NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EXL [NASDAQ: EXLS], a leading data analytics and digital operations and solutions company, was selected by Convex Group Limited (“Convex”), the international specialty insurer and reinsurer, for a multiyear engagement focused on accelerating delivery of its business operations. The program will improve efficiency and customer experience, delivering a more cost-effective, scalable and resilient operating model.
As part of Convex’s strategically differentiated approach to outsourcing, EXL will help deliver the next phase of development in operational excellence and efficiency, enhancing workflows and delivering integrated data-enriched management information, analytics and AI across the breadth of the operating model. This will allow Convex to continue to maintain its client-centric focus and growth momentum while drawing on EXL’s deep expertise in insurance operations and market-proven AI and data capabilities. In addition, EXL’s multi-tower and multi-geography delivery centers and transformation center of excellence will support Convex’s requirements for flexible and adaptable access to evolving skills and resources.
“We are excited to work closely with Convex to evolve their operating model, supporting better business decisions through data and technology while delivering greater scalability and efficiency in their operations,” said Vikas Bhalla, president, EXL and head of Insurance business. “Partnering with EXL will not only support Convex in its continued growth and deployment of current technologies but also help the organization leverage future technological advancements with speed and agility.”
“We selected EXL as a strategic partner because we felt they aligned well with our values while demonstrating a strong capability and drive to leverage cutting-edge technology and data in the delivery of services,” said Adrian Spieler, chief operating officer at Convex. “EXL not only brings the London market experience but also the experience of implementing transformational solutions alongside transparency and high-quality management information into operations. We see this engagement as an accelerator for delivering operational excellence to our brokers and clients.”
EXL works with more than 550 global insurers, re-insurers, brokers and Insurtech firms to leverage data and artificial intelligent based solutions to help our clients improve risk mitigation, reduce indemnity spend, enhance customer experience and lower service costs. With a 25-year heritage in the insurance industry, EXL’s global presence and deep insurance expertise help clients stay resilient and leverage the best-of-breed solutions to stay ahead.
To learn more about EXL’s data-led approach to digital transformation, please visit here.
About EXL EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a leading data analytics and digital operations and solutions company. We partner with clients using a data and AI-led approach to reinvent business models, drive better business outcomes and unlock growth with speed. EXL harnesses the power of data, analytics, AI, and deep industry knowledge to transform operations for the world’s leading corporations in industries including insurance, healthcare, banking and financial services, media and retail, among others. EXL was founded in 1999 with the core values of innovation, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect. We are headquartered in New York and have more than 55,000 employees spanning six continents. For more information, visit http://www.exlservice.com.
WOBURN, Mass., Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bridgeline Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLIN), a provider of AI-driven marketing technology, announced a major update to HawkSearch’s Rapid UI Framework, a powerful component-based framework that accelerates the integration of Smart Response into their search interfaces. The new version includes a new component for HawkSearch’s Smart Response, a new GenAI capability to complement Smart Search’s features as announced earlier in the year.
Smart Response, now powered by Generative AI (GenAI), delivers a transformative experience for eCommerce users. It goes beyond traditional search results by enabling interactive conversations, summarizing extensive product information, and comparing items directly within the search interface. With the ability to customize “Agents” to align with brand tone, merchandisers can now fine-tune responses to suit specific customer needs. The updated version has comprehensive documentation and implementation examples available via the HawkSearch Developer Portal.
A customer searching for a laptop on an eCommerce site can now engage with Smart Response to refine their options. By asking follow-up questions or requesting product comparisons, Smart Response provides a concise side-by-side analysis of laptops, highlighting key features like battery life and processor speed, helping the customer make a more informed decision without leaving the search interface.
“The Rapid UI Framework is revolutionizing search technology,” said Ari Kahn, CEO of Bridgeline Digital. “Our customers can quickly develop personalized, engaging search experiences, allowing them to drive conversions and enhance user satisfaction with minimal effort.”
About Bridgeline Digital
Bridgeline helps companies grow online revenue by increasing traffic, conversion rates, and average order value. To learn more, please visit http://www.bridgeline.com.
Contact: Danielle Colvin SVP of Marketing Bridgeline Digital press@bridgeline.com
MONTREAL, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Boralex inc. (“Boralex” or the “Company”) (TSX: BLX) is proud to announce that it is one of the few companies in the renewable energy sector to have its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This recognition confirms that Boralex’s commitment to reach net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 across its entire value chain is science-based and aligned with a trajectory to achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement of limiting global temperature increases to less than 1.5oC.
“The validation of our targets by the SBTi is perfectly in line with our strategic objective of becoming the reference in corporate social responsibility (CSR) for our partners. Today’s announcement consolidates our leadership role in our industry, reinforces our commitment to produce renewable energy in the best possible way, and resonates with our organizational purpose, which aims to benefit future generations,” said Patrick Decostre, President and CEO of Boralex.
“I’m extremely proud of the monumental work carried out by many Boralex employees in recent years, which today enables us to be among the first companies in our industry to have our targets validated by the SBTi initiative. In addition to representing concrete, ambitious and realistic actions to fight climate change, this commitment shows that we are anticipating market needs, including compliance with upcoming CSR regulatory frameworks,” said Mihaela Stefanov, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk Management and Corporate Social Responsibility.
To reach net-zero by 2050, the most ambitious designation available through the SBTi process, Boralex has set near- and long-term targets covering 100% of emissions from its entire value chain (Scope 1, 2 and 3):
Near-term: By 2030, Boralex is committed to reducing its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% from a base year of 2022, and by 2028, to having 90% of its major component suppliers have science-based reduction targets.
Long-term: By 2050, Boralex is committed to reducing its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 90% and its Scope 3 emissions per kWh produced and sold by 97%, from a base year of 2022.
To ensure that every kWh generated and produced is as low-carbon as possible, Boralex relies, among other factors, on the gradual electrification of its vehicle fleet, the consumption of electricity from renewable sources at its sites and buildings, and partnerships with strategic low-carbon suppliers.
The validation of our targets by the SBTi, a reputable global organization supported by 130 specialists based in North America and Europe, is a central element in our overall CSR and risk management strategy. Indeed, it was essential for Boralex to go beyond a GHG emissions reduction objective by adopting an action plan to achieve this objective that is concrete, realistic and backed by a recognized authority. For more details on our CSR commitments and actions, visit the Boralex website.
About Boralex
At Boralex, we have been providing affordable renewable energy accessible to everyone for over 30 years. As a leader in the Canadian market and France’s largest independent producer of onshore wind power, we also have facilities in the United States and development projects in the United Kingdom. Over the past five years, our installed capacity has more than doubled to over 3 GW. We are developing a portfolio of more than 6.8 GW in wind, solar projects and storage projects, guided by our values and our corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach. Through profitable and sustainable growth, Boralex is actively participating in the fight against global warming. Thanks to our fearlessness, our discipline, our expertise and our diversity, we continue to be an industry leader. Boralex’s shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BLX.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty:
“Today, on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we stand united to build a world where poverty is not just reduced, but eradicated. A world where every person has the chance to live in dignity, security, and comfort.
“Reducing poverty and inequality across the country starts with building more affordable housing. Earlier this year, we launched our ambitious Housing Plan, which is helping build more affordable homes, faster, and addressing chronic homelessness, especially in underserved communities. Since 2019, the Reaching Home program has supported thousands of projects that have helped over 87,600 people across the country find a stable home and over 148,500 others receive homelessness prevention services, such as short-term rental assistance or help settling disputes with landlords.
“The Canadian Dental Care Plan is helping millions of uninsured Canadians access affordable dental care – and 750,000 people have already received care. Our new National School Food Program will be getting healthy school meals to kids. This Friday, parents across the country will see the monthly Canada Child Benefit payment in their bank accounts. The program – which has lifted hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty – puts money back in the pockets of Canadians. And with initiatives like $10-a-day child care and the upcoming Canada Disability Benefit, we’re making sure Canadians have the extra savings they need for the things that matter most.
“Our commitment extends beyond our borders as well. Canada’s leadership includes our Poverty Reduction Strategy and Feminist International Assistance Policy, our commitment to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and most recently, the adoption of the Pact for the Future last month at the Summit of the Future. Just this year, we contributed nearly $1.3 billion to the International Monetary Fund’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust to lift countries out of poverty and make the world a better place.
“Canada is steadfast in its commitment to building a future where poverty is eradicated and where every generation is given a fair chance to succeed.”
LONDON, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Timeline is thrilled to announce the return of its flagship event, Adviser 3.0, on 15th May 2025 at Magazine London. This high-energy conference, designed to inspire and equip financial planners with actionable insights, will feature Major Tim Peake, renowned astronaut, as the headline speaker. He will be joined by industry heavyweights, including US leading expert on psychology of financial planning, Dr Meghaan Lurtz, together with sector experts Abraham Okusanya and Brett Davidson and a host of others.
Attendees will have the chance to tailor their experience with over 20 varied sessions spread across five stages. The conference will tackle cutting-edge themes in financial planning such as technology, artificial intelligence, growth and profitability, wealth transfer, succession planning, client communications, leadership, marketing, and the economy. These topics will have practitioners at their core, ensuring content is relevant and applicable to today’s advisory firms.
Adding a burst of colour and energy, the conference’s vibrant Rio Carnival theme will set the stage for a day filled with valuable insights, networking opportunities, and delicious food. The programme will run from 9:00am to 5:30pm, followed by a networking drinks reception and an unforgettable after-party that will carry on until 10:00 pm.
Abraham Okusanya, CEO of Timeline and host of Adviser 3.0, shares his excitement: “We are thrilled to present such a rich and diverse line-up of speakers to the UK advice community. Major Tim Peake’s experiences are truly inspirational, and his insights will beautifully complement the practical sessions we have planned. After two years of learning and fine-tuning, we’re confident this year’s event will exceed all expectations. Tickets are on sale now – they won’t last, so don’t miss out on being part of something amazing.”
Company’s subsidiary, AlphaMax Management LLC, will optimize operations through the use of robotics and AI cloud technology at restaurants across Arizona, Colorado, and Texas
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Richtech Robotics Inc. (Nasdaq: RR) (“Richtech Robotics” or the “Company”), a Nevada-based provider of AI-driven service robots, today announces that it is expanding its restaurant operations model with the signing of a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with Ghost Kitchens America. Under the terms of the LOI, Richtech Robotics agreed to enter into a franchise agreement with Ghost Kitchens America, pursuant to which the Company will acquire exclusive rights to operate 20 Walmart-located restaurants in Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. These restaurants will be directly managed by Richtech Robotics’ subsidiary, AlphaMax Management LLC, with the aim of optimizing restaurant operations through robotics and AI cloud technology. Each location is expected to generate between $700 thousand and $2 million in annual revenue.
Richtech Robotics is deploying its proprietary automation to enhance operational efficiency, augment and personalize customer experiences, and lower operational costs. The establishment and ongoing management of these restaurants is anticipated to provide a clear, repeatable operational blueprint that businesses can use to scale robotic deployment and optimize their business model.
Matt Casella, President of Richtech Robotics, stated: “Richtech Robotics is committed to the commercialization of robotics, through both robotic sales and the operation of our own robot-powered restaurants. This agreement will significantly add to our restaurant portfolio, and these high-traffic locations will bring greater visibility to our brand and our solutions. Our restaurant operations will showcase the very same robotic and AI platforms offered through our RaaS (Robotics-as-a-Service) business model. We expect these platforms to become a fast-growing and stable revenue stream for us as we leverage them to manage thousands, and eventually tens of thousands, of restaurant operations in the future.”
George Kottas, CEO of Ghost Kitchens America, commented: “All Walmart locations where we’ve signed agreements with Richtech Robotics have strong sales numbers and steady customer traffic. Based on our previous collaborations, Ghost Kitchens is confident that Richtech Robotics’ robotic technology and operational management services will maximize the performance of these restaurants. We look forward to further expanding our partnership with Richtech Robotics as we rapidly grow our restaurant footprint.”
In addition to today’s announcement, the Company has already secured exclusive operational rights for the Ghost Kitchen at a Walmart location in Rockford, Illinois. Additionally, Richtech Robotics has signed a franchise agreement for another Walmart restaurant in Peachtree, Georgia, which is expected to begin operations later this year.
Through AlphaMax Management LLC, Richtech Robotics is operating these restaurants and advancing the application of robotic technology in the food service industry, with the goal of helping businesses reduce costs and improve efficiency.
About Richtech Robotics
Richtech Robotics is a provider of collaborative robotic solutions specializing in the service industry, including the hospitality and healthcare sectors. Our mission is to transform the service industry through collaborative robotic solutions that enhance the customer experience and empower businesses to achieve more. By seamlessly integrating cutting-edge automation, we aspire to create a landscape of enhanced interactions, efficiency, and innovation, propelling organizations toward unparalleled levels of excellence and satisfaction. Learn more at http://www.RichtechRobotics.com and connect with us on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube.
About Ghost Kitchens International (GKI)
With restaurants across Canada and the US, GKI is expanding to open 240 new restaurants under the ONE KITCHEN banner in USA and Canada. Each restaurant features multiple national brands made to order, a single operator, innovative front and back-of-house technology, and walk-in and delivery customers. For more information go to http://www.ghostkitchenbrands.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “expect,” and “intend,” among others. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated success and benefits of the partnership with Ghost Kitchens America, including the ability of each location to generated expected annual revenue.
These forward-looking statements are based on Richtech Robotics’ current expectations and actual results could differ materially. There are a number of factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include, among others, risks and uncertainties related to the parties’ ability to negotiate and execute a definitive agreement in connection with the LOI; Richtech Robotics’ ability to implement the definitive agreement; the ability of each location to generated the expected amount of annual revenue; and Richtech Robotics’ ability to realize the benefits described herein. Investors should read the risk factors set forth in Richtech Robotics’ Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, filed with the SEC on March 27, 2024, the Registration Statement and periodic reports filed with the SEC on or after the date thereof. All of Richtech Robotics’ forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by all such risk factors and other cautionary statements. The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date thereof. New risks and uncertainties arise over time, and it is not possible for Richtech Robotics to predict those events or how they may affect Richtech Robotics. If a change to the events and circumstances reflected in Richtech Robotics’ forward-looking statements occurs, Richtech Robotics’ business, financial condition and operating results may vary materially from those expressed in Richtech Robotics’ forward-looking statements.
Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Richtech Robotics assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
UK and Scottish Governments step up plans to support workers at Grangemouth refinery, with immediate investment in skills and training.
UK and Scottish Governments respond to Petroineos’ decision to close the refinery with investment in local community
Forth Valley College mobilised to support affected workers with bespoke skills support
Energy Secretary reiterates UK Government’s willingness to engage on how the National Wealth Fund could fund viable Project Willow outcomes, working with trade unions and industry
The UK and Scottish Governments are jointly stepping up plans to support workers at the Grangemouth refinery affected by the risk of redundancy, with immediate investment in skills and training.
In addition to UK Government and Scottish Government’s joint £100m investment in the Falkirk and Grangemouth Growth Deal, Forth Valley College will receive funding to deliver bespoke support for workers affected by Petroineos’ decision to decommission the oil refinery.
Backed by this £100m funding, workers at Grangemouth refinery at risk of redundancy will be contacted in the coming weeks and offered tailored support to access new jobs in the local area that will shape the future of Grangemouth as an industrial hub for years to come.
Forth Valley College will shortly begin contacting workers to start building a skills and support package to meet their individual needs, mapping their current skills and qualifications to the future skills needed for local clean energy roles in the area and analysing where the gaps are.
The UK and Scottish Governments will use the findings to deliver targeted interventions to upskill the local workforce ahead of redundancies next year.
It comes as UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Cabinet Secretary Gillian Martin attended a meeting of the Grangemouth Future Industry Board today (Thursday 17 October) at Forth Valley College alongside UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks, Scotland Secretary Ian Murray, local industry leaders, Falkirk Council, trade bodies and trade unions.
The £100 million Falkirk and Grangemouth Growth Deal will support projects and skills interventions in the local area. It is estimated that the Falkirk & Grangemouth Growth Deal will deliver over £628 million in economic benefits and create 1,660 jobs across the Falkirk Council area.
The Energy Secretary also reiterated the UK Government’s willingness to engage on how the National Wealth Fund could back projects that have the potential to yield a viable long-term future for the site, as part of the ongoing Project Willow investigation into a viable industrial Grangemouth.
Project Willow is urgently assessing credible options to begin building a new long-term industry at the refinery site, including low carbon hydrogen, clean eFuels and sustainable aviation fuels on the site. The Scottish Government will also soon publish the draft Grangemouth Industrial Just Transition Plan.
UK Government Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
We continue to stand with Grangemouth workers and we are putting money on the table to secure workers good onward employment.
By working in partnership with the Scottish Government, we’ve unlocked an unprecedented joint investment plan to support workers and secure Grangemouth’s future, and I will continue to spare no effort to drive this work forward.
Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy Gillian Martin said:
Our immediate priority remains to support the workers directly affected by the regrettable closure of the refinery. We will do everything we can to ensure they are supported to retrain and move into adjacent industries within the wider Grangemouth area.
These workers are highly skilled and have an important contribution to make locally and nationally. Our investment will help to unlock valuable new opportunities for them and ensure that their skills and experience continue to benefit industry in the area and the wider community.
The new skills and training package is open to workers at both Grangemouth and Finnart Oil Terminal and will also be supported by the UK Government’s Office for Clean Energy Jobs.
Kenny MacInnes, Principal of Forth Valley College, said:
Forth Valley College are uniquely placed to help and upskill any Petroineos employees who are impacted as a result of the closure of the oil refinery, and we will be there to offer the necessary training and support with the help of funding from the Scottish and UK Governments.
The College is proud to have had a long term partnership with the Grangemouth Refinery – helping to train their Modern Apprentices – and will continue to build on this in our role of making learning work for the people of Forth Valley to ensure they have the skills for the future.
We are committed to working with PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) and Falkirk Council to help guide former Petroineos employees onto courses at Forth Valley College which will help them transfer to new jobs in another industry or sector.
‘Everything’ launched on 17 October. It is the seventh film produced by a growing partnership of councils and children’s trusts to promote local authority fostering. The ‘Everything’ project is the largest collaboration yet.
Cllr Suzy Horton, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education at Portsmouth City Council, said:
“The ‘Everything’ project has given Foster Portsmouth an amazing film that shows the long-term impact fostering can have, with relationships between carers and children lasting well into adulthood.”
“All councils need to recruit more foster carers, and by collaborating to produce this emotionally powerful film, we will show people how rewarding and life-changing fostering is.”
“The message is the same for all of us; we need more people to step forward and become foster carers. ‘Everything’ will help us to reach more people in our communities and encourage them to find out more about this really rewarding role.”
‘Everything’ follows foster carer Mike and his family on a journey through time with two of the children they have looked after, who are now adults. Will and Zara take time to reflect on how being fostered made a difference to their lives, and thank Mike for ‘everything’.
Thanks to footage shot on a genuine old camcorder, we are taken to the 1990s to see how Will settles into the family alongside Mike’s son Chris and the 2010s when a young Zara is being taught to play the guitar by Mike.
The concluding message of the film is that what you do with your life could forever change someone else’s – encouraging people to foster in order to make that change.
Project Director, Rachel Brown describes the main message of the film:
“Many people don’t realise how common it is for relationships made through fostering to last well beyond the ‘official’ caring role. This has a huge impact on the lives of those who have been fostered, giving them stability and security well into adulthood.
“We also wanted to reflect how the children of foster carers make a difference to children when they come into care, helping them to feel part of the family.”
“Having over 100 councils taking part in the project, the film will reach a very wide audience, encouraging people to find out more and take the steps towards becoming a foster carer.”
“Fostering with your local council means you can better support local children and young people who need a safe and nurturing home where they can grow and thrive.”
Sarah Thomas, chief executive of the Fostering Network says:
“The Fostering Network has been proud to support the collaborative film projects since ‘Giants’ in 2017. It’s great to see local authority fostering services pooling resources to produce another amazing film. ‘Everything’ will help to amplify their message about the chronic shortage of fostering households, encouraging more people to come forward and foster.”
“One of the main characters in the film, Chris, shows how important other family members are when it comes to fostering. This is something we champion throughout October, which is Children of Foster Carer’s Month.”
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia, presented by Archbishop Johannes Liku Ada’.He is succeeded by Bishop Fransiskus Nipa, until now coadjutor of the same archdiocese. (EG) (Agenzia Fides, 17/10/2024)
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Bangalore (Agenzia Fides) – “Ratan Tata was an icon among entrepreneurs, a visionary leader and a philanthropist whose indelible contribution to society will be remembered for generations,” said the Indian Bishops’ Conference on the death of the well-known Indian businessman Ratan Tata, who died on October 9 at the age of 86. The former chairman of the “Tata Group”, which operates mainly in the automobile sector, was a “beacon of mercy and generosity”. “Through the Tata Trusts and his numerous philanthropic initiatives,” say the bishops, “he changed the lives of millions of people by supporting the cause of the marginalized and playing a fundamental role in the development of India. His unwavering commitment to social justice, education, healthcare and rural development was closely aligned with the core values of the Catholic Church, particularly its mandate to serve the poor and the vulnerable,” the statement said. The moral and spiritual legacy of Tata, who was born into a family of Parsi origin, is particularly recognized for his “ethical leadership, integrity and commitment to social causes” that “set a new standard for corporate social responsibility in India.” In addition to his remarkable contribution to the Indian economy, “he did not lose sight of the need to help the underprivileged,” the statement said. The Catholic Church in India recognizes him as an “extraordinary human being” and hopes that “his inspiring leadership and boundless generosity” will inspire many people and entrepreneurs in India, especially the youth, to “work for the betterment of society and serve others with selflessness and compassion.” Catholics will work together with all Indian citizens from all cultural and religious groups “for a fairer and more balanced society, realizing the values that Tata upheld and lived throughout his life,” the bishops assured. The Claretian missionary George Kannanthanam, who lives with lepers in Sumanahalli near Bangalore, commented: “Tata was a great role model by putting the Christian principles of truth, justice, equality, humility and mercy into practice.” “He spent most of his wealth on the welfare of the weaker sections of the population. He created great institutions for social welfare and development that changed India’s social landscape. He supported educational centers to encourage youth,” the priest recalls. “As an entrepreneur, he stood by the workers and gave them dignity and hope. He made life better for the disabled and the elderly,” the priest continues, describing Tata as “a different kind of businessman, compassionate, guided by the Gandhian motto: When you make a decision, think whether it will benefit the poorest person in the country.” For all this, he was loved by the 700,000 employees of his 19 companies in more than 100 countries, with a net worth of $400 billion. For example, in 2012, when the Tata Steel Company in Jamshedpur was downsized from 78,000 to 40,000 employees, the entrepreneur ensured that all laid-off workers continued to receive their wages until retirement age. “A decision that is unprecedented in history anywhere else in the world,” Father Kannanthanam notes, recalling that Tata’s total contribution to various charitable initiatives is roughly estimated at around $100 billion. If “God loves a cheerful giver, God loves Ratan Tata very much,” he concludes. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 17/10/2024)
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A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments.
The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.
Washington, DC – October 17, 2024:
An International Monetary Fund mission visited Warsaw during October 8-17 in the context of the 2024 Article IV consultation.
Poland’s near-term outlook is positive and has improved relative to last year despite ongoing sluggish growth across Europe and Russia’s war in Ukraine. A consumption-led recovery is underway, and the outlook is further supported by recently unlocked NextGen EU Funds (NGEU). Inflation has declined helped by a tight monetary stance, and its descent to the target range by close to end-2025 is on track, provided prudent policies are maintained. Policy priorities for the near- and medium-term include balancing the mix of monetary and fiscal policy , preserving debt sustainability, while strengthening the economy to face longer-term challenges. Specifically:
• Monetary policy is appropriately tight and interest rate cuts should commence only when there is clear evidence that wage growth is decelerating, and inflation is firmly on track towards the target.
• The medium-term Fiscal Structural Plan is welcome and it targets sufficient cumulative fiscal consolidation by 2028, meeting the EU’s new fiscal rules. The full set of measures to achieve this is yet to be identified.
• Bringing more of the authorities’ medium-term deficit reduction plans up front in 2025 would build more resilience against future shocks, reduce debt, and support more rapid interest rate reductions, which would foster private sector investment and growth while still bringing inflation to target.
• Population ageing, diminishing cost-competitiveness, and climate transition present significant challenges to Poland’s export-driven growth model. Thus, medium-term growthis expected to decline, unless structural reforms are deepened and progress on the energy transition accelerates.
Economic growth is accelerating in 2024 led by recovering domestic demand. Private consumption has picked up as strong nominal wage growth coupled with lower inflation led to a sharp rebound in real wages. Fixed investment also continued its gradual recovery though remaining as a share of GDP below pre-pandemic levels. Net exports, however, are imposing some drag as imports recovered on the back of higher consumption while exports are held back by weak demand from the Euro Area. As a result, growth is expected at 3 percent in 2024 up from around 0 in 2023.
The near-term outlook is positive due to the ongoing cyclical recovery in consumption and investment, and the absorption of EU funds. Growth is expected to accelerate to 3.5 percent in 2025 and 3.4 percent in 2026. Real and nominal wage growth are expected to gradually decelerate, while profits are expected to continue declining as firms have limited capacity to pass-through increases in wage costs into prices given that the output gap remains negative. Stronger consumption, normalization of inventories, lagged impact of the appreciation of the real exchange rate, and release of EU funds are expected to support imports and with it a narrowing in the current account surplus.
Over the medium term, growth is expected to moderate and converge to potential as the support from rebounding consumption and NGEU funds subside. Growth will decelerate to slightly below 3 percent by 2029 as EU-financed investments decline and the population ages. Productivity is expected to modestly recover from the impact of recent labor hoarding. However, productivity growth is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels given that much of the productivity gap with advanced economies has already been closed.
Amidst high uncertainty, risks remain elevated and tilted towards lower growth and higher inflation. A slower-than-expected recovery in the Euro Area, delayed absorption of EU funds, and heightened geopolitical tensions could dampen the recovery. At the same time, risks to inflation remain elevated from the tight labor market against the backdrop of accelerating domestic demand and potential supply-side shocks. There are also upside risks to growth including a stronger-than-expected catalytic role from EU funds on private investment and productivity, a larger-than-expected workforce from higher immigration, and potential nearshoring as a result of geoeconomic fragmentation. Risks are well mitigated by ample foreign exchange reserves, a flexible exchange rate, modest debt levels, and robust financial sector buffers.
Monetary policy is appropriately tight.While the policy rate was kept on hold at 5.75 percent since November 2023, the monetary stance has tightened as inflation expectations declined. This is appropriate because inflation is well above the central bank inflation target. The momentum of core inflation is elevated in the context of strong wages growth amid still-tight labor market and substantial wage increases in the public sector.
Monetary policy should remain tight at least through 2025 with rate cuts commencing only when data and forecasts confirm that inflation is on a clear downward path towards the target. Absent surprises, both core and headline inflation should peak in year-on-year terms before mid-2025, significantly above the target, before moderating around the upper end of the target range of 2.5±1 percent by end-2025. However, uncertainty on the inflation trajectory is substantial, including due to uncertainty regarding energy prices, developments in the labor market, and the pace of economic recovery. While, monetary policy should remain both data-dependent and forward-looking, the current context warrants placing significant weight on realized inflation declining towards the target over several months on the back of decelerating wages. On this basis, there may be scope for limited and gradual policy rate cuts to start around mid-2025.
Near-term growth acceleration presents an opportunity to rebuild buffers and help complete the disinflation process by tightening fiscal policies. The general government (GG) deficit is projected to widen from 5.1 percent of GDP in 2023 to 5.7 percent of GDP in
2024, due to expansionary policies resulting in a fiscal impulse of 0.4 percent of GDP. The 2025 budget targets a slightly lower GG deficit of 5.5 percent of GDP largely owing to higher growth. Staff recommends a tighter fiscal stance by around 0.5 percent of GDP. This can be still achievable within the 2025 budget by saving possible revenue overperformance and limiting non-priority spending. Such a shift would lower debt, thereby rebuilding fiscal space to mitigate against future shocks. It would also lift some of the burden from tight monetary policies to rein in inflation, potentially freeing space for additional policy rate cuts.
Fiscal consolidation should be anchored in a clear medium-term plan to stabilize debt. The recently published Fiscal Structural Plan is an important and welcome step in this regard as it targets appropriate fiscal balances by 2028 – entailing an adjustment of about 2½ percent of GDP from 2024 in terms of the structural fiscal balance – that would allow exiting the EU’s Excessive Deficit Procedure while stabilizing debt at levels close to 60 percent of GDP notwithstanding large increases in spending on defense. Fully identifying the necessary fiscal measures now and bringing more of the planned fiscal consolidation upfront into 2025 would help strengthen its credibility.
Potential measures that would support consolidation while also further reducing inequality include: i) raising Personal Income Tax revenues by increasing progressivity to bring them more in line with EU peers , ii) addressing the preferential and regressive treatment of the self-employed, iii) better targeting of social benefits to more effectively support the vulnerable, iv) raising property tax revenues closer to EU comparators, and v) taxing more non-essential items at the standard VAT rate. In this context, raising the PIT tax-exempt threshold, which is under consideration, would require even stronger consolidation measures to offset the fiscal cost. Finally, aligning the retirement age for men and women and then adjusting it over time in line with longevity would help limit the expected shortfall in pensions’ adequacy over the longer-term.
The authorities have made commendable progress in strengthening the fiscal framework. They have expanded the coverage of the stabilizing expenditure rule and improved oversight over extrabudgetary funds. Establishing a fiscal council as planned would further strengthen accountability and governance.
Financial sector policies should safeguard the nascent credit recovery, building on a robust banking system. Systemic risks to the financial sector have moderated, with the banking sector being well-capitalized and liquid. Past prudential policies have focused on buttressing stability through regulatory tightening. At the same time banks had to face large costs of legal risks and regulatory burdens such as mortgage credit holidays. Together with weak credit demand and serious legal and regulatory uncertainties, this has created further headwinds for new credit resulting in one of the steepest declines in private sector credit-to-GDP in the EU. Moving forward, policy makers should: (i) take into account the impact of possible further tightening of regulations on the nascent credit recovery, while enhancing regulatory stability; (ii) proactively reduce legal risks to financial sector stability, including by exploring legislative solutions; (iii) even the playing field for private sector credit by replacing the bank asset tax in a manner that eliminates the preferential treatment of public debt` and (iv) allow the mortgage credit holiday to expire.
After two decades of impressive income convergence, Poland’s growth model needs to adjust to new economic conditions. Exports, especially to the EU, have played a significant role in Poland’s success. However, sizable real appreciation over the past two years weighs on cost-competitiveness. Meanwhile, the regional growth outlook remains subdued, and geopolitical conflicts and geoeconomic fragmentation present headwinds to penetrating new markets. In addition, shallow domestic capital markets and low savings weigh on investment, with population ageing posing a substantial drag on the future size of the workforce. To sustain growth, policies should focus on: i) deepening capital markets (including steps towards a capital market union within the EU), ii) lowering barriers to resource reallocation (for example by strengthening re-skilling programs for adults), iii) fostering innovation capacity (including by promoting private equity and venture capital), and iv) supporting higher labor participation especially for women (by ensuring adequate child and elderly care). The new program supporting young parents’ return to the labor market aims to address this gap. Building on the successful absorption of refugees from Ukraine into the Polish labor market, ongoing efforts to enhance the integration of immigrants can further help contain labor shortages.
The government’s new decarbonization targets are appropriate; meeting these while safeguarding competitiveness and social cohesion will require strong measures.
Significant progress has been made on climate mitigation, but more is needed given Poland’s costly dependence on coal, which also undercuts competitiveness. The recent draft energy strategy update outlines additional policy targets and measures for bringing emissions in line with EU climate goals. Its success will be supported by EU funds, and depends on removing barriers to private investment in renewable energy, including by adopting EU legislation on faster permitting for green projects, liberalizing regulations for onshore windfarms, and prioritizing NextGen EU funds for expanding electricity grids. Extending carbon pricing to transportation and heating would also be important for reducing emissions; an early and gradual introduction would help limit adjustment costs. The authorities must address social challenges from the climate transition by cushioning the social impact on coal mining regions and reducing energy poverty.
The mission thanks the authorities and other counterparts for the fruitful discussions.
MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Moscow Department of Transport
The Moscow Department of Transport has outlined its key projects involving artificial intelligence. From biometric payments to autonomous trams and advanced video analytics, AI-powered innovations are setting new standards in public transport and traffic management.
Artificial intelligence is transforming transport and road safety in Moscow.
The Biometric Payment Revolution
Over the past three years, biometric payment technology has changed the way people move around Moscow. Available at all metro stations, the Moscow Central Circle (MCC), Aeroexpress trains, regular river services and four Moscow Central Diameters (MCD) stations, this cutting-edge system allows passengers to pass through turnstiles with a single glance – no card or smartphone required.
This seamless service, which provides banking-level security, has already served over 125 million biometric records, making it one of the most convenient and secure payment transit systems worldwide.
The first autonomous tram in Russia
The first autonomous tram in Russia has appeared in Moscow – a breakthrough in the field of innovation in public transport. This tram, equipped with the world’s first set of technologies, operates without the use of external control systems. Its software, developed entirely by the metro itself, belongs to the Moscow government and has no analogues in Europe.
Since its introduction, the autonomous tram has traveled more than 1,800 kilometers without a single traffic violation, proving its reliability and safety on the roads.
Sphere: Video analytics system ensuring Moscow’s security
The Sphere video analytics system has played a major role in improving public safety in Moscow. Since September 1, 2020, Sphere has been operating at all metro stations, helping law enforcement agencies detain wanted people and find missing persons, including the elderly and children.
Since the introduction of Sphere, more than 11,000 criminals have been detained and more than 1,500 missing people have been found, including 300 children.
Monitoring metro car loading in real time
To improve passenger comfort, the Moscow Metro uses machine learning algorithms to monitor carriage loads in real time. The system is updated every 10 seconds, taking into account the type and capacity of carriages, main transfer hubs and time data. This unique service is available through the Moscow Metro app and provides unprecedented accuracy in assessing carriage loads.
Moscow Transport Contact Center Based on Artificial Intelligence
Since 2019, artificial intelligence has been helping passengers through the Moscow transport contact center (number 3210). The voice assistant automatically processes calls related to vehicle evacuation, helping to optimize work. The contact center, which has been operating for more than 11 years, processes about 6,000 requests daily, providing important information about public transport, including fares, availability of free parking, and much more.
Advanced video analytics on the Moscow Ring Road and major highways
In Moscow, there are more than 1,500 high-resolution cameras installed on the Moscow Ring Road, the Moscow Ring Road and major highways, covering 100% of the main routes without “blind spots”. These cameras record 13 different types of incidents and transmit video in real time to the Traffic Management Center within a few seconds, which allows for a prompt response to them. Thanks to this intelligent system, the number of traffic accidents with victims on the Moscow Ring Road has decreased by 20% over the past three years.
World leadership in photo and video monitoring of road traffic
Moscow’s 3,800-camera photo and video traffic recording system is one of the most advanced in the world. Equipped with artificial intelligence, the system now identifies drivers talking on the phone or not wearing seat belts, and by 2023 it will be able to accurately determine whether motorcyclists are wearing helmets and passengers are wearing seat belts. AI can also detect more complex violations, such as blocking intersections and failing to yield to pedestrians.
Smart intersections speed up traffic
Moscow has installed over 600 “smart” intersections equipped with traffic lights controlled by artificial intelligence. These traffic lights are adjusted in real time depending on road conditions, using data from sensors embedded in the asphalt. As a result, city and private transport passes intersections 25-30% faster, and pedestrians wait 20-25% less for the green light.
Moscow continues to lead the way in using artificial intelligence to revolutionize transportation and road safety, setting global standards for urban mobility innovation. Thanks to AI-powered systems, residents and visitors to the capital can expect safer, faster, and more convenient travel around the city.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
More victims will get the justice they deserve sooner under plans to give magistrates greater sentencing powers.
Magistrates can send offenders to prison for up to one year
New powers to ease historic crisis in prisons and deal with court backlog
Next step in government’s plan to resolve inherited long-term prison capacity issues
More victims will get the justice they deserve sooner under plans to give magistrates greater sentencing powers, announced by Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood.
The changes, the latest step in the government’s plans to tackle the inherited crisis in our prisons, will allow magistrates to hand-down prison sentences of up to a year. This will help to tackle the record remand population in jails and address the Crown Court backlog, also at a historic high.
The Lord Chancellor confirmed the plans to allow magistrates to issue custodial sentences for up to 12 months for a single offence – a doubling of their current powers. The move will save approximately 2,000 days in the Crown Court, so that time can be reserved for the most serious and complex cases.
Bolstered powers will better support victims, with some who have been waiting months and even years to see justice done due to a system in disarray.
It will also help the government drive down the record remand population – those who are in prison while they await their trial – and relieve pressure on prison capacity which was left at the brink of collapse.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood said:
This government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, with dangerously overcrowded prisons and victims waiting far too long to see justice.
This marks a further step towards addressing the deep challenges in our criminal justice system, both reducing the record remand population in our jails and delivering swifter justice for victims.
The significant increase in the remand population, which currently stands at a record 17,000, is one of the key factors in the current prison capacity crisis. This is because remand prisoners can only be held in “reception prisons” where the capacity in the prison estate is most acute, where some of our most dangerous offenders must be held, and where all new prisoners are sent to begin their sentences.
Tackling the backlog of those awaiting trial in prison is a key priority and these reforms build on the government’s work to reduce pressure on the prison estate ahead of launching a sentencing review later this year.
Mark Beattie, national chair of the Magistrates’ Association said:
Magistrates are flexible and support the efficient and fair administration of justice. By being able to take on this additional responsibility and hear cases that carry a maximum sentence of 12 months, our members will be able to help prevent an increase in the backlog of cases in the crown courts, enabling the most serious offences to be dealt with quicker in crown courts; speeding justice for all.
I know our members and colleagues will take up this increased responsibility with professionalism and integrity and will – as always – strive to deliver the highest quality of justice in their courts.
Allowing magistrates to deal with more cases will also free up valuable Crown Court time in order to try and reduce the outstanding backlog.
There are currently over 14,000 magistrates in England and Wales who play a vital role in our justice system hearing over a million cases on average every year. Coming from all walks of life they hear cases ranging from petty theft to serious assault. Magistrates and legal advisers will be fully trained in these new measures by the Judicial College in order to deliver longer sentences effectively. The previous government extended sentencing powers in May 2022 but deactivated them in March 2023.
Further information
The Statutory Instrument to increase sentencing powers is due to be laid on 28 October and changes will come into force on 18 November.
The Magistrates’ Association is a national charity and the membership body for the magistracy. With more than 12,000 members across England and Wales, it is a unique source of information and insight, and the only independent voice of the magistracy.
The Magistrates’ Association will be available for media interviews stories. Please email media@magistrates-association.org.uk or call 020 3937 8863.
A sentencing review will be published later this year.
This power was previously activated in May 2022 and closed in March 2023.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
The Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Fundraising Regulator advise people to give support via registered charities.
Today (17 October 2024) the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Fundraising Regulator have published advice on how people can help civilians impacted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The advice comes as the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launches a humanitarian appeal to help civilians affected by humanitarian crises in Gaza and Lebanon caused by conflict.
DEC brings together 15 leading registered UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently in times of crisis overseas.
The appeal will fund the distribution of emergency items such as mattresses, blankets, tents, food and water to those in need of basic humanitarian relief in the region.
The government has pledged to match donations received by the DEC appeal, up to £10million, which will make the public’s generosity go up to twice as far to help those in need.
Many people in the UK will separately be wishing to support charities operating in or supporting those across communities impacted by recent events in Israel. Checking charity registers before donating will ensure that support reaches its intended cause.
By supporting existing, registered charities, including through the DEC, people can be assured that they are giving safely.
David Holdsworth, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said:
As we’ve watched the appalling humanitarian crisis unfold in the Middle East, many of us will be asking how best to help the millions of people in need of basic aid.
Registered charities with experience working in incredibly complex and dangerous circumstances, across and within borders, are the best organisations to support financially to ensure donations reach civilians in need.
That’s why we’re reminding people to give with confidence through registered charities, including the appeal launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee.
Gerald Oppenheim, Chief Executive of the Fundraising Regulator said:
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East is devastating for so many people. The generosity of the British public means that many will be eager to support those affected in any way they can.
Supporting registered charities, which have infrastructure established within the region, ensures that your donations will reach those who need it.
Steps to giving safely
People can give with confidence to relief efforts by following a few simple steps:
for those who choose to donate to other charities, the charity regulator is reminding people to check charities are registered and legitimate
look out for the Fundraising Badge – the logo that says ‘registered with Fundraising Regulator’ – and check the Fundraising Regulator’s Directory of organisations committed to fundraise in line with its Code of Fundraising Practice.
contact a charity directly or find out more online about the charity that you’re seeking to donate to or work with to understand how it is spending funds
make sure the charity is genuine before giving any financial information
be careful when responding to emails or clicking on links within them
check the charity’s name and registration number on the Charity Register – most charities with an annual income of £5,000 or more must be registered in England and Wales
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society. It can be reached on
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
G7 Cyber Expert Group publishes guidance for the finance sector on planning for quantum computing.
The G7 Cyber Expert Group (CEG) – chaired by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Bank of England – released a public statement on 25 September highlighting the potential cybersecurity risks associated with developments in quantum computing and recommending steps for financial authorities and institutions to take to address those risks.
Quantum computers are being built that will be able to solve computational problems currently deemed impossible for conventional computers to solve within a reasonable amount of time. While potentially providing significant benefits to the financial system, these powerful computers will also carry with them unique cybersecurity risks. One of the most significant is that cyber threat actors could use quantum computers to defeat certain cryptographic techniques that secure communications and IT systems, potentially exposing financial entity data, including customer information.
While the exact timeline for developing quantum computers with these capabilities is uncertain, there is a real possibility that such capabilities could emerge within a decade. These quantum computers would not only put future data at risk, but also any previously transmitted data that cyber adversaries have been able to intercept and store with the intent of decrypting later with quantum computers. Due to the potentially long lead time needed to put in place quantum-resilient technologies, the time to start planning is now.
An initial set of quantum-resilient encryption standards was released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) last month. Additional standards from NIST and other standard-setting bodies are expected in the future. It is important for financial entities to maintain the agility required to incorporate new encryption standards in a timely and appropriate manner as they become available.
With the availability of NIST’s standards, some financial entities may be in a position now to start making the needed changes to implement quantum resilient technologies within their systems. Others may be dependent on vendors and other third parties to develop implementations of the new standards that can be incorporated once they become available. No matter where entities are in their adoption timelines, the G7 CEG strongly encourages financial authorities and institutions to begin taking the following steps to build resilience against quantum computing risks:
Develop a better understanding of the issue, the risks involved, and strategies for mitigating those risks.
Assess quantum computing risks in their areas of responsibility.
Develop a plan for mitigating quantum computing risks.
The CEG statement provides additional details on quantum computing risks and the specific actions that financial entities can start taking to build quantum resilience within the financial system.
The G7 CEG’s membership includes representatives of financial authorities across all G7 jurisdictions as well as the European Central Bank. It was founded in 2015 to serve as a multi-year working group that coordinates cybersecurity policy and strategy across the member jurisdictions. In addition to policy coordination, the G7 CEG also acts as a vehicle for information sharing, cooperation, and incident response.
Sheffield’s carers are to be celebrated for the care and support that they give to the people of Sheffield.The Sheffield Cares Excellence Awards, hosted by Sheffield City Council’s Adult Health and Social Care team, will celebrate and empower the city’s most skilled and dedicated carers.
People are asked to help with these awards, that will shine the spotlight on the city’s amazing carers, by nominating carers for an award from the city’s 17,500 strong care sector workforce.
In addition, Sheffield has around 11,000 unpaid carers and around 7,000 young carers.
Anyone who contributes to social care support in Sheffield can be nominated. This includes carers who are paid or unpaid, managers, office staff, domestic staff, caretakers, chefs working in the care sector, occupational therapists and nurses working in care, social workers, activity coordinators or volunteers from the voluntary sector who offer social care support, social care personal assistants and individual employers.
The awards will be celebrated in the Sheffield Cares Excellence Awards Ceremony which will place at Sheffield City Hall on Thursday 13th February 2025.
Councillor Angela Argenzio, Chair of the Adult Health and Social Care Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “These awards are a great opportunity for anyone to nominate someone for an award who is dedicated to providing the best possible standard of care to someone who relies on their support, skill and expertise. Carers and everyone involved in social care carry out an essential role every day all over the city and we are so grateful for the huge difference they make to so many people’s lives. There are so many people in our local communities who are potential award winners and nominating someone for an award is a really easy process too, so I encourage as many people as possible to start nominating between now and midnight on 10th November. I very much look forward to meeting everyone involved in these awards and the winners at the awards ceremony in February 2025.”
Who can nominate?
Anyone can make a nomination and there is no limit on how many people that someone can nominate in each category.
Those nominating carers for an award can nominate in more than one award category.
Who can be nominated?
People nominated must have an active paid or unpaid role in providing safe, high-quality care in Sheffield.
Anyone nominating someone for a Young Carer Award must get permission from the carer’s parent or legal guardian.
What are the award categories?
The main Care Excellence Awards are focused around four themes:
Compassion in Care
Inspirational Support or Leadership
Dignity, Respect & Inclusion in care
Commitment to Care
In addition, there are seven specialist awards:
Young Carer Award (Primary age, secondary age, & Young Adult 16-25)
Newcomer / Apprentice of the Year
Personalised Support Award – Supporting People to Live the Life they want to live
Dignity Award
Team of the Year
Social Care Hero of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award
Nomination deadline
Nominations close at midnight on Sunday 10th November 2024.
How to nominate
Those who want to nominate someone for an award can use the online form at https://forms.office.com/e/2gEEphZHBT or they can write or email with their nomination details.
All nominations will be carefully considered by our independent panel of decision-makers. The panel will be made up of individuals who receive care and support and of people who have a wider interest in the social care sector in the UK.
WASHINGTON – The United States Mint (Mint) began accepting orders for the 230th Anniversary Flowing Hair Silver Medal on October 15 at noon ET. The medal pays homage to the Flowing Hair dollar coin, the first dollar coin issued by the U.S. Federal government on October 15, 1794. Mintage is limited to 75,000 medals.
As part of the release, the Mint will celebrate the year in which the Flowing Hair dollar coin was issued and the number of years that have elapsed since the coin was introduced. 1,794 medals will feature a “230” privy mark. 230 of the privy-marked medals will also include a certificate of authenticity hand-signed by the Honorable Ventris C. Gibson, Director of the United States Mint. The 1,794 medals will be interspersed among the inventory of medals and randomly shipped to customers.
Struck at the Mint’s Philadelphia facility, this historic medal is 99.9 percent fine silver with an uncirculated finish. Its obverse (heads) design is a faithful rendition of the first dollar coin, designed and sculpted by Robert Scot, the Mint’s first Chief Engraver. The portrait of Liberty faces right and is surrounded by 15 stars, representing the 15 states that had ratified the Constitution by 1794. The design retains the “LIBERTY” inscription and includes an updated “2024” date.
The obverse was re-sculpted by Mint Medallic Artist John P. McGraw.
The medal’s reverse (tails) design stays true to the 1794 original, depicting a laurel wreath surrounding an eagle with spread wings in the center, an early predecessor of the American heraldic eagle. The inscription is “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
Mint Medallic Artist Eric David Custer re-sculpted the reverse.
The medal is encapsulated and placed in a stylish clamshell. A classic black presentation case embellished with the United States Mint seal and an outer sleeve with a silver embossed image of the Flowing Hair Liberty complete the packaging. A certificate of authenticity with matching imagery accompanies each medal.
Orders are limited to one medal per household for the first 24 hours of sales. The household order limit will be enforced at the time the product launches online and applied across all retail channels.
This product is included in the Mint’s Authorized Bulk Purchase Program (ABPP). Products listed in the ABPP will be eligible for early release, carry an AB suffix in the product code, and carry a premium. Early released products are not eligible for discounts.
The medal will also be available at the Mint’s sales centers at the Philadelphia Mint, 151 N. Independence Mall East, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (on 5th Street between Arch Street and Race Street); the Denver Mint, 320 West Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80204 (on Cherokee Street, between West Colfax Avenue and West 14th Avenue); and the Mint Headquarters Coin Store in Washington, D.C., 801 9th St. NW, Washington, DC 20220.
The Mint will open sales for the 230th Anniversary Flowing Hair High Relief Gold Coin on November 14. In addition, the Mint will auction a select number of these companion gold coins to the public. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Please use the Mint’s catalog site at catalog.usmint.gov/ as your primary source of the most current information on product and service status or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing and speech impaired customers with TTY equipment may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468).
About the United States Mint Congress created the United States Mint in 1792, and the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. As the Nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage, the Mint is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint also produces numismatic products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; silver and bronze medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. Its numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.
Note: To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, the United States Mint will not accept and will not honor orders placed prior to the official on-sale date of October 15, 2024, at noon EDT.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Definitive Healthcare (Nasdaq: DH), a leader in healthcare commercial intelligence, today announced the launch of Monocl Conferences. This solution is designed to enhance conference planning and participation for life science organizations by providing medical affairs, marketing, and conference planning teams with rich, contextualized conference data and access to the experts driving conference activities.
By delivering a comprehensive overview of key conference insights—including information about presenters, timing, and locations of the most relevant scientific and medical updates—Monocl Conferences can help biopharma and medtech organizations make the most of every conference.
Key features of Monocl Conferences include:
Visualized conference data: A user-friendly dashboard delivers powerful data visualization, making key insights easy to understand and eliminating the need for cumbersome spreadsheets.
Searchable conference insights: Users can quickly find relevant sessions, speakers, and topics across numerous presentations to identify important discussions and data readouts to attend.
Comparable data: Organizations can monitor year-over-year trends, presentations, topics, and conference activity of other key players across the industry with historical conference data for deeper insights.
“We understand the vital role that conferences play in the biopharma and medtech industries,” said Kristoffer Gustafsson, VP Platform Monocl at Definitive Healthcare. “Monocl Conferences is designed to streamline the planning process, drive strategic engagement, and ultimately support organizations in delivering innovative therapies and medical devices that improve patient outcomes.”
Monocl Conferences offers quick access to presentations, allowing users to uncover both their and their competitors’ share of the program. Additionally, the platform provides insights into conference discussions via social media listening, revealing trending topics and key online contributors, along with access to presentation titles and abstracts that highlight conference focus areas and details about the presence of centers of excellence.
Monocl Conferences is tailored to support diverse teams within life science organizations. It can help enhance scientific communication and expert engagement for medical affairs teams, streamline event organization and execution for conference planners, and provide marketing teams with insights to inform their conference selection, messaging, and presence. Together, these capabilities enable organizations to refine their conference strategies and derive maximum value from every event.
At Definitive Healthcare, our mission is to transform data, analytics, and expertise into healthcare commercial intelligence. We help clients uncover the right markets, opportunities, and people, so they can shape tomorrow’s healthcare industry. Our SaaS products and solutions create new paths to commercial success in the healthcare market, so companies can identify where to go next. Learn more at definitivehc.com.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that young people are behind most knife crime in the UK. Media coverage often focuses on youth involvement, and the government’s plan to halve knife crime focuses specifically on young people and vulnerable teenagers.
Evidence shows that most knife-involved crime is committed in the home, between adults, in the form of intimate partner violence. Only around 18% of knife offences are carried out by 10- to 17-year-olds. These usually involve other young people.
Although young people’s share of knife crime is low, their involvement is a significant concern and has risen starkly in the last decade.
Choosing to carry a knife out of the home, into the streets, or into school is a rare choice that most children never make. Estimates show that between one and four in 100 young people carry knives.
For those few who do, it is important to understand the complex factors behind why. This is what we, and many other academics, have been studying in our research.
Both researchers and young people themselves cite protection as a factor in knife carrying. Many young people are fearful of being victims of knife crime, and knife carrying may offer a sense of security and defence from potential threats.
This fear is not necessarily correlated to reality. Young people tend to overestimate the prevalence of weapon carrying among their peers. What’s more, those carrying knives for defence often end up having their own knife used against them.
Seeing images of knives
One reason that young people may have a fear of knife crime is because of how the threat is presented to them through images.
Media reports and anti-knife campaign material often features images of shocking weapons, such as zombie knives. Depictions of piles of seized weapons and vicious blades all paint a picture of a risky landscape.
You probably noticed that the photos illustrating this article do not include a picture of a knife. This is a deliberate choice. Our research has found that such knife imagery can evoke fear or excitement for some young people.
Their heightened emotional responses suggest that these young people are the most likely to be vulnerable to future knife carrying. Those who feel most unsafe in their communities are the most likely to respond negatively to graphic imagery.
Interestingly, the young people who participated in our research self-reported knife imagery as having little impact on them. But our study investigated their unconscious emotional response through an implicit association test. This approach is key in a research area vulnerable to self-presentation bias, where young people might attempt to hide their true feelings.
The test we used assessed response speeds to determine associations between images of knives and words relating to fear and excitement. Overall, response times were faster (showed more association) for fear-related words.
Other evidence suggests that anti-knife crime imagery and messaging can create exaggerated belief about the prevalence of knife carrying. This may increase, rather than reduce, the fear of victimisation, and further encourage people to carry knives.
Floods of knife images in a young person’s social and educational environment may normalise knife carrying. Nearly two-thirds of young people report experiencing secondary traumatic stress when viewing knife crime news on social media.
When knife imagery is used in intervention materials presented by someone in a position of authority (a teacher or police officer, for example), it can validate the fears even more.
In other words, the more we talk about knife crime, the scarier it can seem, and the more young people feel the need to protect themselves by carrying a weapon.
Labour’s plan to cut knife crime – including a ban on zombie knives that has just come into effect – should go a long way to reducing the availability of “status” weapons. It may also mean that images of these knives are less prevalent in the media, which, given our research findings, would likely have a positive effect.
But, as noted earlier, most young people are not at risk, and have had no exposure to knife crime. Knife carrying is not normal behaviour for most young people. Anti-knife messaging would serve young people better by avoiding the use of knife imagery, and instead focus on discussing how to keep safe by avoiding risky behaviour, and how to get help if a dangerous situation arises.
Dr Charlotte Coleman receives funding from N8 Policing Research Partnership.
Dr Charlotte Coleman is a member of the Youth Justice Board Academic Liaison Network
Dr Charlotte Coleman is an executive member of the Society for Evidence Based Policing.
Jess Scott-Lewis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rise8 announced its selection for a SPRUCE Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle to provide the VA with streamlined delivery services and teams. As one of 10 awardees for the contract vehicle, with a total ordering ceiling of $2.4B, Rise8 will support the VA with a multidisciplinary, expert team to assist with developing modern digital products that maximize results for Veterans.
With the SPRUCE contract vehicle, the VA will connect VA product owners with best-in-class industry partners to deliver high-quality digital products and improved user experiences. SPRUCE requires expertise in critical areas including software development and operations, technical advising and architecture planning, service design and user research studies, data science and data analytics, and product support operations.
This is perfectly aligned to Rise8’s mission of enabling large enterprises to continuously deliver valuable software that users love. “We’re proud to be a part of the VA’s mission to incorporate more modern software development practices, and make those streamlined services available to VA employees and Veterans,” said Bryon Kroger, CEO and founder of Rise8. “This opportunity represents much more than just a contract win to me – as a Veteran myself with a father who struggled with VA care, I vowed to take Rise8 to the VA to help the great people there better achieve their mission to serve Veterans and provide exceptional experiences. Working with the VA on this is one of the most meaningful things I have ever been able to do. They are heroes serving heroes, and we can’t wait to serve them.”
This latest contract award marks another significant milestone in Rise8’s work with the VA. In 2022, the company delivered a continuous Authority to Operate (cATO) to the VA in support of the Lighthouse Program, equipping them with the ability to ship software earlier and continuously. Last month, a separate program within the VA also awarded Rise8 a $10M Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract for VA.gov Watchtower, providing support and improvements for observability, monitoring, and site reliability.
To learn more about how Rise8 works to create a future where fewer bad things happen because of bad software, visit https://www.rise8.us/.
About Rise8 Rise8 enables large enterprises with critical missions to continuously deliver valuable software that users love. Rise8 is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) with headquarters in Tampa, FL, and a fully remote workforce. Learn more at https://www.rise8.us/ and on LinkedIn, and X.
The views expressed are those of Rise8 and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. government.
Media Contact: Casey Dell’Isola REQ for Rise8 rise8@req.co
Through real-time risk monitoring and integrated sustainability and due diligence data, Sphera Supply Chain Transparency helps strengthen every link in the supply chain
CHICAGO, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In today’s world where risk exposure in global supply chains is dynamic and regulations related to sustainability and supply chain due diligence are ever-evolving, businesses need tools and actionable insights that enable them to withstand the uncertainties, get ahead of disruption and be compliant.
Supply chains are under closer scrutiny now in many parts of the world as regulations — such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) — have emerged to hold companies accountable for human rights and environmental impacts within their supply networks. By integrating Supply Chain Sustainability (SCS) and Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) into one platform, Sphera’s Supply Chain Transparency (SCT) product line provides organizations with end-to-end visibility across the entire supply chain to effectively manage supply chain risk, sustainability and regulatory compliance.
“Supply chains have been facing unprecedented volatility with network disruptions resulting from extreme weather events, economic trends, cyber incidents and ESG-related risks,” said Paul Marushka, Sphera’s CEO and president. “Companies are also facing growing pressure to meet global ESG regulations and consumer demands for greater transparency and ethical sourcing practices. A holistic approach to managing risk and sustainability in the supply chain not only enables businesses to address risk before it disrupts operations but also enables enterprises to build resilient supply chains that can adapt faster to evolving situations, withstand impacts and recover quickly.”
The Supply Chain Transparency (SCT) product line from Sphera, the leading provider of Enterprise Sustainability Management (ESM) performance and risk management software, data and consulting services, provides procurement, supply chain and sustainability professionals with an innovative solution for mitigating risk and strengthening their supply chain. Having the ability to proactively monitor risk, collect and assess direct supplier data and comply with evolving standards, helps businesses reduce potential costs associated with risk, gain competitive advantage and build transparent, agile supply chains.
Sphera SCRM (formerly riskmethods) leverages AI along with a team of risk research experts to validate and manage information from internal and external data sources to provide real-time risk monitoring. Having an improved risk profile helps companies gain competitive advantage with a well-managed approach to ensure business continuity, protect their reputation and reduce the costs related to supply chain risk. Sphera SCRM issues alerts to users, which provide actionable insights that enable companies to implement countermeasures at the earliest opportunity, proactively monitor the situation to address additional developments and mitigate consequences. Some examples include:
In the lead-up to the traffic jam in the Panama Canal — which sees 6% of global maritime trade and 40% of all U.S. container traffic relying on the passageway — the first alert went out in April 2023 when the Panama Canal Authorities imposed restrictions for the first time. Starting August 8, 2023, Sphera SCRM began informing customers about delays on the Panama Canal due to low water levels and continued during the crisis.
During a period of historic flooding in Europe, alerts indicated heavy rainfall in the southern parts of Europe as early as September 5, 2024, and a total of 115 alerts were issued to users as the flooding progressed and included impacts such as power outages and product delays. The impacts caused some factories to stop production lines, some stores to close and challenges in moving materials by rail.
When a potential for a strike by dockworkers at 36 major ports along the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States loomed, early warnings were sent to users on August 13, 2024, via the Countrywide Industrial Disputes indicator and sent 10 alerts between then and the second day of the strike.
Sphera SCS (formerly SupplyShift) provides unparalleled tracking of ESG-related and regulatory risks with direct visibility into every tier of a company’s supply chain. The solution empowers streamlined supplier engagement and direct performance visibility with standardized assessments, multi-tier data collection and audit-ready, quantifiable supplier data to ensure regulatory compliance and help companies build more responsible supply chains. Sphera SCS helps businesses:
Connect every tier of supply chain data with broader sustainability initiatives.
Identify, analyze and measure supplier performance to drive improvement.
Operationalize compliance and sustainability goals by integrating industry-specific supplier data with enterprise systems, including the collection of direct Scope 3 data.
Ensure legislative compliance through robust tracking, auditing and validation processes.
Naved Siddique, Sphera’s chief product officer, said, “With increased regulatory pressure coupled with a host of hidden risks in the supply chain, companies need to be empowered to proactively mitigate risk and build resilient, sustainable supply chains. This is what we deliver with our Supply Chain Transparency solution. Supply Chain Sustainability provides deeper visibility into multiple tiers of the supply chain and enables seamless collection of supplier environmental, human rights and other sustainability data, while Supply Chain Risk Management provides AI-powered insights for early risk detection and real-time monitoring throughout a supply network. This provides businesses with unparalleled risk visibility, proactive risk management, sustainability integration and regulatory compliance.”
About Sphera Sphera is the leading provider of Enterprise Sustainability Management (ESM) performance and risk management software, data and consulting services focusing on Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability (EHS&S), Operational Risk Management (ORM), Product Stewardship and Supply Chain Transparency. For more than 30 years, we have served over 8,400 customers and a million-plus users in 95 countries to help companies keep their people safe, their products sustainable and their operations productive. Learn more about Sphera at http://www.sphera.com. Follow Sphera on LinkedIn.
For media inquiries, please contact: Amanda Meador / Alaina Caruso, pro-sphera@prosek.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In today’s fast-paced business environment, more and more finance departments are beginning to turn to automation to improve efficiency and job satisfaction. As automation continues to transform the landscape of financial operations, new data suggests that accounts payable (AP) professionals with a higher degree of automation are benefiting both in their careers and lifestyles. According to a new survey conducted by the Institute of Finance and Management (IOFM), in partnership with AvidXchange, more than 500 AP professionals across various industries revealed that greater automation within AP departments is linked to improved job satisfaction, healthier work/life balance, and more opportunities to work on strategic initiatives to advance their careers.
Career and Lifestyle Satisfaction
Based on the survey results, higher levels of automation are correlated with higher career satisfaction and growth opportunities. The majority of AP professionals who are “extremely satisfied” with their role work in mostly automated AP departments, and staff in fully automated departments are twice as likely to “strongly agree” that there are career advancement opportunities at their organization compared to those in manual environments. AP professionals believe the lack of automation in their departments impacts their career advancement opportunities, with 74% believing access to technology like automation aids in professional development and skills growth.
Automation isn’t only enhancing job satisfaction; it’s also contributing to a healthier work/life balance for AP professionals. The survey revealed that nearly 75% of AP departments with some level of automation operate remotely or in a hybrid setting. In contrast, departments with lower levels of automation are often confined to office-based work. In fact, the survey showed that teams relying entirely on manual AP processes are more than twice as likely to work exclusively in the office compared to those with fully automated systems, showcasing how automated systems support flexible work environments. Additionally, there has been a decrease in AP professionals working solely in the office between 2023 and 2024, highlighting a broader movement towards more flexible work environments. For departments aiming to adapt to this trend, investing in automation is essential.
Strategic Decision-Making
Another significant finding from the survey highlights the advantages AP professionals can gain from greater access to automation, advanced reporting, and key analytics. Finance teams are becoming an increasingly important influence on business growth and operational efficiency, and they are being tasked with more value-added responsibilities such as data analytics, business advisory, and financial technology integration.
Finance teams with mostly manual processes can spend much of their time on repetitive tasks, leaving little room to focus on strategic initiatives. AP professionals with a higher degree of automation are more likely to work on strategic initiatives. 78% percent of AP professionals in mostly automated departments also have access to the technology, reports, and analytics they need to make strategic business decisions, making the connection between the level of automation and the ability to engage in strategic work clear.
“The results of this survey are reflective of the value we’ve been bringing to our customers for years,” said AvidXchange President Dan Drees. “Automation is a game-changer for modern AP professionals. Not only does it improve work/life balance and enable access to data-driven analytics, but it also empowers finance teams to work on more strategic initiatives. AvidXchange is proud to pioneer solutions and tools that help finance teams succeed.”
For more information on how end-to-end AP automation can help companies improve overall satisfaction and work/life balance and for a deeper look into the AP professional career satisfaction survey results, download the white paper: 2024 Accounts Payable Career Satisfaction Report.
Survey Methodology
IOFM conducted a survey, in partnership with AvidXchange, comprising of more than 500 Accounts Payable professionals. Survey respondents worked in organizations with annual revenue ranging from less than $500,000 to $1 billion or more from various industries and represented staff, middle management, and upper management. The survey was conducted in June 2024.
About AvidXchange AvidXchange is a trusted, leading provider of accounts payable (“AP”) automation software and payment solutions for middle market businesses and their suppliers. AvidXchange’s Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) based, end-to-end software and payment platform digitizes and automates the AP workflows for over 8,000 buyer customers, and it has made payments to more than 1.2 million supplier customers of its buyers over the past five years. Additionally, AvidXchange, Inc. is a licensed money transmitter for US B2B payments, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as all other states that require AvidXchange to have an applicable license.
To learn more about how AvidXchange, and its publicly traded parent AvidXchange Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVDX), are transforming the way companies pay their bills, visit avidxchange.com.
About the Institute of Finance & Management
Accounting and finance professions have each undergone nothing short of a complete transformation since the Institute of Finance and Management (IOFM) was founded in 1982. Since then, our mission has been, and continues to be, to align the resources, events, certifications, and networking opportunities we offer with what companies need from the accounting and finance functions to deliver market leadership. IOFM empowers accounting and finance professionals to maximize the strategic value they offer their employers. Our enduring commitment to serving the accounting and finance professions is unmatched. IOFM has certified over 25,000 accounting and finance professionals and serves several thousand conference and webinar attendees each year. IOFM is proud to be recognized as the leading organization in providing training, education and certification programs specifically for professionals in accounts payable, procure-to-pay, accounts receivable and order-to-cash, as well as key tax and compliance resources for global and shared services professionals, controllers, and their finance and administration (F&A) teams. Learn more at IOFM.com
HERNDON, Va., Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SMX®, a leader in next-generation mission support, digital transformation, and IT solutions, announced today that it has been awarded the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Cloud Governance and Administration of Technology and Engineering (cGATE) contract through the General Services Administration’s (GSA), Assisted Acquisition Support, Alliant 2 vehicle, to provide cloud-based licensing and services. CFTC cGate is a competitively awarded contract with a total maximum value of up to $79.4M and a 5-year contract length.
The cGATE contract represents a cornerstone of the CFTC’s ongoing efforts to enhance its oversight of the futures and derivatives markets, ensuring integrity and transparency. SMX has supported the migration of several applications and the transition of numerous workloads to Azure and AWS for mission critical data and market oversight applications. Under this contract, SMX will continue to provide cutting-edge technology and support services in the areas of cloud operations, data management, and advanced security, that enable CFTC to advance its critical mission of protecting market participants and the public from fraud, manipulation, and abusive practices.
Sandeep Dorawala, President of the SMX Digital Solutions Group, commented, “We are honored to have been selected by the CFTC to support their critical mission through the cGATE contract. This award is a testament to our team’s continued dedication and expertise in delivering high-quality technology solutions that meet the complex needs of our federal clients. We look forward to continuing to partner with the CFTC to enhance their capabilities in market oversight and enforcement.”
As a trusted partner to the federal government, SMX brings deep domain expertise, a commitment to excellence, and a history of successful project execution. This contract award reinforces SMX’s position as a leading provider of IT solutions in the federal marketplace.
About SMX SMX is a leader in next-generation cloud, C5ISR, and advanced engineering and IT solutions operating in close proximity to clients across the U.S. and around the globe. SMX delivers scalable and secure solutions combined with the mission expertise needed to accelerate outcomes for the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, Public Sector, Fortune 1000 and other public and private sector clients. For more information on our services, please visit https://www.smxtech.com/.
Jaime Battiste, Member of Parliament for Sydney–Victoria, Nova Scotia, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, along with the Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) Cape Breton announced a joint investment of more than $1.2 million to plant over 208,000 trees in eastern Cape Breton through the 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program.
October 17, 2024 Sydney, Nova Scotia Natural Resources Canada
Today, Jaime Battiste, Member of Parliament for Sydney–Victoria, Nova Scotia, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, along with the Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) Cape Breton announced a joint investment of more than $1.2 million to plant over 208,000 trees in eastern Cape Breton through the 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program.
The trees will be planted over four years. Outcomes of this will include:
Restoration of ecosystems in areas of eastern Cape Breton that had been deforested.
The planting of 208,000 trees, along with native plants and shrubs.
Habitat restoration for diverse flora and fauna in Nova Scotia.
Increased local capacity to plant and maintain trees thanks to workforce training, mentorship opportunities and student partnerships.
Increased community knowledge of forest restoration practices that help mitigate floods and other extreme weather events.
The 2BT program helps to clean the air, create jobs and fight climate change while protecting nature. By working together with provinces, territories, local communities, non- and for-profit organizations and Indigenous Peoples, Canada continues to build a strong, healthy and green future for generations to come.
Quotes
“Forests clean the air we breathe, make our urban spaces more enjoyable, provide new habitats for wildlife and help us adapt to our changing climate while also mitigating its impacts by sequestering carbon emissions. The funding announced today will play an important role in bringing these benefits to Nova Scotians and will help achieve our federal government’s ambitious goal of planting two billion trees over a decade. Through this project, we are showing how collaborative work can ensure that the right tree is planted at the right place at the right time for the benefit of all Canadians.”
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
“Partnership and collaboration play a critical role in the sustainable management of our forests and tackling the dual crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss. The Government of Canada is pleased to be partnering with the Atlantic Coastal Action Program-Cape Breton to continue making progress toward planting trees that will clean the air we breathe, improve water quality and mitigate climate change across Canada, creating a healthier environment for generations to come.”
Jaime Battiste Member of Parliament, Sydney–Victoria, Nova Scotia
“Trees planted as part of the 2 Billion Trees program create greener, healthier and more resilient communities in the face of a changing climate. Canada is supporting the Atlantic Coastal Action Program-Cape Breton to support the restoration of Canada’s forests and important habitats, all while ensuring there is cleaner air and sustainable jobs in communities across Canada.”
Mike Kelloway Member of Parliament, Cape Breton–Canso, Nova Scotia
“We are honoured to be part of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees commitment here in Unama’ki-Cape Breton. The trees we plant will help restore forest ecosystems and create a more-resilient climate legacy for our communities as well as the creatures we share this land with. These lands will not only sequester carbon but also provide habitat, food and shade for our warming lands and waters and help filter water in the watersheds that furnish our drinking water.”
Dr. Kathleen Aikens Executive Director, ACAP Cape Breton
Quick facts
Since 2021, the Government of Canada has been supporting governments and organizations across the country to plant trees to help meet the Government of Canada’s commitment to planting two billion trees.
The 2 Billion Trees program collaborates with partners to understand their plans for preparing sites, how they are selecting species and how they plan to monitor after planting. Partners report every year, and the program conducts site visits and will be using remote sensing to monitor the progress and the health of the trees. By ensuring the initial job is done well, nature can then thrive, maintaining the long-term health of forested sites.
To date, the Government of Canada has secured or is negotiating agreements to plant over 553 million trees.
VILNIUS, Lithuania, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WhiteBIT cryptocurrency exchange has once again confirmed its commitment to top-tier security standards by successfully passing the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification. The company achieved the highest Level 1 certification.
This certification verifies that the WhiteBIT platform adheres to the best practices for storing, processing, and transmitting payment card data, ensuring the privacy and security of its users’ financial information. Payment data on WhiteBIT is securely protected from cyber attacks and online fraud, allowing customers to safely perform bank card transactions (deposit/withdraw funds) using methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
“The security of our customers has always been a top priority at WhiteBIT. We set a high standard for cybersecurity and work tirelessly to safeguard our users’ data against potential threats,” said Volodymyr Nosov. “Today, over 5 million clients trust us, and we continually implement innovative solutions to ensure their safety and the transparency of our processes.”
Benefits of PCI DSS Certification for WhiteBIT Crypto Exchange:
Enhanced Fraud Protection: The certification ensures that WhiteBIT implements advanced security measures, such as encryption, tokenization, access controls, and monitoring, to protect and process payment card data. This greatly reduces the risk of data breaches and cybercrime.
Data Privacy: WhiteBIT handles card data in line with top industry standards, ensuring clients’ sensitive information remains secure and confidential.
Wider Range of Trusted Payment Options: PCI DSS certification enables the integration of multiple secure payment methods, including bank cards from various payment systems. Additionally, all payment providers partnered with WhiteBIT are also required to comply with PCI DSS standards.
Global Recognition: Certification proves that WhiteBIT adheres to international security practices, which is a key consideration for global partners and investors.
PCI DSS certification highlights WhiteBIT’s commitment to user safety, allowing customers to confidently use their bank cards on the platform without concerns over data breaches.
To maintain PCI DSS certification, WhiteBIT undergoes an independent audit annually, assessing its compliance with 12 core security principles. This audit is conducted by an accredited third-party organization.
In addition, WhiteBIT performs external penetration testing of its platform to identify and address any potential vulnerabilities.
About PCI DSS
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a global security standard established by the payment card industry to protect cardholder data. It was developed by five major payment networks: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and JCB. The standard encompasses over 300 criteria related to various aspects of information security, organized into 12 key principles. There are four levels of certification, determined by the annual volume of transactions processed.
About WhiteBIT
WhiteBIT is one of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges in Europe, founded in Ukraine in 2018. The platform offers more than 580 trading pairs, 270+ assets, and supports 10 national currencies. WhiteBIT partners with global payment system Visa, the e-sports platform FACEIT, and the telecom operator lifecell. It also supports FC Barcelona (Spain), Trabzonspor (Turkey), and the Ukrainian national football team. Additionally, WhiteBIT collaborates with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The company’s mission is to promote the widespread adoption of blockchain technology in Ukraine and around the world.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A study published in ACS E&T Water looks at PFAS in drinking water.
Prof Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry, RMIT University,said:
“PFAS are a family of man-made chemicals based on carbon-fluorine bonds. They are often termed forever chemicals because they are very resistant to degradation. The name is also a little chemistry joke as the F in forever, and C in chemicals can also stand for Fluorine and Carbon, respectively. Unfortunately, the term is misleading as it implies that PFAS never break down and that if they get in your body, they are there forever – neither of which is true.
“This new research about PFAS in drinking water may initially sound scary and raise some concerns with the public. However, the authors do not claim to have assessed risk, and we should remember that the mere presence of something does not mean it will automatically cause harm. Any discussion about toxicity is meaningless without both dose and context. For example, we know you can get skin cancer from exposure to UV light, but that does not mean you will get cancer as soon as you go outside. Similarly, you will have no problem drinking a glass of water, but if you inhale the same amount into your lungs, you’ll have health risks.
“While PFAS have been linked to a range of health effects, the concentrations of PFAS needed to cause such effects are much higher than the levels reported in this study. In some respects, the work is good news: even the highest total PFAS level reported was just 9.2 ng/L. For reference, one nanogram per litre is 1 part per trillion. This is equivalent to 1 second in 31.5 thousand years. So, yes, 9.2 ng/L is an incredibly small amount, and the risk of PFAS exposure at this level is also very small. Since the researchers only measured ten compounds, it is possible that there was more PFAS present than was reported, but the risk is still very low.
“The other thing to remember is that PFAS are now ubiquitous in the environment, so if you look hard enough at almost any sample, you will find them. Background contamination from clothes and lab equipment is a problem when assessing PFAS at such low levels, but the authors don’t say how they accounted for this in the main part of the paper.
“We might say, ‘Why not make the risk zero completely’? But this is impossible to achieve. There is risk in everything we do; for example, if I drive to work, there is a risk I might crash, I go for a swim, I might drown. Both are low risks, but not zero. We could never be sure PFAS concentration was zero, just that it was lower than the minimum amount we could measure. Even the recent US limit of 4ng/L for PFOS and PFOA in drinking water is not based on acceptable risk but just one that can be achieved and reliably measured.
“So overall, while this paper is interesting it does not mean you need to avoid bottled (or tap) water”.
DrOvokeroye Abafe, Lecturer in Environmental Sciences, Brunel University of London, said:
“The study’s conclusions show insights into very simple contaminant reduction methods that can easily be adopted by consumers. The result provides further understanding on the distribution of PFAS in drinking water sources and shows that simple AC filtration and boiling can significantly reduce the concentrations of some PFAS in drinking water, thereby minimising exposure arising from this route. It is interesting to see very simple and easily adaptable home solutions that can significantly minimise the concentrations of PFAS in drinking water, thereby safeguarding public health. However, the sample size is relatively small, which is a limitation to be aware of.”
‘Factors Influencing Concentrations of PFAS in Drinking Water: Implications for Human Exposure’byChuanzi Gaoet al.was published inACS E&T Waterat 13:00 UK time on Thursday 17th October.
Declared interests
Prof Oliver Jones: “I don’t have any conflicts of interest in this case, but I have in the past received funds from the Environment Protection Authority Victoria and various Australian Water utilities for research into environmental pollution, including PFAS.”
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.
As people who research ageing like to quip: the best thing you can do to increase how long you live is to pick good parents. After all, it has long been recognised that longer-lived people tend to have longer-lived parents and grandparents, suggesting that genetics influence longevity.
Complicating the picture, however, is that we know that the sum of your lifestyle, specifically diet and exercise, also significantly influences your health into older age and how long you live. What contribution lifestyle versus genetics makes is an open question that a recent study in Nature has shed new light on.
Scientists have long known that reducing calorie intake can make animals live longer. In the 1930s, it was noted that rats fed reduced calories lived longer than rats who could eat as much as they wanted. Similarly, people who are more physically active tend to live longer. But specifically linking single genes to longevity was until recently a controversial one.
While studying the lifespan of the tiny worm C elegans at the University of California, San Francisco, Cynthia Kenyon found that small changes to the gene that controls the way that cells detect and respond to nutrients around them led to the worms doubling their lifespan. This raises new questions: if we know that genetics and lifestyle affect how long you live, which one is more important? And how do they interact?
To try to tease out the effects of genetics versus lifestyle, the new study in Nature examined different models of caloric restriction in 960 mice. The researchers specifically looked at classical experimental models of caloric restriction (either 20% or 40% fewer calories than control mice), or intermittent fasting of one or two days without food (as intermittent fasting is popular in people looking to see the positive benefits of caloric restriction).
Because we now know that small genetic variations affect ageing, the researchers specifically used genetically diverse mice. This is important for two reasons. First, as laboratory studies on mice are normally performed on genetically very (very!) similar mice, this allowed the researchers to tease out the effects of both diet and genetic variables would have on longevity.
Second, humans are highly diverse, meaning that studies on genetically near-identical mice don’t often translate into humanity’s high genetic diversity.
The headline finding was that genetics appeared to play a larger role in lifespan than any of the dietary restriction interventions. Long-lived types of mice were still longer lived despite dietary changes.
Diet counts, but genes count more
And while shorter-lived mice did show improvements as a result of dietary restrictions, they didn’t catch up to their longer-lived peers. This suggests that there’s truth to the “pick good parents” joke.
Caloric restriction models still increased lifespans across all the types of mice, with the 40% restriction group having improved average and maximum lifespans compared with the 20% group.
And the 20% group showed improvements in both group average and maximum length of lives compared with the control group. It’s just the effects of genetics were larger than the effect of the dietary interventions.
While all the caloric restriction models resulted in increased lifespan in the mice on average, in the most extreme caloric restriction model tested (40% less group) changes that could be seen as physical harms were observed. These included reduced immune function and losses in muscle mass, which outside of a predator- and germ-free laboratory environment could affect health and longevity.
There are some important caveats in studies like this. First, it’s not known if these results apply to humans.
As with most caloric restriction research in mice, the restricted feeding groups were fed 20% or 40% less than a control group who ate as much as they wanted. In humans, that’d be like assuming people eating every meal every day at a bottomless buffet is “normal”. And people who do not eat from limitless trays of food are “restricted feeding”. That’s not an exact parallel to how humans live and eat.
Second, although exercise wasn’t controlled in any way in this study, most groups did similar amounts of running in their in-cage running wheels except the 40% caloric restriction group who ran significantly more.
The researchers suggested that this extra exercise in the 40% group was the mice constantly hunting for more food. But as this group did so much more exercise than the others, it could also mean that positive effects of increased exercise were also seen in this group alongside their caloric restriction.
So, while we can’t pick our parents or change the genes we inherit from them, it is interesting to know that specific genetic variations play a significant role in the maximum age we can aspire to.
The genetic cards we’re dealt dictate how long we can expect to live. Just as important in this study, however, lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise that aim to improve lifespan should be effective regardless of the genes we have.
Bradley Elliott receives funding from the Physiological Society, the British Society for Research on Ageing, the Altitude Centre, and private philanthropic individuals, and has consulted for industry and government on longevity research. He is on the Board of Trustees of the British Society for Research on Ageing.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Massey, Professor of extragalactic astrophysics (dark matter and cosmology), Durham University
Illustration of the Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction in Chile’s Atacama desert.ESO, CC BY
In recent decades, we’ve learnt huge amounts about the universe and its history. The rapidly developing technology of telescopes – both on Earth and in space – has been a key part of this process, and those that are due to start operating over the next two decades should push the boundaries of our understanding of cosmology much further.
All observatories have a list of science objectives before they switch on, but it is their unexpected discoveries that can have the biggest impact. Many surprise advances in cosmology were driven by new technology, and the next telescopes have powerful capabilities.
Still, there are gaps, such as a lack of upcoming space telescopes for ultraviolet and visible light astronomy. Politics and national interests have slowed scientific progress. Financial belts are tightening at even the most famous observatories.
This is article is part of our series Cosmology in crisis? which uncovers the greatest problems facing cosmologists today – and discusses the implications of solving them.
The biggest new telescopes are being built in the mountains of Chile. The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will house a mirror the size of four tennis courts, under a huge dome in the Atacama desert.
Reflecting telescopes like ELT work by using a primary mirror to collect light from the night sky, then reflecting it off other mirrors to a camera. Larger mirrors collect more light and see fainter objects.
The Extremely Large Telescope under construction atop the Cerro Amazones peak in northern Chile.
Another ground-based telescope under construction in Chile is the Vera C. Rubin telescope. Rubin’s camera is the largest ever built: the size of a small car and weighing about three tonnes. Its 3,200 megapixels will photograph the whole sky every three days to spot moving objects. Over the course of 10 years, these photographs will be combined to form a massive time-lapse video of the universe.
Astronomy used to be a physically demanding job, requiring travel to remote telescopes in dark sites –- but many astronomers began working from home long before COVID. In the late 20th century, major ground observatories started to put in place technology to allow astronomers to control telescopes for observations at night, even when they were not there in person. Remote observing is now commonplace, carried out via the internet.
Expect the unexpected
The view of any telescope on the ground is limited, though, even if it’s on top of a mountain. Launching telescopes into space can get around these limitations.
The Hubble Space Telescope’s operational history began when the space shuttle lifted it above the atmosphere on April 25 1990. Hubble got the full 1960s sci-fi treatment: a rocket to launch it, gyroscopes to point it, and electronic cameras instead of photographic film. But one plan fell through: for Hubble to host a commuting astronaut-astronomer, working decidedly away from home.
Webb, launched on December 25 2021, now spends a third of its time looking at planets around other stars that weren’t even known about when it was designed.
The stated goal of an expensive telescope is usually just a sales pitch to space agencies, governments and (shhh…) taxpayers. The Webb telescope should achieve its original science goals, but astronomers have always known that seeing further, finer or in more colours can achieve so much more. The unexpected discoveries by telescopes are often more significant than the science objectives stated at the outset.
Taking the long view
For scientists, it’s a relief that telescopes go beyond their brief, because Hubble and Webb both took more than 25 years from napkin to launch. In that time, new scientific questions arise.
Building a large space telescope typically takes about two decades. The Chandra and XMM-Newton space telescopes took 23 years and 15 years to build, respectively. They were designed to observe X-rays coming from hot gas around black holes and galaxy clusters, and were launched very close together in 1999.
Similar timescales apply to the European Space Agency’s Hipparcos and Gaia space telescopes, which have mapped all the stars in the Milky Way. The Cobe and Planck missions to study the microwave-light afterglow of the Big Bang also took two decades. Precise dates depend how you count, and a few exceptions have been “faster, better, cheaper”, but national space agencies are generally risk averse and slow when developing these projects.
The latest space telescopes are therefore millennials. They were designed at a time when astronomers had measured the universe’s newborn expansion following the Big Bang, and also its old-age, accelerating expansion. Their main goal now is to fill the gap –- because, surprisingly, interpolations from early times to late times don’t meet in the middle.
The measured rates for the expansion of the universe are inconsistent, as are results for the clumpiness of matter in the cosmos. Both measurements create challenges for our theories of how the universe evolved.
Observing the middle age of the universe requires telescopes operating at long wavelengths, because light from distant galaxies is stretched by the time it reaches us. So, Webb has infrared zoom cameras, while the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope, launched in 2023, and Nasa’s Nancy Grace Roman telescope, which is set to launch in 2026, both have infrared wide-angle views.
Three buses come along at once
Most stars shine in ultraviolet and infrared colours that are blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the colours our eyes evolved to see.
Extra colours are useful. For example, we can weigh stars on the other side of our galaxy because massive stars are bright in infrared, while smaller ones are faint – and they stay that way throughout their lifetimes. However, we know where stars are being born because only young stars emit ultraviolet light.
In addition, independent measurements of the same thing are vital for rigorous science. Infrared telescopes, for example, can work together and have already made surprising discoveries. But it’s not great for diversity that the Webb, Euclid and Roman space telescopes all see infrared colours.
Earthly politics gets in the way, too. Data from China’s Hubble-class space telescope, Xuntian, is unlikely to be shared internationally. And in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022 Germany switched off its eRosita X-ray instrument that had been operating perfectly, in collaboration with Russia, a million miles from Earth.
Cheap commercial launches may save the day. Euclid was to have lifted off on a Russian Soyuz rocket from a European Space Agency spaceport in French Guiana. When Russia ended operations there in tit-for-tat reprisals, Euclid’s launch was successfully switched at the last minute to a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
If large telescopes can also be folded inside shoebox-size “cubesat” satellites, the lower cost would make it viable for them to fail. Tolerating risk creates a virtuous circle that makes missions even cheaper.
But perhaps the most unusual telescope technology, which may bring the most unexpected discoveries, is gravitational wave detectors. Gravitational waves are not part of the electromagnetic spectrum, so we can’t see them. They are distortions, or “ripples”, in spacetime caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the universe. These might include a collision between two neutron stars (dense objects formed when massive stars run out of fuel), or a neutron star merging with a black hole.
Asked what the next generation of observatories will discover, I have no idea. And that’s a good thing. The best science experiments shouldn’t just tell us about the things we expect to find, but also about the unknown unknowns.
Richard Massey receives funding from the UK Space Agency to support Euclid, and leads UK involvement in the SuperBIT balloon-born telescope.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michelle Bentley, Professor of International Relations, Royal Holloway University of London
The Apprentice – a new film dramatising Donald Trump’s business career during the 1970s and 80s – is the latest in a presidential election full of controversy.
The movie charts Trump’s (Sebastian Stan) professional rise from an awkward nobody to hotshot real-estate tycoon. Trump’s Pygmalion-like transformation is credited to his friendship with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). Cohn was an infamous prosecutor who worked with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Communist and Lavender (homosexual) scares, and as a political fixer for Richard Nixon.
The key storyline is that Trump becomes Cohn’s apprentice, learning underhanded ways of business and Machiavellian deal-making. Other figures said to have influenced Trump’s career, such as political adviser Roger Stone, get only cameos at best.
Trump does not look good. He is portrayed as vain, using amphetamines as diet pills and getting plastic surgery including liposuction and a scalp reduction. Trump rejects his alcoholic brother and later Cohn, who dies from AIDS in social disgrace.
Trump is also shown to rape his then-wife, Ivana (Maria Bakalova) – a scene which made headlines after the movie’s Cannes Film Festival premiere earlier this year. The rape claim was made during the couple’s divorce proceedings, although Ivana said afterwards that she did not consider the incident “rape” in a criminal sense.
Director Ali Abbasi says this depiction isn’t a take-down of the former president but a more nuanced exploration of Trump’s character. Indeed, there is sympathy for Trump – for example, by detailing the emotional pressure from his father.
The film explores how this experience fuelled Trump’s obsession with winning, which is cultivated by Cohn and his three rules of success: “attack, attack, attack”, “deny everything” and “never admit defeat”. The film seeks to get inside Trump’s mindset, not only as a businessperson, but unpicking what drove him in the White House, as well as the election he’s now fighting.
Some have criticised this approach for being too soft on Trump. A review in The Guardian called the film “obtuse and irrelevant”. A further concern is that presenting Trump as a “winner” could actually be seen to legitimise amoral business practices as successful, especially given that Trump’s later six bankruptcies are not clearly mentioned.
The Apprentice is also a deeper commentary on America. Another character comments that Cohn’s three rules also describe US foreign policy. The film raises big questions about the US, not least where Cohn repeatedly highlights what he identifies as the country’s virtues, and justifies his (sometimes illegal) actions as upholding these. The audience is left to consider what shapes America and its foreign policy – and what may be toxic about this.
Will the film influence the upcoming election?
The Apprentice’s screenwriter, Gabriel Sherman, insists the movie is not designed “to influence people’s minds”. Yet the film’s release so close to the polls means it is inevitably political.
The Apprentice is unlikely to radically shift the electoral needle. Trump’s negative portrayal may make some voters on the fence question his suitability for high office. But beyond this, the film will reinforce what people already thought.
Pro-Trumpers won’t like the movie, but this upset will likely just give oxygen to their support. Those against Trump will also be able to feel their opinion has been affirmed, even by those who would have wanted the film to take a harder line. Although it’s perhaps uncertain whether anyone who dislikes Trump will want to spend two hours watching even more of him than they already have in this election.
While the film likely won’t influence the final outcome, it is still a major marker in this election thanks to the huge controversy around it. Concern over its divisive portrait of Trump meant the movie took five years to reach production. Clint Eastwood turned down the option to direct due to the perceived business risk involved. Distribution also took time to secure – a situation Abbasi describes as a “boycott or censorship”.
Distribution problems were also exacerbated by legal threats. After Cannes (where the film received an eight-minute ovation), Trump’s legal team issued a cease-and-desist letter. Communications Director for the Trump election campaign, Steven Cheung, said the film was “garbage” and “pure fiction”, constituting election interference.
Strong resistance also came from billionaire and close Trump associate, Dan Snyder, who was involved in the film’s financing, thinking it would paint a positive picture of the presidential hopeful. Snyder later sought to block the film’s release after seeing a preview.
Controversy has only raised the movie’s profile. And while people will watch it for very different political reasons, some will buy a ticket purely because this film is now a standout event in one of the most contentious US elections in history.
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Michelle Bentley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kieran Maguire, Senior Teacher in Accountancy and member of Football Industries Group, University of Liverpool
When the Premier League broke away from the rest of English football in 1992, its 22 clubs generated £205 million in its debut season, and the average player earned £2,050 a week. Thirty years later, despite having two fewer clubs, the league’s revenue had increased by 2,850% to £6.1 billion and the average player earned £93,000 a week.
At the heart of this extraordinary growth is an American revolution. In the Premier League’s inaugural season, football was still in recovery from the horrors of the stadium disasters at Hillsborough and Heysel. Owners tended to be from the local area and with a business background. The only foreign owner was Sam Hamman at Wimbledon, a Lebanese millionaire who bought the club on a whim having reportedly been much more interested in tennis. The season ended with Manchester United (under Alex Ferguson) winning the English game’s top league for the first time in 26 years.
Now, if the bid for Everton by the Friedkin Group (TFG) is ratified, 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs will be controlled or part-owned by American investors. The US – long seen as football’s final frontier when it comes to the men’s game – suddenly can’t get enough of English “soccer”.
Four of the Premier League’s “big six” are American-owned – Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea – while a fifth, Manchester City, has a significant US minority shareholding. Aston Villa, Fulham, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Ipswich Town also have varying degrees of American ownership.
And it’s not even just the glamour clubs at the top of the tree. American investment has also been significant lower down the football pyramid, led by the high-profile acquisition of then non-league Wrexham by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny, and Birmingham City’s purchase by US investors including seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady. American investment in football has reached places as geographically diverse as Carlisle and Crawley in England, and Aberdeen and Edinburgh in Scotland.
Manchester United was the first Premier League club to come under American ownership – after a row about a horse.
In 2005, United was owned by a variety of investors including Irish businessmen and racehorse owners John Magnier and J.P. McManus. Their erstwhile friend Ferguson, the United manager, thought he co-owned the champion racehorse Rock of Gibraltar with them – a stallion worth millions in stud rights. They disagreed – and their bitter dispute was such that Magnier and McManus decided to sell their shares in the football club.
The Miami-based Glazer family – already involved in sport as owners of NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – had already been buying up small tranches of shares in United, but the sudden availability of the Irish shares allowed Malcolm Glazer to acquire a controlling stake for £790 million (around £1.5 billion at today’s prices).
The fact Glazer did not actually have sufficient funds to pay for these shares was a solvable problem. In the some-might-say commercially naive world of top-flight English football before the Premier League, Manchester United was a club without debt, paying its way without leveraging its position as one of the world’s most famous football clubs. Glazer saw the opportunity this presented and arranged a leveraged buy-out (LBO), whereby the football club borrowed more than £600 million secured on its own assets to, in effect, “buy itself” in 2005.
Despite the need to meet the high interest costs to fund the LBO, United continued winning trophies under Ferguson – including three Premier League titles in a row in 2007, 2008 and 2009, as well as a Champions League victory in 2008. Amid this success, the club felt that ticket prices were too low and set about increasing them, with matchday revenue increasing from £66 million in 2004/05 to over £101 million by 2007/08.
Commercial income was another area the Glazers were keen to increase. United set up offices in London and adopted a global approach to finding new official branding deals ranging from snacks to tractor and tyre suppliers – doubling revenues from this income source too.
But in this new, more aggressive world of “sweating the asset”, the debts lingered – and most United fans remained deeply suspicious of their American owners. (Following their father’s death in 2014, the club was co-owned by his six children, with brothers Avram and Joel Glazer becoming co-chairmen.)
Today, despite its partial listing on the New York Stock Exchange and the February 2024 sale of 27.7% of the club to British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe for a reputed £1.25 billion, United still has borrowings of more than £546 million, having paid cumulative interest costs of £969 million since the takeover in 2005. But with the club now valued at US$6.55 billion (around £5bn), it represents a very smart investment for the Glazer family.
Indeed, while the prices being paid for football clubs across Europe have reached record levels, they are still seen as cheap investments compared with US sports’ leading franchises. Forbes’s annual list of the world’s most valuable sports teams has American football (NFL), baseball (MLB) and basketball (NBA) teams occupying the top ten positions, with only three Premier League clubs – Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City – in the top 50.
With NFL teams having an average franchise value of US$5.1 billion and NBA $3.9 billion, many English football clubs still look like a bargain from the other side of the pond.
The risk of relegation
The latest to join this US bandwagon, TFG – a Texas-based portfolio of companies run by American businessman and film producer Dan Friedkin – is reported to have offered £400m to buy Everton, despite the club’s poor financial state.
“The Toffees” have been hit by loss of sponsorships as well as two sets of points deductions for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules, leading to revenue losses from lower league positions. While the new stadium being built at Liverpool’s Bramley-Moore dock has been yet another financial constraint, it will at least increase matchday income from the start of next season.
Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock will open in time for the start of the 2025-26 season. Phil Silverman / Shutterstock
A wider reason for the relative bargain in valuations of European football clubs is the risk of relegation – something that is not part of the closed leagues of most US sports. While the threat of relegation (and promise of promotion) has always been an integral part of English and European football, the jeopardy this brings for supporters – and a club’s finances – does not exist in the NFL, NBA, Major League Soccer and similar competitions.
The Premier League, with its three relegation spots at the end of each season, has featured 51 different clubs since it launched in 1992. Only six clubs – Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton – have been ever present, with Arsenal now approaching 100 years of consecutive top-flight football.
Other Premier League clubs have experienced the dramatic cost-benefit of relegation and promotion. Oldham Athletic, who were in the Premier League for its first two seasons, now languish in the fifth tier of the game, outside the English Football League (EFL). In contrast, Luton Town, who were in the fifth tier as recently as 2014, were promoted to the Premier League in 2023 – only to be relegated at the end of last season.
While it is difficult to compare football clubs with basketball and American football teams, the financial difference between having an open league, with relegation, and a closed league becomes apparent when you look at women’s football on both sides of the Atlantic.
Angel City, a women’s soccer team based in Los Angeles, only entered the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2022 and is yet to win an NWSL trophy. But last month, the club was sold for US$250 million (£188m) to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger and TV journalist Willow Bay – the most expensive takeover in the history of women’s professional sport.
In comparison, Chelsea – seven-time winners of the English Women’s Super League and one of the most successful sides in Europe – valued its women’s team at £150 million ($US196m) earlier this summer. While there are a number of factors to this price differential, the confidence that Angel City will always be a member of the big league of US soccer clubs – and share very equally in its revenue – will have made its new owners very confident in the long-term soundness of their deal.
The story of Angel City FC, the most expensive team in women’s sport.
A further attraction for American investors is the potential to enter two markets – one mature (men’s football) and one effectively a start-up (the women’s game) – in a single purchase. In the US, the top men’s and women’s clubs are completely separate. But in Europe, most top-flight women’s teams are affiliated to men’s clubs – with the exception of eight-time Women’s Champions League winners Olympique Lyonnais Feminin, which split from the French men’s club when Korean-American businesswoman Michele Kang bought a majority stake in the women’s team in February 2024).
While interest in, and hence value of, the WSL is now growing fast, the women’s game in England is dwarfed by viewer ratings for the Premier League – the most watched sporting league in the world, viewed by an estimated 1.87 billion people every week across 189 countries.
These figures dwarf even the NFL which, while currently still the most valuable of all sporting leagues in terms of its broadcasting deals, must be looking at the growth of the Premier League with some jealousy. This may explain why some US franchise owners, such as Stan Kroenke, the Glazer family, Fenway Sports Group and Billy Foley, have subsequently purchased Premier League football clubs.
Ironically, for many spectators around the world, it is the intensity and competitiveness of most Premier League matches – brought on in part by the threat of relegation and prize of European qualification – that makes it so captivating. However, billionaire investors like guaranteed numbers and dislike risk – especially the degree of financial risk that exists in the Premier League and English Football League.
European not-so-Super League
In April 2021, 12 leading European clubs (six from England plus three each from Spain and Italy) announced the creation of the European Super League (ESL). This new mid-week competition was to be a high-revenue generating, closed competition with (eventually) 15 permanent teams and five annual additions qualifying from Europe. According to one of the driving forces behind the plan, Manchester United co-chairman Joel Glazer:
By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.
The problem facing the Premier League’s “big six” clubs – and their ambitious owners – is there are currently only four slots available to play in the Champions League. So, their thinking went, why not take away the risk of not qualifying? However, the proposal was swiftly condemned by fans around Europe, together with football’s governing bodies and leagues – all of whom saw the ESL proposal as a threat to the quality and integrity of their domestic leagues. Following some large fan protests, including at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, Manchester City was the first club to withdraw – followed, within a couple of days, by the rest of the English clubs.
Under the terms of the ESL proposals, founding member clubs would have been guaranteed participation in the competition forever. Guaranteed participation means guaranteed revenues. The current financial gap between the “big six” and the other members of the Premier League, which in 2022/23 averaged £396 million, would have widened rapidly.
For example, these clubs would have been able to sell the broadcast rights for some of their ESL home fixtures direct to fans, instead of via a broadcaster. All of a sudden, that database of fans who have downloaded the official club app, or are on a mailing list, becomes far more valuable. These are the people most willing to watch their favourite team on a pay-per-view basis, further increasing revenues.
At the same time, a planned ESL wage cap would have stopped players taking all these increased revenues in the form of higher wages, allowing these clubs to become more profitable and their ownership even more lucrative.
American-owned Manchester United and Liverpool had previously tried to enhance the value of their investments during the COVID lockdowns era via ProjectBig Picture – proposals to reduce the size of the Premier League and scrap one of the two domestic cup competitions, thus freeing up time for the bigger clubs to arrange more lucrative tours and European matches against high-profile opposition.
Most importantly, Project Big Picture would have resulted in changing the governance of the domestic game. Under its proposals, the “big six” clubs would have enjoyed enhanced voting rights, and therefore been able to significantly influence how the domestic game was governed.
Any attempt to increase the concentration of power raises concerns of lower competitive balance, whereby fewer teams are in the running to win the title and fewer games are meaningful. This is a problem facing some other major European football leagues including France’s Ligue 1, where interest among broadcasters has dwindled amid the perceived dominance of Paris St-Germain.
So while to date, American-led attempts to change the structure of the Premier League have been foiled, it’s unlikely such ideas have gone away for good. The near-universal fear of fans – even those who welcome an injection of extra cash from a new billionaire owner – is that the spectacle of the league will only be diminished if such plans ever succeed.
And there is evidence from the women’s game that the US closed league format is coming under more pressure from football’s global forces. The NWSL recently announced it is removing the draft system that is designed (as with the NFL and NBA) to build in jeopardy and competitive balance when there is no risk of relegation.
Top US women’s football clubs are losing some of their leading players to other leagues, in part because European clubs are not bound by the same artificial rules of employment. In a truly global professional sport such as football, international competition will always tend to destabilise closed leagues.
Why do they keep buying these clubs?
Does this mean that American and other wealthy owners of Premier League clubs seeking to reduce their risks are ultimately fighting a losing battle? And if so, given the potential risks involved in owning a football club – both financial and even personal – why do they keep buying them?
The motivations are part-financial, part technological and, as has always been the case with sports ownership, part-vanity.
The American economy has grown far faster than that of the EU or UK in recent years. Consequently, there are many beneficiaries of this growth who have surplus cash, and here football becomes an attractive proposition. In fact, football clubs are more resilient to recessions than other industries, holding their value better as they are effectively monopoly suppliers for their fans who have brand loyalty that exists in few other industries.
From 1993 to 2018, a period during which the UK economy more than doubled, the total value of Premier League clubs grew 30 times larger. And many fans are tied to supporting one club, helping to make the biggest clubs more resilient to economic changes than other industries. While football, like many parts of the entertainment industry, was hit by lockdown during Covid, no clubs went out of business, despite the challenges of matches being played in empty stadiums.
Added to this, the exchange rates for US dollars have been very favourable until recently, making US investments in the UK and Europe cheaper for American investors.
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So, while Manchester United fans would argue that the Glazer family have not been good for the club, United has been good for the Glazers. And Fenway Sports Group (FSG), who bought Liverpool for £300 million in 2010, have recouped almost all of that money in smaller share sales while remaining majority owners of Liverpool.
Despite this, the £2.5 billion price paid for Chelsea by the US Clearlake-Todd Boehly consortium in May 2022 took markets by surprise.
The sale – which came after the UK government froze the assets of the club’s Russian oligarch owner, Roman Abramovich, following the invasion of Ukraine – went through less than a year after Newcastle United had been sold by Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund for £305 million – approximately twice that club’s annual revenues. Yet Clearlake-Boehly were willing to pay over five times Chelsea’s annual revenues to acquire the club, even though it was in a precarious financial position.
Clearlake is a private equity group whose main aim is to make profits for their investors. But unlike most such investors, who tend to focus on cost-cutting, the Chelsea ownership came in with a high-spending strategy using new financial structuring ideas, such as offering longer player contracts to avoid falling foul of football’s profitability and sustainability rules (although this loophole has since been closed with Uefa, European football’s governing body, limiting contract lengths for financial regulation purposes to five years).
Chelsea’s location in the one of the most expensive areas of London, combined with its on-field success under Abramovich, all added to the attraction, of course. But there are other reasons why Clearlake, along with billionaire businessman Boehly, were willing to stump up so much for the club.
From Hollywood to the metaverse
While some British football fans may have viewed the Ted Lasso TV show as an enjoyable if slightly twee fictional account of American involvement in English soccer, it has enhanced the attraction of the sport in the US. So too Welcome To Wrexham – the fly-on-the-wall series covering the (to date) two promotions of Wales’s oldest football club under the unlikely Hollywood stewardship of Reynolds and McElhenney.
Welcome To Wrexham, season one trailer.
The growth in US interest in English football is reflected in the record-breaking Premier League media rights deal in 2022, with NBC Sports reportedly paying $2.7 billion (£2.06bn) for its latest six-year deal.
But as well as football offering one of increasingly few “live shared TV experiences” that carry lucrative advertising slots, there may also be more opportunity for more behind-the-scenes coverage of the Premier League – as has long been seen in US coverage of NBA games, for example, where players are interviewed in the locker room straight after games.
According to Manchester United’s latest annual report, the club now has a “global community of 1.1 billion fans and followers”. Such numbers mean its owners, and many others, are bullish about the potential of the metaverse in terms of offering a matchday experience that could be similar to attending a match, without physically travelling to Manchester.
Their neighbours Manchester City, part-owned by American private equity company Silverlake, broke new (virtual) ground by signing a metaverse deal with Sony in 2022. Virtual reality could give fans around the world the feeling of attending a live match, sitting next to their friends and singing along with the rest of the crowd (for a pay-per-view fee).
Some investors are even confident that advancements in Abba-style avatar technology could one day allow fans to watch live 3D simulations of Premier League matches in stadiums all over the world. Having first-mover advantage by being in the elite club of owners who can make use of such technology could prove ever more rewarding.
More immediately, there are some indications that competitive matches involving England’s top men’s football teams could soon take place in US or other venues. Boehly, Chelsea’s co-owner, has already suggested adopting some US sports staples such as an All-Star match to further boost revenues. Indeed, back in 2008, the Premier League tentatively discussed a “39th game” taking place overseas, but that idea was quickly shelved.
The American owners of Birmingham City were keen to play this season’s EFL League One match against Wrexham in the US, but again this proposal did not get far. Liverpool’s chairman Tom Werner says he is determined to see matches take place overseas, and recent changes to world governing body Fifa’s rulebook could make it easier for this proposal to succeed.
The potential benefits of hosting games overseas include higher matchday revenues, increased brand awareness, and enhanced broadcast rights. While there is likely to be significant opposition from local fans, at least American owners know they would not face the same hostility about rising matchday prices in the US as they have encountered in England.
When the Argentinian legend Lionel Messi signed for new MLS franchise Inter Miami in 2023, season ticket prices nearly doubled on his account. And while there is vocal opposition to higher ticket prices in England, this is not borne out in terms of lower attendances for matches against high-calibre opposition – as evidenced by Aston Villa charging up to £97 for last week’s Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich.
Villa’s director of operations, Chris Heck, defended the prices by saying that difficult decisions had to be made if the club was to be competitive.
Manchester United’s matchday revenue per EPL season (£m)
For much of the 2010s, with broadcast revenues increasing rapidly, many Premier League owners made little effort to stoke hostilities with their loyal fan bases by putting up ticket prices. Indeed, Manchester United generated little more from matchday income in the 2021-22 season, as football emerged from the pandemic, than the club had in 2010-11 (see chart above).
However, this uneasy truce between fans and owners has ceased. The relative flatlining of broadcast revenues since 2017, along with cost control rules that are starting to affect clubs’ ability to spend money on player signings and wages, has changed club appetites for dampened ticket prices. This has resulted in noticeable rises in individual ticket and season ticket prices by some clubs.
However, season ticket and other local “legacy” fans generate little money compared with the more lucrative overseas and tourist fans. They may only watch their favourite team live once a season, but when they visit, they are far more likely not only to pay higher matchday prices, but to spend more on merchandise, catering and other offerings from the club.
Today’s breed of commercially aware, profit-seeking US Premier League owners – pioneered by the Glazer family, who saw that “sweating the asset” meant more than watching football players sprinting hard – understand there is a lot more value to come from English football teams. The clubs’ loyal local supporters may not like it, but English football’s American-led revolution is not done yet.
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Kieran Maguire has taught courses and presented on football finance for the Professional Footballers Association, League Managers Association, FIFA and national football associations in Europe.
Christina Philippou is affiliated with the RAF FA, and Premier League education programs.
