A UK Royal Air Force F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport after reportedly running low on fuel during a routine mission over the Indian Ocean.
According to airport and defence sources, the fifth-generation stealth aircraft was operating from a British aircraft carrier deployed in the Indian Ocean region when it experienced difficulty in landing back on the vessel on Saturday night.
Multiple attempts were made by the pilot to land on the carrier, but rough sea conditions and turbulent winds rendered it unsafe for touchdown.
Faced with rapidly depleting fuel levels, the pilot contacted Indian air traffic controllers and sought emergency permission to land at the nearest civilian airfield.
The Thiruvananthapuram airport, located along the southern coast of Kerala, was identified as the most viable option.
Upon receiving the distress communication, airport authorities immediately declared a full-scale emergency as per protocol and activated all standard operating procedures to ensure a safe landing.
Fire and rescue teams, along with medical units, were kept on standby, while one of the runways was cleared for exclusive use by the fighter aircraft.
The F-35 successfully landed at the airport at around 9.30 p.m., drawing attention from aviation staff and security personnel due to the rarity of such high-profile military aircraft using a civilian airport.
Officials confirmed that the aircraft was not armed and did not pose any security risk.
Indian Air Force (IAF) and civil aviation authorities were quickly informed and coordinated ground arrangements, including refuelling and security clearance.
Sources added that a team of UK defence personnel stationed on board the aircraft carrier had been in constant touch with both Indian authorities and the pilot throughout the ordeal.
After refuelling, the aircraft is expected to return to its carrier once sea conditions permit.
The incident marks a rare instance of a foreign military jet making an emergency landing on Indian soil during peacetime.
It also highlights the close coordination between Indian aviation authorities and foreign defence forces operating in the region.
TALLINN, Estonia, June 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitcoin Solaris (BTC-S), a next-generation blockchain built for speed, accessibility, and long-term sustainability, has officially entered the seventh phase of its token presale, with the public launch now just weeks away. With over $4.5 million already raised and more than 11,500 participants onboard, momentum is surging.
Final Opportunity Before Public Launch
The presale is currently in Phase 7’s last day, with BTC-S tokens priced at $7. The next presale phase will raise the price to $8, with a launch price set at $20. This structured pricing reflects strong demand and limited availability, given the project’s fixed supply of 21 million tokens—identical in scarcity to the original Bitcoin.
With fewer than eight weeks remaining before public launch, this is the last opportunity for early supporters to participate before BTC-S becomes tradable on major platforms.
A Scarcity-Driven Token Built for Scalability
Bitcoin Solaris takes the best parts of Bitcoin, the 21 million supply cap, and upgrades everything else. While Bitcoin transactions take about 10 minutes to finalize, Bitcoin Solaris pushes blocks every 15 seconds and confirms them in under 2 seconds.
This performance comes from a hybrid structure that combines a Proof-of-Work Base Layer with a high-throughput Delegated Proof-of-Stake Solaris Layer. This dual-consensus model:
Supports 10,000+ TPS
Slashes energy usage by over 99.95% compared to Bitcoin
Enables lightning-fast smart contract execution
Rotates validators based on weighted contribution and uptime
It’s the kind of blockchain performance that fits perfectly in a bull market narrative—fast, efficient, and decentralized.
Beyond the tech, Bitcoin Solaris backs its vision with powerful tokenomics. The hard cap of 21 million BTC-S tokens mirrors Bitcoin’s scarcity, but the utility goes far beyond holding.
Here’s how the tokenomics create upward pressure:
Tokens are required for staking, validating, and interacting with the ecosystem
No inflationary print cycles—only mined or earned tokens
The low total supply paired with strong use cases builds consistent demand
BTC-S isn’t just another asset to flip, it’s a network to participate in.
Referral-Driven Growth Fueling Viral Expansion
Bitcoin Solaris’s Double Rewards Referral Program is a major catalyst behind its exponential community growth. Here’s how it works:
Anyone who refers new investors earns 5% of their purchases in BTC-S tokens
New users who join via a referral also get 5% bonus tokens
All rewards are credited automatically via the user dashboard on bitcoinsolaris.com
This viral mechanic has powered over 11,500 users to join the presale in just weeks, turning BTC-S into one of the fastest-growing ecosystems of this cycle. The community is now spreading across Telegram and X, further accelerating its altcoin season momentum.
Presale Is Almost Over: The Window Is Closing
A detailed video review by 2Bit Crypto breaks down exactly why BTC-S is gaining this much traction—including its audit-approved smart contracts and high-performance infrastructure.
The Engine of Wealth in Altcoin Season
What sets Bitcoin Solaris apart in this altcoin season isn’t just hype—it’s architecture. By allowing anyone to participate in mining from a laptop, browser, or upcoming mobile platform, it reduces barriers for earning crypto at scale.
Its validator reward structure balances decentralization and speed. Blocks are mined via Proof-of-Work, then delegated for verification in a DPoS layer with built-in slashing and validator rotation. This ensures fair payouts, lower risks, and a healthy ecosystem long-term.
Add in audits from Cyberscope and Freshcoins, and you’ve got one of the most technically complete altcoins on the rise.
Conclusion
Altcoin season is known for turning obscure projects into household names. With Bitcoin Solaris, we’re watching that transformation in real time. It blends Bitcoin’s scarcity with elite performance, DeFi-ready tokenomics, and viral growth mechanics. As the presale comes to a close, BTC-S is looking more and more like the best coin of this cycle.
Disclaimer:This is a paid post and is provided byBitcoin Solaris. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented.We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article.This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital.It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose.Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release.In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.
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A tragic helicopter crash in Uttarakhand on Sunday morning claimed seven lives, including an infant and the pilot. The helicopter operating on the Kedarnath–Guptkashi sector, is believed to have crashed near the Gaurikund area between 5:30 and 5:45 AM due to poor weather conditions.
The aircraft had taken off from Guptkashi at 5:10 AM, landed briefly at Kedarnath at 5:18 AM, and departed again at 5:19 AM. Preliminary findings suggest that the accident may have been caused by Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT), as the helicopter flew into an area with low visibility and heavy cloud cover. A detailed investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is underway.
Rescue operations are being carried out by NDRF and SDRF teams at the crash site. Following the incident, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami convened a high-level emergency meeting with officials from the state government, DGCA, and Civil Aviation Ministry.
In response, Aryan Aviation’s operations for the Char Dham Yatra have been suspended immediately. Additionally, the licenses of two pilots from TransBharat Aviation, found flying in similarly unsuitable weather conditions, have been suspended for six months.
All helicopter operations in the region have been halted on June 15 and 16 as a precautionary measure. The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) has been directed to conduct a comprehensive safety review with all operators and establish a Command-and-Control Room for real-time monitoring of flights.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has emphasized that aviation safety is paramount, instructing DGCA to strictly enforce weather-related and operational protocols and ensure full compliance to prevent further tragedies.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
TEHRAN, June 15 (Xinhua) — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a “large-scale combined offensive operation” against Israel late on Saturday, using a large number of missiles and drones, the IRGC’s official Sepah News reported.
The IRGC’s aerospace unit carried out the attack, saying it was in response to Israel’s “repeated aggression” against Iran, Sepah reported.
A rocket hit a residential building in a northern community in Israel, killing one woman and wounding 13 others, the national emergency medical service Magen David Adom reported. Several others were moderately and lightly wounded, and four were treated for anxiety, the service said.
Earlier in the day, Magen David Adom reported that at least three people had been killed and 204 others wounded since the Iranian offensive began.
Following the latest wave of attacks, Israel’s Home Front Command advised residents outside Haifa and areas in the north of the country to leave bomb shelters but remain near secure areas.
The Israeli military said its air defense systems were actively intercepting incoming projectiles while Israeli Air Force units were striking military targets in Tehran.
Iran’s Oil Ministry confirmed that two oil depots in Tehran were damaged in the attacks. Residents reported two powerful explosions in the capital that were felt in both western and northern areas. The ministry said the situation was under control.
Meanwhile, Jordan temporarily closed its airspace late on Saturday as a precaution following a rocket attack from Iran. The country’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission said the move was taken to ensure the safety of civil aviation.
The Iranian offensive was in response to Israeli airstrikes early Friday in Tehran and several other cities. Iranian officials said the Israeli strikes killed several senior military commanders, nuclear scientists and dozens of civilians. –0–
President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated the Proteas on their historic victory in the International Cricket Council’s Test Championship, after five-wicket win over Australia at Lord’s, England, on Saturday.
South Africa beat Australia on the fourth day, through a superb team effort at the home of cricket.
“Your win is a major boost for cricket in South Africa, and you have inspired a new generation of cricketers. I call on the nation to come and greet the Cricket World Champions when they arrive back in the country this week,” the President said in a statement on Saturday.
The President described the win as being built around excellent performances by the batsmen in the second innings.
There was the brilliant batting by Aiden Markram who scored 136 and the captain, Temba Bavuma with his 66 runs.
Their match-winning partnership was pivotal in the team’s success.
The bowlers, led by Kagiso Rabada, also kept the pressure on the Australian batsmen and never allowed them to dominate.
“Coach Shukri Conrad, captain Bavuma and the team have done South Africa proud. They started the match as underdogs but that indomitable spirit, that is a characteristic of our nation, carried the team through. The Proteas underlined the importance of being focussed on the field and triumphed,” the President said. –SAnews.gov.za
War is good for business and geopolitical posturing.
Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington in early February for his first visit to the US following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, he issued a bold statement on the strategic position of Israel.
“The decisions we made in the war [since 7 October 2023] have already changed the face of the Middle East,” he said.
“Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers have redrawn the map. But I believe that working closely with President Trump, we can redraw it even further.”
How should this redrawn map be assessed?
Hamas is bloodied but undefeated in Gaza. The territory lies in ruins, leaving its remaining population with barely any resources to rebuild. Death and starvation stalk everyone.
Hezbollah in Lebanon has suffered military defeats, been infiltrated by Israeli intelligence, and now faces few viable options for projecting power in the near future. Political elites speak of disarming Hezbollah, though whether this is realistic is another question.
Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE accounted for 12 percent of Israel’s record $14.8bn in arms sales in 2024 — up from just 3 percent the year before
In Yemen, the Houthis continue to attack Israel, but pose no existential threat.
Meanwhile, since the overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Israel has attacked and threatened Syria, while the new government in Damascus is flirting with Israel in a possible bid for “normalisation“.
The Gulf states remain friendly with Israel, and little has changed in the last 20 months to alter this relationship.
According to Israel’s newly released arms sales figures for 2024, which reached a record $14.8bn, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates accounted for 12 percent of total weapons sales — up from just 3 percent in 2023.
It is conceivable that Saudi Arabia will be coerced into signing a deal with Israel in the coming years, in exchange for arms and nuclear technology for the dictatorial kingdom.
An Israeli and US-assisted war against Iran began on Friday.
In the West Bank, Israel’s annexation plans are surging ahead with little more than weak European statements of concern. Israel’s plans for Greater Israel — vastly expanding its territorial reach — are well underway in Syria, Lebanon and beyond.
Shifting alliances On paper, Israel appears to be riding high, boasting military victories and vanquished enemies. And yet, many Israelis and pro-war Jews in the diaspora do not feel confident or buoyed by success.
Instead, there is an air of defeatism and insecurity, stemming from the belief that the war for Western public opinion has been lost — a sentiment reinforced by daily images of Israel’s campaign of deliberate mass destruction across the Gaza Strip.
What Israel craves and desperately needs is not simply military prowess, but legitimacy in the public domain. And this is sorely lacking across virtually every demographic worldwide.
It is why Israel is spending at least $150 million this year alone on “public diplomacy”.
Get ready for an army of influencers, wined and dined in Tel Aviv’s restaurants and bars, to sell the virtues of Israeli democracy. Even pro-Israel journalists are beginning to question how this money is being spent, wishing Israeli PR were more responsive and effective.
Today, Israeli Jews proudly back ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza in astoundingly high numbers. This reflects a Jewish supremacist mindset that is being fed a daily diet of extremist rhetoric in mainstream media.
There is arguably no other Western country with such a high proportion of racist, genocidal mania permeating public discourse.
According to a recent poll of Western European populations, Israel is viewed unfavourably in Germany, Denmark, France, Italy and Spain.
Very few in these countries support Israeli actions. Only between 13 and 21 percent hold a positive view of Israel, compared to 63-70 percent who do not.
The US-backed Pew Research Centre also released a global survey asking people in 24 countries about their views on Israel and Palestine. In 20 of the 24 nations, at least half of adults expressed a negative opinion of the Jewish state.
A deeper reckoning Beyond Israel’s image problems lies a deeper question: can it ever expect full acceptance in the Middle East?
Apart from kings, monarchs and elites from Dubai to Riyadh and Manama to Rabat, Israel’s vicious and genocidal actions since 7 October 2023 have rendered “normalisation” impossible with a state intent on building a Jewish theocracy that subjugates millions of Arabs indefinitely.
While it is true that most states in the region are undemocratic, with gross human rights abuses a daily reality, Israel has long claimed to be different — “the only democracy in the Middle East”.
But Israel’s entire political system, built with massive Western support and grounded in an unsustainable racial hierarchy, precludes it from ever being fully and formally integrated into the region.
The American journalist Murtaza Hussain, writing for the US outlet Drop Site News, recently published a perceptive essay on this very subject.
He argues that Israeli actions have been so vile and historically grave — comparable to other modern holocausts — that they cannot be forgotten or excused, especially as they are publicly carried out with the explicit goal of ethnically cleansing Palestine:
“This genocide has been a political and cultural turning point beyond which we cannot continue as before. I express that with resignation rather than satisfaction, as it means that many generations of suffering are ahead on all sides.
“Ultimately, the goal of Israel’s opponents must not be to replicate its crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, nor to indulge in nihilistic hatred for its own sake.
“People in the region and beyond should work to build connections with those Israelis who are committed opponents of their regime, and who are ready to cooperate in the generational task of building a new political architecture.”
The issue is not just Netanyahu and his government. All his likely successors hold similarly hardline views on Palestinian rights and self-determination.
The monumental task ahead lies in crafting an alternative to today’s toxic Jewish theocracy.
But this rebuilding must also take place in the West. Far too many Jews, conservatives and evangelical Christians continue to cling to the fantasy of eradicating, silencing or expelling Arabs from their land entirely.
Pushing back against this fascism is one of the most urgent generational tasks of our time.
War is good for business and geopolitical posturing.
Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington in early February for his first visit to the US following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, he issued a bold statement on the strategic position of Israel.
“The decisions we made in the war [since 7 October 2023] have already changed the face of the Middle East,” he said.
“Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers have redrawn the map. But I believe that working closely with President Trump, we can redraw it even further.”
How should this redrawn map be assessed?
Hamas is bloodied but undefeated in Gaza. The territory lies in ruins, leaving its remaining population with barely any resources to rebuild. Death and starvation stalk everyone.
Hezbollah in Lebanon has suffered military defeats, been infiltrated by Israeli intelligence, and now faces few viable options for projecting power in the near future. Political elites speak of disarming Hezbollah, though whether this is realistic is another question.
Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE accounted for 12 percent of Israel’s record $14.8bn in arms sales in 2024 — up from just 3 percent the year before
In Yemen, the Houthis continue to attack Israel, but pose no existential threat.
Meanwhile, since the overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Israel has attacked and threatened Syria, while the new government in Damascus is flirting with Israel in a possible bid for “normalisation“.
The Gulf states remain friendly with Israel, and little has changed in the last 20 months to alter this relationship.
According to Israel’s newly released arms sales figures for 2024, which reached a record $14.8bn, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates accounted for 12 percent of total weapons sales — up from just 3 percent in 2023.
It is conceivable that Saudi Arabia will be coerced into signing a deal with Israel in the coming years, in exchange for arms and nuclear technology for the dictatorial kingdom.
An Israeli and US-assisted war against Iran began on Friday.
In the West Bank, Israel’s annexation plans are surging ahead with little more than weak European statements of concern. Israel’s plans for Greater Israel — vastly expanding its territorial reach — are well underway in Syria, Lebanon and beyond.
Shifting alliances On paper, Israel appears to be riding high, boasting military victories and vanquished enemies. And yet, many Israelis and pro-war Jews in the diaspora do not feel confident or buoyed by success.
Instead, there is an air of defeatism and insecurity, stemming from the belief that the war for Western public opinion has been lost — a sentiment reinforced by daily images of Israel’s campaign of deliberate mass destruction across the Gaza Strip.
What Israel craves and desperately needs is not simply military prowess, but legitimacy in the public domain. And this is sorely lacking across virtually every demographic worldwide.
It is why Israel is spending at least $150 million this year alone on “public diplomacy”.
Get ready for an army of influencers, wined and dined in Tel Aviv’s restaurants and bars, to sell the virtues of Israeli democracy. Even pro-Israel journalists are beginning to question how this money is being spent, wishing Israeli PR were more responsive and effective.
Today, Israeli Jews proudly back ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza in astoundingly high numbers. This reflects a Jewish supremacist mindset that is being fed a daily diet of extremist rhetoric in mainstream media.
There is arguably no other Western country with such a high proportion of racist, genocidal mania permeating public discourse.
According to a recent poll of Western European populations, Israel is viewed unfavourably in Germany, Denmark, France, Italy and Spain.
Very few in these countries support Israeli actions. Only between 13 and 21 percent hold a positive view of Israel, compared to 63-70 percent who do not.
The US-backed Pew Research Centre also released a global survey asking people in 24 countries about their views on Israel and Palestine. In 20 of the 24 nations, at least half of adults expressed a negative opinion of the Jewish state.
A deeper reckoning Beyond Israel’s image problems lies a deeper question: can it ever expect full acceptance in the Middle East?
Apart from kings, monarchs and elites from Dubai to Riyadh and Manama to Rabat, Israel’s vicious and genocidal actions since 7 October 2023 have rendered “normalisation” impossible with a state intent on building a Jewish theocracy that subjugates millions of Arabs indefinitely.
While it is true that most states in the region are undemocratic, with gross human rights abuses a daily reality, Israel has long claimed to be different — “the only democracy in the Middle East”.
But Israel’s entire political system, built with massive Western support and grounded in an unsustainable racial hierarchy, precludes it from ever being fully and formally integrated into the region.
The American journalist Murtaza Hussain, writing for the US outlet Drop Site News, recently published a perceptive essay on this very subject.
He argues that Israeli actions have been so vile and historically grave — comparable to other modern holocausts — that they cannot be forgotten or excused, especially as they are publicly carried out with the explicit goal of ethnically cleansing Palestine:
“This genocide has been a political and cultural turning point beyond which we cannot continue as before. I express that with resignation rather than satisfaction, as it means that many generations of suffering are ahead on all sides.
“Ultimately, the goal of Israel’s opponents must not be to replicate its crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, nor to indulge in nihilistic hatred for its own sake.
“People in the region and beyond should work to build connections with those Israelis who are committed opponents of their regime, and who are ready to cooperate in the generational task of building a new political architecture.”
The issue is not just Netanyahu and his government. All his likely successors hold similarly hardline views on Palestinian rights and self-determination.
The monumental task ahead lies in crafting an alternative to today’s toxic Jewish theocracy.
But this rebuilding must also take place in the West. Far too many Jews, conservatives and evangelical Christians continue to cling to the fantasy of eradicating, silencing or expelling Arabs from their land entirely.
Pushing back against this fascism is one of the most urgent generational tasks of our time.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kim Gurney, Senior Researcher, Centre for Humanities Research — Platform: SA-UK Bilateral Digital Humanities Chair in Culture & Technics, University of the Western Cape
Independent art spaces are collectives of artists (and others) who club together to set up a communal space – often in former industrial sites and more affordable parts of the city – to further their practice. These spaces are DIY art institutions, if you like, that operate largely under the radar. In art world lingo, “offspaces”.
Designed for purpose over profit, they encourage experimental work and creative risk-taking. They also favour art in public space, which provides an intriguing lens on the city.
My Africa-wideresearch took me to five such spaces, each at least 10 years old, so that I could learn their secret sauce of sustainability. I found it’s largely about shapeshifting, a capacity for constant reinvention. The key ingredient is artistic thinking, made up of five key principles highlighted in the examples below.
Offspaces are found everywhere but have notably grown across Africa over the past couple of decades, along with fast-changing cities and a resurgent art scene. One big picture point is crucial, and that’s about urbanisation. Globally, more and more people are moving to cities and most of them are young – by 2050, one in three young people in the world will be of African origin and the continent will be largely urban.
There can be a lack of imagination about what all this means and that’s where artists come in. They offer new ideas to help build the world we want to live in, rather than reinforce the one we already have.
Offspaces in Africa have to navigate prevailing uncertainty, which is a daily reality for most people living in cities. In response, artists band together to build their own pseudo institutions, bit by bit. These self-made pathways offer useful navigational tactics for others – or “panya routes”, as Kenyans call the trails that motorbike taxis invent.
The spaces I visited were all moving away from reliance on foreign donor funding (given little or no state support) towards a hybrid model that blends with local philanthropy, collaborative economies and self-generated income schemes. They also want to own their own land and hold assets so that they can think about the future.
1. The GoDown Arts Centre – Nairobi, Kenya
Murals at the former GoDown (2010), currently being rebuilt. Katy Fentress/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
The GoDown Arts Centre was established in 2003. Previously a large compound of repurposed warehouses (“godowns”) in Nairobi’s industrial area, right now it’s a construction site as it morphs into an iconic cultural hub. GoDown 2.0 is a multipurpose vision that works at different scales, like a fractal. There will be a large, welcoming facade leading into a semi-public section for music and dance, with artist studios at the heart. Plus galleries, library, museum, auditorium, offices, hotel, a restaurant, conference facilities and parking.
Its rebuild is a great example of how artists create public space: in phases. It follows a radical “design-with-people” approach, starting with years of input from all directions to reconsider the building and its relationship to the city.
This ground-up ethos of horizontality, the first key principle, also shapes its signature event, an annual public arts festival called Nai Ni Who? (Who is Nairobi?). Local residents are the curators, and the everyday city is the artwork. Participants are taken around neighbourhoods on foot to experience the good, the bad, and the possibilities. These grounded insights also inform ongoing engagements GoDown has with policymakers about the shape of a future Nairobi.
2. ANO Institute – Accra, Ghana
ANO, established in 2002, repurposed a former workshop for car repairs into a gallery, after starting life in a public park. On the other side of the road, opposite the gallery, stood its office, residency space and growing library.
Most intriguingly, a striking rectilinear structure was positioned alongside. This Mobile Museum mimics the trading kiosks that line every street. Many are also shapeshifters: kindergarten by day, church by night, for example.
ANO’s empty museum, collapsible and see-through, went on a countrywide adventure in 2018 and 2019, asking people to imagine its contents, and later revisited with the results. It signalled a larger and ongoing effort, Future Museum, to find a more relevant exhibition form that’s alive to the fluid way culture is threaded here into everyday life.
ANO demonstrates the second principle of performativity – that is, not only saying things with art but doing things too. More recently, it rebuilt on a new site in central Accra, designed by 87-year-old Ophelia Akiwumi, entirely from raffia palm in a focus on indigenous knowledge systems.
3. Townhouse Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
I visited Townhouse just after it reclaimed its inner-city premises following a partial physical collapse. But this turned out to be a false restart. It closed for good not long after, citing a complex brew of factors that ended 21 years of various battles and resurrections. That it survived so long – from 1998 until 2019 – is remarkable for an offspace.
Part of the reason was its solidarity networks, including with neighbourhood communities – mostly mechanic shops and other artisanal trades who even helped Townhouse rebuild. In its heyday, Townhouse comprised an art gallery, library, theatre and performance venue, and notably hatched other spaces.
The latest rose like a phoenix from its ashes – Access Art Space, which reanimates the same physical space with visual art exhibitions. The legacy of Townhouse is the third principle of elasticity – responding nimbly to constant flux but also being able to refuse impossible conditions with “the right no” (a necessary response in certain situations).
4. ZOMA Museum – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ZOMA Museum has also lived many lives. Starting small, its roots were in a three-day public arts festival called Giziawi #1 (Temporary). It comprised performances and exhibitions across the city but focused on Meskel Square, a key public space.
Zoma Contemporary Art Centre grew out of that in 2002, followed in 2019 by Zoma Museum when its co-founders bought a plot of polluted land. Its rehabilitation into an ecological haven has become a case study in sustainable architecture.
Zoma is built by local artisans from mud and straw using indigenous technologies going back centuries. Yet its elegant buildings look futuristic. Zoma is all about the fourth principle of convergence – the past, present and future all happening at once. It’s also about doing multiple things, like running Zoma School, an inherited kindergarten. The land is part of the curriculum.
Just a year after it opened, Zoma spawned yet another life, an offshoot in a newly opened park blending nature with culture and recreation.
5. Nafasi Art Space – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Nafasi is Swahili for opportunity or chance, which fittingly describes the workings of Nafasi Art Space, established in 2008 – that is, second chance. This fifth and final principle of artistic thinking means giving materials, people and situations another go.
A good example of this is Nafasi’s new art school, built using repurposed shipping containers, like the rest of its premises – artist studios, a spacious gallery and performance arena. In the 2022 academy cohort, a general practice lawyer and an accountant were learning alongside artists, with a biologist at the helm.
Nafasi Art Academy cites the city’s biggest local market, Kariakoo, as design reference, particularly its distinctive elevated canopy and swirling stairwell. The curriculum also takes local context as a starting point, structured in themes to answer community-led questions. Its key function, like all the other offspaces, is storytelling. And the story it tells best is about institution-building as art.
The research behind this article was supported by the South African Research Chair in Urban Policy at UCT’s African Centre for Cities, where the author was previously affiliated.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kim Gurney, Senior Researcher, Centre for Humanities Research — Platform: SA-UK Bilateral Digital Humanities Chair in Culture & Technics, University of the Western Cape
Independent art spaces are collectives of artists (and others) who club together to set up a communal space – often in former industrial sites and more affordable parts of the city – to further their practice. These spaces are DIY art institutions, if you like, that operate largely under the radar. In art world lingo, “offspaces”.
Designed for purpose over profit, they encourage experimental work and creative risk-taking. They also favour art in public space, which provides an intriguing lens on the city.
My Africa-wideresearch took me to five such spaces, each at least 10 years old, so that I could learn their secret sauce of sustainability. I found it’s largely about shapeshifting, a capacity for constant reinvention. The key ingredient is artistic thinking, made up of five key principles highlighted in the examples below.
Offspaces are found everywhere but have notably grown across Africa over the past couple of decades, along with fast-changing cities and a resurgent art scene. One big picture point is crucial, and that’s about urbanisation. Globally, more and more people are moving to cities and most of them are young – by 2050, one in three young people in the world will be of African origin and the continent will be largely urban.
There can be a lack of imagination about what all this means and that’s where artists come in. They offer new ideas to help build the world we want to live in, rather than reinforce the one we already have.
Offspaces in Africa have to navigate prevailing uncertainty, which is a daily reality for most people living in cities. In response, artists band together to build their own pseudo institutions, bit by bit. These self-made pathways offer useful navigational tactics for others – or “panya routes”, as Kenyans call the trails that motorbike taxis invent.
The spaces I visited were all moving away from reliance on foreign donor funding (given little or no state support) towards a hybrid model that blends with local philanthropy, collaborative economies and self-generated income schemes. They also want to own their own land and hold assets so that they can think about the future.
1. The GoDown Arts Centre – Nairobi, Kenya
Murals at the former GoDown (2010), currently being rebuilt. Katy Fentress/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
The GoDown Arts Centre was established in 2003. Previously a large compound of repurposed warehouses (“godowns”) in Nairobi’s industrial area, right now it’s a construction site as it morphs into an iconic cultural hub. GoDown 2.0 is a multipurpose vision that works at different scales, like a fractal. There will be a large, welcoming facade leading into a semi-public section for music and dance, with artist studios at the heart. Plus galleries, library, museum, auditorium, offices, hotel, a restaurant, conference facilities and parking.
Its rebuild is a great example of how artists create public space: in phases. It follows a radical “design-with-people” approach, starting with years of input from all directions to reconsider the building and its relationship to the city.
This ground-up ethos of horizontality, the first key principle, also shapes its signature event, an annual public arts festival called Nai Ni Who? (Who is Nairobi?). Local residents are the curators, and the everyday city is the artwork. Participants are taken around neighbourhoods on foot to experience the good, the bad, and the possibilities. These grounded insights also inform ongoing engagements GoDown has with policymakers about the shape of a future Nairobi.
2. ANO Institute – Accra, Ghana
ANO, established in 2002, repurposed a former workshop for car repairs into a gallery, after starting life in a public park. On the other side of the road, opposite the gallery, stood its office, residency space and growing library.
Most intriguingly, a striking rectilinear structure was positioned alongside. This Mobile Museum mimics the trading kiosks that line every street. Many are also shapeshifters: kindergarten by day, church by night, for example.
ANO’s empty museum, collapsible and see-through, went on a countrywide adventure in 2018 and 2019, asking people to imagine its contents, and later revisited with the results. It signalled a larger and ongoing effort, Future Museum, to find a more relevant exhibition form that’s alive to the fluid way culture is threaded here into everyday life.
ANO demonstrates the second principle of performativity – that is, not only saying things with art but doing things too. More recently, it rebuilt on a new site in central Accra, designed by 87-year-old Ophelia Akiwumi, entirely from raffia palm in a focus on indigenous knowledge systems.
3. Townhouse Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
I visited Townhouse just after it reclaimed its inner-city premises following a partial physical collapse. But this turned out to be a false restart. It closed for good not long after, citing a complex brew of factors that ended 21 years of various battles and resurrections. That it survived so long – from 1998 until 2019 – is remarkable for an offspace.
Part of the reason was its solidarity networks, including with neighbourhood communities – mostly mechanic shops and other artisanal trades who even helped Townhouse rebuild. In its heyday, Townhouse comprised an art gallery, library, theatre and performance venue, and notably hatched other spaces.
The latest rose like a phoenix from its ashes – Access Art Space, which reanimates the same physical space with visual art exhibitions. The legacy of Townhouse is the third principle of elasticity – responding nimbly to constant flux but also being able to refuse impossible conditions with “the right no” (a necessary response in certain situations).
4. ZOMA Museum – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ZOMA Museum has also lived many lives. Starting small, its roots were in a three-day public arts festival called Giziawi #1 (Temporary). It comprised performances and exhibitions across the city but focused on Meskel Square, a key public space.
Zoma Contemporary Art Centre grew out of that in 2002, followed in 2019 by Zoma Museum when its co-founders bought a plot of polluted land. Its rehabilitation into an ecological haven has become a case study in sustainable architecture.
Zoma is built by local artisans from mud and straw using indigenous technologies going back centuries. Yet its elegant buildings look futuristic. Zoma is all about the fourth principle of convergence – the past, present and future all happening at once. It’s also about doing multiple things, like running Zoma School, an inherited kindergarten. The land is part of the curriculum.
Just a year after it opened, Zoma spawned yet another life, an offshoot in a newly opened park blending nature with culture and recreation.
5. Nafasi Art Space – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Nafasi is Swahili for opportunity or chance, which fittingly describes the workings of Nafasi Art Space, established in 2008 – that is, second chance. This fifth and final principle of artistic thinking means giving materials, people and situations another go.
A good example of this is Nafasi’s new art school, built using repurposed shipping containers, like the rest of its premises – artist studios, a spacious gallery and performance arena. In the 2022 academy cohort, a general practice lawyer and an accountant were learning alongside artists, with a biologist at the helm.
Nafasi Art Academy cites the city’s biggest local market, Kariakoo, as design reference, particularly its distinctive elevated canopy and swirling stairwell. The curriculum also takes local context as a starting point, structured in themes to answer community-led questions. Its key function, like all the other offspaces, is storytelling. And the story it tells best is about institution-building as art.
The research behind this article was supported by the South African Research Chair in Urban Policy at UCT’s African Centre for Cities, where the author was previously affiliated.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kim Gurney, Senior Researcher, Centre for Humanities Research — Platform: SA-UK Bilateral Digital Humanities Chair in Culture & Technics, University of the Western Cape
Independent art spaces are collectives of artists (and others) who club together to set up a communal space – often in former industrial sites and more affordable parts of the city – to further their practice. These spaces are DIY art institutions, if you like, that operate largely under the radar. In art world lingo, “offspaces”.
Designed for purpose over profit, they encourage experimental work and creative risk-taking. They also favour art in public space, which provides an intriguing lens on the city.
My Africa-wideresearch took me to five such spaces, each at least 10 years old, so that I could learn their secret sauce of sustainability. I found it’s largely about shapeshifting, a capacity for constant reinvention. The key ingredient is artistic thinking, made up of five key principles highlighted in the examples below.
Offspaces are found everywhere but have notably grown across Africa over the past couple of decades, along with fast-changing cities and a resurgent art scene. One big picture point is crucial, and that’s about urbanisation. Globally, more and more people are moving to cities and most of them are young – by 2050, one in three young people in the world will be of African origin and the continent will be largely urban.
There can be a lack of imagination about what all this means and that’s where artists come in. They offer new ideas to help build the world we want to live in, rather than reinforce the one we already have.
Offspaces in Africa have to navigate prevailing uncertainty, which is a daily reality for most people living in cities. In response, artists band together to build their own pseudo institutions, bit by bit. These self-made pathways offer useful navigational tactics for others – or “panya routes”, as Kenyans call the trails that motorbike taxis invent.
The spaces I visited were all moving away from reliance on foreign donor funding (given little or no state support) towards a hybrid model that blends with local philanthropy, collaborative economies and self-generated income schemes. They also want to own their own land and hold assets so that they can think about the future.
1. The GoDown Arts Centre – Nairobi, Kenya
Murals at the former GoDown (2010), currently being rebuilt.Katy Fentress/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
The GoDown Arts Centre was established in 2003. Previously a large compound of repurposed warehouses (“godowns”) in Nairobi’s industrial area, right now it’s a construction site as it morphs into an iconic cultural hub. GoDown 2.0 is a multipurpose vision that works at different scales, like a fractal. There will be a large, welcoming facade leading into a semi-public section for music and dance, with artist studios at the heart. Plus galleries, library, museum, auditorium, offices, hotel, a restaurant, conference facilities and parking.
Its rebuild is a great example of how artists create public space: in phases. It follows a radical “design-with-people” approach, starting with years of input from all directions to reconsider the building and its relationship to the city.
This ground-up ethos of horizontality, the first key principle, also shapes its signature event, an annual public arts festival called Nai Ni Who? (Who is Nairobi?). Local residents are the curators, and the everyday city is the artwork. Participants are taken around neighbourhoods on foot to experience the good, the bad, and the possibilities. These grounded insights also inform ongoing engagements GoDown has with policymakers about the shape of a future Nairobi.
2. ANO Institute – Accra, Ghana
ANO Institute’s Mobile Museum in Accra.Kim Gurney
ANO, established in 2002, repurposed a former workshop for car repairs into a gallery, after starting life in a public park. On the other side of the road, opposite the gallery, stood its office, residency space and growing library.
Most intriguingly, a striking rectilinear structure was positioned alongside. This Mobile Museum mimics the trading kiosks that line every street. Many are also shapeshifters: kindergarten by day, church by night, for example.
ANO’s empty museum, collapsible and see-through, went on a countrywide adventure in 2018 and 2019, asking people to imagine its contents, and later revisited with the results. It signalled a larger and ongoing effort, Future Museum, to find a more relevant exhibition form that’s alive to the fluid way culture is threaded here into everyday life.
ANO demonstrates the second principle of performativity – that is, not only saying things with art but doing things too. More recently, it rebuilt on a new site in central Accra, designed by 87-year-old Ophelia Akiwumi, entirely from raffia palm in a focus on indigenous knowledge systems.
3. Townhouse Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
Townhouse Gallery in 2019, exhibiting paintings by Imane Ibrahim.Kim Gurney
I visited Townhouse just after it reclaimed its inner-city premises following a partial physical collapse. But this turned out to be a false restart. It closed for good not long after, citing a complex brew of factors that ended 21 years of various battles and resurrections. That it survived so long – from 1998 until 2019 – is remarkable for an offspace.
Part of the reason was its solidarity networks, including with neighbourhood communities – mostly mechanic shops and other artisanal trades who even helped Townhouse rebuild. In its heyday, Townhouse comprised an art gallery, library, theatre and performance venue, and notably hatched other spaces.
The latest rose like a phoenix from its ashes – Access Art Space, which reanimates the same physical space with visual art exhibitions. The legacy of Townhouse is the third principle of elasticity – responding nimbly to constant flux but also being able to refuse impossible conditions with “the right no” (a necessary response in certain situations).
4. ZOMA Museum – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
One of Zoma Museum’s buildings crafted by local artisans using time-honoured building techniques.Kim Gurney
ZOMA Museum has also lived many lives. Starting small, its roots were in a three-day public arts festival called Giziawi #1 (Temporary). It comprised performances and exhibitions across the city but focused on Meskel Square, a key public space.
Zoma Contemporary Art Centre grew out of that in 2002, followed in 2019 by Zoma Museum when its co-founders bought a plot of polluted land. Its rehabilitation into an ecological haven has become a case study in sustainable architecture.
Zoma is built by local artisans from mud and straw using indigenous technologies going back centuries. Yet its elegant buildings look futuristic. Zoma is all about the fourth principle of convergence – the past, present and future all happening at once. It’s also about doing multiple things, like running Zoma School, an inherited kindergarten. The land is part of the curriculum.
Just a year after it opened, Zoma spawned yet another life, an offshoot in a newly opened park blending nature with culture and recreation.
5. Nafasi Art Space – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The classroom at Nafasi’s self-built art school in Dar es Salaam.Kim Gurney
Nafasi is Swahili for opportunity or chance, which fittingly describes the workings of Nafasi Art Space, established in 2008 – that is, second chance. This fifth and final principle of artistic thinking means giving materials, people and situations another go.
A good example of this is Nafasi’s new art school, built using repurposed shipping containers, like the rest of its premises – artist studios, a spacious gallery and performance arena. In the 2022 academy cohort, a general practice lawyer and an accountant were learning alongside artists, with a biologist at the helm.
Nafasi Art Academy cites the city’s biggest local market, Kariakoo, as design reference, particularly its distinctive elevated canopy and swirling stairwell. The curriculum also takes local context as a starting point, structured in themes to answer community-led questions. Its key function, like all the other offspaces, is storytelling. And the story it tells best is about institution-building as art.
– 5 indie art spaces in African cities worth knowing more about – https://theconversation.com/5-indie-art-spaces-in-african-cities-worth-knowing-more-about-258009
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities could last for at least two weeks.
His timing seems precise for a reason. The Israel Defence Forces and the country’s intelligence agencies have clearly devised a methodical, step-by-step campaign.
Israeli forces initially focused on decapitating the Iranian military and scientific leadership and, just as importantly, destroying virtually all of Iran’s air defences.
Israeli aircraft can not only operate freely over Iranian air space now, they can refuel and deposit more special forces at key sites to enable precision bombing of targets and attacks on hidden or well-protected nuclear facilities.
In public statements since the start of the campaign, Netanyahu has highlighted two key aims: to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, and to encourage the Iranian people to overthrow the clerical regime.
With those two objectives in mind, how might the conflict end? Several broad scenarios are possible.
A return to negotiations
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, was to have attended a sixth round of talks with his Iranian counterparts on Sunday aimed at a deal to replace the Iran nuclear agreement negotiated under the Obama administration in 2015. Trump withdrew from that agreement during his first term in 2018, despite Iran’s apparent compliance to that point.
Netanyahu was opposed to the 2015 agreement and has indicated he does not believe Iran is serious about a replacement.
So, accepting negotiations as an outcome of the Israeli bombing campaign would be a massive climbdown by Netanyahu. He wants to use the defanging of Iran to reestablish his security credentials after the Hamas attacks of October 2023.
Even though Trump continues to press Iran to accept a deal, negotiations are off the table for now. Trump won’t be able to persuade Netanyahu to stop the bombing campaign to restart negotiations.
Complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear program
Destruction of Iran’s nuclear program would involve destroying all known sites, including the Fordow uranium enrichment facility, about 100 kilometres south of Tehran.
According to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi, the facility is located about half a mile underground, beneath a mountain. It is probably beyond the reach of even the US’ 2,000-pound deep penetration bombs.
The entrances and ventilation shafts of the facility could be closed by causing landslides. But that would be a temporary solution.
Taking out Fordow entirely would require an Israeli special forces attack. This is certainly possible, given Israel’s success in getting operatives into Iran to date. But questions would remain about how extensively the facility could be damaged and then how quickly it could be rebuilt.
And destruction of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges – used to enrich uranium to create a bomb – would be only one step in dismantling its program.
Israel would also have to secure or eliminate Iran’s stock of uranium already enriched to 60% purity. This is sufficient for up to ten nuclear bombs if enriched to the weapons-grade 90% purity.
But does Israeli intelligence know where that stock is?
Collapse of the Iranian regime
Collapse of the Iranian regime is certainly possible, particularly given Israel’s removal of Iran’s most senior military leaders since its attacks began on Friday, including the heads of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian armed forces.
And anti-regime demonstrations over the years, most recently the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests after the death in police custody of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, in 2022, have shown how unpopular the regime is.
That said, the regime has survived many challenges since coming to power in 1979, including war with Iraq in the 1980s and massive sanctions. It has developed remarkably efficient security systems that have enabled it to remain in place.
Another uncertainty at this stage is whether Israeli attacks on civilian targets might engender a “rally round the flag” movement among Iranians.
Netanyahu said in recent days that Israel had indications the remaining senior regime figures were packing their bags in preparation for fleeing the country. But he gave no evidence.
A major party joins the fight
Could the US become involved in the fighting?
This can’t be ruled out. Iran’s UN ambassador directly accused the US of assisting Israel with its strikes.
That is almost certainly true, given the close intelligence sharing between the US and Israel. Moreover, senior Republicans, such as Senator Lindsey Graham, have called on Trump to order US forces to help Israel “finish the job”.
Trump would probably be loath to do this, particularly given his criticism of the “forever wars” of previous US administrations. But if Iran or pro-Iranian forces were to strike a US base or military asset in the region, pressure would mount on Trump to retaliate.
Another factor is that Trump probably wants the war to end as quickly as possible. His administration will be aware the longer a conflict drags on, the more likely unforeseen factors will arise.
Could Russia become involved on Iran’s side? At this stage that’s probably unlikely. Russia did not intervene in Syria late last year to try to protect the collapsing Assad regime. And Russia has plenty on its plate with the war in Ukraine.
Russia criticised the Israeli attack when it started, but appears not to have taken any action to help Iran defend itself.
And could regional powers such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates become involved?
Though they have a substantial arsenal of US military equipment, the two countries have no interest in becoming caught up in the conflict. The Gulf Arab monarchies have engaged in a rapprochement with Iran in recent years after decades of outright hostility. Nobody would want to put this at risk.
Uncertainties predominate
We don’t know the extent of Iran’s arsenal of missiles and rockets. In its initial retaliation to Israel’s strikes, Iran has been able to partially overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system, causing civilian casualties.
If it can continue to do this, causing more civilian casualties, Israelis already unhappy with Netanyahu over the Gaza war might start to question his wisdom in starting another conflict.
But we are nowhere near that point. Though it’s too early for reliable opinion polling, most Israelis almost certainly applaud Netanyahu’s action so far to cripple Iran’s nuclear program. In addition, Netanyahu has threatened to make Tehran “burn” if Iran deliberately targets Israeli civilians.
We can be confident that Iran does not have any surprises in store. Israel has severely weakened its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. They are clearly in no position to assist Iran through diversionary attacks.
The big question will be what comes after the war. Iran will almost certainly withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and forbid more inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Israel will probably be able to destroy Iran’s existing nuclear facilities, but it’s only a question of when – not if – Iran will reconstitute them.
This means the likelihood of Iran trying to secure a nuclear bomb in order to deter future Israeli attacks will be much higher. And the region will remain in a precarious place.
Ian Parmeter 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.
An expert group will assist Ministers on how to maximise the economic benefits of Scotland’s multi-billion technology sector.
A new Scottish Technology Council will help shape policy, provide a link between businesses and the Scottish Government and promote Scottish tech companies on the international stage.
The tech sector is already a significant economic asset and employer. Latest figures show Scotland’s 6,800 information and communication technologies enterprises alone employed 67,800 staff in 2022 while the wider life sciences cluster supported 46,900 jobs in the same year.
Council membership includes industry leaders and academics with a range of experience in international markets, including health and life sciences, financial services, data and AI, advanced manufacturing and space.
Ahead of the council’s first meeting on Tuesday, Minister for Business and Employment Richard Lochhead said:
“Innovation is part of Scotland’s DNA. It is embedded in our culture and our society – and it has the potential to turbocharge our economy. From leading the industrial revolution to television, ultrasound and pioneering renewable technology, Scotland’s inventions have helped shape the world around us and transformed industries and lives.
“Our goal is to help Scotland become a leading tech nation. To ensure the world recognises our pioneering spirit as not just a thing of the past, but as a vital part of our future and to create an environment where businesses and entrepreneurs can flourish, develop new technologies and drive meaningful change.
“Our world is increasingly fast-paced and the council will provide valuable insight from vastly experienced leaders in their fields, who have built their careers at the cutting edge, as we strive to support the sector to deliver high value jobs for generations of Scots, boost international trade and increase our tax revenue to deliver vital public services.”
Background
The initiative fulfils a Programme for Government commitment to establish a council of global business and academic experts to advise government on applying and benefiting from emerging technological trends.
The council will be chaired by the Minister for Business and Employment. Membership comprises:
Prof. Qammer Abbasi, CEng, SMIEEE, FRSA, FEAI, FIET, FRSE, Professor of Applied Electromagnetics & Sensing with the James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow.
Dr. Caroline Barelle MBA, CEO, Elasmogan which specialises in Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Medical technology, Regenerative medicine
Michael Boniface, CEO, Kythera AI.
Catriona Campbell MBE, AI Partner at Ernest Young and Chair of the Scottish AI Alliance.
Sherry Coutu CBE, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director, Raspberry Pi Trading
Gerard Cunningham, Board Member, Stem, Inc. 30 years’ experience in Silicon Valley.
Sheila Flavell CBE, President TechUK. 32 years operating within the international IT space.
Sheryl Newman, Founder and CEO, Appetite for Business – Board Member, ScotlandIS.
Prof. Peter Proud, CEO and Founder, Forrit.
Prof. Michael Rovatsos, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh
Jim Rowan, Former CEO of Volvo, Former CEO of the Dyson Group and Former COO of Blackberry.
Prof. Ifor Samuel, Professor of Physics, University of St Andrews.
Dr Graham Spittle CBE FBCS FRSA Dean of Innovation, University of Edinburgh.
Prof. Melissa Terras (MBE FREng), Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage, University of Edinburgh
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhua) — The Chinese city of Baicheng, northeast China’s Jilin Province, recently hosted a China-Russia symposium on technological innovation in specific agriculture and development of winter rye agro-industrial complex.
The event promoted contacts between Chinese and Russian agronomists in jointly opening up new horizons for agricultural development in cold regions, and deepened cooperation between Jilin Province and Russia and Kazakhstan in the field of special crops, China Daily reported.
Following the symposium, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences (AAS) of Baicheng City and the Federal Agricultural Research Center of the North-East named after N.V. Rudnitsky signed a Chinese-Russian framework agreement on cooperation in the development of winter rye.
As Ren Changzhong, a leading Chinese agronomist, reported at the symposium, the staff of the Baicheng City ASN and their Russian colleagues jointly bred a new frost-resistant winter rye variety BK01, which has already moved from laboratory cultivation to mass distribution for field cultivation in the provinces of Jilin, Liaoning and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The variety has excellent prospects in the field of agro-industrial development both for obtaining raw materials for the production of environmentally friendly food products and for the production of livestock feed.
According to Ren Changzhong, who is also the director of the China-Russia Joint International Laboratory of Specialized Agriculture, both the international scientific and technological cooperation base established by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China and the aforementioned laboratory established by the Science and Technology Administration of Jilin Province operate under the ASN of Baicheng City. With the help of these two institutions, the ASN has been constantly strengthening scientific and technological cooperation with the Russian side in recent years, carrying out mutual support in scientific research and sharing useful resources with it, so as to jointly promote the technological modernization of the agro-industrial complexes of the two countries.
“We hope to deepen exchanges and cooperation with our Russian colleagues in the field of selection, cultivation and deep processing of such specific agricultural crops as oats, winter rye, buckwheat and pasture grasses in order to achieve new technological breakthroughs and promote the entry of specific agricultural products into an even wider market,” said Guo Laichun, director of the Baicheng City ASN. -0-
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhua) — China’s foreign trade with five Central Asian countries increased by 10.4 percent year-on-year to 286.42 billion yuan (about 39.91 billion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of this year, hitting a new all-time high, the General Administration of Customs said Sunday.
According to the agency, during the specified period, exports from China to five Central Asian countries amounted to 188.18 billion yuan, increasing by 5.6 percent year-on-year, while imports from five Central Asian countries to China grew by 21 percent year-on-year to 98.24 billion yuan.
In particular, in January-May of this year, the volume of agricultural imports from five Central Asian countries to China amounted to 4.36 billion yuan, which is 26.9 percent more than a year earlier.
In addition, during the reporting period, China’s foreign trade volume with the five Central Asian countries via road transport amounted to 143.65 billion yuan, up 10.9 percent year-on-year. -0-
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, June 15 /Xinhua/ — Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the escalation of tensions in the Middle East during a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said. The information was released by the Russian president’s press service on the same day.
“The conversation between the Russian President and the US President lasted 50 minutes. The exchange of opinions focused on the dangerous escalation of the situation in the Middle East. V. Putin, having condemned Israel’s military operation against Iran, expressed serious concern about the possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the region,” noted Yu. Ushakov.
According to him, V. Putin informed his American colleague about the telephone contacts he had with the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Iran. The importance of preventing the escalation of the conflict and the readiness of the Russian side to carry out possible mediation efforts were emphasized.
“Russia’s fundamental approach and interest in the settlement remain unchanged. And, as V. Putin noted, we will continue to act based on this. D. Trump, for his part, also assessed the situation as very alarming, although he acknowledged the effectiveness of Israel’s strikes on targets in Iran. But it is characteristic that the Russian and American presidents, despite such a complicated situation, do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on the Iranian nuclear program,” emphasized Y. Ushakov.
He also reported that, as D. Trump noted, the team of American negotiators is ready to resume work with Iranian representatives.
“In addition, during the conversation, V. Putin informed D. Trump about the implementation of the agreements reached at the meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on June 2. V. Putin noted that these days, an exchange of prisoners of war is taking place, including seriously wounded, and prisoners of war under 25 years of age. Ukraine also accepted two batches of bodies of the dead. The Russian side expressed its readiness to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians, as agreed, after June 22. D. Trump took note of this information and once again noted his interest in the speedy end of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” Y. Ushakov summarized. –0–
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
SANAA, June 15 (Xinhua) — Israel carried out an airstrike on Sunday night on a house in the Yemeni capital Sanaa where a source close to the Houthis said a “secret meeting of senior Houthi leaders” was taking place.
The house, located in southern Sanaa, was surrounded by Houthi security forces as ambulances rushed to the scene.
Local anti-Houthi media reported on social media that the meeting was chaired by Supreme Political Council head Mahdi al-Mashat and Houthi army chief of staff Abdulkarim al-Ghumari.
Other media reported that the secret meeting was also attended by Houthi top leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, head of the Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee Mohammed Ali al-Houthi and Houthi military intelligence chief Abu Ali al-Hakim.
The Houthis have not yet made an official statement.
Residents living near the attack site told Xinhua they saw at least 10 charred bodies at the scene.
The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, have been launching attacks on Israel since November 2023 in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war in Gaza.
The Houthis strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran, vowing in a statement to step up attacks on Israel with long-range missiles. -0-
World number one Jannik Sinner wants to use the Halle Open as a chance to bounce back from sleepless nights after his agonising loss to rival Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open final this month.
In a thrilling showdown, Sinner took the first two sets and had three match points in the fourth set, but Spaniard Alcaraz persevered to grind out a 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(10-2) win in five hours and 29 minutes – the longest final at Roland Garros.
Asked if he had thought about the championship points he failed to convert, Sinner told reporters on Saturday: “Often. It happens. I don’t know how it will look in the future.
“I think that it is not the most important thing, but I nevertheless try to forget the negative things and see what I can do here” in Halle.
“I think that for me to play another tournament is positive, because every match is a new beginning, and I must be mentally ready to give my all on the court. Therefore, it is great I can be here in Halle. Yes, I had already a few sleepless nights, but I think every day it gets better.”
The 23-year-old Italian is the reigning champion at Halle and will seek to defend his crown at the tournament, which starts on Monday, as he gears up for Wimbledon, which will be held from June 30 to July 13 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
“The first practice session was OK. I hadn’t played since Paris, so my general feelings on the court were not so perfect,” Sinner said.
“I think a good grass-court player can move well. The ball can bounce a bit funny because of the grass, and you have to serve intelligently.
“But in general, it is a surface on which I took a step forward last year and we will see how it goes this year.”
Iran and Israel have entered their deadliest phase of direct conflict yet, with at least 10 people killed in Israeli cities and massive fires reported at an oil depot in Tehran following reciprocal strikes on June 15. This marks the third consecutive day of military exchanges, as both governments vow further action amid a rising humanitarian toll and growing regional instability.
Devastation in Israeli Cities
Emergency services in Israel are racing against time to locate seven individuals still trapped beneath rubble. Ongoing rocket fire has hampered rescue operations, even as more than 300 Israelis have been injured since Iran launched its missile barrage on Friday. Hospitals in central and northern Israel are operating at full capacity.
Air raid sirens wailed throughout the day across Israeli cities as residential areas suffered direct hits. In Bat Yam, six people were killed after an Iranian missile struck an apartment building. Rescue workers sifted through collapsed concrete and twisted metal to reach survivors. In Tamra, near Haifa, four individuals were confirmed dead after a two-story home was destroyed in the attacks.
The Weizmann Institute of Science, a leading research university located in Rehovot, also sustained damage during the missile onslaught, with several of its facilities reportedly hit.
Israeli Strikes on Tehran
In retaliation, Israeli warplanes launched a barrage of airstrikes on key infrastructure in Iran, including a major oil facility in Tehran. The attack sparked massive fires that sent thick plumes of black smoke over the city. The Israeli military dubbed the retaliatory operation “Operation Rising Lion,” targeting Iran’s Defense Ministry headquarters and other nuclear-linked sites.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made his first public appearance since the strikes began, stating, “If Israeli attacks cease, our responses will also stop.”
Regional Fallout
Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen claimed responsibility for coordinating their own strikes on Israeli targets, signaling the potential expansion of the conflict into a broader regional confrontation.
The violence has already disrupted diplomatic processes. Oman confirmed the cancellation of the sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations scheduled in Muscat today, citing the “ongoing hostilities” as the reason.
The Israeli intelligence operation that preceded Iran’s retaliation reportedly led to the deaths of three senior Iranian military commanders and two nuclear scientists—described by analysts as one of the most significant Israeli blows to Iran in years.
Although no nuclear accidents have been confirmed, international observers have voiced concern over potential radiation and chemical exposure due to strikes on sensitive Iranian sites.
Escalating Rhetoric and Military Posture
Both countries have enacted military censorship and closed parts of their respective airspaces. In a stark warning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Iran has seen only a fraction of what Israel is capable of.” Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have promised a “far more forceful” response should Israeli attacks continue.
The weekend attacks on Iran’s oil facilities – widely seen as part of escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran – represent a dangerous moment for global energy security.
While the physical damage to Iran’s production facilities is still being assessed, the broader strategic implications are already rippling through global oil markets. There is widespread concern about supply security and the inflationary consequences for both advanced and emerging economies.
The global impact
Iran, which holds about 9% of the world’s proven oil reserves, currently exports between 1.5 and 2 million barrels per day, primarily to China, despite long-standing United States sanctions.
While its oil output is not as globally integrated as that of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, any disruption to Iranian production or export routes – especially the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply flows – poses a systemic risk.
Markets have already reacted. Brent crude prices rose more than US 6%, while West Texas Intermediate price increased by over US 5% immediately after the attacks.
These price movements reflect not only short-term supply concerns but also the addition of a geopolitical risk premium due to fears of broader regional conflict.
International oil prices may increase further as the conflict continues. Analysts expect that Australian petrol prices will increase in the next few weeks, as domestic fuel costs respond to international benchmarks with a lag.
Escalation and strategic intentions
There is growing concern this conflict could escalate further. In particular, Israel may intensify its targeting of Iranian oil facilities, as part of a broader strategy to weaken Iran’s economic capacity and deter further proxy activities.
Should this occur, it would put even more upward pressure on global oil prices. Unlike isolated sabotage events, a sustained campaign against Iranian energy infrastructure would likely lead to tighter global supply conditions. This would be a near certainty if Iranian retaliatory actions disrupt shipping routes or neighbouring producers.
Countries most affected
Countries reliant on oil imports – especially in Asia – are the most exposed to such shocks in the short term.
India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh rely heavily on Middle Eastern oil and are particularly vulnerable to both supply interruptions and price increases. These economies typically have limited strategic petroleum reserves and face external balance pressures when oil prices rise.
China, despite being Iran’s largest oil customer, has greater insulation due to its diversified suppliers and substantial reserves.
However, sustained instability in the Persian Gulf would raise freight and insurance costs even for Chinese refiners, especially if the Strait of Hormuz becomes a contested zone. The strait, between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, provides the only sea access from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
Australia’s exposure
Australia does not import oil directly from Iran. Most of its crude and refined products are sourced from countries including South Korea, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
However, because Australian fuel prices are pegged to international benchmarks such as Brent and Singapore Mogas, domestic prices will rise in response to the global increase in oil prices, regardless of whether Australian refineries process Iranian oil.
These price increases will have flow-on effects, raising transport and freight costs across the economy. Industries such as agriculture, logistics, aviation and construction will feel the pinch, and higher operating costs are likely to be passed on to consumers.
Broader economic impacts
The conflict could also disrupt global shipping routes, particularly if Iran retaliates through its proxies by targeting vessels in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, or Hormuz Strait.
Any such disruption could drive up shipping insurance, delay delivery times, and compound existing global supply chain vulnerabilities. More broadly, this supply shock could rekindle inflationary pressures in many countries.
For Australia, it could delay monetary easing by the Reserve Bank of Australia and reduce consumer confidence if household fuel costs rise significantly. Globally, central banks may adopt a more cautious approach to rate cuts if oil-driven inflation proves persistent.
The attacks on Iran’s oil fields, and the likelihood of further escalation, present a renewed threat to global energy stability. Even though Australia does not import Iranian oil, it remains exposed through price transmission, supply chain effects and inflationary pressures.
A sustained campaign targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure by Israel could amplify these risks, leading to a broader energy shock that would affect oil-importing economies worldwide.
Strategic reserve management and diplomatic engagement will be essential to contain the fallout.
Joaquin Vespignani is affiliated with the Centre for Australian Macroeconomic Analysis, Australian National University.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
A foreign visitor (L) learns about a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) charging station during the fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo at Changsha International Convention and Exhibition Center in Changsha, central China’s Hunan Province, June 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)
An EV charging station in south China’s tech hub of Shenzhen is fueling a quiet transformation to green mobility amid the low hum of energy flow.
As a steady stream of electric vehicles entered bays at the Lotus Hill supercharging station in Shenzhen’s Futian District, a young man surnamed Sun gestured toward his rapidly charging sedan at a 600kW hypercharger.
“An hour elsewhere, just 20 minutes here,” he said. “This is Shenzhen speed.”
Sun’s experience is soon expected to be shared by millions of EV owners across China, where the number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) had reached 31.4 million by the end of 2024 — accounting for more than half of the world’s total, as shown by official data.
Such infrastructure development is critical for the world’s largest EV market, where stations like Lotus Hill are engineering the future of mobility.
Since opening six months ago, this technological beacon in Shenzhen has become the preferred pitstop for discerning EV drivers, attracting over 600 vehicles daily.
Lotus Hill’s 27 charging points, including four record-setting 600kW hyperchargers, run near capacity.
“One kilometer per second,” explained a technician monitoring the control system. This means that an average family car can potentially secure over 80 percent of it’s maximum battery life within 10 minutes of charging.
For drivers like Sun, who visits Lotus Hill twice weekly, the difference is transformative. “No queues, even at rush hour. It rewrites your schedule,” said Sun.
However, this innovation extends deeper.
The station’s core innovation, China’s first integration of “solar storage, hypercharging, vehicle-grid interaction and OpenHarmony for Power operating system (OS),” makes it a linchpin in supporting the nation’s EV ambitions.
Lotus Hill’s 152 kW solar canopy and 200 kWh battery storage bank combine to enable true “green electrons for green wheels,” but its transformative potential truly lies in its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities.
Through V2G technology, equipped across 22 specialized charging piles offering 36 outlets, EVs transform into mobile power units.
A compelling demonstration occurred in March 2025 during China’s largest V2G event, when the Lotus Hill station discharged 13,000 kWh into the grid daily — equivalent to powering 1,600 households for a whole day.
Drivers, meanwhile, aren’t just fueling the future. They are also profiting, earning 4 yuan (about 0.56 U.S. dollar) per kWh discharged, said Zhang Jiasen, a senior manager at the power supply bureau of Futian District under the Shenzhen branch of China Southern Power Grid.
Contrasted with off-peak charging costs of 0.4 yuan per kWh, the benefit is clear — a net gain of 3.6 yuan per kWh.
Managing such complex interoperability, which involves integrating diverse vehicles and chargers, requires robust technical architecture. Notably, five advanced piles at Lotus Hill utilize OpenHarmony for Power, which is a domestically-developed industrial-grade operating system.
This system, on the one hand, secures digital assets by enhancing the information security of charging and swapping equipment, while on the other hand allowing for more flexible and efficient networking of devices, thereby improving the adaptability of charging and swapping equipment.
Zhang framed it as linguistic harmony.
“Charging technology for new energy vehicles is evolving rapidly. To ensure that the power grid ‘speaks the same language’ as various types of vehicles and charging piles, it is essential to achieve plug-and-play capabilities and data interoperability,” he said. “OpenHarmony for Power made it possible.”
“The supercharging station crystallizes our efforts in supporting Shenzhen’s ambitious transformation into a global digital energy pioneer,” Zhang added.
The son of a Fiji assistant minister is under investigation for allegedly driving a government vehicle without authority and causing an accident that killed two men.
The accident took place along Bau Road, Nausori, last night.
The vehicle involved in the accident was the official government vehicle issued for the assistant minister.
It is alleged the 17-year-old took the vehicle without the knowledge of his father.
Police have confirmed the incident.
“The suspect is alleged to have taken the keys of the vehicle from his father while he slept and was driving along Bau Road, when he bumped the two victims standing on the roadside, and he fled the scene,” said the Fiji Police Force.
“He later relayed the matter to his father who reported the matter to police.
“The two victims in their 40s were conveyed to the Nausori Health Centre where their deaths were confirmed by medical officials.”
Police today officially launched the digitalisation of Fixed Penalty Notices, and will issue penalty tickets for illegal parking and moving traffic offences electronically from now on.
Additionally, a thematic portal and mobile application have also been launched to facilitate vehicle owners and drivers to verify and settle their fines using electronic payment methods.
The force will issue electronic penalty tickets (ePTs) according to the verified e-contact means (ECM) submitted by offenders to the Transport Department – SMS tickets for those who have provided a Hong Kong mobile phone number, and email tickets for those who have provided an email address.
It will continue to issue printed paper penalty tickets to those that have not submitted their verified ECMs.
At the initial stage of implementation, Police will adopt a “dual-track” transitional arrangement. Offenders will receive both ePTs and printed paper tickets, and they are only required to settle their fines using either one. Members of the public are encouraged to use ePTs.
The formats of penalty tickets have also been updated to include new payment information and methods.
The force reminds the public that all SMS tickets are issued under the SMS sender name “#HKPF-eTT”, and a purported SMS ticket that is not sent under this sender name must be fake.
Moreover, all SMS or email tickets do not contain any hyperlinks, and people should avoid clicking on any suspicious hyperlinks or providing any personal information.
Lastly, the platform’s thematic portal has a domain ending with “.gov.hk”. Websites that do not end with “.gov.hk” are not government official websites.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Egypt international forward Trezeguet missed a first-half penalty as Al Ahly drew 0-0 with Inter Miami in the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup here on Saturday.
Al Ahly looked more dangerous early at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami but the Cairo-based side was denied by a series of fine saves from Oscar Ustari.
First, the veteran Argentine goalkeeper kept out an attempt from Wessam Abou Ali after a swift counterattack and then he parried away Emam Ashour’s goal-bound effort following a driving run from Trezeguet.
Al Ahly suffered a blow in the 14th minute when Ashour was forced off following a collision and replaced by Zizo. The midfielder’s exit briefly appeared to spark life into the Major League Soccer outfit and Lionel Messi had his team’s first clear chance shortly after, sending a free-kick just over the bar.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner then delivered a defense-splitting pass for Noah Allen, only for the defender to be beaten to the ball by the onrushing goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
Inter Miami was lucky not to go 1-0 down in the 30th minute when Abou Ali slotted the ball into the back of the net only to be flagged for a marginal offside.
The latter went close again with a dipping 30-yard free-kick that Ustari somehow managed to tip over the bar. Inter Miami had Ustari to thank once more when he saved from point-blank range following Achraf Dari’s header.
Zizo was causing Inter Miami problems with his clever runs into space and the Egypt international earned his side a penalty when he was brought down in a clumsy challenge from Telasco Segovia.
But Ustari was up to the challenge, diving to his right to keep out Trezeguet’s spot-kick.
Inter Miami emerged from the halftime break with renewed verve and El Shenawy did well to smother Tadeo Allende’s powerful attempt from inside the six-yard box.
Messi looked more threatening as the game progressed as the Florida club began dictating terms. The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star forced another smart save from El Shenawy with a venomous effort from the edge of the 18-yard box before curling a low 35-yard free-kick around the well and into the side netting.
Fafa Picault replaced Allende in the 81st minute and he made an immediate impact, latching onto Messi’s cross with a header that was tipped over by El Shenawy.
Inter Miami was desperately unlucky not to break the deadlock in stoppage time as El Shenawy palmed over Messi’s 30-yard shot before showing sharp reflexes to keep out Maximiliano Falcon’s header.
Inter Miami’s next match will be against Porto in Atlanta on June 19 while Al Ahly will face Palmeiras in New Jersey the same day.
The intensification of the southwest monsoon has brought continuous rainfall to the Western Ghats region, leading to a significant rise in the water levels of key reservoirs in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts.
According to Public Works Department (PWD) officials, sustained showers over the past several days have contributed to increased inflow into the region’s main water bodies, notably the Papanasam, Servalar, and Manimuthar reservoirs.
The Papanasam reservoir, one of the major sources of irrigation and drinking water in the region, recorded a water level of 126.55 feet as of Saturday. It received an inflow of 2,845.43 cubic feet per second (cusecs), while the outflow was maintained at 1,400 cusecs to meet agricultural and domestic water needs.
The Servalar reservoir also witnessed a steady rise in water level, reaching 135.17 feet.
Meanwhile, the Manimuthar reservoir stood at 93.43 feet, with water levels gradually climbing due to persistent monsoon showers. Authorities noted that the ongoing rainfall in the upper catchment areas of the Western Ghats is expected to further elevate water levels in the coming days.
Officials are closely monitoring inflows and managing reservoir releases to ensure sufficient water availability for irrigation while simultaneously taking precautionary measures to prevent flooding in downstream areas.
“We are releasing water in a controlled manner to support agricultural activities and drinking water supply, while also ensuring that there is no overflow or threat to low-lying areas,” said a senior PWD engineer overseeing water management in the region.
Local farmers have welcomed the timely rains, expressing hope for a productive cropping season ahead.
The increased reservoir levels are also likely to bring relief to communities that have faced water scarcity during the summer months.
With the southwest monsoon expected to remain active in the region for the next few weeks, the PWD and district administrations remain on alert to manage both water conservation and flood risk mitigation effectively.
In response to a media report about impurities found in drinking water samples from various districts, the Development Bureau pointed out that the tests mentioned in the report were not conducted in strict compliance with the international standards adopted by Hong Kong’s drinking water testing programme.
The bureau said, as understood, the media organisation had mainly collected samples of impurities from aerators of water taps, commonly known as strainers, and then placed the samples into water for laboratory testing.
It noted that aerators are a kind of filter accessory commonly installed at household water taps and shower heads to help block impurities, hence the presence of impurities in the samples is simply a result of the strainer functioning, and is not abnormal.
In the past, the Water Supplies Department (WSD) had received similar inquiries, and staff members were deployed immediately to conduct onsite inspection.
They also arranged for flushing of consumers’ water meter, reminded them to cleanse the strainers, and checked for any irregularities in water quality. If a water quality issue is suspected, the WSD would collect drinking water samples for testing and notify consumers about the results.
In fact, only a few of such cases required water sample testing in the past three years, and the testing results showed that the water samples complied with Hong Kong Drinking Water Standards (HKDWS).
The bureau stressed that water quality testing must be conducted in accordance with international standards, including taking reference to ISO5667 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for sampling, and referencing Chinese National Standard GB/T 5750 and the American Public Health Association’s in testing methods and procedures.
The samples tested must be drinking water samples, not those collected from strainers as arranged by the relevant media organisation. In other words, the type of samples, methods and procedures will affect the validity and representativeness of the tests.
As mentioned in the report, impurities collected from the strainers include resin, plastic and silicone. The bureau said it may relate to materials peeling off from pipes or fittings of the inside service of the building. These substances are not soluble in water. If they are found, the inside service should be cleansed as soon as possible.
The bureau explained that the drinking water supplied by the WSD undergoes strict treatment and meets HKDWS. However, materials may peel off from public or inside service pipes of buildings due to aging or water pressure, necessitating the installation of strainers at pipes.
Property owners, registered agents and management offices must carry out regular and proper maintenance of building’s inside service, including cleansing sump and rooftop tanks, to maintain good drinking water quality at the consumers’ taps.
To ensure the city’s drinking water quality, the WSD runs a routine drinking water testing programme, randomly collecting water samples from over 28,000 publicly accessible consumers’ taps in shopping centres, community facilities, sports venues and government offices, for testing every year.
The sampling rate is based on international standards and the water quality parameters are drawn up in accordance with World Health Organization guidelines.
Moreover, the WSD randomly selects about 670 residential and non-residential water accounts each year to collect drinking water samples at their water taps and test for six metals, namely, antimony, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and nickel, to ensure HKDWS compliance. The test results are regularly published on the department’s website.
The bureau added that the WSD had requested more detailed information, including sampling locations, for follow-up with the consumer when enquiries were received from the media organisation. It is still awaiting such information.
Citizens may call the WSD’s 24-hour hotline 2824 5000 to enquire about drinking water quality.
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on Saturday that India is firmly on track to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2029, crediting 11 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “decisive and corruption-free” governance for triggering an “unstoppable surge” in national development.
Addressing a press conference in Dibrugarh to mark the NDA government’s 11th anniversary, Sonowal said that India has moved past an era of ‘policy paralysis and dynastic misrule’ and is now being powered by welfare-led development, innovation by the youth, and record-breaking infrastructure expansion.
He said over 25 crore people have come out of poverty in the last 10 years, a number bigger than the population of many European countries.
“This is the Modi guarantee – delivery with speed, scale and honesty,” Sonowal said.
The Union minister added that India’s journey to becoming the fourth-largest global economy is just the beginning.
By 2029, he said, India will rise to the third spot. “We are building a strong foundation for a Viksit Bharat — a developed, self-reliant India,” he said.
Sonowal also highlighted India’s booming startup ecosystem, which has grown from 30,000 startups in 2014 to over 1 lakh today.
“Over 1.7 crore youth are now part of this vibrant startup movement. This is the new India — full of young dreamers and doers,” he said.
Talking about the development of the Northeast, Sonowal said it has been transformed under the Modi government.
“Prime Minister Modi has visited the Northeast more than 70 times — more than any other PM in history. He turned a neglected region into a growth engine,” he said.
According to Sonowal, the recent ‘Rising Northeast’ summit brought in investment promises worth over Rs 4.5 lakh crore.
He said major infrastructure projects are ongoing, including roads, railways, internet connectivity and modern river ports at Jogighopa, Dhubri, Pandu and Dibrugarh that will connect Assam with global trade routes.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BISHKEK, June 15 (Xinhua) — The China-Central Asia Summit to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, in June will be an important milestone in the development of strategic partnership between Central Asian countries and China, former rector of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Akmataliev said in an interview with Xinhua.
According to him, the uniqueness of this mechanism is that Central Asia acts as a “single” political and economic actor in relations with China. “This allows us to jointly resolve common, major investment projects that are important for all Central Asian countries,” he said.
As Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan Ishak Masaliev told Xinhua, holding the China-Central Asia summit will be of great importance, since it is taking place in a special environment.
He noted that today the situation on the world stage is changing radically, the configuration and the decision-making center are changing. In his opinion, China and the Central Asian countries should develop a certain strategy that is beneficial for each country and for the region as a whole.
“In this regard, it seems to me that the attempts of the Chinese leadership are worthy of attention and respect. We must listen and, if possible, extract everything useful for our countries,” said I. Masaliev.
Speaking about China’s relations with the Central Asian countries, A. Akmataliev emphasized that China and the countries of the region have entered a new “golden thirty years” in their relations. “Over all these years, the relations of each Central Asian country with China are worthy of respect and imitation,” he said.
As I. Masaliev emphasized, “we can say with confidence that today China’s relations with all Central Asian countries have reached a completely new level.”
The expert also noted that now is the time to implement transcontinental and transnational projects. Such projects as the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, the alternative North-South highway, etc., will improve the lives and well-being of citizens of both Kyrgyzstan and the countries of the region.
A. Akmataliev, in turn, pointed out that these projects are striking and impressive in their grandeur, scale, and great goals.
Touching upon Chinese-Kyrgyz relations, A. Akmataliev noted that the visit of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov to China in February 2025 became a historic milestone in the relations between the Kyrgyz and Chinese peoples. “Our relations have risen to a real level of strategic partnership,” he said, adding that these relations have become an important example of true success, dynamics, sincerity and mutually beneficial cooperation.
“The relations between Kyrgyzstan and China, as well as the peoples of the two countries, are excellent, wonderful,” notes I. Masaliev, adding that the visit of the head of Kyrgyzstan to China and his meeting with the leader of the PRC in February of this year certainly brings enormous positive energy and a great contribution to the development of the economies of the two countries. –0–
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
JERUSALEM, June 15 (Xinhua) — A woman was killed and 13 others were injured on Sunday night after a rocket fired from Iran hit a two-story building in the northern Israeli town of Tamra, Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that rockets were fired from Iran at large areas in northern Israel. Local media reported that more than 40 rockets were involved in the attack.
After the rockets were launched, people in Haifa, the Galilee salient and other northern parts of the country received warnings on their phones and sirens were activated, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to seek shelter.
The IDF said the Israeli Air Force also struck military targets in Tehran while intercepting incoming missiles. –0–
