AT
All accredited media are asked to pre-register by emailing media@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca. Details on how to participate will be provided upon registration.
July 9, 2025 – The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, will hold a media call-back by teleconference during her travel to Malaysia.
Media Availability Date: July 10, 2025 Time: 10:15 a.m. ET (22:15 MYT) Location: Teleconference
Notes
This event is for accredited members of the Press Gallery only. Media who are not members of the Press Gallery may contact pressres2@parl.gc.ca for temporary access.
As summer continues, so does orientation. With over 200 students entering the School of Nursing as the class of 2029, the program’s academic advisors make sure every student is equipped with the necessary tools to succeed.
These students all have a different story to tell, but no matter their journey they all have one thing in common – a passion for nursing.
Abigail Griffiths (Contributed Photo)
Abigail (Abby) Griffiths
From Northeast Ohio, Abigail Griffiths ’29 (NURS) wants nothing more than to be a pediatric oncology nurse. Her experience with friends and family having cancer is what motivates her to be that helping hand when times get tough.
When Griffiths was younger, her grandmother passed away from cancer, leaving a lasting impact on Griffiths’ life. She also witnessed the effects cancer had on one of her friends from her high school tennis team. Griffiths saw the mental and physical struggles her teammate and grandmother were dealing with and knew how hard that battle had been.
“To be able to be someone who can help people who are going through similar situations is really important to me,” said Griffiths. “So being able to hopefully make a difference in someone’s life or even being able to make someone smile when they are sick or having a rough time makes me happy and is something I strive to do.”
The research opportunities that the School of Nursing offers, and UConn’s community and environment is what stood out to Griffiths when choosing where to continue her education.
Griffiths referred to UConn as “one big family,” and while she’s excited to further her education in nursing, she is also ready to discover herself. During her time as a Husky, she plans on continuing her swimming career by joining UConn Club Swimming. She’s also looking forward to UConn basketball games and meeting new people within her School of Nursing class.
As she gets ready to become a Husky this fall semester, she’s taking a special piece of advice from her swimming coach with her: “You are just as worthy and capable of everything in life just as much as everyone else – I deserve to be here and I am capable of doing very well in nursing school and even through hard times I can still do great things,” Griffiths said.
Katherine Wojtas (Contributed Photo)
Katherine (Katie) Wojtas
Katherine Wojtas ’29 (NURS), from upstate New York, is no stranger when it comes to traveling. Wojtas has been to the Dominican Republic three times to assist in community development and sustainability projects and doesn’t plan on stopping there.
While in the Dominican Republic she helped communities in the sugar cane fields. With her fellow students, she laid cement floors in houses, built a running water system, and built latrines. Wojtas plans to continue doing community service abroad as a Husky, where she can hopefully travel with the School of Nursing.
“The opportunities for local and global service were one of the main reasons why I chose UConn,” she said. “I hope to travel to Ireland or Rwanda with the School of Nursing since it is a meaningful way to learn and make an impact at the same time!”
Wojtas is entering her first year with experience in the healthcare field. During her senior year of high school, she participated in a medical career program at her local nursing home. She received hands-on experience in various healthcare roles and got to shadow nurses.
“It helped me confirm my passion for nursing by allowing me to shadow professionals and learn basic clinical skills. It also opened my eyes to the impact nurses have on patient care,” she said.
Her goal is to become a nurse practitioner and in the future work as a dermatologist or obstetrician-gynecologist (OBGYN). She’s excited to start clinicals and learn from the School of Nursing faculty.
Apart from her own academics and studying abroad, Wojtas wants to join the Women’s Club Flag Football team and healthcare affiliated clubs to connect with others who have similar interests.
“I hope to grow personally and professionally, maintain strong grades, and gain the confidence and skills necessary to become an RN,” said Wojtas.
Check out our other class of 2029 student profiles:
As summer continues, so does orientation. With over 200 students entering the School of Nursing as the class of 2029, the program’s academic advisors make sure every student is equipped with the necessary tools to succeed.
These students all have a different story to tell, but no matter their journey they all have one thing in common – a passion for nursing.
Abigail Griffiths (Contributed Photo)
Abigail (Abby) Griffiths
From Northeast Ohio, Abigail Griffiths ’29 (NURS) wants nothing more than to be a pediatric oncology nurse. Her experience with friends and family having cancer is what motivates her to be that helping hand when times get tough.
When Griffiths was younger, her grandmother passed away from cancer, leaving a lasting impact on Griffiths’ life. She also witnessed the effects cancer had on one of her friends from her high school tennis team. Griffiths saw the mental and physical struggles her teammate and grandmother were dealing with and knew how hard that battle had been.
“To be able to be someone who can help people who are going through similar situations is really important to me,” said Griffiths. “So being able to hopefully make a difference in someone’s life or even being able to make someone smile when they are sick or having a rough time makes me happy and is something I strive to do.”
The research opportunities that the School of Nursing offers, and UConn’s community and environment is what stood out to Griffiths when choosing where to continue her education.
Griffiths referred to UConn as “one big family,” and while she’s excited to further her education in nursing, she is also ready to discover herself. During her time as a Husky, she plans on continuing her swimming career by joining UConn Club Swimming. She’s also looking forward to UConn basketball games and meeting new people within her School of Nursing class.
As she gets ready to become a Husky this fall semester, she’s taking a special piece of advice from her swimming coach with her: “You are just as worthy and capable of everything in life just as much as everyone else – I deserve to be here and I am capable of doing very well in nursing school and even through hard times I can still do great things,” Griffiths said.
Katherine Wojtas (Contributed Photo)
Katherine (Katie) Wojtas
Katherine Wojtas ’29 (NURS), from upstate New York, is no stranger when it comes to traveling. Wojtas has been to the Dominican Republic three times to assist in community development and sustainability projects and doesn’t plan on stopping there.
While in the Dominican Republic she helped communities in the sugar cane fields. With her fellow students, she laid cement floors in houses, built a running water system, and built latrines. Wojtas plans to continue doing community service abroad as a Husky, where she can hopefully travel with the School of Nursing.
“The opportunities for local and global service were one of the main reasons why I chose UConn,” she said. “I hope to travel to Ireland or Rwanda with the School of Nursing since it is a meaningful way to learn and make an impact at the same time!”
Wojtas is entering her first year with experience in the healthcare field. During her senior year of high school, she participated in a medical career program at her local nursing home. She received hands-on experience in various healthcare roles and got to shadow nurses.
“It helped me confirm my passion for nursing by allowing me to shadow professionals and learn basic clinical skills. It also opened my eyes to the impact nurses have on patient care,” she said.
Her goal is to become a nurse practitioner and in the future work as a dermatologist or obstetrician-gynecologist (OBGYN). She’s excited to start clinicals and learn from the School of Nursing faculty.
Apart from her own academics and studying abroad, Wojtas wants to join the Women’s Club Flag Football team and healthcare affiliated clubs to connect with others who have similar interests.
“I hope to grow personally and professionally, maintain strong grades, and gain the confidence and skills necessary to become an RN,” said Wojtas.
Check out our other class of 2029 student profiles:
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July 9, 2025
Albany, NY
Flags To Be Flown at Half-Staff Across New York State on Thursday, July 10
Governor Kathy Hochul today directed flags on all State government buildings to be flown at half-staff in honor of West Colesville Fire Chief James Sitek, who passed away on July 6 in the line of duty, while responding to a fire in Conklin. Flags will be at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Thursday, July 10.
“Our first responders are admirable — stepping up for our communities in times of need, ensuring all are safe and protected from harm,” Governor Hochul said. “First responders go above and beyond, and I join the West Colesville community, family and loved ones in mourning the loss of their fearless Fire Chief, James Sitek.”
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Statement from Cllr John Cotton, leader of the city council –
“Throughout this process the council has sought to be reasonable and flexible, but we have reached the absolute limit of what we can offer. It is well known that the council has an equal pay risk, we have been negotiating since before Christmas but have now run out of time.
“We have negotiated in good faith but unfortunately Unite has rejected all offers so we must now press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service. This is a service that has not been good enough for a long time and we must improve it.
“Unite’s demands would leave us with another equal pay bill of hundreds of millions of pounds, which is totally unacceptable, and would jeopardise the considerable progress we have made in our financial recovery. We must be fair to all our staff, and I will not repeat the mistakes of the past by making decisions that would ultimately result in further cuts to services and the sale of more council assets.
“Successive administrations have failed to close off the council’s equal pay liabilities, costing the people of Birmingham hundreds of millions of pounds and that must end now.
“We need to deliver a better waste service; creating an efficient, improved service is a crucial part of our need to become financially sustainable and is what the people of Birmingham need. We cannot delay this any longer.
“So, we will be communicating with our staff and trade unions as to next steps. Voluntary Redundancy remains on the table, as do opportunities for training and redeployment across the council.
“We have worked really hard to end this dispute and we apologise for all the disruption and appreciate residents’ patience. This is a service that needs to be improved into one that the residents of Birmingham deserve and I am committed to ensuring that happens.”
During a recent visit to Japan, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) President Lisa Campbell met with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) President Hiroshi Yamakawa to explore new avenues for collaboration and opportunities for enhanced partnerships.
The meeting reaffirmed the longstanding and productive relationship between the two space agencies ranging from their partnership in the International Space Station, the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, and the renewal of their commitment to sharing valuable Earth observation data – a collaboration that started in 2021.
Canada and Japan have a long history of cooperation. Together, the CSA and JAXA are working on complementary lunar exploration technologies to help establish a long-term human presence on the Moon. Looking ahead, both countries are focused on developing next-generation technologies to ensure a sustainable and secure future in space.
The CSA delegation also took part in the SPACETIDE conference to showcase the Canadian space program and its vibrant industrial capabilities, while engaging with the Japanese space sector. The objective was to broaden awareness and lay the groundwork for potential future Canada–Japan industry relations and business development.
As the global space environment grows more complex, strong international partnerships are essential. Canada remains committed to working closely with like-minded countries like Japan to advance peaceful exploration, strengthen industry ties, and support innovation that benefits humanity as a whole.
After many previous requests to hand over relevant information concerning foreign students, DHS will now send subpoenas forcing Harvard to comply
WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would send administrative subpoenas to Harvard University regarding its Student Visitor and Exchange Program.
This comes after the university repeatedly refused past non-coercive requests to hand over the required information for its Student Visitor and Exchange Program certification.
“We tried to do things the easy way with Harvard. Now, through their refusal to cooperate, we have to do things the hard way,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.“Harvard, like other universities, has allowed foreign students to abuse their visa privileges and advocate for violence and terrorism on campus. If Harvard won’t defend the interests of its students, then we will.” Given the allegations of disciplinary disparity involving nonimmigrant students, the documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demand that Harvard turn over relevant records, communications, and other documents relevant to the enforcement of immigration laws since January 1, 2020.
On April 16, 2025, Secretary Noem demanded Harvard provide information about the criminality and misconduct of foreign students on its campus. Secretary Noem warned refusal to comply with this lawful order would result in SEVP termination. On May 22, she ordered DHS to terminate the Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification.
As Secretary Noem explained in a recent op-ed at the Washington Post, Harvard was given multiple chances to submit the requested information voluntarily and on its own timeline. Because of the university’s repeated refusals, these subpoenas are the only option left for the Department.
Other universities and academic institutions that are asked to submit similar information should take note of Harvard’s actions, and the repercussions, when considering whether or not to comply with similar requests.
Thirty years ago, the film “Dead Man Walking” had its debut in movie theaters around the United States. It was a box office hit, and critics lavished it with praise. Lead actress Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Sister Helen Prejean, the spiritual adviser to a death row inmate played by Sean Penn.
But the film’s impact went far beyond the artistic realm. It exposed a mass audience to a perspective on the death penalty informed by the Catholic faith of a devout, if somewhat unconventional, nun.
The actual Sister Helen had published her memoir, “Dead Man Walking,” two years before, raising her profile as an activist against the death penalty. Recalling her experience outside the execution chamber of Elmo Patrick Sonnier, one of the people she counseled, Prejean later wrote, “I touched him in the only way I could. I told him: ‘Look at my face. I will be the face of Christ, the face of love for you.’”
She made it her mission to show that “everybody’s worth more than the worst thing they’ve ever done in their life.” As she once told an interviewer, “Jesus said, ‘Love your enemy.’ Jesus didn’t say, ‘Execute the hell out of the enemy.’”
As a death penalty scholar, I have studied those changes. The church’s anti-death penalty teaching has helped provide both a moral foundation and political respectability for those working to end the death penalty.
The 1995 film was inspired by Prejean’s memoir.
Church teachings
But that teaching is relatively new in the church, dating back to the past half-century. For most of its history, the Catholic Church did not oppose the death penalty.
During the Middle Ages, the church endorsed the execution of heretics and held firm that secular authorities could and should put people to death for serious crimes. And in the early 20th century, Vatican City’s penal code permitted the death penalty for anyone who attempted to kill a pope. Pope Paul VI changed that in 1969.
The death penalty “is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” and deprives “the guilty of the possibility of redemption,” the new version says. This teaching committed the church to work for its abolition.
In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Francis stated that the death penalty is “inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice.” In 2024, he again called for “the abolition of the death penalty, a provision at odds with Christian faith and one that eliminates all hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation.”
Impact in the US
The changed situation of capital punishment in this country is largely attributable to a change in the strategy and tactics of the abolitionist movement. Instead of talking about the death penalty in abstract terms, activists began to focus on the day-to-day realities of its administration.
Today, advocates in what I have called the “new abolitionism” focus on the prospect of executing the innocent, racial discrimination in capital sentencing, and the financial costs associated with the death penalty. Among Catholics working to end the death penalty, however, the moral questions about state killing have long been a central focus.
A seminarian attends a public hearing in Connecticut in 2011 on legislation to replace capital punishment with life in prison for certain murders. AP Photo/Jessica Hill
Legal historian Sara Mayeux argues that Catholic anti-death penalty activism in the U.S. has been less intense than anti-abortion work. Nevertheless, the impact of the church is reflected in the fact that in the past 50 years, Catholic support for capital punishment fell more than it did among evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Black Protestants and other religious groups.
In December 2024, as the term of President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, was coming to a close, the Catholics Mobilizing Network, which advocates against capital punishment, called on the president to commute the sentences of the 40 people then on federal death row. Francis, too, publicly prayed for their sentences to be commuted.
As the church’s official position against capital punishment has evolved, Prejean has been a consistent voice asking Americans to recognize and respond to the humanity of all those touched by murder. She is, in words I am sure she would resist, a superstar in the movement, thanks to her countless public appearances, interviews, protests and actions to lobby legislators.
Sister Helen Prejean talks to detainees during a discussion of ‘Dead Man Walking’ at Department Of Corrections Division 11 in Chicago. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
In 2021, she wrote, “I’m on fire to abolish government killing because I’ve seen it far too close-up, and I have a pretty good idea by now how it works – or doesn’t.”
Thirty years ago, “Dead Man Walking” gave its viewers a chance to see capital punishment “close-up.” It didn’t preach or hit anyone over the head with an overtly abolitionist message. Instead, it asked viewers to see the death penalty from many sides and make up their own minds about whether anyone should be put to death, even for the most horrible crimes.
Between then and now, America has undertaken precisely the kind of conversation about capital punishment that the film exemplified and inspired.
Austin Sarat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Thirty years ago, the film “Dead Man Walking” had its debut in movie theaters around the United States. It was a box office hit, and critics lavished it with praise. Lead actress Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Sister Helen Prejean, the spiritual adviser to a death row inmate played by Sean Penn.
But the film’s impact went far beyond the artistic realm. It exposed a mass audience to a perspective on the death penalty informed by the Catholic faith of a devout, if somewhat unconventional, nun.
The actual Sister Helen had published her memoir, “Dead Man Walking,” two years before, raising her profile as an activist against the death penalty. Recalling her experience outside the execution chamber of Elmo Patrick Sonnier, one of the people she counseled, Prejean later wrote, “I touched him in the only way I could. I told him: ‘Look at my face. I will be the face of Christ, the face of love for you.’”
She made it her mission to show that “everybody’s worth more than the worst thing they’ve ever done in their life.” As she once told an interviewer, “Jesus said, ‘Love your enemy.’ Jesus didn’t say, ‘Execute the hell out of the enemy.’”
As a death penalty scholar, I have studied those changes. The church’s anti-death penalty teaching has helped provide both a moral foundation and political respectability for those working to end the death penalty.
The 1995 film was inspired by Prejean’s memoir.
Church teachings
But that teaching is relatively new in the church, dating back to the past half-century. For most of its history, the Catholic Church did not oppose the death penalty.
During the Middle Ages, the church endorsed the execution of heretics and held firm that secular authorities could and should put people to death for serious crimes. And in the early 20th century, Vatican City’s penal code permitted the death penalty for anyone who attempted to kill a pope. Pope Paul VI changed that in 1969.
The death penalty “is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” and deprives “the guilty of the possibility of redemption,” the new version says. This teaching committed the church to work for its abolition.
In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Francis stated that the death penalty is “inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice.” In 2024, he again called for “the abolition of the death penalty, a provision at odds with Christian faith and one that eliminates all hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation.”
Impact in the US
The changed situation of capital punishment in this country is largely attributable to a change in the strategy and tactics of the abolitionist movement. Instead of talking about the death penalty in abstract terms, activists began to focus on the day-to-day realities of its administration.
Today, advocates in what I have called the “new abolitionism” focus on the prospect of executing the innocent, racial discrimination in capital sentencing, and the financial costs associated with the death penalty. Among Catholics working to end the death penalty, however, the moral questions about state killing have long been a central focus.
A seminarian attends a public hearing in Connecticut in 2011 on legislation to replace capital punishment with life in prison for certain murders. AP Photo/Jessica Hill
Legal historian Sara Mayeux argues that Catholic anti-death penalty activism in the U.S. has been less intense than anti-abortion work. Nevertheless, the impact of the church is reflected in the fact that in the past 50 years, Catholic support for capital punishment fell more than it did among evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Black Protestants and other religious groups.
In December 2024, as the term of President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, was coming to a close, the Catholics Mobilizing Network, which advocates against capital punishment, called on the president to commute the sentences of the 40 people then on federal death row. Francis, too, publicly prayed for their sentences to be commuted.
As the church’s official position against capital punishment has evolved, Prejean has been a consistent voice asking Americans to recognize and respond to the humanity of all those touched by murder. She is, in words I am sure she would resist, a superstar in the movement, thanks to her countless public appearances, interviews, protests and actions to lobby legislators.
Sister Helen Prejean talks to detainees during a discussion of ‘Dead Man Walking’ at Department Of Corrections Division 11 in Chicago. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
In 2021, she wrote, “I’m on fire to abolish government killing because I’ve seen it far too close-up, and I have a pretty good idea by now how it works – or doesn’t.”
Thirty years ago, “Dead Man Walking” gave its viewers a chance to see capital punishment “close-up.” It didn’t preach or hit anyone over the head with an overtly abolitionist message. Instead, it asked viewers to see the death penalty from many sides and make up their own minds about whether anyone should be put to death, even for the most horrible crimes.
Between then and now, America has undertaken precisely the kind of conversation about capital punishment that the film exemplified and inspired.
Austin Sarat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
When congressional Republicans decided to cut some Biden-era energy subsidies to help fund their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they could have pruned wasteful subsidies while sparing the rest. Instead, they did the reverse. Americans will pay the price with higher costs for dirtier energy.
The nearly 900-page bill that President Donald Trump signed on July 4, 2025, slashes incentives for wind and solar energy, batteries, electric cars and home efficiency while expanding subsidies for fossil fuels and biofuels. That will leave Americans burning more fossil fuels despite strong public and scientific support for shifting to renewable energy.
As an environmental engineering professor who studies ways to confront climate change, I think it is important to distinguish which energy technologies could rapidly cut emissions or need a financial boost to become viable from those that are already profitable but harm the environment. Unfortunately, the Republican bill favors the latter while stifling the former.
The Spring Creek Mine in Decker, Mont., is just one mine in the Powder River Basin, the most productive coal-producing region in the U.S. AP Photo/Matthew Brown
Cuts to renewable electricity
Wind and solar power, often paired with batteries, provide over 90% of the new electricity added nationally and around the world in recent years. Natural gas turbines are in short supply, and there are long lead times to build nuclear power plants. Wind and solar energy projects – with batteries to store excess power until it’s needed – offer the fastest way to satisfy growing demand for power. Recent technological breakthroughs put geothermal power on the verge of rapid growth.
However, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rescinds billions of dollars that the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, devoted to boosting domestic manufacturing and deployments of renewable energy and batteries.
Efforts to build new wind and solar farms will be hit even harder. To receive any tax credits, those projects will need to commence construction by mid-2026 or come online by the end of 2027. The act preserves a slower timeline for phasing out subsidies for nuclear, geothermal and hydrogen projects, which take far longer to build than wind and solar farms.
However, even projects that could be built soon enough will struggle to comply with the bill’s restrictions on using Chinese-made components. Tax law experts have called those provisions “unworkable,” since some Chinese materials may be necessary even for projects built with as much domestic content as possible. For example, even American-made solar panels may rely on components sourced from China or Chinese-owned companies.
Princeton University professor Jesse Jenkins estimates that the bill will mean wind and solar power generate 820 fewer terawatt-hours in 2035 than under previous policies. That’s more power than all U.S. coal-fired power plants generated in 2023.
That’s why BloombergNEF, an energy research firm, called the bill a “nightmare scenario” for clean energy proponents.
Federal tax credits for homeowners who install solar panels will now expire at the end of 2025. AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Electric cars and efficiency
Cuts fall even harder on Americans who are trying to reduce their carbon footprints and energy costs. The quickest phaseout comes for tax credits for electric vehicles, which will end on Sept. 30, 2025. And since the bill eliminates fines on car companies that fail to meet fuel economy standards, other new cars are likely to guzzle more gas.
The bill also rescinds funding that would have helped cut diesel emissions and finance clean energy projects in underserved communities.
Federal tax credits for buying electric vehicles will end on Sept. 30, 2025. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Support for biofuels and fossil fuels
Biofuels and fossil fuels fared far better under the bill. Tens of billions of dollars will be spent to extend tax credits for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
The bill also increases subsidies for using captured carbon dioxide to extract more oil and gas from the ground. That makes it less likely that captured emissions will only be sequestered to combat climate change.
Summing it up
With fewer efficiency improvements, fewer electric vehicles and less clean power on the grid, Princeton’s Jenkins projects that the law will increase household energy costs by over $280 per year by 2035 above what they would have been without the bill. The extra fossil fuel-burning will negate 470 million tons of anticipated emissions reductions that year, a 7% bump.
The bill will also leave America’s clean energy transition further behind China, which is deploying more solar and wind power and electric vehicles than the rest of the world combined.
No one expected President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to escape unscathed with Republicans in the White House and dominating both houses of Congress, even though many of its projects were in Republican-voting districts. Still, pairing cuts to clean energy with support for fossil fuels makes Trump’s bill uniquely harmful to the world’s climate and to Americans’ wallets.
Daniel Cohan receives research funding from the Carbon Hub at Rice University. He previously received research funding from Project InnerSpace, the Mitchell Foundation, the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
When congressional Republicans decided to cut some Biden-era energy subsidies to help fund their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they could have pruned wasteful subsidies while sparing the rest. Instead, they did the reverse. Americans will pay the price with higher costs for dirtier energy.
The nearly 900-page bill that President Donald Trump signed on July 4, 2025, slashes incentives for wind and solar energy, batteries, electric cars and home efficiency while expanding subsidies for fossil fuels and biofuels. That will leave Americans burning more fossil fuels despite strong public and scientific support for shifting to renewable energy.
As an environmental engineering professor who studies ways to confront climate change, I think it is important to distinguish which energy technologies could rapidly cut emissions or need a financial boost to become viable from those that are already profitable but harm the environment. Unfortunately, the Republican bill favors the latter while stifling the former.
The Spring Creek Mine in Decker, Mont., is just one mine in the Powder River Basin, the most productive coal-producing region in the U.S. AP Photo/Matthew Brown
Cuts to renewable electricity
Wind and solar power, often paired with batteries, provide over 90% of the new electricity added nationally and around the world in recent years. Natural gas turbines are in short supply, and there are long lead times to build nuclear power plants. Wind and solar energy projects – with batteries to store excess power until it’s needed – offer the fastest way to satisfy growing demand for power. Recent technological breakthroughs put geothermal power on the verge of rapid growth.
However, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rescinds billions of dollars that the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, devoted to boosting domestic manufacturing and deployments of renewable energy and batteries.
Efforts to build new wind and solar farms will be hit even harder. To receive any tax credits, those projects will need to commence construction by mid-2026 or come online by the end of 2027. The act preserves a slower timeline for phasing out subsidies for nuclear, geothermal and hydrogen projects, which take far longer to build than wind and solar farms.
However, even projects that could be built soon enough will struggle to comply with the bill’s restrictions on using Chinese-made components. Tax law experts have called those provisions “unworkable,” since some Chinese materials may be necessary even for projects built with as much domestic content as possible. For example, even American-made solar panels may rely on components sourced from China or Chinese-owned companies.
Princeton University professor Jesse Jenkins estimates that the bill will mean wind and solar power generate 820 fewer terawatt-hours in 2035 than under previous policies. That’s more power than all U.S. coal-fired power plants generated in 2023.
That’s why BloombergNEF, an energy research firm, called the bill a “nightmare scenario” for clean energy proponents.
Federal tax credits for homeowners who install solar panels will now expire at the end of 2025. AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Electric cars and efficiency
Cuts fall even harder on Americans who are trying to reduce their carbon footprints and energy costs. The quickest phaseout comes for tax credits for electric vehicles, which will end on Sept. 30, 2025. And since the bill eliminates fines on car companies that fail to meet fuel economy standards, other new cars are likely to guzzle more gas.
The bill also rescinds funding that would have helped cut diesel emissions and finance clean energy projects in underserved communities.
Federal tax credits for buying electric vehicles will end on Sept. 30, 2025. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Support for biofuels and fossil fuels
Biofuels and fossil fuels fared far better under the bill. Tens of billions of dollars will be spent to extend tax credits for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
The bill also increases subsidies for using captured carbon dioxide to extract more oil and gas from the ground. That makes it less likely that captured emissions will only be sequestered to combat climate change.
Summing it up
With fewer efficiency improvements, fewer electric vehicles and less clean power on the grid, Princeton’s Jenkins projects that the law will increase household energy costs by over $280 per year by 2035 above what they would have been without the bill. The extra fossil fuel-burning will negate 470 million tons of anticipated emissions reductions that year, a 7% bump.
The bill will also leave America’s clean energy transition further behind China, which is deploying more solar and wind power and electric vehicles than the rest of the world combined.
No one expected President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to escape unscathed with Republicans in the White House and dominating both houses of Congress, even though many of its projects were in Republican-voting districts. Still, pairing cuts to clean energy with support for fossil fuels makes Trump’s bill uniquely harmful to the world’s climate and to Americans’ wallets.
Daniel Cohan receives research funding from the Carbon Hub at Rice University. He previously received research funding from Project InnerSpace, the Mitchell Foundation, the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
News story
Derailment at Denbigh Hall South Junction
Investigation into a derailment at Denbigh Hall South Junction, near Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, 26 June 2025.
The derailed train at Denbigh Hall South Junction (image courtesy of Network Rail).
At around 12:27 on 26 June 2025, the front bogie of an out-of-service London Northwestern Railway passenger train derailed at Denbigh Hall South Junction on the West Coast Main Line. The derailment occurred on a switch diamond crossing at approximately 15 mph (24 km/h) as the train travelled north on the up slow line shortly after leaving Bletchley station. There were no reported injuries to the four members of staff on the train, however some lines through the junction remained out of use until 16:05 on 29 June 2025 for train recovery and infrastructure repair.
The train had earlier encountered a technical problem, while forming a southbound passenger service, making it unable to depart southwards from platform 4 at Bletchley. However, it was operational if driven northwards from the opposite end, allowing it to be moved away from the platform. A failed on-track machine had been stabled earlier that day on the only signalled route from the north end of platform 4, so staff at Rugby Rail Operating Centre decided to allow the train to travel in the wrong direction on the up (southbound) slow line. This wrong direction movement required the signaller to instruct the driver to pass the north end platform signal at danger and travel to Denbigh Hall South Junction without the protection normally afforded by the signalling interlocking. The intention was the train would then cross onto the down slow line at the junction and return it to normal signal control for its onward journey northwards to Kings Heath depot near Northampton.
Our investigation will determine the sequence of events which led to the derailment and will include consideration of:
the actions of those involved and any factors that may have influenced them
how out of course movements are determined and validated
the management of the staff involved in the accident, including the preparation through training and assessment of those undertaking such movements
any relevant underlying factors which might have contributed to the derailment.
Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.
We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This report will be available on our website. You can subscribe to automated emails notifying you when we publish our reports.
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The 15th anniversary industrial exhibition INNOPROM continues its work in Yekaterinburg. Today the pavilions opened their doors to all categories of visitors, and the flow of guests has noticeably increased. The trend of this year’s exhibition is the demonstration of advanced developments that have already proven their effectiveness in real production conditions.
The delegation of the Polytechnic University takes part in key events of the business program, where current issues of industrial development, innovative technologies and scientific and technical cooperation are discussed.
Thus, at the Polytechnic stand, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Federal State Autonomous Institution “Digital Industrial Technologies” and Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
The document, which envisages cooperation between the parties in order to implement joint expert and analytical activities aimed at highlighting the results and stimulating the development and effective application of advanced digital and production technologies, artificial intelligence technologies in industrial sectors of the Russian Federation economy, was signed by the director of the organization Eduard Shantayev and the chief designer for the key scientific and technological development area of SPbPU “System Digital Engineering”, director of the Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU “Digital Engineering” Alexey Borovkov.
Alexey Borovkov also took part in the events of the INNOPROM business program, including the session “Fast. Complex. Precise. How additive technologies accelerate industrial development.” The participants discussed the prospects for industry growth due to increased demand for additive technologies and materials, tools for interaction between business, science and the state, as well as successful cases of implementing such technologies in industry.
During his speech, Alexey Ivanovich spoke about a world-class project carried out in the interests of the Fuel Division of the Rosatom State Corporation – the development of a digital twin of a VVER-1000 fuel assembly (FA) with an anti-debris filter and mixing grids.
The optimized design of the anti-debris filter and the geometry of the mixing grids of the fuel assembly was developed in six months and, in contrast to the original product, is 10 times more efficient, the speaker emphasized.
Alexey Borovkov also presented the developments of the Polymer Composite Materials laboratory of the Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU “Digital Engineering”, including demonstrators of overprinting and induction welding technologies for thermoplastic composite materials, as well as automated laying out of thermoplastic unidirectional prepregs.
According to Alexey Borovkov, overprinting technology is ideal for working with engineering polymers due to the absence of a number of technological limitations and is of great interest for integration into large technological chains: laying out – stamping – printing.
An award ceremony was held at the Polytechnic stand. For his great contribution to the development of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, the General Director of the Union of Defense Industry Enterprises of the Sverdlovsk Region Vladimir Shchelokov received the “For Merits” badge of distinction. The honorary award was presented to him by the Scientific Secretary of SPbPU Dmitry Karpov.
SPbPU is an active member of the Union. The University improves the quality of personnel training in the military-industrial complex, as well as in the field of scientific research and educational services. The Union participates in the implementation of federal target programs and technology platforms to achieve leadership in the leading high-tech sectors of the economy: aviation and engine building, rocket and space industry, nuclear power complex, shipbuilding, electronic and radio-electronic industry and others. The Union includes more than 100 enterprises and organizations.
It is a great honor for me to receive this award. I would like to express my gratitude for the fruitful cooperation with the Polytechnic University. A distinctive feature of your university is the ability to implement projects, and visual confirmation of this can be seen at the exhibition stand. There is much to learn from the Polytechnic University. And I am sincerely proud of our friendship, – said Vladimir Shchelokov.
In turn, Vladimir Shchelokov awarded the director of the Center for Scientific and Technological Partnership and Targeted Training of SPbPU Oleg Ipatov with a commemorative medal “80 Years of the Great Victory”.
This year, INNOPROM pays special attention to machines, units, machine tools and robotic systems that are actively used in various industries today. The technological potential of SPbPU is presented at a separate stand. Here, visitors can get acquainted with innovative developments that have undergone practical testing and are ready for implementation in industrial production.
At the exhibition, a team from the Laboratory of Light Materials and Structures (LLMS) of IMMiT demonstrated electric arc 3D printing. Right before the eyes of the audience, a “Laval nozzle” was created – a gas channel of a special profile designed to accelerate the gas flow to supersonic speeds.
The printing technology is based on melting metal wire using an electric arc. This approach allows for high-speed production of products: up to 2.2 kg/h for aluminum alloys and up to 6 kg/h for steel. The key advantage is the absence of restrictions on the shape of the part: the manipulator easily moves along the rail system and follows the growth of the product, which allows for the implementation of the concept of an open production cell.
The laboratory carries out a full cycle of implementation of additive technologies – design and launch of 3D printing installations, personnel training, technical support and production support.
Mikhail Kuznetsov, Head of the Laser and Additive Technologies Research Laboratory at the Institute of Metallurgy and Metallurgy at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, spoke about the laboratory’s work at INNOPROM: At the exhibition, we presented the “Nomad” laser cladding complex, samples made using laser welding and additive technologies. Of particular interest are the hip joint cups. The samples were made as part of R&D in close cooperation with the Armalit JSC company with the participation of the Vreden Institute of Traumatology and are evidence of how modern solutions can effectively work to address the challenges of import substitution and technological sovereignty of the country. We held a number of productive meetings with industry representatives and engineering centers from different regions of Russia. It is especially valuable that enterprises from a wide variety of industries, from aircraft manufacturing to medicine, are interested in our technologies. This indicates a high degree of versatility and applied significance of our solutions.
The Polytechnic University was also represented in the international agenda of the forum. Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Computer Technology and Information Systems of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Leading Researcher of the Gazpromneft-Polytech Scientific and Educational Center, Analyst in the project “Automation of Seismic Data Processing Using Artificial Neural Networks” Sergey Khlopin took part in the round table “Russian-Chinese Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the Field of Development and Implementation of High Technologies”. As part of the session “Projects and Technologies in the Field of Intellectual Production”, he made a report “Current Models for the Implementation of Digital Technological Projects in the Field of Geological Exploration”. Sergey Vladimirovich spoke about the cooperation between SPbPU and Chinese partners.
Sergey Khlopin, commenting on the results of his speech, noted: This year, INNOPROM-2025 became a platform for demonstrating the start of the work process of Gazpromneft-Polytech REC specialists in the field of AI application for geological exploration. One of the key tasks that the models being created will be aimed at solving in the future is the labor-intensive manual processing of seismic information. In tests, the model shows accuracy comparable to classical methods on linear data, but significantly exceeds them in cases with nonlinear dependencies, which are more common in practice. However, the project has just started, so the team faces various difficulties during development. Neural networks do not always give the correct result. We are solving the problem of the relevance of the data received.
Since 2018, Polytech has implemented more than 20 contracts for research and development work with 12 of the largest industrial and research companies in China. The most active cooperation is in the field of telecommunications and IT technologies, aviation industry, automotive industry and new materials. During the discussion of the interaction of the Gazpromneft-Polytech REC with an industrial partner, Sergey Khlopin demonstrated the successful experience of implementing a scientific project aimed at the practical application of the results of industrial operation. He also emphasized the importance of further developing cooperation and expressed confidence in the formation of reliable partnerships with representatives of the PRC in an alliance with an industrial partner.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
From resilient economy to wider opening up, China’s 14th five-year plan delivers remarkable results
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) — With the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) nearing conclusion, China has clocked up a series of landmark achievements, including a resilient economy, solid steps in green transition and unwavering opening up.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), described the five years as a period of “pioneering progress, transformative breakthroughs, and historic achievements.”
“China has become the most stable, reliable, and dynamic force in global development,” he said.
RESILIENCE
According to Zheng, China’s economic increment is projected to exceed 35 trillion yuan (4.89 trillion U.S. dollars) in the five-year period, contributing about 30 percent annually to global economic growth.
Over the first four years of the period, the economy expanded at an average annual growth rate of 5.5 percent, Zheng said, noting that despite the shocks of the pandemic and trade bullying, the growth of China, given its vast economic scale, is an unprecedented achievement.
The steady economic performance has also translated into tangible livelihood improvements. Urban job creation stood at more than 12 million each year, reflecting the populous country’s stable labor market.
The growth has especially been driven by deepening economic transformation. Domestic demand accounted for 86.4 percent of the GDP increase on average, with final consumption contributing 56.2 percent — an 8.6 percentage point increase over the previous planning period.
Innovation played a key role in driving development. The country’s total R&D expenditure surged nearly 50 percent, or 1.2 trillion yuan, from 2020 to 2024, and its R&D intensity reached 2.68 percent, approaching the average of OECD economies.
China’s national strength has been significantly enhanced during the five-year period, which will also offer opportunities for global development, Zheng said, adding that no matter how the international landscape evolves, the country will manage its own affairs well and push forward Chinese modernization.
GREEN TRANSITION
The five-year period also marked a leap forward in China’s ecological transformation, with more efficient energy utilization and a better natural environment.
China has fulfilled its green promises and shouldered the responsibility of a major country. From 2021 to 2024, energy consumption per unit of GDP fell 11.6 percent, cutting carbon emissions by around 1.1 billion tonnes, nearly half the European Union’s total emissions in 2024.
As a global leader in renewable energy, China’s installed renewable energy capacity reached 2.09 billion kilowatts by May 2025, more than doubling that in 2020. One in three kilowatt-hour of electricity nationwide is now from green sources.
The adoption of green lifestyles has surged, with new energy vehicle ownership soaring to 31.4 million in 2024, up significantly from 4.92 million in 2020.
Looking ahead, Zhou Haibing, a deputy head of the NDRC, said the next five-year period from 2026 to 2030 will be critical for achieving China’s 2030 target to peak carbon emissions.
“We will redouble efforts and implement more pragmatic measures to promote the green transition in economic and social development and accelerate the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature,” he said.
WIDER OPENING UP
According to the press conference, foreign direct investment into China totaled 4.7 trillion yuan from 2021 through May 2025. Foreign-invested enterprises now account for one-third of China’s imports and exports, one-quarter of its industrial output, and one-seventh of its tax revenue, while creating more than 30 million jobs.
Zhou hailed the success of foreign firms as a vivid testament to China’s improving business environment, which is becoming more market-oriented, law-based and internationalized.
China has twice reduced its negative list for foreign investment since 2021. All restrictions on foreign access to the manufacturing sector have been lifted, and further liberalization has occurred in agriculture and services. Pilot initiatives in healthcare and value-added telecommunications have opened new opportunities for foreign businesses.
Solid efforts have been made to ensure foreign firms receive national treatment and enjoy strong intellectual property protection.
“China’s policies on attracting and utilizing foreign investment are consistent,” Zhou said, noting that China will continue to ease market access and expand openness in an orderly way, ensuring foreign companies have equal access to policy benefits, from public procurement to standard-setting.
China remains and will continue to be an ideal, safe and promising destination for global investors, he said.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) in regular operation
Updated: July 9, 2025 19:31Xinhua
The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train awaits departure at Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 9, 2025. A freight train fully loaded with communication equipment, auto parts and other goods left Chongqing on Wednesday, marking the regular operation of the China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train. After exiting China through the Khorgos port in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, it will pass Azerbaijan and Georgia before arriving in Türkiye and other European countries. [Photo/Xinhua]The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train awaits departure at Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train departs from Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train awaits departure at Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
