Climate change is among the more difficult but important topics to teach to young people. It involves complicated science and data, and it can be really depressing, given the bleak picture it paints of Earth’s future.
So how do educators get students more engaged in lessons about climate change? One way that works is to make the lessons into a game.
As a professor of educational psychology, I conducted an experiment that found that high schoolers are more interested and absorb more information about climate change when it’s presented as a game.
In the study, 248 high school students throughout the U.S. were randomly assigned to either read a text about climate science or to play a number estimation game – that is, a game in which they guessed 12 numerical facts about climate change. I found that the number estimation game improved high schoolers’ climate change understanding, interest in science and willingness to take actions to help solve climate change.
For instance, one question asked: “What is the change in percentage of the world’s ocean ice cover since the 1960s?”
After students submit an estimate, a window pops up showing the true value – a “40% decrease” in the ice cover question. Gold stars appear to indicate their accuracy, as does a short explanation of the true value. The answers also list actions that people can take to address the issue and links to the sources of the information.
I found that students who played the game had a better understanding than those who did not that there is a scientific consensus around human-caused climate change. Students who played the game also thought the activity was more interesting and reported less boredom. These boosts in positive emotions and motivation were linked to reduced sense of hopelessness about climate change and improved willingness to act on climate change.
Compounding this problem, a 2020 report suggests that 20 U.S. states do not address these challenges in their state science standards, as they were found to insufficiently address the scientific climate consensus: that climate change is real, severe, caused by humans, but that there is hope for change. Findings from my study provide some principles for addressing this curricular gap.
What other research is being done?
Researchers are actively trying to find approaches that promote accurate climate change education that helps students understand the causes and explores solutions for the challenges ahead.
One promising approach emphasized in this study, in my prior research and by other researchers, is to present a handful of surprising climate change numbers to students after they estimate them. However, there are several alternative approaches that are also effective. For example, some research found success by breaking down complicated ways to evaluate evidence, while other research engaged students taking photographs of their local environment to depict climate science and reflect on possible solutions.
What still isn’t known
One big remaining question is how to encourage teachers to implement effective climate change education in their classrooms. Evidence suggests that teachers sometimes feel pressured to teach to “both sides” of the continuum of climate change perspectives, despite one side having more supporting evidence. Such inconsistent messages can diminish needed urgency and confuse students in the process. I think it’s worthwhile to investigate the specific challenges and rewards that teachers encounter when implementing clear and consistent climate curriculum in their classrooms.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Ian Thacker received funding to support this research from the American Psychological Association Division 15 Early Career Research Grant Award.
Game development is an art, and like any masterpiece, it requires the right tools. Nexon’s upcoming title, The First Descendant, is set to redefine the looter-shooter genre with its stunning visuals and immersive gameplay. At the heart of this development process is Samsung’s Odyssey OLED G8 — a monitor that not only displays these graphics but elevates them to a new level of realism.
Join us as we dive into the behind-the-scenes journey with the developers at Nexon Games, who reveal how this cutting-edge display technology has helped bring their ambitious vision to life. From the precision of color to the speed of response, discover why the Odyssey OLED G8 is more than just a monitor — it’s a game-changer in the industry.
Founded in 1994, Nexon has become a global leader in online gaming. Known for creating popular titles like MapleStory, Dungeon & Fighter and KartRider, Nexon continues to push boundaries in the gaming world. This year, the company introduced The First Descendant, a looter-shooter that attracted 260,000 concurrent players at launch. Nexon is focused on expanding its global reach and adapting to the fast-changing gaming industry. In 2021, Nexon completed the acquisition of Embark Studios AB, a company based in Stockholm, Sweden, developing multiple projects for global release.
▲ (From left) Lead Engine Programmer Junhwan Kim from the Engine Program team and Lead World Concept Artist Sinwook Wi, from the Environmental Concept Design team at Nexon Games, sat down with Samsung to talk about their latest project, The First Descendant and how the Odyssey OLED G8 played a role in its development.
Can you tell us about your role in developing The First Descendant and how you contributed to the game’s creation?
Kim: I’m responsible for the game engine. I develop the software that integrates essential elements like graphics, sound and physics engines, make them work seamlessly together.
Wi: I handle the environmental concept design. My role involves creating the overall concept of the game and designing the backgrounds and characters to fit within that environment.
▲ (From left) Gley, Blair and Enzo, key characters from Nexon’s looter-shooter game ‘The First Descendant’ (Image courtesy of Nexon)
What sets The First Descendant apart? What were some of the key innovations and design choices that defined your approach?
Kim: The First Descendant is a looter shooter that blends third-person shooter (TPS) mechanics with role-playing game (RPG) elements. It features spectacular combat scenes, high-quality graphics and a rich loot system filled with powerful guns and gear. The core of the game lies in its storytelling, character development and the pursuit of the best weapons and equipment.
A major focus for us was bringing the open world of The First Descendant to life through cutting-edge graphics. Using Unreal Engine 5, we leveraged Nanite to achieve highly detailed environments, allowing us to render complex landscapes and objects with incredible precision. This was crucial for creating an immersive open-world experience where players can explore vast and visually stunning environments. Lumen played a significant role as well, enabling real-time lighting that reacts dynamically to the game’s world and characters, further enhancing the realism of the gameplay.
* Open World: A game design element that allows players to freely explore most areas with minimal restrictions.
* Unreal Engine 5: A game engine developed by Epic Games, known for key features like Nanite, which efficiently handles high-capacity graphics, and Lumen, which enhances lighting effects.
▲ Junhwan works on the development of ‘The First Descendant’ using the Odyssey OLED G8. The Odyssey OLED G8 delivers superb graphics with its high resolution and color accuracy.
Wi: The game is set in an apocalyptic world where factions — each with their own traditions — battle for survival. The story follows humanity’s fight against the Vulgus, invaders who nearly wiped out the human race. Players take on the role of descendants, embarking on a quest to find the Iron Heart, the ultimate weapon to end the war.
On the design front, our goal was to create an apocalyptic world that felt rich and immersive while avoiding the overly dark and futuristic look often seen in similar settings. The environment itself is a key part of the storytelling. So, we integrated colorful, future-oriented designs for city of Albion to balance the grim atmosphere with a sense of hope. This approach doesn’t just end at the visual appeal but also helps the game engage players on an emotional level, too.
▲ Sinwook works on the design for the city of Albion, a key area in ‘The First Descendant,’ using the Odyssey OLED G8. The monitor’s consistent colors and detailed contrast has helped bring out the intricate design elements.
As a game developer, what do you consider the most important factors in creating a visually immersive gaming experience?
Kim: A high-quality display is crucial to accurately present the game’s graphics and visuals. Today’s gaming standards demand seamless gameplay with vibrant graphics, high frame rates, detailed resolutions and minimal input lag. To fully experience these advancements, it’s crucial to use a gaming monitor with high resolution, a wide color gamut and fast response times.
As part of our collaboration with Samsung, I received the Odyssey OLED G8 during the development of The First Descendant, and what stood out to me was the monitor’s awesome display quality — color accuracy, expressions and its quick response time. The monitor delivers colors and contrast with a high level of precision, which was crucial for developing the game. The 0.03ms (GTG) response time made a noticeable difference during our demonstrations as well.1
“With the Odyssey OLED G8, you get two distinct display experiences with a single monitor—16:9 for working and 21:9 for playing,” said Wi Sinwook, Lead World Concept Artist, Environmental Concept Design team, Nexon Games.
Wi: As a World Concept Artist, I constantly ask myself, “How can I best convey the immersive universe to players?” I want players to experience every detail of the environments and even the subtle expressions of the characters as they were intended. For that, a display accurately reproduces colors and fine details is crucial. When players can see the subtle nuances in shading and the vibrant colors, it significantly enhances their immersion in the game.
▲ Sinwook builds out the background concept designs for ‘The First Descendant’ using the Odyssey OLED G8.
Other than picture quality, were there any other the Odyssey OLED G8 features that stood out when you were working on and demonstrating the game?
Kim: The First Descendant is a multi-platform game, available on PC (Steam) and consoles. The fact that the Odyssey OLED G8 supports up to three external inputs,2 was especially helpful when we were testing across the different platforms. The sleek, metal design also saved space and complemented the game’s sci-fi aesthetic.
▲ Junhwan demonstrates the console version of ‘The First Descendant’ on the Odyssey OLED G8. The Odyssey OLED G8 offers enhanced convenience with 2 HDMI 2.1 ports, 1 DisplayPort 1.4 and a USB hub.
Wi: Working on the design and demonstrating the game on the Odyssey OLED G8, I found the gameplay smoother and more comfortable compared to my previous monitor. The colors and contrast were balanced and accurate, even on the big screen.
I also really appreciated the ability to switch the screen ratio between 16:9 and 21:9 with just a single setting change. Normally, I avoid wide monitors due to the viewing angle, but the Odyssey OLED G8 made it convenient to switch between ratios for different tasks — 16:9 for working and 21:9 for demonstrating the game. The big advantage is that you get two distinct display experiences with a single monitor.
▲ The Odyssey OLED G8’s Game Bar allows users to switch between 21:9 and 16:9 screen ratios, enabling them to enjoy games in their preferred ratio.
“The fact that the Odyssey OLED G8 supports up to three external inputs, was especially helpful when we were testing across platforms like PCs and different consoles,” said Junhwan Kim, Lead Programmer, Engine Program team, Nexon Games.
What features of the Odyssey OLED G8 do you think will elevate the experience for The First Descendant players?
Kim: The First Descendant is the world’s first HDR10+ GAMING title. We collaborated with Samsung to implement this technology in our game, optimizing peak brightness of the monitor and supporting standard HDR without the need for manual adjustments.3 Playing The First Descendant on the Odyssey monitor with HDR10+ GAMING allows you to experience the game’s vivid, high-quality graphics at their best.
* HDR10+ GAMING: A gaming technology that enhances image quality by analyzing game content to enhance the depth of graphics and supporting features like response time and Auto HDR.
▲ The Odyssey OLED G8 supports HDR10+ GAMING, allowing gamers to enjoy an optimized HDR gaming experience without manual adjustments in supported titles. ‘The First Descendant’ is the first game to feature HDR10+ GAMING technology.
Wi: Unlike my previous monitor, where colors near the edges tended to darken, the Odyssey OLED G8 maintained consistent brightness across the entire screen. The thin frame and bezel also made it easier to focus on the game.
▲ The Odyssey OLED G8’s slim metal design and Core Lighting+ on the back enhance user immersion and create a stylish gaming space.
Kim: I also found the Game Bar feature to be helpful. When the Odyssey OLED G8 is connected to a PC or console, it automatically calls up the Game Bar. Selecting FPS mode in the Game Bar brightens dark areas in the game, giving you an advantage over hidden enemies. Also, the sound becomes richer, further enhancing the immersion.
▲ (Left) Default Game Bar settings without a selected genre, (Right) FPS genre selected in Game Bar.
Any final words for The First Descendant players?
Kim: If you’re a fan of The First Descendant, or any third-person shooter (TPS) game with high-quality graphics, the Odyssey OLED G8 is an excellent choice. It has high refresh rate, wide color gamut and fast response time, which really enhance the gaming experience.
Wi: I’ve always debated between choosing a monitor with high resolution and refresh rate for gameplay versus one with accurate colors and contrast for development. The Odyssey OLED G8 meets both needs perfectly, so I can confidently recommend it to any gamer…or developer!
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Richard Wood, President of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The Nicaraguan government recently shut down more than 1,500 nonprofits – many of them civic and religious groups doing humanitarian work in a country long mired in political violence, economic upheaval and social strife.
The August 2024 closures were the latest in a long-running crackdown on civil society, including religious groups – some of the last influential, independent organizations in the country. That same month, the government revoked churches’ tax-exempt status. Over the past few years, many houses of worship have been closed or had their bank accounts frozen.
Ortega’s FSLN party, as it is known in Spanish, is the authoritarian remnant of the group that led a broad national movement against Anastasio Somoza Debayle’s dictatorship in the 1970s. After overthrowing Somoza in 1979, Ortega and the Sandinistas governed until losing the 1990 election.
Since Ortega returned to power in the 2006 elections, moderates have fled the FSLN, which since then has used oppression and violence for political and social control. In 2013, the National Assembly removed presidential term limits set by the Nicaraguan constitution.
Parishioners attend Mass at St. Agatha Catholic Church in Miami, which has become the spiritual home of the growing Nicaraguan diaspora. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Silencing churches
Among the nearly 5,500 nonprofits that closed in Nicaragua between 2018 and 2024 are Catholic, evangelical Christian and historical Protestant organizations, as well as secular humanitarian ones. Of those, 1,650 organizationsand churches were shuttered in August 2024, with government officials claiming their closure was due to ties to private enterprises or a lack of financial records.
Catholic media andradio stations, missionary orders and humanitarian groups have been shuttered, too, as Ortega and the vice president – his wife, Rosario Murillo – have sought to eliminate settings where ideas and information freely flow, and people act independently of the government.
Police officers and riot police block the main entrance of a church building in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, in August 2022 to prevent Bishop Rolando Álvarez from leaving. STR/AFP via Getty Images
With international pressure mounting, Alvarez and a group of fellow detained Catholic clergy were released in January 2024 and exiled to the Vatican – where the regime had previously expelled the apostolic nuncio, the pope’s top diplomat in Nicaragua. They are among 245 Catholic figures the country has expelled in recent years. An additional 135 people, including Catholics and evangelicals, were expelled and stripped of their citizenship in September 2024.
In Nicaragua, as in much of Latin America, the Catholic Church is the most powerful source of social authority and the largest independent institution for public debate. It represents a key channel through which democratic values may take root, grow and thrive – an obstacle, in the regime’s eyes.
I have witnessed firsthand Nicaragua’s shift from a country with promising seeds of democracy to violent autocracy. As civil war raged between the original Sandinista regime and U.S.-backed Contras in the 1980s, I led travel seminars to Nicaragua for faith groups, journalists, congressional aides and university students. I once personally encountered Ortega, serving as translator during a meeting with American journalists when his official translator failed to show up.
Today, as Ortega continues to consolidate power by crushing opposition, Nicaragua has deteriorated into an oppressive state ruled with an iron fist. This reality reflects broader dynamics globally, from autocratic movements in the U.S. and Western Europe to current regimes in Russia, India, Turkey, Hungary and China.
Nicaraguan citizens wave from a bus after being released from a Nicaraguan jail and landing in Guatemala City on Sept. 5, 2024. AP Photo/Moises Castillo
Closer to home, Ortega poses a regional threat as a model for other potential autocrats. This is especially the case for neighbors like El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele – the popular, self-described “coolest dictator” – is going down a similar path of turning the nation into an authoritarian state.
I have seen Nicaraguans’ generosity and courage in the long fight for liberty and justice. The closure of democratic spaces, civic institutions and humanitarian organizations, along with the suppression of religious freedom, is a glaring sign that the country is being marched toward more oppression and violence – and, as history shows, risks becoming ripe for revolution.
Only a gradual rebuilding of civil society, I believe, may save Nicaragua from that fate. The tragedy is what Nicaragua could have been: a thriving democratic society, with a commitment to empowering the poor.
From 1983-1987 and part-time from 1987-1992, Richard Wood worked running travel seminars in Mexico and Central America. From 2010-2012, he received funding from the Center on Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California and The John Templeton Foundation for research collaboration with Central American researchers.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Corey D. B. Walker, Dean and Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, Wake Forest University
The decline in church attendance has not resulted in a diminished Christian presence in American public life.selimaksan/E+ via Getty images.
Supporters of both major U.S. political parties tend to claim their presidential candidate is the “real” Christian or the “better” Christian or just the “true” Christian.
Yet, most American adults agree that religion should be separate from government. This widely shared belief is a cornerstone of religious freedom. As a scholar of religious freedom, I have studied the complex and ever-evolving role of religion in American politics. I argue that this election year, while the Christian character of each candidate is discussed everywhere, religious freedom, one of the core freedoms of American democracy, is not.
The case of Ezra Stiles Ely
America’s history of religious freedom is filled with stories that are instructive for our current moment. One such instructive lesson comes from the early 19th century.
A striking figure from the period is the Philadelphia Presbyterian minister Ezra Stiles Ely. On July 4, 1827, the Yale-educated minister delivered his infamous call for “a Christian political party” in the run-up to the 1828 presidential election.
Before an Independence Day audience in Philadelphia’s Seventh Presbyterian Church, Ely declared, “Every ruler should be an avowed and sincere friend of Christianity. He should know and believe the doctrines of our holy religion, and act in conformity to its precepts.” Ely also advocated for “a new sort of union, or, if you will, a Christian party in politics.”
Ely closed his sermon by exhorting Christians to “awake … to our sacred duty to our Divine Master; and let us have no rulers, without our consent and cooperation, who are not known to be avowedly Christians.”
Critiques in defense of religious freedom
While Ely sought to wed Christianity and American politics, others voices responded against this move. Religious freedom was new for the young nation. Yet, its supporters recognized its importance for American democracy.
On Feb. 7, 1828, a pamphlet titled Sunday School Union, or Union of Church and State was placed on the desk of each member of the Pennsylvania Senate. The pamphlet contained excerpts of Ely’s speech that advocated the union of Christianity and politics. Ely’s speech was also the subject of debate in several 19th-century newspapers, including the Harrisburg Chronicle and The Pennsylvania Reporter.
In an 1828 speech delivered in Salem, Massachusetts, Story boldly declared his support for religious freedom. He stated: “Religious freedom is the birthright of man; that governments have no authority to inflict punishment for conscientious differences of opinion; and that to worship God according to our own belief is not only our privilege, but is our duty, our absolute duty, from which no human tribunal can absolve us.”
“Wherever religious liberty exist,” he argued, “it will, first or last, bring in, and establish political liberty.”
Politics and American democracy
America is not the same as at the time of the Second Great Awakening. Yet, the role of Christianity in political life is seemingly as alive as ever.
The steady decline in church attendance has not resulted in a diminished Christian presence in American public life. The public square still contains powerful appeals to Christianity rather than a shared democratic heritage.
Former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump recently stated, “We have to bring back our religion. We have to bring back Christianity in this country.”
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has commended the religious convictions of citizens, stating, “People with deep religious convictions may be less likely to succumb to dominating ideologies or trends, and more likely to act in accordance with what they see as true and right. Civil society can count on them as engines of reform.”
A 2023 survey, in which the nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization PRRI interviewed more than 22,000 adults, found that approximately 3 in 10 Americans either supported or held Christian nationalist views. Christian nationalists tend “to see political struggles through the apocalyptic lens of revolution and to support political violence.”
In my opinion, the linkage of Christianity and politics in the United States undermines American democracy. Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, a prominent public voice, explains how Christian nationalism undermines both Christianity and American democracy. In her 2024 book “How to End Christian Nationalism,” Tyler writes, “Christian nationalism is the greatest threat to religious liberty in the U.S. today, as well as a clear and present danger to our constitutional republic.”
While debates over the Christian virtues of the candidates may be important for Christian communities, religious freedom is important for American democracy. The response to Christianity and politics is not more Christianity but more democracy. And religious freedom is key.
Corey D. B. Walker 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.
“All politics is local” is a common refrain – and yet, it is also true that the president has some unique powers.
I am an expert on state policymaking, and I’m teaching presidential politics at Auburn University during this election season. Researching and teaching about both state and national politics has made me keenly aware of the stakes of the different races up and down the ballot this fall.
Power close to home
State and local governments shape our daily experiences in practical ways. State governments determine whether residents have access to expanded Medicaid, reproductive care, parental and family leave, and they set the state property, sales and income taxes, which we are all required to pay.
City councils, county boards and school boards determine the quality of the roads we travel, the selection of books in school libraries and the prices of utilities such as water and sewer service.
Most Americans will have the opportunity to vote for a variety of state and local elected officials this November. Yet many voters find their attention drawn to a more captivating contest: the presidential election.
And it is hard to deny that the president has an outsized influence on American public policy.
As the size of the judiciary and federal bureaucracy has grown over the past century, this presidential power has ballooned to include 4,000 appointments that turn over at the start of every administration. That doesn’t even include the vacancies that arise during the president’s term – for example, when a federal judge retires or dies.
Perhaps the most well-known presidential appointment power is the power to nominate Supreme Court justices. These nominations tend to be highly political and dramatic affairs. This is due to their irregular and often sudden timing and to the high stakes of lifetime appointments.
The Founding Fathers were adamant that the executive appointment power was not unilateral, as evidenced in Federalist Paper 76 penned by Alexander Hamilton. For 1,200 of the most consequential positions, the president nominates individuals, who are then confirmed – or not – by the U.S. Senate.
The Founding Fathers perceived this as important for preventing the tyranny of a sole actor, which they had just worked so hard to leave behind under English rule.
Assembling a Cabinet
Some of the most consequential of these appointments are members of the presidential Cabinet.
Much like how a head football coach assembles a team of assistants to enact their vision, the president convenes a team of policy champions to lead the 15 executive departments in the federal bureaucracy.
Each department is run by a “secretary,” nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The president consults with Cabinet members at periodic meetings, but secretaries otherwise enjoy a great deal of autonomy. For this reason, the president tries to pick Cabinet members who share their policy perspective.
Much of the agenda presidents claim credit for is, in fact, achieved by the Cabinet departments. For example, during the current Biden administration, the Department of Labor increased guaranteed overtime compensation, the Department of Health and Human Services recommended making marijuana a legal but regulated drug, and the Department of Education launched an initiative to tackle the post-COVID surge in chronic absenteeism.
Presidents also have the power to touch voters’ lives in profound ways by serving as a unifying character during national crises, a role that differentiates the president from other elected officials.
These crises, unforeseen at the time of the election, require the president to swiftly reassure a distressed nation. For example, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush delivered an address that acknowledged the grief of Americans while imparting a stern guarantee that the United States would not cower to terrorists. President Donald Trump provided direction for a national response to an unprecedented global pandemic. President Bill Clinton shared heartfelt remarks at the memorial service of those killed in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And Obama honored victims of a racially motivated shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Presidential candidates of course cannot campaign on their ability to handle unpredictable, emergent situations. Instead, they talk up personal traits that will equip them to carry the nation through the next four years – whatever that may bring.
During the recent 2024 presidential debate between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump, the candidates tried to demonstrate traits such as strength, humor and mental sharpness – all of which would prove invaluable during whatever the next four years throws our way.
This November, voters will consider a diverse spread of candidates, from city mayor to president, each with important responsibilities.
National, state and local governments work together to shape our perceptions, good or bad, about the role public policy plays in our lives – and I’d encourage voters to pay attention to candidates at both the top of the ballot and further down.
Zoe Nemerever does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Alex Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University – Newark
Supporters watch Donald Trump speak at a rally in Uniondale, N.Y., on Sept. 18, 2024.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
For many people, especially those leaning left, Donald Trump’s disqualifications to be president seem obvious, prompting some to question: How could anyone still vote for Trump?
About 78% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independent voters say that Trump broke the law when he allegedly tried to overturn the 2020 election results. But less than half of Republicans think he did anything wrong.
More recently, I have been examining toxic polarization – and ways to stop it. Many efforts to reduce people’s polarized views begin with an injunction: Listen and understand.
To this end, I have attended Trump rallies, populist and nonpartisan events and meetings where Democrats and Republicans connect and talk. Along the way, I have spoken with Trump supporters ranging from the Make America Great Again, or MAGA, faithful to moderate “hold the nose and vote for him” conservatives.
And indeed, many on the left fail to understand who Trump voters are and how they vary. Trump’s base cannot simply be dismissed as racist “deplorables”, as Hillary Clinton famously said in 2016, or as country bumpkins in red MAGA hats. Trump voters trend older, white, rural, religious and less educated. But they include others outside those demographic groups.
Many people have thoughtful reasons for voting for Trump, even if their reasoning – as is also true for those on the left – is often inflamed by populist polarizers and media platforms.
Here are five key lines of reasoning that, in varying combinations, inform Trump voters’ choice.
According to this line of argument, the left-leaning media dissects Trump’s every word, and the media then distorts what he says. I have found that some Trump supporters think that people who feed too much on this allegedly biased media diet can get TDS and develop a passionate, perhaps illogical dislike of Trump.
I have also heard hardcore Trump supporters argue, with no evidence, that such “fake news” media outlets, like CNN, are part of a larger deep state plot of the federal government to upend the will of the people. This plot, according to those who propagate it, includes not just leftists, government bureaucrats and people who claim to be Republicans, but really aren’t, but also people in law enforcement.
It is true that overall employment numbers and average pay went up under President Joe Biden. But for some Trump supporters, that economic boost pales in comparison to the massive surge in inflation during Biden’s term, with prices rising almost 20%. While the inflation rate has recently abated, prices remain high – as voters are reminded of every day at the grocery store.
Polls also show that Trump has a strong lead over Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on how they would handle the economy, which is a top concern for voters, especially Republicans.
3. A border invasion
Another reason some Americans want to vote for Trump: immigration.
In 2022, a poll found 7 out of 10 Republicans worried that “open borders” were part of a Democratic plot to expand liberals’ power by replacing conservative white people with nonwhite foreigners.
Trump has played into some people’s mostly false concerns that immigrants living illegally in the U.S. are freeloaders and won’t assimilate, as illustrated by recent – untrue – allegations that immigrants are eating pets in Ohio.
In 2022, 82% of Republicans said they viewed immigration as a “very important” issue. Trump continues to tout his proposed solution, which includes shutting the border, building a wall and deporting 11 million immigrants who are living in the U.S. without legal authorization.
Some Trump voters simply compare the records of Trump and Biden-Harris and find that the tally tilts firmly toward Trump.
And it’s not just about the economy and immigration.
There were no new wars under Trump. Biden-Harris, in contrast, are saddled with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip. Trump supporters’ perception is that American taxpayers foot a large portion of the bill, even though other countries are also giving money to Ukraine, and Israel is actually buying weapons from the U.S.
I have found that Trump supporters also think he is better suited to deal with the rising power and threat of China.
5. The MAGA bull in a china shop
While some Harris supporters lament Trump’s destruction of democracy and decency in politics, I have found that Trump voters see a charismatic MAGA bull in a china shop.
Every campaign season brings renewed attention to the amount of money influencing American politics, and who is spending it, and for what purposes. In particular, people are concerned about what is called “dark money.” For instance, recent media coverage has pointed to escalating dark money spending on both the Democratic and Republican sides.
The term sounds scary and raises the specter of shadowy people manipulating the nation’s politics. As a researcher who studies the American democratic system, I think it’s worthwhile to unpack what dark money is, what concerns it raises and what might be done to address it.
Unidentified political donors
When people talk about dark money, they’re usually referring to money spent on elections that comes from sources that cannot be identified.
Federal and state laws impose some limits on contributions and require some political contributions and expenditures to be publicly disclosed. Candidates for federal office, for example, must report their campaign donors to the Federal Election Commission. The FEC makes these reports available to the public.
Likewise, super PACs – groups permitted to spend unlimited amounts on independent electoral advocacy – must also report some information about donations, such as the identities of and amounts given by people who donate more than US$200 in a year.
But campaign finance disclosure laws have gaps.
Federal law, for example, allows certain entities – most notably nonprofits designated as “social welfare” organizations or trade associations under Sections 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) of the tax code – to raise and spend large sums on electoral advocacy without disclosing their donors.
A CBS News investigation into dark money in U.S. politics.
Another dark money pathway involves making donations to super PACs through shell companies, which are companies set up for the purpose of hiding the financial activities of other people or groups – in this case, political contributions. Although super PACs are legally required to report who they received the contributions from, if the funds come from shell companies, the super PACs may not know and are not required to disclose where the money actually came from. That information remains hidden from public view.
A lack of donor transparency raises multiple concerns. Voters may have a harder time assessing the validity of political messages or discerning whether candidates may be beholden to certain interests. Regulators and watchdogs can have trouble detecting illegal activity, such as campaign spending by foreign nationals. And unscrupulous people and groups can spread misinformation or destructive rhetoric without being identified or held accountable.
Undisclosed political expenditures
While discussions of dark money usually focus on where it comes from, the term can also describe a lack of transparency about where it goes.
Under federal law, campaign committees must report their direct disbursements, such as payments to vendors or consultants. These vendors and consultants, however, sometimes function as pass-through entities that receive campaign funds and then purchase undisclosed goods and services. And any of these recipients can be set up as shell companies, making the flow of funds even more difficult to track.
For instance, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee faced FEC complaints for failing to disclose indirect payments made through the campaign’s law firm to researchers who compiled a dossier on Donald Trump’s Russia ties. The Clinton campaign and the DNC paid a fine to settle the matter without conceding wrongdoing.
But enforcement can be difficult. In 2020, a watchdog group filed an FEC complaint alleging that Trump’s reelection campaign directed hundreds of millions of dollars to a pass-through entity in an improper effort to hide its expenditures – which included payments to top advisers and family members that, by law, would have otherwise been disclosed. The FEC dismissed the Trump complaint in 2022 when commissioners deadlocked 3-3 on whether to pursue it.
As with a lack of donor disclosure, a lack of expenditure disclosure can deprive voters and regulators of valuable information. Lack of transparency can also invite questionable campaign practices, such as using donated funds in ways that enrich candidates, campaign staff or their associates.
Proponents of greater campaign finance transparency have had little success pressing federal lawmakers and regulators to address dark money.
Since 2010, congressional Democrats have been introducing legislation known as the DISCLOSE Act. Among other requirements, it would make dark money groups reveal major donors and restrict the use of shell companies to conceal donors’ identities. While versions of the bill have passed the House, they have repeatedly stalled in the Senate. Opponents maintain that these measures would infringe people’s privacy rights and chill constitutionally protected speech.
Dark money is also an issue in state and local elections. The strength of state and local transparency laws varies. Because these elections typically receive less attention and scrutiny than federal elections, money sometimes flows even more opaquely.
Unlike the federal government, a number of states and localities have bolstered their disclosure rules in recent years. Arizona, California, Colorado, New Jersey and Washington, for example, have passed new laws requiring more donor information, including about the original sources of funds that are transferred between multiple groups before being spent on electioneering.
Meanwhile, states such as Iowa, Massachusetts and Texas have adopted laws requiring campaigns to provide details about how consultants and vendors spend the campaign’s funds.
Even in these states, disclosure gaps remain. The reality is that efforts to improve transparency can seem like a game of whack-a-mole: Each new round of regulations tends to generate new workarounds. But the experiences in these states and elsewhere may offer models and lessons for other jurisdictions.
Beyond the political challenge of getting stronger transparency regulations adopted, proponents of such measures also face potential constitutional challenges by opponents of disclosure.
In multiple cases, including the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected First Amendment claims brought by political spenders who wished to conceal their identities. In that case, the court observed that transparency helps the electorate “make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.”
However, the Supreme Court has also recognized a right to engage in anonymous political speech. And in recent years, the court’s conservative supermajority has become somewhat more skeptical of disclosure rules, including in a 2021 case, Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, which overturned a state law requiring charities to identify major donors. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned that the court’s argument could be applied to campaign finance disclosure regulations.
Therefore, even if public momentum builds for stronger transparency regulations, the Supreme Court could stand as an obstacle to such reforms.
Emily Lau 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.
Have you ever taken a personality test? If you’re like me, you’ve consulted BuzzFeed and you know exactly which Taylor Swift song “perfectly matches your vibe.”
It might be obvious that internet quizzes are not scientific, but many of the seemingly serious personality tests used to guide educational and career choices are also not supported by research. Despite being a billion-dollar industry, commercial personality testing used by schools and corporations to funnel people into their ideal roles do not predict career success.
Beyond their lack of scientific support, the most popular approaches to understanding personality are problematic because they assume your traits are static – that is, you’re stuck with the personality you’re born with. But modern personality science studies find that traits can and do change over time.
In addition to watching my own personality change over time from messy and lazy to off the charts in conscientiousness, I’m also a personality change researcher and clinical psychologist. My research confirms what I saw in my own development and in my patients: People can intentionally shape the traits they need to be successful in the lives they want. That’s contrary to the popular belief that your personality type places you in a box, dictating that you choose partners, activities and careers according to your traits.
Are you a person who tends to think about situations in your life more pessimistically, or are you a glass-half-full kind of person?
Do you tend to get angry when someone cuts you off in traffic, or are you more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt – maybe they’re rushing to the hospital?
Do you wait until the last minute to complete tasks, or do you plan ahead?
You can think of personality as a collection of labels that summarize your responses to questions like these. Depending on your answers, you might be labeled as optimistic, empathetic or dependable.
Research suggests that all these descriptive labels can be summarized into five overarching traits – what psychologists creatively refer to as the “Big Five.”
As early as the 1930s, psychologists literally combed through a dictionary to pull out all the words that describe human nature and sorted them in categories with similar themes. For example, they grouped words like “kind,” “thoughtful” and “friendly” together. They found that thousands of words could be accounted for by sorting them between five traits: neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness.
Personality traits can be sorted into the ‘Big Five’ categories. They describe how you act but not necessarily the essence of who you are. Whale Design/iStock via Getty Images Plus
What personality is not: People often feel protective about their personality – you may view it as the core of who you are. According to scientific definitions, however, personality is not your likes, dislikes or preferences. It’s not your sense of humor. It’s not your values or what you think is important in life.
In other words, shifting your Big Five traits does not change the core of who you are. It simply means learning to respond to situations in life with different thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
Can you change your personality?
Can personality change? Remember, personality is a person’s characteristic way of thinking, feeling and behaving. And while it might sound hard to change personality, people change how they think, feel and behave all the time.
Suppose you’re not super dependable. If you start to think “being on time shows others that I respect them,” begin to feel pride when you arrive to brunch before your friends, and engage in new behaviors that increase your timeliness – such as getting up with an alarm, setting appointment reminders and so on – you are embodying the characteristics of a reliable person. If you maintain these changes to your thinking, emotions and behaviors over time – voila! – you are reliable. Personality: changed.
Data confirms this idea. In general, personality changes across a person’s life span. As people age, they tend to experience fewer negative emotions and more positive ones, are more conscientious, place greater emphasis on positive relationships and are less judgmental of others.
There is variability here, though. Some people change a lot and some people hold pretty steady. Moreover, studies, including my own, that test whether personality interventions change traits over time find that people can speed up the process of personality change by making intentional tweaks to their thinking and behavior. These tweaks can lead to meaningful change in less than 20 weeks, instead of 20 years.
Identifying patterns that your thoughts frequently fall into can be the first step toward making a change. Maskot via Getty Images
Cultivating personality traits that serve you best
The good news is that these cognitive-behavioral techniques are relatively simple, and you don’t need to visit a therapist if that’s not something you’re into.
The first component involves changing your thinking patterns – this is the cognitive piece. You need to become aware of your thoughts to determine whether they’re keeping you stuck acting in line with a particular trait. For example, if you find yourself thinking “people are only looking out for themselves,” you are likely to act defensively around others.
The behavioral component involves becoming aware of your current action tendencies and testing out new responses. If you are defensive around other people, they will probably respond negatively to you. When they withdraw or snap at you, for example, it then confirms your belief that you can’t trust others. By contrast, if you try behaving more openly – perhaps sharing with a co-worker that you’re struggling with a task – you have the opportunity to see whether that changes the way others act toward you.
These cognitive-behavioral strategies are so effective for nudging personality because personality is simply your characteristic way of thinking and behaving. Consistently making changes to your perspective and actions can lead to lasting habits that ultimately result in crafting the personality you desire.
Shannon Sauer-Zavala receives funding from that National Institute of Mental Health to support her research.
The job ladder: inflation vs. reallocation
Giuseppe Moscarini, Yale University
Fabien Postel-Vinay*, University College London and Institute for Fiscal Studies
Discussant: Kerstin Holzheu, Sciences Po
The search cost of inflation
Laura Pilossoph, Duke University
Jane M. Ryngaert*, University of Notre Dame
Jesse Wedewer, Duke University
Discussant: Jordi Galí, CREI and Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Strike while the Iron is Hot: Optimal Monetary Policy with a Nonlinear Phillips Curve
Peter Karadi, European Central Bank
Anton Nakov*, European Central Bank
Galo Nuño, Banco de España
Ernesto Pastén, Central Bank of Chile and Toulouse School of Economics
Dominik Thaler, European Central Bank
Discussant: Guido Ascari, University of Pavia and De Nederlandsche Bank
Data and markups: a macro-finance perspective
Jan Eeckhout*, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Laura Veldkamp, Columbia University
Discussant: Maarten De Ridder, London School of Economics
Welcoming remarks
Luc Laeven, European Central Bank
Session 1:
The economics of financial stress
Dmitriy Sergeyev*, Bocconi University
Chen Lian, University of California, Berkeley
Yuriy Gorodnichenko, University of California, Berkeley
Discussant: Alina Bartscher, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
Behavioural sticky prices
Sergio Rebelo, Northwestern University
Miguel Santana, Northwestern University
Pedro Teles*, Banco de Portugal and Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics
Discussant: Gaetano Gaballo, HEC Paris
In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC), on September 25, 2024, 10:36 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 102.89) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 14,331.24 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 13.75%) of the RU000A105ML5 (NorNikB1P5) security were changed.
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https://www.moex.com/n73421
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.
On September 24, 2024, the Moscow Exchange platform hosted the issue of digital financial assets (DFA) for charitable purposes.
The issuer of the CFA was the Voskresenie charity foundation, and the buyers were Russian credit organizations. The funds raised through the issue of the CFA will be used to finance the construction of a church in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Cheboksary.
Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets: “At my suggestion, the idea of using advanced financial technologies in charity was implemented on the Moscow Exchange platform. This is a landmark event for the financial and charitable sectors. Moscow Exchange, together with the financial community, has developed a solution for fast and transparent financing of charitable projects using a new instrument for the Russian market – digital financial assets. This is an important first step. There is a lot of work ahead to further popularize this instrument, which will not only offer new opportunities to philanthropists, but also simplify the process of charity itself.”
Sergey Kharinov, Director of Digital Assets at Moscow Exchange: “The use of distributed ledger technologies in the charitable sector has a number of advantages, including transparency of operations, flexibility and speed of fundraising. Our plans include applying the successful experience of the first issue to create a digital platform based on it, which will provide an additional technological channel for fundraising for charitable organizations.”
In August 2023, the Moscow Exchange Group received licenses from the Bank of Russia to operate as an information system operator (NPO JSC NSD) and a digital financial asset exchange operator (PJSC Moscow Exchange).
Moscow Exchange is the largest Russian exchange, the only multifunctional platform in Russia for trading shares, bonds, derivatives, currencies, money market instruments and commodities. The Group includes a central depository, as well as a clearing center that performs the functions of a central counterparty in the markets, which allows Moscow Exchange to provide clients with a full cycle of trading and post-trading services.
Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232PR@moex.com
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https://www.moex.com/n73424
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.
In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the foreign exchange market and the precious metals market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by the NCC (JSC) on September 25, 2024, 12:09 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor for swap transactions (up to -0.0212 rubles) and the range of interest rate risk assessment (up to -0.0309 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 62.86%) for the KZTRUBTODTOM instrument were changed.
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https://www.moex.com/n73431
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.
In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the stock market and deposit market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by NCO NCC (JSC) on September 25, 2024, 11:57 (Moscow time), the values of the upper limit of the price corridor (up to 103.9) and the range of market risk assessment (up to 1140.73 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 7.5%) of the security RU000A0JT6B2 (VEB.RF 19) were changed.
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https://www.moex.com/n73429
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In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the foreign exchange market and the precious metals market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by the NCC (JSC) on September 25, 2024, 10:52 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor for swap transactions (up to -0.0168 rubles) and the range of interest rate risk assessment (up to -0.0247 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 51.43%) for the KZTRUBTODTOM instrument were changed.
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https://www.moex.com/n73425
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.
In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the foreign exchange market and the precious metals market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by the NCC (JSC) on September 25, 2024, 12-19 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor for swap transactions (up to -0.0299 rubles) and the range of interest rate risk assessment (up to -0.0432 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 85.72%) for the KZTRUBTODTOM instrument were changed.
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https://www.moex.com/n73434
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.
In accordance with the Methodology for determining the risk parameters of the foreign exchange market and the precious metals market of Moscow Exchange PJSC by the NCC (JSC) on September 25, 2024, 12-15 (Moscow time), the values of the lower limit of the price corridor for swap transactions (up to -0.0255 rubles) and the range of interest rate risk assessment (up to -0.037 rubles, equivalent to a rate of 74.29%) for the KZTRUBTODTOM instrument were changed.
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https://www.moex.com/n73433
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada, together with co-organizers Norway and Ukraine, will host the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s 10-Point Peace Formula on October 30-31, 2024.
September 25, 2024 – New York, New York – Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada, together with co-organizers Norway and Ukraine, will host the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s 10-Point Peace Formula on October 30-31, 2024.
The Ministerial Conference will bring together Foreign Affairs Ministers to advance the common vision articulated by the Joint Communiqué on a Peace Framework developed at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine at Bürgenstock, Switzerland, in June 2024.
During the conference, Ministers will exchange views with the aim of developing a concrete plan, guided by the principles of international human rights and humanitarian law, for the return of prisoners of war as well as deported civilians and children back to Ukraine. The Conference participants will also aim to strengthen the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, integrate the Women, Peace and Security perspective into the 10-Point Peace Formula, and identify approaches for post-return rehabilitation and reintegration for Ukrainian returnees.
Quotes
“Canada continues to deploy significant efforts to raise awareness of, and advocate on the issue of, illegally detained and deported Ukrainians, a critical issue dating back to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that has been exacerbated since the launch of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression in 2022. I look forward to welcoming my counterparts to Canada and exchanging views on how the international community can support Ukraine in its efforts for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.”
– Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada
“The release of all prisoners and deported persons from Russian captivity, including children, is Ukraine’s top priority. I look forward to working together on the solutions that will ensure the return of our people back home and the restoration of just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
– Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
“The return of all our people—every detained and deported Ukrainian—is a fundamental precondition for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine. The human dimension is one of the core elements of Ukraine’s Peace Formula. It is crucial that we, as an international community, unite our efforts in Canada to find solutions that will bring every Ukrainian home.”
– Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine
“Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has lasted for more than two and a half years. The ongoing hostilities and occupation of Ukrainian territory continuously expose Ukrainian civilians to the risk of detention by Russian forces or agents and other violations. The scale and complexity of the many thousands of Ukrainians in detention, children as well as adults, call for closer scrutiny by the world community on how to stop it, and I look forward to working closely with my Ukrainian and Canadian colleagues on this important agenda.”
– Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway
Quick facts
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced Ukraine’s 10-Point Peace Formula in November 2022 at the G20 summit. In August 2023, ten working groups were established, each dedicated to a specific pillar of the 10-point Peace Formula. Canada, along with Norway, are co-chairs of Working Group 4, which focuses on the return of prisoners of war, detained civilians, and illegally transferred and deported children.
Canada and Ukraine co-lead the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. Launched in February 2024, in Kyiv, this coalition has expanded to 40 states, including some non-Western countries.
In June 2024, Ukraine and Switzerland hosted the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, a diplomatic initiative to garner international support for Ukraine’s Peace Formula. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the summit and chaired a breakout session on the human dimension of the war in Ukraine. He also announced that Canada will host a ministerial conference on this human dimension this year.
From September 26, 2024, in accordance with the recommendation of the Index Committee, foreign issuer’s depositary receipts for shares of HeadHunter Group PLC (trading code: HHRU, ISIN: US42207L1061) will be replaced in Moscow Exchange stock indices with ordinary shares of HeadHunter IPJSC (trading code: HEAD, ISIN: RU000A107662). Ordinary shares of HeadHunter IPJSC will be included in indices with the same parameters as foreign issuer’s depositary receipts for shares of HeadHunter Group PLC.
Index codes that include depositary receipts of a foreign issuer for shares of HeadHunter Group PLC: MOEXBMI, RUBMI, MCXSM, RTSSM, MOEXIT, RTSIT, MOEXINN, MXSHAR.
Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232PR@moex.com
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https://www.moex.com/n73438
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.
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WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it will conduct a scientific assessment to determine if there is a relationship between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure during military service and kidney cancer among Veterans.
This scientific assessment — a process codified under the PACT Act — will help VA determine if kidney cancer should be considered a presumptive service-connected condition for Veterans exposed to PFAS. When a condition is considered presumptive, eligible Veterans do not need to prove that their service caused their disease in order to receive benefits for it; instead, if they served in certain locations during certain time periods, VA automatically assumes (or “presumes”) that exposure during military service caused the disease and provides benefits accordingly.
This review is a part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to expand benefits and services for toxic-exposed Veterans and their families, and helps advance the President’s Unity Agenda and Biden Cancer Moonshot goals to understand and address environmental and toxic exposures and end cancer as we know it. As a part of these efforts, VA expedited health care and benefits eligibility under the PACT Act by several years — including extending presumptions for head cancer, neck cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, reproductive cancer, lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer, melanoma, hypertension for Vietnam Veterans, and much more. Since the PACT Act was signed into law, VA has extended presumptions for more than 300 new conditions, including most recently for male breast cancer, urethral cancer, and cancer of the paraurethral glands.
“At VA, we want to understand the health conditions that Veterans are living with so we can provide them with all of the benefits they deserve — and that’s what this review process is all about,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “As a result of this scientific review, we may be able to make kidney cancer a presumptive condition for Veterans exposed to PFAS, thus lowering the burden of proof on these Veterans. But make no mistake: Veterans should not wait for the outcome of this review to apply for the benefits and care they deserve. If you’re a Veteran and believe your military service has negatively impacted your health, we encourage you to apply for VA care and benefits today.”
PFAS are a class of over 12,000 chemicals and have been used in the military since the early 1970s. VA’s assessment methodology follows guidance from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and other key stakeholders, and will consider available peer-reviewed scientific literature, Veteran claims data, and other relevant data. Regardless of whether a condition is an established presumptive condition, VA will consider claims on a case-by-case basis and can grant disability compensation benefits if sufficient evidence of service connection is found — and VA is always working to get to yes.
VA prioritizes claims processing for Veterans with cancer and offers comprehensive cancer care services to Veterans across the nation — from screening through treatment. Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, VA has delivered disability compensation benefits to more than one million Veterans and their survivors, amounting to more than $7 billion in earned PACT Act benefits. During the same period, nearly 740,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA care and more than 5.6 million Veterans have been screened for toxic exposures.
VA is soliciting public comment on the proposed scientific assessment between PFAS exposure and kidney cancer via the Federal Register. The public will have a 30-day period to provide comments. VA will also host a listening session Nov. 19, 2024, to allow individuals to share research and input. Individuals interested may register to participate. The public may also comment via either forum on other conditions that would benefit from review for potential service-connection.
VA encourages all eligible Veterans and survivors toenroll in health care and file a claim. For more information about the PACT Act and a full list of presumptive conditions covered under the law, visit VA.gov/PACT.
For more information about VA cancer care, visitcancer.va.gov.
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Contact us online through Ask VA
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
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U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON DC 20585
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 25, 2024
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has several sets of data on the domestic production of crude oil and natural gas. Depending on your interests, the resources below can help you find the crude oil and natural gas data you need.
Table 1. Key production figures from the latest EIA data
2023 annual
June 2024
Crude oil
12.9 million b/d
13.2 million b/d
Dry natural gas
103.8 Bcf/d
103 Bcf/d
Crude oil
Crude oil production is typically measured in barrels or barrels per day. When EIA analyzes crude oil production, it relies on field production of crude oil and lease condensate, which is published at the national level, at the Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) level, and at the state level.
Crude oil is refined into a series of consumable petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. EIA publishes U.S. production of petroleum products in the Petroleum Supply and Disposition table, under the Refinery and Blender Net Production column.
EIA publishes short-term forecasts of total U.S. crude oil production and forecasts of tight oil production (oil production by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking) by geologic formation.
Natural gas
Natural gas production is typically measured in billion cubic feet or billion cubic feet per day. Natural gas is unique in that its production can be measured in three ways:
Gross withdrawals of natural gas include everything pulled from the ground, including product that is ultimately flared or siphoned off to another product stream. EIA tracks gross withdrawals at the national level and by state.
Marketed or wet natural gas production is smaller than gross withdrawals because it does not include gas that was vented, flared, used for repressuring, or removed during treating and processing. EIA publishes historical and forecast marketed natural gas production at the national and regional level. Historical marketed production is also available by state.
Dry natural gas production is what goes to the consumer. It’s lower than wet production because it does not include natural gas plant liquids such as ethane and propane that are counted in marketed production. EIA publishes dry natural gas production at the national level and by state. EIA publishes dry natural gas production by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) by shale gas formation.
EIA publishes varying data series of monthly and annual crude oil and natural gas production. The agency also publishes weekly estimates of some production measures. Members of the press can contact our media relations team with any questions at EIAMedia@eia.gov.
The data described in this advisory were prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. By law, EIA’s data, analysis, and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the U.S. government. The views in the product and this press release therefore should not be construed as representing those of the U.S. Department of Energy or other federal agencies.
EIA Press Contact: Chris Higginbotham, EIAMedia@eia.gov
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam continued his Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) visit in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
In the morning, Mr Lam met China Business Association Ho Chi Minh City Branch Chief Supervisor Sun Guo Qiang to explore business opportunities in Hong Kong and the Vietnamese city, and learn about the demand for legal services in the local business sector.
He then had lunch with Hong Kong Business Association Vietnam Vice-Chairman Fred Burke for a better understanding of Vietnam’s business environment and need for cross-jurisdictional legal services.
In the afternoon, Mr Lam exchanged views with representatives from the Vietnam International Arbitration Center on recent developments in the arbitration landscape in both places and explored ways to strengthen collaboration.
During a meeting with the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, he discussed the development of the legal profession and explored potential future collaborations in building stronger and closer ties.
Mr Lam also attended a dinner with Acting Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Ho Chi Minh City Xu Zhou and shared with him the latest developments in Hong Kong’s legal and alternative dispute resolution sector.
Upon arriving in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, he attended a forum, followed by a networking dinner to meet the local legal and business sectors.
The justice chief will conclude his visit to Ho Chi Minh City and depart for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tomorrow to attend a seminar to promote Hong Kong’s legal and dispute resolution services.
The dietary preferences of bacteria that eat organic molecules called lipids can affect how carbon dioxide from the ocean’s surface moves to the deep ocean, where it can be sequestered away for hundreds of years, potentially affecting future climate change, according to a new U.S. National Science Foundation-supported studypublished inScience.
“Our study marks a significant leap in understanding the molecular basis for why some carbon sinks to the deep sea and is sequestered,” said Benjamin Van Mooy, a co-author and senior scientist in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department.
The study suggests that if the bacteria cannot eat specific lipid molecules, the carbon-rich lipids are more likely to sink into the deep ocean, potentially sequestering the carbon in the lipids.
“Bacteria seem to have very distinct diet preferences for different lipid molecules,” Van Mooy said in auniversity press release. “This study used state-of-the-art methods to link the molecular composition of the sinking biomass with its rates of degradation, which we were able to link to the dietary preferences of bacteria.”
“Until now, we’ve been aware of dietary preferences in higher organisms such as zooplankton and fish, but generally haven’t thought about bacteria having dietary preferences,” said Elizabeth Canuel, an NSF program director.
Credit: Helen Fredricks, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Co-lead authors Lars Behrendt (left; ETH-Zürich) and Jon Hunter (right;WHOI) aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong, sampling sinking particles for lipid analysis.
About 5 to 30% of surface ocean particulate organic matter is composed of lipids, carbon-rich fatty acid biomolecules that microbes use for energy storage and cellular functions. As the organic matter sinks to the deep sea, microbes degrade and use the lipids.
Understanding this process can improve our ability to forecast global carbon changes. For example, geographic areas where more lipids reach the deep ocean without being degraded, or consumed, by bacteria could be hotspots for natural carbon sequestration.
The study relied on two NSF-funded projects, one onlipids in the upper oceanand one onfats in the upper ocean.
SEC penalizes firms, recovers more than $6 million of excess fees tied to options trading strategy
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Harvest Volatility Management LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. for exceeding clients’ designated investment limits over a two-year period beginning in March 2016, which resulted in clients paying higher fees, being subjected to increased market exposure, and incurring investment losses. As part of the separate settlements, Harvest and Merrill have agreed to pay a combined $9.3 million in penalties and disgorgement to resolve the SEC’s claims.
According to the SEC’s orders, Harvest was the primary investment adviser and portfolio manager for the Collateral Yield Enhancement Strategy (CYES), which traded options in a volatility index with the aim of generating incremental returns. The SEC’s orders find that, starting in 2016, Harvest allowed scores of accounts to exceed the exposure levels that investors designated when they signed up to the CYES strategy, including dozens of accounts that exceeded the limit by 50 percent or more. Merrill and Harvest received larger management fees when investors’ exposure levels climbed above pre-set levels and exposed investors to greater financial risks. The SEC order as to Merrill finds that it introduced its clients to Harvest and received part of Harvest’s management and incentive fees, as well as trading commissions. It also finds that Merrill was aware that investors’ exposure to CYES was exceeding pre-set exposure levels and failed adequately to inform affected CYES investors, most of whom had existing advisory relationships with Merrill. The SEC’s orders also find that Harvest and Merrill neglected to adopt and implement policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that they disclosed all material facts to their clients and alerted them to the excessive exposure.
“In this case, two investment advisers allegedly sold a complex options trading strategy to their clients, but failed to abide by basic client instructions or implement and adhere to appropriate policies and procedures,” said Mark Cave, Associate Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “Today’s action holds Merrill and Harvest accountable for dropping the ball in executing these basic duties to their clients, even as their clients’ financial exposure grew well beyond predetermined limits.”
The SEC’s orders find that Harvest and Merrill violated Sections 206(2) and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-7 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the findings, Harvest and Merrill agreed to be censured, to cease-and-desist orders, and to penalties of $2 million and $1 million, respectively. Harvest will also pay $3.5 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, while Merrill will pay $2.8 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Bobby Gray, Matthew Finnegan, and Suzanne Romajas, under the supervision of Jeff Leasure and Mr. Cave.
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada, with the support of Norway and Ukraine as co-hosts, will host the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s 10-Point Peace Formula on October 30-31, 2024.
September 25, 2024 – New York, New York – Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada, with the support of Norway and Ukraine as co-hosts, will host the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s 10-Point Peace Formula on October 30-31, 2024.
The Ministerial Conference will bring together foreign ministers to advance the vision set out in the Joint Communiqué on the Peace Framework, developed at the Ukraine Peace Summit in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, in June 2024.
During the conference, the ministers will exchange views with the aim of developing a concrete plan, guided by international principles of human rights and humanitarian law, for the return to Ukraine of prisoners of war, as well as the civilian population and deported children. The conference participants will also aim to strengthen the International Coalition for the Repatriation of Ukrainian Children, to integrate the perspective of women, peace and security into the 10-point peace formula, and to identify approaches for the rehabilitation and reintegration of Ukrainian women and men repatriated to the country.
Quotes
“Canada continues to work hard to raise awareness and advocate on the issue of illegally detained and deported Ukrainians, a major issue that dates back to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and has been exacerbated since Russia launched its full-scale war of aggression in 2022. I look forward to welcoming my counterparts to Canada and discussing how the international community can support Ukraine in its efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.”
– Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada
“The release of all prisoners and detainees, as well as all those deported to Russia, including children, is Ukraine’s top priority. I look forward to working together to find solutions that will ensure the return of our citizens and the restoration of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
– Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
“The return of our people, that is, all detained and deported Ukrainians, is an essential condition for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine. The human dimension is one of the essential elements of Ukraine’s peace formula. It is essential that we, as the international community, join forces with Canada to find solutions that will allow all Ukrainians to return home.”
– Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine
“Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has been going on for over two and a half years. The ongoing hostilities and occupation of Ukrainian territory place the Ukrainian civilian population at constant risk of detention by Russian forces or agents and other aggression. The scale and complexity of the detention of thousands of Ukrainians, both children and adults, demands that the global community take a closer look at how to end it, and I look forward to working closely with my colleagues from Ukraine and Canada on this important issue.”
– Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway
Quick Facts
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented Ukraine’s 10-Point Peace Formula in November 2022 at the G20 Summit. In August 2023, ten working groups were established, each dedicated to a pillar of the 10-Point Peace Formula. Canada and Norway co-chair Working Group 4, which focuses on the return of prisoners of war, civilians in detention, and illegally transferred and deported children.
Canada and Ukraine co-lead the International Coalition for the Repatriation of Ukrainian Children. Launched in February 2024 in Kyiv, this coalition has expanded to 40 states, including some non-Western countries.
In June 2024, Ukraine and Switzerland hosted the Ukraine Peace Summit, a diplomatic initiative aimed at garnering international support for Ukraine’s peace formula. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the summit and chaired a discussion session on the human dimension of the war in Ukraine. He also announced that Canada would host a ministerial conference on the human dimension this year.
MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –
Source: Canton of Neuchatel Switzerland
09/25/2024
The State Council presents its 2025 budget project, in a situation still marked by a favorable economic climate. Despite the increases in expenses in certain areas of activity, the income statement shows a surplus of revenue of 29.9 million francs and meets the requirements of the debt brake. Significant investments are also expected. In addition, a further reduction in the tax scale is proposed.
After three accounting and budgetary years particularly marked by a favourable economic context, the 2025 budget of the State of Neuchâtel presents a surplus of revenue of 29.9 million francs on a total of 2.5 billion in expenses. Fulfilling the requirements of the debt brake, it makes it possible to amortize 1% of the State’s overdraft while ensuring the self-financing, up to 71.2%, of a significant investment envelope.
Significantly up on previous years, investments amount to nearly 147 million, with a decisive share representing 5.2% of revenues. While an envelope of this size represented an additional challenge in terms of self-financing, it reflects the many projects started in recent years that are now in their implementation phase. For the Council of State, this is a decisive period during which investment expenditure will have to remain at a high level in order to meet the major challenges of modernizing, making the canton more attractive and improving its infrastructure.
Positive revenue dynamics
Despite some signs of slowdown already perceived in the Neuchâtel economy, tax forecasts continue for the time being to benefit from the good economic situation, the fall in unemployment and inflation. Tax revenues should therefore remain at a level close to 2023, a sign of positive dynamics of resources that will help to mitigate significant increases observed in several areas of expenses.
Among other important sources of financing, the 2025 budget benefits from a significant increase in revenues received by the Canton as part of the federal financial equalization and takes into account an improvement in the outlook linked to a resumption of ordinary payments from the Swiss National Bank (SNB). While they allow us to approach 2025 with a certain serenity, these developments nevertheless call for the greatest caution given the high level of uncertainty that characterizes them and the total lack of influence exercised by the Canton. This caution is all the more important given that multiple issues are currently threatening the stability of public finances.
Need to control loads
As a sign of the many challenges that the Canton is currently facing, the 2025 budget includes significant increases in charges, particularly in the social and health sectors, where demographic change is now clearly having an impact. The rise in health costs requires, in particular, ever-increasing resources allocated to health institutions, but also to health insurance subsidies or in the area of supplementary benefits.
Expenditure is also increasing in the area of training, or in that of mobility with allowances paid to public transport companies which continue to grow. In addition to these, there are the many additional efforts that the Canton has committed to making in climate protection.
Finally, the redistribution to the municipalities of half of the federal contribution for the compensation of geotopographical overloads, which represents a burden of more than 10 million francs for the Canton, is not subject to any compensation this year and is therefore fully assumed by the State budget.
Faced with these major challenges, it is now imperative that the Canton of Neuchâtel controls its expenses and achieves a sustainable clean-up of public finances.
Compensation for cost increases and reduction of the tax scale
The 2025 budget remains impacted by inflationary pressure which, despite a clear slowdown observed in recent months, still has significant effects on many areas of State activity as well as on household purchasing power. For 2025, the Council of State therefore proposes full compensation for the increase in civil service salaries. It also proposes catching up on the indexation reserve that had to be maintained in 2024. A measure that has an overall impact on the State budget of around 30 million francs.
Furthermore, convinced that Neuchâtel taxpayers must also benefit from the good economic situation and its positive financial consequences for the State and the municipalities, the Council of State invites the Grand Council to adopt a new temporary reduction in the personal income tax scale, at a rate of 1%, which is added to the previous one. This proposal, the financial implications of which are already included in the 2025 budget, should allow the canton to continue this logic of modest progress in order to maintain and improve its attractiveness.
Efforts still needed in the medium term
The 2026-2028 financial and task plan still shows significant deficits of between 30 and 50 million, which do not include the potential deferrals of charges from the Confederation to the cantons or the impact of the responses to the various cantonal initiatives. These worrying projections and prospects should encourage the State to conduct a prudent financial policy in order to maintain sufficient room for maneuver to react in the event of an economic downturn. Significant additional efforts will therefore be necessary during the next legislature to guarantee the stability of public finances, an essential condition for being able to respond effectively to future challenges without jeopardizing compliance with the debt brake.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.
The Grand Bay-Westfield RCMP is asking for the public’s help to locate a stolen boat and trailer from Summerville, N.B.
The theft is believed to have occurred sometime between the overnight hours of September 20, 2024, and the morning of September 22, 2024, at a residence on Milkish Road near Summerville.
The boat trailer is silver, with New Brunswick licence plate TMG 528.
The boat is described as a green 2008 14-foot Tracker Grizzly 1448 aluminum boat. The boat has a grey 25 hp Yamaha four stroke outboard motor, with serial number 6BPK1031421, and model number F25LMHB.
Anyone who has seen the trailer or the boat since the evening of September 20, or who has information that could help further the investigation, is asked to contact the Grand Bay-Westfield RCMP at 506-757-1020. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), by downloading the secure P3 Mobile App, or by Secure Web Tips atwww.crimenb.ca.
BEDMINSTER, NJ, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select Market: PGC) and Peapack Private, a division of Peapack-Gladstone Bank, are proud to announce that Vanessa Tortorice has joined Peapack Private’s New York City location as Senior Managing Director. Vanessa joins a team of highly-skilled commercial bankers at Peapack Private, where she will contribute to the growth of commercial and industrial business in the New York market. She is dedicated to providing tailored banking solutions to help clients achieve their long-term financial goals.
With a proven track record in financial services, Vanessa brings 12 years of experience to Peapack Private. Previously, she served as Vice President and Senior Business Banker at M&T Bank, where she managed a portfolio of high-net-worth clients. Vanessa excelled at fostering relationship stewardship and driving cross-functional collaboration, significantly contributing to revenue growth. Prior to that as Vice President, Business Banking at Capital One, she managed a diverse portfolio of valued clients, consistently surpassing targeted net portfolio loan and deposit growth objectives. Veronica exceeded goals in acquiring new clients, managing existing relationships, and forging new banking alliances. She ranked within the top 10% nationally, affirming her track record of excellence.
Ms. Tortorice attended the University of Rome, Rome, Italy, and the College of Staten Island CUNY, with a focus on Liberal Arts.
About the Company
Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation is a New Jersey bank holding company with total assets of $6.51 billion and assets under management and/or administration of $11.5 billion as of June 30, 2024. Founded in 1921, Peapack-Gladstone Bank is a commercial bank that offers a client-centric approach to banking, providing high-quality products along with customized and innovative wealth management, investment banking, commercial and retail solutions. Peapack Private, a division of Peapack-Gladstone Bank, offers comprehensive financial, tax, fiduciary and investment advice and solutions to individuals, families, privately held businesses, family offices and not-for-profit organizations, which help them to establish, maintain and expand their legacy. Together, Peapack-Gladstone Bank and Peapack Private offer an unparalleled commitment to client service. Visit www.pgbank.com and www.peapackprivate.com for more information.
Contact: Rosanne Schwab, Peapack-Gladstone Bank, Vice President, Public Relations and Corporate Communications Manager, 500 Hills Drive, Suite 300, Bedminster, NJ 07921 rschwab@pgbank.com, (908) 719-6543.
John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer at Fortinet “Through our longstanding investments to address the cyber talent shortage, Fortinet continues to grow and expand our programs and strategic partnerships by delivering an award-winning cybersecurity training and certification program. Addressing the cyber skills gap is vital to enhancing our society’s collective cyber resiliency and we are committed to developing the current and future cyber workforce through the Fortinet Training Institute. As part of this effort, we remain focused on our pledge to train 1 million individuals in cyber by 2026.”
News Summary Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today announced significant progress in its mission to address the cybersecurity skills shortage through its Training Institute programs. As part of the company’s commitment to closing the cyber workforce gap, Fortinet pledged to train 1 million people in cybersecurity by the end of 2026 and through the Fortinet Training Institute programs has achieved significant strides toward this goal. With more than half a million people having been trained since the 5-year span pledge was announced, Fortinet is on track to meet this commitment by the end of 2026.
As the cybersecurity landscape grows increasingly complex, the demand for skilled professionals continues to grow with an estimated 4.8 million cybersecurity professionals required to address the industry’s workforce gap. At the same time, Fortinet’s 2024 Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report reveals that 70% of organizations believe the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals is increasing risks to their security.
Fortinet is at the forefront of working to address the skills gap by providing award-winning training and certification curriculum designed to equip individuals with the necessary skills and knowledge to better mitigate cyber risks. Additional recent key initiatives and achievements include:
Award-Winning Cybersecurity Curriculum: Fortinet’s most recent industry acknowledgement includes winning the 2024 SC Awards for Best Professional Certification Program. In the fall of 2023, Fortinet introduced enhancements to the Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) Certification program, providing multiple certification options focused on role-based training – such as administrator, analyst, architect – as well as a foundational certification level. Fortinet has also been honored with Gold for best cybersecurity training and Gold for best security awareness program from the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards; Gold for cyber and education and training and security awareness and training from the Globee 2024 Cyber Security Global Excellence Awards; and Most Innovative in cybersecurity training and certification, and security awareness and training service from the Global Infosec Awards, among others.
European Commission’s Cybersecurity Skills Academy Initiative Pledge: Earlier this year, Fortinet pledged to offer its award-winning cybersecurity training and security awareness curriculum to up to 75,000 individuals for free in Europe over the next three years. Since joining this initiative, Fortinet is offering its Certification program curriculum through the Cybersecurity Skills Academy and expanding learning opportunities for individuals across all 27 countries of the European Union, helping develop critical cyber skills in the region.
All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and EduSkills Foundation Partnership: Fortinet is partnering with the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and EduSkills Foundation to offer 100,000 virtual internships in the field of cybersecurity across India, as well as providing our Certification program free of cost.
Fortinet Cyber Bootcamps Help Develop the Future Cyber Workforce: Fortinet is partnering with organizations across the world to host cybersecurity and networking bootcamps to further increase access to its training curriculum. Earlier this year, Fortinet hosted a threat hunting workshop for participants of the MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag (eCTF) competition, which included students from around the world. Attendees of the Fortinet workshop gained hands-on cybersecurity experience, assuming the role of a security analyst to identify adversarial behaviors using renowned frameworks and procedures.
Continuing to Drive a Diverse Cyber Workforce through Partnerships: Through the Education Outreach program and Veterans program, Fortinet cultivates partnerships to drive a skilled, inclusive and diverse cyber workforce. More recently, Fortinet partnered with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Cyber Catalyst Talent Solutions, and Tech Vets Canada, among others, on an in-person bootcamp specifically for veterans interested in gaining technical and hands-on expertise in cyber. Fortinet also collaborated with several Fortinet Veteran program and Education Outreach program partners earlier this year – including Cerco, Helping Heroes, Hire Heroes USA, Onward 2 Opportunity, TechVets, and VetSec – to offer a nine-week Networking Fundamentals Bootcamp this year to further upskill and reskill veterans. Additionally, Fortinet is continuing to partner with Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) to offer members a Networking Fundamentals Bootcamp designed as an entry point for those wanting to pursue a career in cybersecurity.
Building on Fortinet’s Longstanding Commitment to Close the Global Cyber Skills Gap These initiatives build on Fortinet’s longstanding commitment to address the cybersecurity skills gap worldwide. The Fortinet Training Institute delivers training and certifications to IT and security professionals, students and educators, and underserved communities, through its various programs. The ecosystem supporting these programs – including the Education Outreach program, the Veterans program and the Academic Partner program – is comprised of more than 700 partners across more than 100 countries globally.
To further help advance this work, Fortinet is a part of various public-private partnerships, including participating in the White House’s National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy commitments by introducing free security awareness training for primary and secondary school educators and students globally including school districts across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Brazil. All these efforts contribute toward Fortinet’s goal to train 1 million people globally in cyber by 2026.
About Fortinet Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. Collaboration with esteemed organizations from both the public and private sectors, including CERTs, government entities, and academia, is a fundamental aspect of Fortinet’s commitment to enhance cyber resilience globally. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organization, develops and utilizes leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, and FortiGuard Labs.
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