Similar to supporting a political party, sports fandom aids in the formation of social identity. This happens when people look to form attachments with other individuals who they believe are similar to them in some way to cultivate positive self-esteem.
My preliminary research into these issues has shown that in men’s professional sports, there has often been hostility towards the introduction of newer, more inclusive causes into sporting events. In the National Hockey League, for example, some players refused to participate in Pride Night events on religious grounds.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and outside linebacker Eli Harold (58) kneel during the playing of the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Essentially, that means those who say athletes should “stick to sports” or “shut up and dribble” aren’t suggesting they don’t want any politics in sports. What they’re really saying is that they don’t want to see political views they oppose being represented in professional sports.
The patriotic causes that have routinely been championed by sports leagues and used for nation-building, such as the military, are viewed as apolitical and therefore appropriate in sports settings. Conversely, messages that are critical of a country or focus on historic inequalities have been deemed “inappropriate” and are excluded by sports because of potential fan backlash.
Can sports influence politics?
More recently, however, sports leagues and teams have begun to engage with social justice causes, such as LGBTQ+ rights in the U.K., Canada and the U.S..
As sports organizations adapt to changing social norms and embrace newer social causes, they hold tremendous potential to impact political attitudes. They can showcase the acceptance of marginalized groups in previously hostile spaces, and provide valuable representation.
The representative and psychological value of sports fandom suggests sport is an understudied area of political science, one I hope to build on in my future research.
For example, we do not yet fully understand the impact that sports teams holding Pride Nights has on attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community.
Nor do we know how soccer clubs in England, as local symbols of a migrant workforce, may impact immigrant attitudes.
Finally, we do not know why certain women’s national soccer teams, like Canada, have been successful in protesting for equal pay while others, like the Spanish team, have failed.
Sport could have a valuable role to play in unpacking these political questions about protest and identity — and represents an exciting emerging research area in political behaviour.
Noah Eliot Vanderhoeven 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.
Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal attends 22nd CREDAI National Conference on second day of Australia visit Shri Goyal attends reception hosted by Parliamentary Friends of India and Australia-India Business Council at NSW Parliament
Posted On: 24 SEP 2024 6:07PM by PIB Delhi
In his ongoing visit to Australia from September 23-26, 2024, Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, had a number of productive engagements on the second day (September 24). He was the Chief Guest at the 22nd National Conference of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) in Sydney. The Conference brought together about 1100 real estate developers from India to Australia.
In his address, the Minister urged the real estate industry to adopt even more effective measures for the well being of millions of workers employed in it. He appreciated the contribution of the real estate sector to the growth of the Indian economy and encouraged them to consider expanding their operations in international markets such as Australia.
The Minister met Hon. Chris Minns MP, Premier of New South Wales at NSW Parliament and discussed the growing business and community linkages between India and Australia and the contribution of NSW to these ties. Minister attended a reception hosted in his honour by the Parliamentary Friends of India and Australia-India Business Council (AIBC) at the Parliament in which Ministers and Parliamentarians from NSW, including The Hon Anoulack Chanthivong MP, Minister for Industry and Trade of NSW and the Co-chairs of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of India, participated.
Several prominent business leaders based in Australia were also present. Minister thanked them for the warm reception and highlighted that the bipartisan support for close India-Australia ties gave strength to the bilateral partnership & deepening economic engagement.
The Minister addressed a gathering of various key stakeholders in the bilateral economic relationship organized by Asia Link Business (ALB), Australia India Institute and KPMG. He participated in a fireside chat with the CEO of ALB, Mr. Leigh Howard, and answered a range of questions. Discussions focussed on fostering stronger India-Australia partnership in key sectors viz renewable energy, digitisation, infrastructure, education, critical minerals, tourism, fintech, agritech, space etc. Minister was presented with a copy of the report on ‘Doing Business in India’ by ALB which will help Australian businesses in leveraging the vast opportunities presented by the Indian market.
Minister met several emerging Indian origin and Australian leaders in different sectors at an event organized by the High Commission of India and the India-Australia Business Community Alliance (IABCA). Addressing the gathering, the Minister said that these success stories were a reflection of the opportunities that strong India-Australia relations present for the mutual benefit of their people.
Minister interacted with the Committee members of the Australian (Sydney) Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and encouraged them to act as a living bridge to promote business ties between India and Australia.
In the forenoon, the Minister participated virtually in the meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. He emphasised that collective efforts and forward-thinking action plans in critical sectors such as semiconductors, critical minerals for clean energy, chemicals and healthcare are crucial for unlocking the framework’s full potential.
After concluding his productive 2-day visit to Sydney focussed on business and community interactions, Minister travelled to Adelaide where he will Co-chair with Senator The Hon Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism of Australia, the 19th Joint Ministerial Commission meeting scheduled for September 25, 2024.
SYDNEY, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Leading online FX and CFD broker Axi is attending this year’s Dubai Forex Expo, taking place on October 7-8, 2024, at the Dubai World Trade Center.
Event attendees will have the opportunity to learn about Axi Select, the innovative capital allocation program, designed to empower ambitious traders on their trading journey. “We invite all traders to visit our team at Booth 2 and uncover the future of trading with Axi,” says Louis Cooper, Chief Commercial Officer at Axi, before adding “We look forward to networking with follow traders and showcase the exceptional benefits of Axi Select. Our program features zero registration fees, capital funding of up to $1,000,000 USD, the opportunity to earn up to 90% of the profits, and advanced tools to accelerate traders’ trading potential.”
Additionally, visitors can explore their Introducing Broker (IB) and Affiliate programs or learn more about Axi’s longstanding partnership with Man City, Premier League Champions. The championship trophy will be on display for photos and attendees stand the chance to win exciting prizes from the broker.
Recently, the broker has renewed its collaboration with LaLiga club, Girona FC, and their Brand Ambassador, England international John Stones. They’ve also recently launched their biggest global trading competition ever, with a total prize pool of $250,000 USD. Over 45 prizes were given to traders including the grand prize of $100,000 USD.
About Axi
Axi is a global online FX and CFD trading company, with thousands of customers in 100+ countries worldwide. Axi offers CFDs for several asset classes including Forex, Shares, Gold, Oil, Coffee, and more.
At Axi, we are proud of our reputation as an honest, and fair broker, providing our customers with outstanding service and trading conditions since 2007. We also work with leading regulatory governing authorities globally to ensure we exceed the highest standards in the industry.
The Axi Select programme is only available to clients of AxiTrader Limited. CFDs carry a high risk of investment loss. In our dealings with you, we will act as a principal counterparty to all of your positions. This content is not available to AU, NZ, EU and UK residents. For more information, refer to our Terms of Service. Standard trading fees apply.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
How ACE provided the consultants with a platform for growth, the ability to showcase quality work and access to new customers they wouldn’t otherwise have met.
Technical and business consultancy Daintta was founded on the values of transparency, fairness and daring with a mission to put staff and customers first.
Starting with just three staff in 2020, it now has over 60 engineers and technical and business consultants as well as horizon scanning and innovation specialists. The company prides itself on having a diverse workforce as well as creating an environment that enables people to bring the best of themselves to work and thrive.
Daintta has been a member of the Vivace community since late 2020 and its core expertise areas are:
digital intelligence, bringing disparate datasets together through capabilities such as data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable greater insights
cybersecurity and data privacy, helping companies become more resilient and
networks and communication, helping organisations embrace new and emerging technologies
Navigating complexity
One thing that links much of Daintta’s work inside and outside the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) is complex project delivery says Abu Sayed, the company’s chief client officer.
He said: “Most of the work we do doesn’t have a clear-cut solution, and so what we’re doing is helping customers navigate through the complexity and untangle some of that.
“We’re the company that enables change that truly matters, it’s kind of our tagline, and we do that by helping clients leverage the opportunities uncertainty produces. Ultimately, most of our work is helping clients strengthen their ability to deliver their mission.
“We work really well with ACE because ACE is all about working alongside the customer, embracing innovation and willing to be daring.”
Daintta’s first commission with ACE was supporting a workshop, and the company has since gone from “strength to strength”. Today its plays an active role in pulling together collaborative rainbow teams of suppliers to respond to client problems. Daintta enjoys working with both new and established ACE community members and is comfortable either leading or supporting commissions, ensuring that the team’s expertise as well as knowledge of ACE best practice is shared.
Significant pieces of work for ACE include helping develop a business case for the UK Telecoms Lab, providing telco subject matter experts as part of a rainbow team. This was successful in helping secure funding, and Daintta stayed on to work directly with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology to help build the lab and transition it to operational. Today, Daintta continues to provide experts to develop this capability.
Another project involved creating a data strategy for a law enforcement body, including discovery to understand what data existed, where it was stored and how it could be used. A visual ‘data landscape’ was then created to help understand how available data could be used to help answer investigative questions.
A third piece of work was around understanding the requirements for a secure development environment for law enforcement, for use cases involving technologies such as machine learning, AI and graphing technologies as well as unstructured data, and then creating a prototype intelligence search capability.
Sayed said: “ACE has undoubtedly provided us with a platform for growth. It has given us an opportunity to demonstrate the quality of our work and the expertise of our people. And it has provided us with access to customers that we would not have otherwise come into contact with, accelerating our growth by 12 to 15 months.
“It’s also unique – no other government framework has the kind of sense of community that ACE has fostered, because people are competing for work but collaborating a lot more than they are competing. That allows the best ideas to come forward and really make a difference to the customer.”
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Thousands of young people could have £2,200 sitting unclaimed in their Child Trust Fund account.
Young people urged to claim their Child Trust Fund
£2,200 on average waiting in unclaimed accounts
More than 670,000 18-22 year olds yet to claim their Child Trust Fund are reminded to cash in their stash as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reveals the average savings pot is worth £2,212.
Child Trust Funds are long term, tax-free savings accounts which were set up, with the government depositing £250, for every child born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. Young people can take control of their Child Trust Fund at 16 and withdraw funds when they turn 18 and the account matures.
The savings are not held by government but are held in banks, building societies or other saving providers. The money stays in the account until it’s withdrawn or re-invested.
If teenagers or their parents and guardians already know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly. If they do not know where their account is, they can use the online tool on GOV.UK to find out their Child Trust Fund provider. Young people will need their National Insurance number – which can be found easily using the HMRC app – and their date of birth to access the information.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said:
Thousands of Child Trust Fund accounts are sitting unclaimed – we want to reunite young people with their money and we’re making the process as simple as possible.
You don’t need to pay anyone to find your Child Trust Fund for you, locate yours today by searching ‘find your Child Trust Fund’ on GOV.UK.
Third-party agents are advertising their services offering to search for Child Trust Funds and agents will always charge – with one charging up to £350 or 25% of the value of the savings account.
Using an agent can significantly reduce the amount received, is likely to take longer and customers still need to supply them with the same information they need to do the search themselves.
Gavin Oldham, The Share Foundation, said:
If you are 18-21 years old, the government would have put money aside for you shortly after birth. This investment would have grown quite a bit and it’s in your name. The Share Foundation has linked over 65,000 young people to their Child Trust Fund accounts. It’s easy and free to find out where your money is. Go to findCTF.sharefound.org or GOV.UK to locate it today.
In the last year more than 450,000 customers, with just their National Insurance number and date of birth, used the free GOV.UK tool to locate their Child Trust Fund.
More information on Child Trust Funds and how to access your savings can be found on GOV.UK.
Further Information
Latest figures for Child Trust Funds included in the Annual Savings Statistics were released on 19 September 2024 and include figures up to April 2024.
Agenda for Change pay offer accepted by trade unions.
Almost 170,000 nurses and healthcare workers in Scotland will receive a 5.5% salary increase this year, ensuring they have the best reward package in the UK.
Unions representing NHS Agenda for Change staff – which includes nurses, midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals, porters and others – unanimously agreed to an investment of more than £448 million for improved pay conditions.
The pay rise, backdated to 1 April 2024, will come into effect from next month.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said:
“I am pleased that trade unions have unanimously agreed to accept this pay offer, which ensures that nurses and healthcare staff in Scotland, who are part of Agenda for Change, will have the best reward package in the UK.
“I want to express my thanks again to Scotland’s hardworking healthcare staff for the care they provide to patients, day in, day out. They are the very backbone of the NHS and we are committed to ensuring they feel supported and valued.”
BACKGROUND
A total of £448 million has been invested in Agenda for Change pay in 2024-25. This equates to an uplift of 5.5% for all staff.
Examples of increases for 2024-25:
experienced porters (band 2) will receive £1,395
experienced healthcare support workers (band 4) will receive £1,651
experienced staff nurses (band 5) will receive £2,072
experienced paramedics (band 6) will receive £2,535.
Two more Plymouth schools are trialling traffic restrictions during morning and afternoon drop-off and pick-up times.
Cann Bridge and Tor Bridge Primary are the latest to introduce ‘Safer School Streets’, where roads are closed to school-run and through traffic during these peak times.
The measures – which aim to improve safety for all road users, make it easier for families to walk, cycle or scoot to school, tackle inconsiderate parking and create a healthier street environment with cleaner air – are widely welcomed by parents and local residents.
Cann Bridge and Tor Bridge Primary, which sit alongside each other in Estover, are the fourth and fifth schools in the city to trial the restrictions on a longer-term basis, with Stuart Road Primary being the first, followed by St Paul’s RC Primary and Compton CofE Primary.
Councillor John Stephens, the Council’s walking and cycling champion, said: “We’re really pleased to be working alongside Sustrans to help another two schools implement Safer School Streets measures. They have proven really popular at the other three trial locations and help to encourage families to either leave the car at home or at least make part of their journey in more active ways.
“This has so many benefits – not just for pupils, parents, staff and nearby residents but for the wider community as a whole. As well as reducing congestion and improving air quality around the school gates, they help to tackle some of the inconsiderate and irresponsible parking experienced by neighbours, making journeys safer and healthier for everyone.”
The trial began yesterday (Monday). Every weekday during term-time the entrance to Eden Valley Gardens is being closed with temporary barriers during morning and afternoon school run times (8am to 9am and then 2.15pm to 3.30pm.
Volunteers and members of staff are stewarding the closure and access is being maintained for local residents and businesses, parents and children with disabilities, the emergency services, deliveries and other service vehicles.
Shane Baker, Headteacher at Cann Bridge School, said: “We are grateful to our parents and staff for their support in making the Safer School Street initiative a reality. This program is crucial for ensuring the safety of all children, promoting active travel, and creating a cleaner, healthier environment at our school gates.
“Even in the short time spent outside this morning, it was evident that reducing vehicles on our road will significantly improve air quality. Together, we are building a safer community for everyone.”
The arrangements have been agreed for up to 18 months under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order, advertised in the local press and on street. Signs have also been placed on street to advise road users of the closure times.
Families are being encouraged to walk, cycle or scoot to school or, if they really need to drive, to ‘park and stride’ from Asda, who are supporting the scheme.
The Government has reopened a scheme to help Islanders buy their first home.
First Step, a scheme to help aspiring homeowners onto the property ladder, was launched by the Minister for Housing, Deputy Sam Mézec, in February this year, and reopened for a second round of applications in June. It has so far resulted in 51 applicants being offered equity loans.
First Step is delivered in partnership with Andium Homes and uses £10m of Government funding to help eligible Islanders access a contribution of up to 40% towards the purchase of an open-market property.
Applicants have four weeks to apply, with the deadline for applications on 20 October 2024. Applicants must:
hold Entitled status
not own any property in Jersey or overseas
be registered on the Assisted Purchase Pathway
be able to provide a 5% deposit towards the purchase
be able to access the maximum lending available to them from one of the scheme’s partnering mortgage lenders
not be under offer on another assisted purchase scheme.
Islanders not already registered should apply to the Assisted Purchase Pathway before applying for First Step. Applications will be means-tested against the financial criteria.
It is anticipated that up to 60 households will benefit from the initial £10 million investment. An additional £2 million has been earmarked for the scheme in the proposed Budget for next year, subject to States Assembly approval.
The Minister for Housing, Deputy Sam Mézec, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to reopen First Step for a third time this year. This scheme has made a real difference to Islanders who would have otherwise been unable to own their first home. I am hopeful that we will be able to reopen First Step in 2025 to help even more Islanders into home ownership. In the meantime, I would like to thank our Government officials and the team at Andium Homes for their valuable work this year.”
Andium Homes’ Policy & Stakeholder Engagement Lead, Dominique Caunce, said: “We were delighted with the interest shown in the first and second tranches of the scheme, where the funding available enabled us to make loan offers to 51 first-time buyers. Feedback from previous applicants has been really positive, particularly around the website and application process, and we would encourage all those unsuccessful in the initial tranches to reapply.”
Islanders wishing to join the Assisted Purchase Pathway, or those wanting to update their details, can do so via First Step (andiumhomes.je)
In July the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a historic advisory opinion concluding that Israel’s decades long occupation and annexation of Palestinian territory is unlawful because it violates some of the most fundamental tenets of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and denies Palestinians their human rights.
The ICJ opinion also concludes that all states have an “obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” and “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Meanwhile, the virtually unconditional transfer and sale of weapons, parts, and ammunition by governments where there is clear risk of use in harming civilians and violating international law has continued.
As the UN General Assembly prepares to vote on a resolution this week that would seek to bring the occupation to an end, the undersigned organizations call on all governments, including the UN Security Council and its members, to adhere to the ICJ’s advisory opinion, including through the halting the transfer and sale of weapons, parts and ammunition.
Humanitarian, development and human rights organizations, many of us with decades of experience working throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, delivering lifesaving assistance and other services, have witnessed first-hand the humanitarian consequences of Israel’s occupation, and its devastating impact on the Palestinian population, including the well-being of children.
This includes but is not limited to:
● the use of weapons, by Israeli forces and settlers in attacks, including in apparent violations of international law, resulting in the killing and permanent disabilities of Palestinian civilians, including children, and instances of gender based violence;
● the arbitrary detention and systematic prosecution of Palestinians, including children, in Israeli military courts, often held in horrific conditions;
● the forced displacement of Palestinians through demolitions of Palestinian homes and property, Israeli settlement expansion, Israeli settler violence, and so-called “evacuation” orders amid Israeli bombardment in Gaza;
● a discriminatory permit regime that denies freedom of movement to Palestinians, depriving them of basic services, including vital medical assistance.
These practices have taken place without accountability for decades, but the intensification over the last 11 months has led to a staggering humanitarian catastrophe for Palestinians throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, fuelled by the virtually unconditional supply of weapons, parts, and ammunition.
More than 40,000 people in Gaza have been killed, and tens of thousands face life-altering injuries and potentially irreversible mental harm, including as a result of apparent violations of IHL. Meanwhile, the situation in the West Bank is deteriorating at a rapid pace, with large-scale Israeli military ground incursions and airstrikes killing and injuring people almost every day this year. The violence and restrictions under Israeli occupation have rendered the mandates of humanitarian, human rights, and development organizations almost impossible to fulfill.
Humanitarian support provided by Member States is regularly obstructed and destroyed by Israeli authorities. Assistance that humanitarian organizations have managed to provide has been insufficient to address the needs and does not address the root causes of the humanitarian consequences created by Israel’s decades-long occupation that the international community has allowed to continue for too long.
Failure to adhere to the ICJ’s advisory opinion will send a message that states can be selective in their application of international law. It is imperative that states reinforce and show their commitment to international institutions and the international order that has been in place for nearly 80 years. The time for empty statements has passed. All Member States must act decisively to adhere to the ICJ Advisory Opinion before more lives are irreparably destroyed.
Undersigned:
1. ActionAid
2. American Friends Service Committee
3. Amnesty International
4. BePax
5. CCFD-Terre Solidaire
6. Center for Peace Education (Miriam College, Philippines)
7. Christian Aid
8. Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
9. DanChurchAid 10.Danish Refugee Council
11. Finn Church Aid
12.Franciscans International
13.Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) (Secretariat)
14.Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
As winter approaches there will be a change to operating hours for Household Recycling Centres across the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough, effective from Tuesday, 1 October.
The annual seasonal change in opening hours for all nine recycling facilities in the borough will continue until March 31.
The winter opening hours (October 1 – March 31) are:
Residents and businesses are encouraged to download the ABC Council App, which offers information on the operating hours of Household Recycling Centres and provides useful recycling tips. The app can be downloaded through the App Store and Google Play Store.
The title comes in recognition of Liverpool’s impressive commitment to innovation and smart regulation to rapidly decarbonise the live music and TV/Film production sectors – both vital parts of the city’s economy – following several years of developmental work by ACT 1.5, an artist-led research and action effort, and climate scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.
To mark the launch of this initiative, the following key events and plans were also announced today:
A three-night live music series at Liverpool Arena from 28 – 30 November in collaboration with Massive Attack, ACT 1.5 and SJM concerts, to showcase innovations in sustainability and the smart design of live music events.
A headline industry event, called Expedition 1, on (29 November) and public event (30 November) in the adjacent ACC Liverpool which will test and showcase eight cross-sectoral pilot projects for rapid decarbonisation across live music, TV and film productions scheduled in 2025, and then invite the public into multiple climate action workshops, live audience podcasts, and performances.
The implementation of three initial plans for galvanising decarbonization in the cultural sector: a pioneering integrated public transport and ticketing program (TAG Network); electrification with 100% renewable energy of all key live event and filming locations in the city centre; and a new Paris 1.5-degree compatible sustainability standard that major events will need to meet in order to be granted a land use agreement for an event to proceed.
This work builds upon the groundbreaking project commissioned by the band Massive Attack and developed over the past four years, culminating in a climate action accelerator event entitled ACT 1.5 in Bristol (UK) in late August.
The band worked in collaboration with the Tyndall Centre, AGF, and super low-carbon providers to produce what is anticipated to have been the lowest greenhouse gas emissions show of its size ever staged.
As an ’Accelerator City’ Liverpool, which has just announced huge plans for the future of its music sector, will expand on this use of policy, technology, infrastructure, and transport practices to pilot and then embed decarbonisation methods into the fabric of the city, extending the scope of this work to include national film and television institutions; establishing cross-sectoral solutions with clean, green providers and sustainability-focused event & onscreen producers.
The world-leading Accelerator City programme is supported by Ecotricity and is comprised of a partnership network of private, public sector, and UN organisations including BBC, BAFTA Albert, BFI, Earth Percent, Equity, BECTU, The European Space Agency, A Greener Future, Association of Independent Festivals, UN Climate Change, UNESCO, ZENOBE Energy, and numerous transport, food and local service providers.
Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, said: “I commend the city of Liverpool on its ambitious plans to dramatically speed up decarbonisation in this vital sector. Cities and towns are absolutely essential in picking up the pace and scale of climate action – and the cultural sector plays a vital role in unlocking innovation and promoting sustainable behaviours. I applaud Liverpool’s initiative and look forward to identifying other ‘Accelerator Cities’ in the future.”
UK Climate Minister Kerry McCarthy MP, said: “I am proud and delighted that Liverpool – as famous for its cultural exports as it is for its maritime history – will be the UN’s first Accelerator City for climate change action.
“I would especially like to congratulate the artists, scientists, providers and the city council who have made huge efforts and driven innovative solutions to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and are having their work recognised in this way. Dynamic projects like these are completely in line with our mission for the UK to become global leaders in this action once again, and with our efforts to boost clean, green, highly skilled jobs at home to drive economic growth and achieve clean power by 2030.”
Robert Del Naja, (3D – Massive Attack), said: “Our recent Bristol show demonstrated beyond question that major live music events can be Paris 1.5 compatible, and that audiences will embrace change enthusiastically. The vast scope of work in Liverpool and UN recognition means we can now concentrate more dynamic pilots and experiments to rapidly phase out fossil fuels. This idea and this insistence are not going back in any box. We’re delighted to see artists like Coldplay testing elements like localised ticket pre-sales and 100% renewable energy as recommended in the Tyndall Centre Paris 1.5 decarbonisation road map and encourage other artists to do so freely. The talking stage is over, it’s time to act.”
Councillor Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said: ‘Liverpool has redefined the transformative power of culture over the past 25 years by blending imagination and innovation with a passion to deliver amazing results – be it staging the best-ever Eurovision to playing a leading role in the UK’s recovery from Covid. Now we’re ready to apply all of our best efforts to tackling the biggest challenge humanity faces and we are deeply honoured the UN has recognised our commitment to decarbonise our cultural sector and appointed Liverpool as the World’s First “Accelerator City” for Climate Action.
“What is so fantastic about this status, is not just the plans we have to help decarbonise music, events and filming, but also the way that this project will educate and motivate audiences through something they really care about – music and entertainment. Liverpool is a city that has always strived to innovate and inspire, and this award recognises that on a global scale.“
Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Liverpool has always been a city of firsts but being named the world’s first ‘Accelerator City’ is huge for our region, and another example of how we’re leading the charge on climate action. We’re not just talking about change; we’re making it happen. By bringing innovation to the sectors that define us—like music, film and TV —we’re showing the world how culture can drive real, meaningful climate action. Together, we’re proving that the Liverpool City Region isn’t just making headlines; it’s helping to write the playbook for building a fairer, greener future a reality for everyone.”
Matt Scarff, Managing Director BAFTA Albert, said: “The screen industries are uniquely placed to help drive forward the vital progress and innovation needed to protect the future of our planet. BAFTA albert is proud to support this brilliant UN initiative and support the city of Liverpool as we work to make it a hub of sustainable creativity for generations to come.”
Professor Carly McLachlan, Director of Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, said: “This city level action to transform live music and film and TV production is really exciting in its ambition and the critical combination of collaboration and regulation. We need to move fast on decarbonisation and that means innovation and new ways of working, but crucially it also means sharing learning, getting the right infrastructure in place and ratcheting up minimum standards. Liverpool’s global recognition as such a culturally rich city make it a brilliant location to demonstrate to the world how things can be done differently.”
Dale Vince OBE, Founder of Ecotricity, said: “Big congrats to Liverpool, leading the way by adopting Act 1.5 across the city. We’ve been working with Massive Attack on the music side and with partners in film and tv production to show that it’s possible for the live event sector to operate this way – that’s important not just for the sake of its own … footprint but because of the platform it has – we can reach huge amounts of people this way and show them there is another way to live. I love the scale and the ambition.”
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Myanmar. Delivered by the UK’s Human Rights Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders.
Location:
Geneva
Delivered on:
(Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)
Thank you Deputy High Commissioner for your update. And we thank the High Commissioner for his report.
The humanitarian and human rights crisis in Myanmar continues to deepen. In August, more than 42,000 people were displaced, and the Myanmar military conducted more airstrikes than in any other month since the coup, targeting villages, schools and hospitals. At the same time, the military continues to obstruct aid, preventing vital supplies from reaching those in need.
We call on the Myanmar military, and all other actors, to allow safe, unimpeded humanitarian access to vulnerable communities. This is crucial as people suffer from the impacts of flooding, growing food insecurity and shortages of health and sanitation supplies. The UK will provide more than £40 million in assistance this financial year. We encourage other Member States to also consider what more they can do.
20,000 people remain arbitrarily detained, including journalists, healthcare workers and political prisoners. The IIMM (Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar) has found credible reports of widespread torture and deaths in detention, including physical abuse and sexual and gender-based violence of the most horrific kind, including against children. The military must release all those arbitrarily detained. We also call on Myanmar to comply with the UN Convention against Torture and respect the rights of detainees.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Find out how students can check their payments or track the progress of their application and estimated review date.
The start of the academic year is one of the busiest times at SLC. First term Maintenance Loan payments have been sent to students starting their studies throughout September and these will continue throughout the Autumn.
SLC phone lines may be busy at times and that’s why students are reminded of their self-service options in their online accounts. Whether they are shortly receiving their first payment or going through the application process, they can get the information they need quickly by logging in to their account.
Getting Paid
Students who need to check when they will be paid can check their payment schedule and status by signing in to their online account.
It’s easy to check the payment status, just follow these steps:
Select the application for the payments to be checked.
Under the heading ‘Manage your student finance’, select ‘View your payments’.
Checking the application status
For those students who are still in the application process, or have yet to apply for their finance, there is some useful information available in their online account.
Checking online will show:
The progress of the application
If there’s anything else that is needed
The next estimated review date of the application
If there’s no estimated review date
If there’s no estimated review date showing, students can check the current timescales page instead. The page is updated weekly and provides a guideline of when the application will be reviewed.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Students from England can use their online account to get their questions answered.
Students from England can use their online account to get their questions answered without needing to pick up the phone.
The account feature ‘Common questions’ is located in the menu section of their online account, with a library of over 50 articles to answer questions students, parents and partners are asking us.
Since SLC launched Common questions in August 2022, the articles have been viewed over 2.4 million times, supporting students, their parents and partners going through the application journey.
Common questions topics
Some of the topics we cover are:
How to view your payment schedule
How to make a change to your application
How long will an application take
How to upload evidence
How to support an application
Help with residency and identity evidence
Tips for getting help
Our advice to all students who need help with their student finance is to:
Login to their online account
Check the progress of their application
Check ‘Common questions’ to find out more and get help
Other account features
Students can do more in their online account, like:
Apply and re-apply for student finance
Make changes to their application details, like their university, college or course details if they changed through Clearing.
Upload evidence using their online account instead of posting
Check their payment dates and amounts using their payment schedule
View and download copies of their letters and emails we send them, including their Notification of Entitlement letter which they’ll need when registering with their university or college.
The redevelopment is expected to take around 12 months to complete. The Indoor Market will remain open as usual during this time.
Outdoor traders will be based at Bert Turner Boulevard/High Street/Church Street, with opening days and times remaining the same: 8am to 3pm on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 7am to 1.30pm for the Bilston Sunday Market and Car Boot.
The redevelopment scheme is also part of the Bilston Health & Regeneration Programme (HaRP), with investment set to maximise the visibility of the market and improve the pedestrian access from the neighbouring Bus/Metro station.
Some of the existing structures will be demolished to make way for a new facility to suit current and future requirements, while reconfiguring the existing uses and enhancing the entrance’s focal points to the indoor market. There will also be a flexible multi use events/market space created.
Other improvements will include a full package of new signage, a complete renewal of all trader car parks and provision of a new taxi drop off and bike hub adjacent to the existing bus/metro interchange, improved landscaping of public spaces, the introduction of new retail units and public toilets, and a taller canopy to cover the stalls.
Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for Resident Services, said: “We had good feedback from traders and residents through consultation and have developed attractive plans that will enhance Bilston market for everyone.
“While the improvement works are taking place, I would urge visitors to make themselves familiar with the temporary outdoor market and continue to support their local traders.
“It is important for our traditional local centres to flourish, and this scheme builds substantially on the investment already made in Bilston in recent years.”
This year, all children from Reception to Year 11, including those who are home educated, are eligible for the vaccination. For the majority of children, the vaccine will be given via a nasal spray. For children who require a pork gelatine free alternative, or who are unable to have the nasal spray for medical reasons, an injectable vaccination is available on request.
Parents are urged to return their child’s consent forms as soon as possible to ensure they don’t miss out. Consent can be given online at Flu Immunisation 2024/25. Verbal consent can be given by calling Vaccination UK on 01902 200077. Requests for the injectable vaccination can be made when giving consent.
Vaccinations are scheduled to take place throughout the autumn term and each school will be visited twice by Vaccination UK, giving children who may have been off the first time the chance to have their vaccination.
Any child who misses their free vaccine in school will be able to get it at catch up clinics which will be arranged later this autumn, or by contacting their GP.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, said: “We’re delighted that the flu vaccination campaign is now underway in local schools and it’s vital that you ensure your child doesn’t miss out.
“Flu can be deadly and easily spread by children and adults. The vaccine is the best way to protect your children and other family members from becoming ill with the flu, particularly more vulnerable relatives like grandparents or those with underlying health conditions.
“I would urge parents to return their consent forms as soon as they receive them so that their children can have their free vaccine and become a Flu Fighter!”
Children aged 2 and 3, and children with some long term health conditions, are also eligible for the nasal spray, with their vaccinations given at their local GP surgery. Parents or guardians who have not yet received a letter or text from their GP inviting them for a vaccination are encouraged to contact their surgery to arrange an appointment.
To find out more about the flu vaccine for children, read the answers to frequently asked questions and enjoy the 4 exciting Flu Fighters stories for children, Flu Fighters Versus Chilly, Achy and Snotty, Flu Fighters in The Battle of Planet Bogey, Flu Fighters in Close Encounters of the Germed Kind and Flu Fighters on a Vacc-tastic Voyage, please visit Flu.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Burundi. Delivered at the 57th HRC in Geneva.
Thank you, Mr. President.
We thank the Special Rapporteur for his important update, and for his valuable reporting throughout his mandate. We are concerned that Burundi continues to deny full access to the Special Rapporteur.
Mr President, conditions for human rights defenders and civil society in Burundi remain difficult. An active civil society where journalists can work safely and independently is essential to support democracy, and we call on the government of Burundi to strengthen protections for media workers. Ahead of next year’s elections it is important that progress is made towards ending impunity for all perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses. It is essential that Burundi engage meaningfully with this Council’s mechanisms, in line with its public commitments to continue engaging constructively with the international community. We again call upon Burundi to co-operate with all UN bodies working to improve the human rights situation, including by reopening the OHCHR country office.
Special Rapporteur,
Your reporting shows that this Council’s ongoing scrutiny remains necessary. How can this Council further support Burundi to engage constructively with international human rights mechanisms?
Students are urged to be aware of the dangers of fire. Fire safety advice could be one of the most important lessons for students during their time at university or college.
Smoke alarm and fire escape plan
All students should take personal responsibility for looking after themselves and their housemates to protect them from the dangers of fire.
Living away from home, especially if it’s for the first time, can be very exciting and it’s easy to get caught up in student life and forget about fire safety.
Check your student accommodation to make sure it’s fire safe and fire safety checks should always be part of your routine.
It’s important to have a working smoke alarm fitted on each level of accommodation and to test them once a week. This will alert you and your housemates to the earliest stage of a fire, giving vital extra time to escape.
You should follow a good fire safe bedtime routine – checking a few things before going to bed can reduce the risk of fire. It only takes a minute and could save lives, so:
make sure all electrical appliances not designed to be left on are disconnected
fully put out cigarettes
close all doors
Also, take some time to agree a fire escape plan to make sure everyone is clear what to do in an emergency. This means knowing where the fire exits are and making sure furniture or stored items do not block them.
If there is no fire exit, plan an alternative escape route other than by the main entrance door.
You can find out more about fire safety at this link:
If you go home at weekends, make sure that accommodation is safely secured and protected from the risk of fire.
Student fire safety advice
You should:
test your smoke alarm every week
prepare a fire escape plan and know where your door keys are
carry out a night-time fire safe check routine
never leave cooking unattended, not even for a minute
never cook, light candles or use electric heaters when under the influence of alcohol
turn off all electrical appliances not designed to be left on
avoid overloading sockets
make sure you don’t leave phone, tablet and laptop on their chargers longer than necessary
put a guard on open fires
put out all cigarettes and empty ashtrays into a non-combustible container
never smoke in bed
You should also check that any fire alarm system in your accommodation is working. If it is showing a fault, contact the landlord or the Estates Officer at the university immediately.
A technical consultation is to be held on whether a draft Local Plan for St Albans District has met all the necessary legal requirements.
The Local Plan (LP) is a blueprint for future growth and identifies land for infrastructure, employment and housing developments in the years to 2041.
It has been produced by St Albans City and District Council and has taken more than three years’ work to reach this stage.
Residents, community groups, businesses, neighbouring local authorities and other organisations have helped shape the document by contributing to previous consultations.
Numerous studies have also been undertaken to assess the impact of the proposals on the environment, transport, heritage, the Green Belt and social issues such as education and leisure.
External planning and legal experts have also helped the Council’s spatial planning team to carry out some of the detailed work and provide a detached perspective.
Councillors on the Planning Policy and Climate Committee gave approval for the next statutory procedure at its meeting on Monday 23 September.
They agreed to start what is known as the Regulation 19 Consultation to allow for public comment on the draft LP’s compliance and ‘soundness’ with national planning policies.
Chris Traill, the Council’s Strategic Director for Community and Place Delivery, said after the meeting:
This has been described as something of a technical consultation.
We are not asking people for feedback on their general views on the draft LP, but are asking whether it is in line with planning law and national planning policy.
Neighbouring councils, for instance, need to consider if we have met our duty to cooperate with them while producing the draft LP.
We have a responsibility as a Council to deliver an LP that conforms with planning law and national policies and we are confident that we have done so. This consultation, though, will put that to the test, allowing for any concerns to be raised.
The consultation will start on Thursday 26 September and continue for six weeks to Friday 8 November.
In the meantime, Full Council will decide whether to approve the draft LP at its meeting on Wednesday 16 October.
Following this, the Planning Policy and Climate Committee on Thursday 28 November will consider a report on the Regulation 19 consultation feedback.
Provided the draft LP was approved by Full Council and it is considered to be in accordance with national policy, it will then be submitted to the Government for examination by an independent planning inspector.
Previously, it was intended to submit a draft LP in March next year. The timetable was brought forward to avoid potential changes to national planning policy that could have meant starting the whole LP process again from scratch.
Ms Traill added:
We feel it is very much in the interests of our residents to submit a Local Plan as soon as we can. We will be able to update it when required to.
A delay of two or three years could leave us more open to speculative planning applications for all sorts of developments. It is these piecemeal, opportunistic developments rather than ones which form part of an overarching Local Plan that can cause major problems. They often don’t take sufficiently into account the impact on infrastructure, demand for school places and other issues.
The draft LP proposes nine new primary schools, four new secondary schools, sites for 15,000 new homes, including social housing, locations for 15,000 jobs, and new parks and health facilities.
Residents and other stakeholders gave their general views about the draft LP at an earlier Regulation 18 consultation, helping to shape the proposals.
The Government recently announced a number of measures to ensure that the country achieves its ambition of becoming Smokefree by 2030, including the provision of a million ‘Swap to Stop’ kits as a way to support people to quit smoking.
The City of Wolverhampton Council is working to make these kits available at a range of community venues, including the city’s 8 Family Hubs, the 3 WV Active leisure centres and Bilston, Warstones and Wednesfield libraries.
The service will be delivered by trained members of staff, who will offer free vape starter kits alongside support and weekly ‘check-in’ sessions delivered from the convenience of local community venues to help people on their quitting journey over a period of 12 weeks.
The new service was officially launched this week. To sign up for free, please visit Swap to Stop.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, said: “Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for your health and the health of those around you.
“Smoking is still the single largest preventable cause of death in England, accounting for around for 64,000 deaths annually. Almost every minute of every day someone is admitted to hospital with a smoking related disease – but, when you stop smoking, there are almost immediate improvements to your health.
“And it’s not just your body which will benefit, your purse or wallet will too. On average smokers spend £38.59 a week on tobacco – and that means you could have around £2,000 more to spend a year by quitting, and even more if you are a really heavy smoker.
“Nicotine vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking and is also one of the most effective tools for quitting, so we are delighted to deliver this Swap to Stop support in the community in Wolverhampton. If you want to quit, please sign up today.”
For more help and support to stop smoking, please visit Quit Smoking.
Meanwhile, the council announced last week that a new healthy lifestyles service, Live Well Wolverhampton, is being launched, offering people information, advice, guidance, self help tools and lifestyle interventions to enable them to make and maintain positive lifestyle choices.
Initially, the service is being trialled on a small scale, providing support to help people quit smoking, while an adult weight management scheme is also expected to be launched in the near future. It will strengthen the existing support available in Wolverhampton and will be accessible to all those who live or are registered with a GP in the city. More information about Live Well Wolverhampton will be provided once the service is launched city wide.
More than 580 people descended on the Lord Louis Library in Newport last week to find out more about career opportunities within the Island’s care and health sector.
Organised by the Isle of Wight Council, the event showcased the wide range of jobs, career paths and apprenticeships available on the Island to make a real difference to people’s lives.
The day also provided an opportunity for those interested in a rewarding career in care and health to talk to staff to find out what skills are needed to get into these vital roles.
Among the organisations in attendance were Mountbatten, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, Alzheimer Cafe, Practice Plus Group and a host of independent care providers from around the Island, along with council teams from adult social care, children’s services and public health.
Katy Harwood, the council’s recruitment team leader, said: “We wanted to shine a spotlight on the rewarding careers available locally.
“We need more people to join the Island’s care and health workforce supporting Island residents when they need it most.
“A career in care and health is so much more than people may think, so this event was a great opportunity to bring together a wide range of organisations and showcase the different types of jobs available and how valuable this work is.
“Lots of employers had productive discussions on the day and potential hires which was great to hear.
“As well as our sector employers, it was also good to see visitors engaging with additional support and training/learning services represented through Isle of Wight College, Adult Learning, DWP, Working Towards Wellbeing and National Careers Service.
“I hope all involved found it a rewarding day, and that visitors left feeling inspired to pursue a career in care and health.”
Councillor Debbie Andre, Cabinet member for adult social care and public health, added: “A career in health and social care can be incredibly rewarding and there are many different career paths that people can follow.
“This event highlighted not only the range of employment available, but that entry can be open at any stage of life and that previous life experience can be a great advantage in enabling those supported to live their best lives through those joining the caring profession.”
The Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, Deputy Rob Ward, in conjunction with the Jersey Child Care Trust (JCCT), is opening a new nursery provision for 2–3-year-olds with additional needs, at d’Auvergne School.
This provision is one of a number of initiatives taking place to support the Minister’s ambition to extend the nursery and childcare provision for children aged 2-3, within the Government’s Common Strategic Policy (CSP) 2024-2026.
The nursery will open in October and is a pilot scheme; the opportunity to open more 2-3 provisions within Government primary schools is being explored.
Deputy Ward said: “I’m delighted that we are able to offer this provision to parents and families in the coming weeks. It is the first step, and one of a number of possible options we’re looking at to achieve the universal offer for 2- to 3-year-olds.
“I committed to these pilots when I became Minister, as part of this Government’s Common Strategic Policy, and reaching this point is the culmination of a lot of hard work.
“I’d like to thank the Jersey Child Care Trust and the d’Auvergne leadership team for creating this new provision at such pace.”
Headteacher of d’Auvergne, Sam Cooper said: “This marks an exciting new chapter for the school and makes clear sense to use free space in primary schools to expand our nursery provision. We’re very happy to support the pilot in any way we can and look forward to welcoming more children into our wider school community”.
The provision will be known as ‘Play and Learn at d’Auvergne’ and will include the children’s families too, by inviting them to join in with Play and Learn sessions once a week.
Fiona Vacher, Executive Director of JCCT said: “We know the life changing impact that a good quality, early years’ experience has on children and particularly those with developmental and financial need. Previously JCCT has been unable to fund a part-time nursery place for every child who needed it because of a lack of available nursery places.
“When the Minister for Education approached us, we knew we had to prioritise creating ‘Play and Learn at d’Auvergne’ as we want to make sure that every child has access to the nurture, care and learning they need to thrive.”
Artist Susan Connolly pictured at the opening of her exhibition GROUND (100+one) at the FE McWilliam Gallery
The F.E. McWilliam Gallery and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council are delighted to present GROUND (100+one), an exhibition by Belfast based painter Susan Connolly which is now on view at the Banbridge arts venue.
GROUND (100+one), an exciting new body of work, responds to the specific context of the F.E. McWilliam Gallery and is informed by Connolly’s research into Mainie Jellett’s groundbreaking artwork, Decoration (1923), the first modern abstract painting exhibited in Ireland.
Connolly pushes painting to its limits through processes that include layering, scoring, cutting and peeling paint from its support. The title GROUND refers to the one thing shared by every painting – a surface, on which to apply the pigment. (100+one) references the number of years since Jellett’s piece Decoration was first exhibited in Ireland and also the one hundred paintings and collages that Connolly set herself the task of producing for this exhibition.
Jellett’s approach to painting was shaped by the time that she spent in Paris studying and collaborating with the Cubist artist Albert Gleizes. Decoration provoked confusion and hostility when it was first exhibited in Dublin in 1923. Connolly’s interest in Jellett is both as a pioneer and an abstract painter who challenged preconceptions of painting.
Curator of the FE McWilliam Gallery, Dr Riann Coulter said; “Susan is one of our most innovative painters and her engagement with Mainie Jellett’s iconic piece, Decoration, which now hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland, has produced a fascinating body of work that is both a homage to Jellett and a contemporary continuation of her efforts to expand definitions of painting.”
Originally from Kildare, Susan is now based between Belfast and Waterford where she is a lecturer and Course Leader in the Visual Art Department of South East Technological University. She studied at Limerick College of Art and Design, the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and Belfast School of Art where she was awarded an MFA and PhD. Susan is a member of Queen Street Studios and her work is in public and private collections throughout Ireland including the Arts Council of Ireland the Office of Public Works.
The exhibition is accompanied by a limited-edition art book designed by Alex Synge with texts by Sarah Long, Craig Staff and Riann Coulter.
GROUND (100+one) continues at the FE McWilliam Gallery until 2 November 2024. For further information including opening times go to FE McWilliam Gallery
People in Leeds are being encouraged to have their say on the possible introduction of a new regulatory licensing scheme for private sector rented housing.
Leeds City Council began operating a system known as ‘selective licensing’ in Beeston and Harehills in 2020 with the aim of driving up the standard of privately-rented homes and boosting wider efforts to tackle social and health inequalities in the two communities.
Positive results have been achieved but – under the terms of the Housing Act 2004 – selective licensing schemes in England can only run for a period of five years.
The council is therefore now considering plans for a new and expanded scheme that would again include much of Beeston and Harehills but would also take in parts of Armley, Holbeck, Cross Green and East End Park.
All private landlords – with certain limited exceptions – would be required by law to obtain a licence for any residential property they are seeking to let in the designated area.
The licence conditions would include ensuring the safe working of gas or electric appliances, providing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors and keeping the property in a decent state of repair, both inside and out.
A public consultation on the proposed scheme was launched yesterday (Monday, September 23), with the council keen to gather a wide cross-section of views before it decides whether to press ahead with its plans.
And interested parties across the city – including landlords, tenants and other stakeholders – are being urged to take the opportunity to share their thoughts between now and the end of the consultation period on December 13.
Councillor Jess Lennox, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, said:
“Privately rented properties are a key source of housing in Leeds and it’s vitally important that they are safe, warm and well managed places to live.
“We want to explore options for protecting and improving the quality of every type of home in our city, with the newly-launched consultation on selective licensing forming part of that work.
“I would encourage as many people as possible to let us know their views over the course of the next few months.”
More than 4,500 inspections and other visits have been conducted at properties in Beeston and Harehills under their existing schemes, which both come to an end next year.
Landlords have had to carry out improvement work on more than 1,500 homes where issues were identified during these checks.
The visits have also given council officers increased opportunities to identify situations where tenants are facing non-housing related problems, with more than 1,700 referrals being made to partner agencies for support with health, financial and other challenges.
The areas provisionally earmarked for the new scheme all sit within the Armley, Beeston & Holbeck, Burmantofts & Richmond Hill, Gipton & Harehills and Hunslet & Riverside council wards.
These wards have higher levels of deprivation than the city as a whole and an above-average concentration of private rented housing.
A decision on whether to bring in the new Selective Licensing in East, South & West Leeds scheme is expected in the first half of 2025.
To learn more about the consultation and how to submit feedback, click here. Further information can also be obtained by e-mailing ESWselective.licensing@leeds.gov.uk or ringing 0113 378 2899.
OeNB | SUERF | Joint Vienna Institute | Yale Program on Financial Stability Conference on Building Resilience and Managing Financial Crises Vienna, Austria Tobias Adrian, IMF Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department
September 18, 2024
It is a great pleasure to speak to you today on a policy area at the forefront of our work at the IMF in helping our members prepare for, and deal with, financial instability. I will provide a snapshot of the progress that has been made and what remains to be done to deal effectively with bank runs and bank failures. I will also explain what we are doing at the IMF to help our membership make further progress in this critical area.
The bank failures in 2023 in the US and Switzerland presented the most significant test since the global financial crisis of the reforms taken collectively to end “too-big-to-fail.” It’s not often that policymakers get to field test plans for dealing with failing systemic banks, let alone one for a global systemically important bank (G-SIB).
In our view, the failures of Credit Suisse in Switzerland and SVB, Signature, and First Republic in the US, showed that while significant progress has been made, further progress is still required to deliver on the too-big-to-fail reform agenda and reduce the risk that taxpayers bail out shareholders and creditors when banks fail.
On the one hand, the actions the authorities took last year successfully avoided deeper financial turmoil. In addition, unlike many of the failures during the global financial crisis, significant losses were shared with the shareholders and some creditors of the failed banks. However, taxpayers were once again on the hook as extensive public support was used to protect more than just the insured depositors of failed banks.
In Switzerland, amid a massive creditor run, the Credit Suisse acquisition was backed by a government guarantee and liquidity facilities nearly equal to a quarter of Swiss economic output. While the public support was ultimately recovered, it entailed very significant contingent fiscal risk, and created a larger, more systemic bank. Indeed, UBS now has the largest ratio of assets to home country GDP of any individual G-SIB.
The use of standing resolution powers to transfer ownership of Credit Suisse, after bailing in shareholders and creditors, rather than relying on emergency legislation to effect a merger, would have fully wiped out the equity of Credit Suisse shareholders and limited the need for public support.
What lessons have we learnt?
Domestic and international authorities have published extensively on the lessons learnt and we share many of the conclusions. The key points I would highlight include:
The importance of intrusive supervision and early intervention. Credit Suisse depositors lost confidence after prolonged governance and risk management failures. The banks which failed in the US pursued risky business strategies and very rapid growth with inadequate risk management. Supervisors in both jurisdictions should have acted faster and been more assertive and conclusive. Policymakers need to empower supervisors with both the ability and the will to act.
Even relatively small banks can prove systemic. A lesson from many past crises, including the US bank failures in 2023, is that you can’t always judge in advance which banking problems will become systemic. In many countries, including the US and Switzerland, we think authorities should do more to be ready for crises affecting their medium-sized banks. Banking supervisory and resolution authorities should ensure that sufficient recovery and resolution planning takes place across the banking sector as a whole. This should include, on a proportional basis, banks that may not be systemic in all circumstances, but that could certainly be systemic in some.
Central banks should be prepared to provide extensive liquidity support during a crisis. Banks should be familiar with the central bank’s operations and facilities and be ready to use them at short notice. Who can access central bank lending is also an important question as liquidity risks have partially moved away from the usual central bank counterparties. While widening the counterparty list could help central banks intervene more broadly in a crisis, it runs the risk of rewarding regulatory arbitrage, giving raise to difficult trade-offs and requiring careful assessment. Central banks may well have to lend against illiquid collateral in a crisis. In that context, prepositioning would help to ensure operational preparedness especially to ascertain the legal claim on the collateral and to calibrate appropriate haircuts. An open question is whether the prepositioning should be voluntary or required, and how much counterparties should preposition if required. The benefits of enhanced lending “fire power” would have to be compared with the cost that prepositioning entails for the banks and the costs to the central bank, including risks to its balance sheet. If propositioning is directly linked with risk (e.g., a percentage of uninsured deposit), the impact on intermediation and the interaction with other prudential regulation would need to be carefully assessed.
Resolution plans and regimes need sufficient flexibility. We very much support the conclusion of the Financial Stability Board’s lessons learned report that resolution authorities need to “better operationalize a range of resolution options for different circumstances.” Every bank failure presents different challenges and resolution authorities need to be flexible enough to deal with the actual crisis that presents itself, balancing risks to financial stability with those to taxpayers. Authorities should make sure that they carefully balance rules versus discretion and detailed planning versus optionality in designing their resolution regimes. The rapid sale of Credit Suisse should prompt us to think about what would be needed for the successful sale in resolution of even the largest banking groups, at least in some circumstances.
Strikingly, every one of the cases I mentioned from Spring 2023, involved the transfer of the failing bank’s business lines to an acquiring bank, even where this had not been the focus of prior resolution planning. Two of the US cases also involved the intermediate step of transfer to bridge banks. So, we have timely and high-profile reminders that transfer powers should be a core part of the resolution toolkit and should be duly planned for and readily implementable, including at short notice.
Cooperation and effective implementation of resolution powers across borders is imperative. One notable feature of last year’s bank failures was the degree of international cooperation between regulators and resolution authorities in their handling of these cases. The Swiss authorities worked intensively with international counterparts to prepare for a resolution of Credit Suisse, which would have needed supportive actions from the supervisors and resolution authorities responsible for Credit Suisse’s main foreign operations, including in the US, UK, and EU. SVB’s UK subsidiary was resolved by the Bank of England, ultimately being sold to HSBC, and the FSB report highlights that the UK relied on the deep relationships built over the years with their US counterparts to help implement this. This cooperation seems to have begun earlier and worked a lot better than in similar cases during the global financial crisis, such as the failure of Lehman Brothers.
That experience highlights how global financial stability depends on authorities being able to work together across borders and to build in peacetime the routine contacts and good understanding ex ante of what each authority would be likely to do to make that possible. However, there was a wrinkle in this otherwise positive experience, as highlighted in the Financial Stability Board’s report on the bank failures, which relates to the importance of the US securities markets to most major foreign banks. Credit Suisse and most other major banks have debt securities issued in US dollars and/or under New York law, the holders of which may incur losses in a resolution. As a recent report of the Financial Stability Board highlighted, there remain significant open questions about how disclosure and other US securities legal requirements would be applied in the circumstances where securities issued in the US are envisaged to be converted in a short period, for example, over a resolution weekend. This is an important issue where further work is needed and this is being taken forward by the Financial Stability Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and others.
Finally, effective deposit insurance regimes are crucial. Banks typically fail when creditors lose confidence, even before their balance sheet reflects potential losses. Authorities in many countries need to strengthen deposit insurance regimes. New technology like 24/7 payments, mobile banking, and social media have accelerated deposit runs. Last year’s failures followed rapid deposit withdrawals, and deposit insurers and other authorities should be ready and able to act more quickly than many currently can.
IMF staff are working actively to support efforts in member countries to strengthen their supervision, resolution, liquidity assistance, and deposit insurance frameworks including through FSAPs and technical assistance. In the US, we have seen lessons learned reports and policy proposals from many of the US banking authorities, several of which pick up on issues and recommendations that were discussed in the IMF’s assessment of the US financial sector (“FSAP”) in 2020. Our next FSAPs for Switzerland and the Euro Area will be published next year, and as we start work on that we will be taking a close look at the authorities’ and the FSB’s findings and will likely reiterate many of our previous findings, including on strengthening deposit insurance regimes. We are also contributing to policy formulation at the international level, including a recently announced review of the international deposit insurance standard, and by earlier this year hosting with the Financial Stability Board a workshop for policymakers on the use of transfer powers in resolution.
The bottom line is that progress has been made, but there is still further to go in putting an end to too-big-to-fail. Most of the areas where further progress is needed are already well known; last year’s bank failures should provide the impetus for policymakers to cover the remaining ground.
This post originally appeared on theTransform with Google Cloud blog. It was first published April 12, 2024; last updated with new use cases September 24, 2024.
Since generative AI first captured the world’s attention, there’s been a vigorous discussion about what, exactly, the new technology is best used for. While we all enjoyed those early funny chats and witty limericks, we’ve quickly discovered that many of the biggest AI opportunities are clearly in the enterprise, government, and with exciting new companies.
When we first published this post during Google Cloud Next ‘24, we showcased 101 of the best use cases out of the hundreds featured across the event. Now, we’re adding another 84 to the list as customers across the globe continue to put generative AI to work.
[If you’ve visited this post in the past, you can find the newest use cases listed at the top of each section.]
In a matter of months, organizations have gone from AI helping answer questions, to AI making predictions, to generative AI agents. What makes AI agents unique is that they can take actions to achieve specific goals, whether that’s guiding a shopper to the perfect pair of shoes, helping an employee looking for the right health benefits, or supporting nursing staff with smoother patient hand-offs during shifts changes.
In our work with customers, we keep hearing that their teams are increasingly focused on improving productivity, automating processes, and modernizing the customer experience. These aims are now being achieved through the AI agents they’re developing in six key areas: customer service; employee empowerment; code creation; data analysis; cybersecurity; and creative ideation and production.
Hundreds of Google Cloud customers have now put AI agents and gen-AI solutions into production throughout their businesses and the world — with many seeing a tangible return on investment. They have come to rely on Google Cloud technologies that include our AI infrastructure, Gemini models, Vertex AI platform, Google Workspace, and Google Distributed Cloud.
Here’s a snapshot of how 185 of these industry leaders are putting AI to use today, creating real-world use cases that will transform tomorrow.
Customer agents
Similar to great sales and service people, customer agents are able to listen carefully, understand your needs, and recommend the right products and services. They work seamlessly across channels including the web, mobile, and point of sale, and can be integrated into product experiences with voice and video.
1.Alaska Airlines is developing natural language search, providing travelers with a conversational experience powered by AI that’s akin to interacting with a knowledgeable travel agent. This chatbot aims to streamline travel booking, enhance customer experience, and reinforce brand identity.
2. Bennie Health uses Vertex AI to power its innovative employee health benefits platform, providing actionable insights and streamlining data management in order to enhance efficiency and decision-making for employees and HR teams.
3. Beyond 12, a tech-enabled nonprofit focused on student empowerment, has developed an AI-powered college coach to offer scalable coaching to first-generation students that’s available over text, app, and the web.
4. CareerVillage is building an app called Coach to empower job seekers, especially underrepresented youth, in their career preparedness; already featuring 35 career development activities, the aim is to have more than 100 by next year.
5. Character.ai built its realistic conversational chat platform using the full stack of Google Cloud AI services, including for model training and daily operations, allowing it to manage terabytes of conversations each day without interruption.
6. Click Therapeutics develops prescription digital therapeutics designed to treat disease. Its Clinical Operations team leverages Gemini for Google Workspace to transform complex operations data into actionable insights, so they can quickly pinpoint ways to streamline the patient experience in clinical trials.
7. Formula E can now summarize a two-hour long race commentary into a 2-minute podcast in any language, incorporating driver data and ongoing seasonal storylines.
8. General Motors’ OnStar has been augmented with new AI features, including a virtual assistant powered by Google Cloud’s conversational AI technologies that are better able to recognize the speaker’s intent.
9. Gojek, an Indonesia-based super app, launched “Dira by GoTo AI,” a Bahasa Indonesia AI-powered voice assistant integrated into their GoPay service, allowing customers to use voice command to eliminate typing and scrolling, and complete tasks like bill payments and money transfers with fewer steps.
10. GroupBy, an ecommerce service provider, developed an AI-first Search and Discovery Platform powered by Vertex AI Search for Retail. This solution is meticulously designed to optimize revenue, strengthen brand loyalty, and drive sales growth for B2C and B2B retailers.
11. Hotelplan Suisse built a chatbot trained on the business’s travel expertise to answer customer inquiries in real-time, and, following that success, it plans to use gen AI to create travel content.
12. Justicia Lab is developing an AI-powered assistant that will simplify legal processes for asylum seekers and immigrants; by uploading a picture from a legal letter or document, users can extract valuable information and then receive personalized guidance and next steps.
13. Mercado Libre has incorporated semantic search into its digital shopping platforms, using AI embeddings from the Vertex AI Agent Builder, which greatly improved product recommendations and discoverability for more than 200 million consumers across Latin America.
14. Motorola’s Moto AI leverages Gemini and Imagen to help smartphone users unlock new levels of productivity, creativity, and enjoyment with features such as conversation summaries, notification digests, image creation, and natural language search — all with reliable responses grounded in Google Search.
15. mRelief has built an SMS-accessible AI chatbot to simplify the application process for the SNAP food assistance program in the U.S., featuring easy-to-understand eligibility information and direct assistance within minutes rather than days.
16. Personal AI offers a “personal language model” using only the data of one individual or brand and allowing them to control and own how it is used. Built on your own data, facts, and opinions, it creates a responsive and interactive messaging experience that helps people be more productive and deepen relationships.
17. PODS worked with the advertising agency Tombras to create the “World’s Smartest Billboard” using Gemini — a campaign on its trucks that could adapt to each neighborhood in New York City, changing in real-time based on data. It hit all 299 neighborhoods in just 29 hours, creating more than 6,000 unique headlines.
18. Quora developed Poe, its own generative AI platform for people to discover and chat with AI-powered bots, including Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, Meta’s Llama, and Mistral’s Large 2 — many of which are hosted on Google Cloud’s purpose-built AI infrastructure.
19. ScottsMiracle-Gro built an AI agent on Vertex AI to provide tailored gardening advice and product recommendations for consumers.
20. Snap has deployed the multimodal capability of Gemini within its “My AI” chatbot and has since seen over 2.5-times as much engagement within Snapping to My AI in the United States.
21. Tabiya has built a conversational interface, Compass, that helps young people find employment opportunities; the platform asks questions and requests information, drawing out skills and experiences and matching those to appropriate roles.
22. Telecom Italia (TIM) implemented a Google-powered voice agent to address many customer calls, increasing efficiency by 20%.
23. UPS Capital launched DeliveryDefense Address Confidence, which uses machine learning and UPS data to provide a confidence score for shippers to help them determine the likelihood of a successful delivery.
24. Volkswagen of America built a virtual assistant in the myVW app, where drivers can explore their owners’ manuals and ask questions, such as, “How do I change a flat tire?” or “What does this digital cockpit indicator light mean?” Users can also use Gemini’s multimodal capabilities to see helpful information and context on indicator lights simply by pointing their smartphone cameras at the dashboard.
25. ADT is building a customer agent to help its millions of customers select, order, and set up their home security.
26. Alaska Airlines is developing a personalized travel search experience using advanced AI techniques, creating hyper-personalized recommendations that engage customers early and foster loyalty through AI-generated content.
27. Best Buy is using Gemini to launch a generative AI-powered virtual assistant this summer that can troubleshoot product issues, reschedule order deliveries, manage Geek Squad subscriptions, and more; in-store and digital customer-service associates are also gaining gen-AI tools to better serve customers anywhere they need help.
28. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is using Vertex AI to modernize transportation operations for a smoother, more efficient journey.
29. Etsy uses Vertex AI training to optimize their search recommendations and ads models, delivering better listing suggestions to buyers and helping sellers grow their businesses.
30. IHG Hotels & Resorts is building a generative AI-powered chatbot to help guests easily plan their next vacation directly in the IHG One Rewards mobile app.
31. ING Bank aims to offer a superior customer experience and has developed a gen-AI chatbot for workers to enhance self-service capabilities and improve answer quality on customer queries.
32. Magalu, one of Brazil’s largest retailers, has put customer service at the center of its AI strategy, including using Vertex AI to create “Lu’s Brain” to power an interactive conversational agent for Lu, Magalu’s popular brand persona (the 3D bot has more than 14 million followers between TikTok and Instagram).
33. Mercedes Benz will infuse e-commerce capabilities into its online storefront with a gen AI-powered smart sales assistant. Mercedes also plans to expand its use of Google Cloud AI in its call centers and is using Vertex AI and Gemini to personalize marketing campaigns.
34. Oppo/OnePlus is incorporating Gemini models and Google Cloud AI into their phones to deliver innovative customer experiences, including news and audio recording summaries, AI toolbox, and more.
35. Samsung is deploying Gemini Pro and Imagen 2 to their Galaxy S24 smartphones so users can take advantage of amazing features like text summarization, organization, and magical image editing.
36. The Minnesota Division of Driver and Vehicle Services helps non-English speakers get licenses and other services with two-way real-time translation.
37. Pepperdine University has students and faculty who speak many languages, and with Gemini in Google Meet, they can benefit from real-time translated captioning and notes.
38. Sutherland, a leading digital transformation company, is focused on bringing together human expertise and AI, including boosting its client-facing teams by automatically surfacing suggested responses and automating insights in real time.
39. Target uses Google Cloud to power AI solutions on the Target app and Target.com, including personalized Target Circle offers and Starbucks at Drive Up, their curbside pickup solution.
40. Tokopedia, an Indonesian ecommerce leader, is using Vertex AI to improve data quality, increasing unique products being sold by 5%.
41. US News saw a double-digit impact in key metrics like click-through rate, time spent on page, and traffic volume to its pages after implementing Vertex AI Search.
42-45. IntesaSanpaolo, MacquarieBank, and Scotiabank are exploring the potential of gen AI to transform the way we live, work, bank, and invest — particularly how the new technology can boost productivity and operational efficiency in banking.
Employee agents
Employee agents help workers be more productive and collaborate better together. These agents can streamline processes, manage repetitive tasks, answer employee questions, as well as edit and translate critical communications.
46. 2bots offers technology solutions, such as chatbots and virtual agents, built with Google Cloud’s AI solutions; these intelligent chatbots and content generation tools are transforming the way companies interact with their customers.
47. Augment is building an AI personal assistant that offers enhanced note-taking and collects information across your apps, including calendar, email, texts, and social media, so users can more quickly and easily find personal information and keep their lives organized.
48. Bayes Impact builds AI products to support nonprofits, and its flagship product, CaseAI, is a digital case manager that integrates with an NGO’s current system to add smart features to draft action plans tailored to a beneficiary’s unique history; caseworkers have saved 25 hours of work per week on average.
49. Bell Canada has built customizable contact center solutions for its business customers that offer AI-powered agents to address callers, and Agent Assist, which listens when a human agent is on, offering suggestions and sentiment analysis. AI has contributed $20 million in savings across customer operations.
50. Best Buy can generate conversation summaries in real time using Contact Center AI, allowing live agents to give their full attention to understanding and supporting customers, resulting in a 30-to-90-second reduction in average call time and after-call work. Both customers and agents have cited improved satisfaction.
51. Camanchaca, a Chilean seafood company, took only six weeks to develop Elon, a virtual assistant that aims to provide more efficient customer service through digital channels, enhancing Camanchaca’s customer interactions.
52. Certify OS is automating credentialing, licensing, and monitoring of medical providers for healthcare networks, relieving the burden of time-consuming and often siloed information.
53. Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs widely uses Gemini for Google Workspace, estimating that employees are saving an average five hours per week just with AI capabilities in Gmail. Gemini is also streamlining time-consuming, manual processes through uses like AI-generated transcriptions and auto-formatting of pharmaceutical lab results or FDA compliance documentation.
54. Dun & Bradstreet built an email-generation tool with Gemini that helps sellers create tailored, personalized communications to prospects and customers for its research services. The company also developed intelligent search capabilities to help users with complex queries like, “Find me all the companies in this area with a high ESG rating.”
55. England’s Football Association is training Vertex AI on the FA’s historical and current scouting reports so they can be transformed into concise summaries, helping national teams discover future talent.
56. Fireflies.ai can transcribe, summarize, and analyze meetings, recordings, and other voice conversations to save time and improve collaboration and information sharing across teams.
57. Fluna, a Pan-African digital services company, has automated the analysis and drafting of legal agreements using Vertex AI, Document AI, and Gemini 1.5 Pro, achieving an accuracy of 92% in data extraction while ensuring security and reliability for sensitive information.
58. Hemominas, Brazil’s largest blood bank, partnered with Xertica to develop an omnichannel chatbot for donor search and scheduling, streamlining processes and enhancing efficiency. The AI solution has the potential to save half-a-million lives annually by attracting more donors and optimizing blood supply management.
59. Hiscox used BigQuery and Vertex AI to create the first AI-enhanced lead underwriting model for insurers, automating and accelerating the quoting for complex risks from three days down to a few minutes.
60. LiveX AI delivers AI Agents that swiftly enhance product education, boost customer conversion, reduce churn, and provide personalized customer support, with the goal of offering everyone a seamless VIP experience across their customer journey.
61. Opportunity@Work is applying gen AI to scale a suite of software tools and APIs that help employers identify “STAR” job candidates — “skilled through alternative routes” such as community college, military service, and on-the-job experience — helping fill roles in a tight market and expand opportunities.
62. QuantumMetric has introduced Felix AI, powered by Gemini Pro, to simplify digital analytics and decision making. Felix AI automatically summarizes a user’s web or mobile session and consolidates the moments that matter most into short, readable summaries for customer service workers.
63. Randstad, a large HR services and talent provider, is using Gemini for Workspace across its organization to transform its work culture, leading to a more culturally diverse and inclusive workplace that’s seen a double-digit reduction in sick days.
64. Sprinklr built Sprinklr AI+ into its unified customer experience management platform, giving brands gen-AI capabilities for customer service, insights, social media management, and marketing that has enterprise-grade governance, security, and data privacy built-in.
65. Thomson Reuters added Gemini Pro to its suite of large language models approved for employee use; with its 2-million-token context window, Gemini makes some tasks as much as 10-times faster to process and can process entire documents in context.
66. Warner Bros. Discovery built an AI captioning tool with Vertex AI and saw a 50% reduction in overall costs, and an 80% reduction in the time it takes to manually caption a file without the use of machine learning.
67. The U.S. Air Force built a new proof-of-concept portal for searching, browsing, and reading e-published PDFs — all within a 90-day deadline that leveraged the prebuilt tools and speed of Vertex AI Search and Conversation.
68. Avery Dennison empowered their employees with generative AI to enable secure, flexible, and borderless collaboration for enhanced productivity to drive growth.
69. Bank of New York Mellon built a virtual assistant to help employees find relevant information and answers to their questions.
70. Bayer is building a radiology platform that will assist radiologists with data analysis, intelligent search, and to create documents that meet healthcare requirements needed for regulatory approval. The bioscience company is also harnessing BigQuery and Vertex AI to develop additional digital medical solutions and drugs more efficiently.
71. Bristol Myers Squibb is transforming its document processes for clinical trials using Vertex AI and Google Workspace. Now, documentation that took scientists weeks now gets to a first draft in minutes.
72. BenchSci develops generative AI solutions empowering scientists to understand complex connections in biological research, saving them time and financial resources and ultimately bringing new medicine to patients faster.
73. Cintas is using Vertex AI Search to develop an internal knowledge center for customer service and sales teams to easily find key information.
74. Covered California, the state’s healthcare marketplace, is using Document AI to help improve the consumer and employee experience by automating parts of the documentation and verification process when residents apply for coverage.
75. Dasa, the largest medical diagnostics company in Brazil, is helping physicians detect relevant findings in test results more quickly.
76. DaVita leverages DocAI and Healthcare NLP to transform kidney care, including analyzing medical records, uncovering critical patient insights, and reducing errors. AI enables physicians to focus on personalized care, resulting in significant improvements in healthcare delivery.
77. Discover Financial helps their 10,000 contact center representatives to search and synthesize information across detailed policies and procedures during calls.
78. HCA Healthcare is testing Cati, a virtual AI caregiver assistant that helps to ensure continuity of care when one caregiver shift ends and another begins. They are also using gen AI to improve workflows on time-consuming tasks, such as clinical documentation, so physicians and nurses can focus more on patient care.
79. The Home Depot has built an application called Sidekick, which helps store associates manage inventory and keep shelves stocked; notably, vision models help associates prioritize which actions to take.
80. Los Angeles Rams are utilizing AI across the board from content analysis to player scouting.
81. McDonald’s will leverage data, AI, and edge technologies across its thousands of restaurants to implement innovation faster and to enhance employee and customer experiences.
82. Pennymac, a leading US-based national mortgage lender, is using Gemini across several teams including HR, where Gemini in Docs, Sheets, Slides and Gmail is helping them accelerate recruiting, hiring, and new employee onboarding.
83. Robert Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, revolutionizes marketing through gen AI-powered solutions, streamlining processes, optimizing resource allocation, and maximizing efficiency across 100+ decentralized departments.
84. Symphony, the communications platform for the financial services industry, uses Vertex AI to help finance and trading teams collaborate across multiple asset classes.
85. Uber is using AI agents to help employees be more productive, save time, and be even more effective at work. For customer service representatives, they’ve launched new tools that summarize communications with users and can even surface context from previous interactions, so front-line staff can be more helpful and effective.
86. The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs is using AI at the edge to improve cancer detection for service members and veterans. The Augmented Reality Microscope (ARM) is deployed at remote military treatment facilities around the world. The prototype device is helping pathologists find cancer faster and with better accuracy.
87. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has improved the quality and efficiency of their patent and trademark examination process by implementing AI-driven technologies.
88. Verizon is using generative AI to help teams in network operations and customer experience get the answers they need faster.
89. Victoria’s Secret is testing AI-powered agents to help their in-store associates find information about product availability, inventory, and fitting and sizing tips, so they can better tailor recommendations to customers.
90. Vodafone uses Vertex AI to search and understand specific commercial terms and conditions across more than 10,000 contracts with more than 800 communications operators
91. WellSky is integrating Google Cloud’s healthcare and Vertex AI capabilities to reduce the time spent completing documentation outside work hours.
92. Woolworths, the leading retailer in Australia, boosts employees’ confidence in communications with “Help me write” across Google Workspace products for more than 10,000 administrative employees. It’s also using Gemini to create next-generation promotions, as well as for quickly assisting customer service reps in summarizing all previous customer interactions in real time.
93-97. Box, Typeface, Glean, CitiBank, and Securiti AI discuss developing AI-powered apps across the enterprise, with measurable returns on investment for marketing, financial services, and HR use cases.
98-99. Highmark Health and Freenome join Bristol Myers Squibb to explore how AI can improve efficiency and innovation across care delivery, drug discovery, clinical trial planning, and bringing medicines to market.
Code agents
Code agents are helping developers and product teams to design, create, and operate applications faster and better, and to ramp up on new languages and code bases. Many organizations are already seeing double-digit gains in productivity, leading to faster deployment and cleaner, clearer code.
100. Labelbox has built a fully managed AI model evaluation solution directly integrated into the Vertex AI platform, allowing Google Cloud users to seamlessly launch human evaluation jobs and set specific criteria for evaluation, such as question-answering and summarization; this eases and accelerates the ability to deploy human-in-the-loop AI systems with higher levels of trust and authority.
101. Leroy Merlin, a global home improvement retailer, developed its Pull Request Analyzer using Vertex AI. This generative AI solution summarizes code changes, helping developers understand projects faster and improve code review efficiency.
102. Linear, a product development platform, built Similar Issues, a feature that uses AI to detect and prevent duplicate or overlapping tickets and ensures cleaner and more accurate data representation.
103. Magic is building a developer platform with a 100-million-token context window, so organizations can upload extremely large code bases and more easily query and build on them using gen AI assistance.
104. Pinecone provides infrastructure for developers to build accurate, secure, and scalable AI applications, allowing companies to easily ground gen AI apps in their proprietary data for use in AI search, retrieval-augmented generation, coding agents, and more.
105. Regnology built its Ticket-to-Code Writer tool with Gemini 1.5 Pro to automate the conversion of bug tickets into actionable code, significantly streamlining the software development process.
106. Weights & Biases, a creator of AI tools for developers, created W&B Weave, a lightweight toolkit to track, evaluate, and debug gen AI applications built with Gemini, so teams can confidently go from demo to production.
107. Capgemini has been using Code Assist to improve software engineering productivity, quality, security, and developer experience, with early results showing workload gains for coding and more stable code quality.
108. Commerzbank is enhancing developer efficiency through Code Assist’s robust security and compliance features.
109. Quantiphi saw developer productivity gains of more than 30% during their Code Assist pilot.
110. Replit developers will get access to Google Cloud infrastructure, services, and foundation models via Ghostwriter, Replit’s software development AI, while Google Cloud and Workspace developers will get access to Replit’s collaborative code editing platform.
111. Seattle Children’s hospital is using AI to boost data engineering productivity and accelerate development.
112. Turing is customizing Gemini Code Assist on their private codebase, empowering their developers with highly personalized and contextually relevant coding suggestions that have increased productivity around 30 percent and made day-to-day coding more enjoyable.
113. Wayfair piloted Code Assist, and those developers with the code agent were able to set up their environments 55 percent faster than before, there was a 48 percent increase in code performance during unit testing, and 60 percent of developers reported that they were able to focus on more satisfying work.
Data agents
Data agents are like having knowledgeable data analysts and researchers at your fingertips. They can help answer questions about internal and external sources, synthesize research, develop new models — and, best of all, help find the questions we haven’t even thought to ask yet, and then help get the answers.
114. 180Seguros is powering its data management platform for employees with Google Cloud AI and BigQuery to improve operational metric tracking, allowing for 3X faster query times.
115. Addy AI is helping mortgage lenders and banks automate their lending processes with custom AI models trained on Vertex AI. For example, the platform can extract loan opportunity details from lengthy email threads with numerous attachments.
116. Bayer Crop Science has developed Climate FieldView, a comprehensive agricultural platform with more than 250 layers of data and billions of data points; AI-powered recommendations allow farmers to design and monitor their fields for greater yields and efficient fertilization, with the added benefit of reduced carbon emissions.
117. CME Group is building a first-of-its-kind cloud-based commodities trading platform with AI tools built-in, offering CME’s trading customers access to deeper insights and smarter trades as well as rapid experimentation on new trading strategies that won’t interrupt existing trade flows.
118. Digits is developing next-gen accounting software for startups and small businesses; using AI-driven bookkeeping, expense management, and financial analysis, Digits enables business owners to achieve financial clarity and focus on growth.
119. Elanco, a leader in animal health, has implemented a gen AI framework supporting critical business processes, such as Pharmacovigilance, Customer Orders, and Clinical Insights. The framework, powered by Vertex AI and Gemini, has resulted in an estimated ROI of $1.9 million since launching last year.
120. Full Fact, a UK-based nonprofit working in 18 countries to combat misinformation, is now using gen AI to actively monitor stories so its 30 fact-checking partner organizations can focus on addressing specific claims and harmful information.
121. Fullstory, a digital behavioral data platform, is building the ability to analyze and summarize user behavior on a site to create more informed and enriching chatbot experiences; responses are more relevant and accurate, ultimately improving virtual agent performance and customer experience
122. GamudaBerhad, a Malaysian infrastructure and property management company, has integrated a Gemini-powered conversational agent into its cloud-based Tunnel Insight platform, providing faster information and insights during construction projects.
123. IntelligenciaAI is using AI models to research novel new drugs, relying on Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure to deliver scalable research that is accurate and transparent to meet the stringent needs of medicine.
124. IPRally built a custom machine-learning platform that uses natural language processing on the text of more than 120 million global patent documents, creating an accurate, easily searchable database that adds more than 200,000 new sources a week.
125. Ipsos built a data analysis tool for its teams of market researchers, eliminating the need for time-consuming requests to data analysts, which is powered by Gemini 1.5 Pro and Flash models as well as Grounding with Google Search to enhance real-world accuracy from contemporaneous Search information.
126. Materiom, a startup researching zero-waste, bio-based alternatives to fossil-fuel-made products like plastics, is creating a gen AI tool that enables entrepreneurs to develop novel compostable materials with broad applications; AI offers faster research and information gathering to speed up the development process.
127. Mendel has built a clinical AI system designed to break down the longstanding silos in medical data, boosting accuracy, accessibility, and ultimately patient health outcomes.
128. NeuroPace, a medical device company, built a solution to quickly identify effective epilepsy treatment options best suited to different patients; by analyzing brainwave patterns, it can find similar patients and apply successful therapies, streamlining personalized care.
129. NotCo, a Chilean food tech company, partnered with Eleven Solutions to develop a conversational AI chatbot powered by Gemini; the chatbot has revolutionized data access, allowing employees to instantly query their SAP system and gain real-time insights for faster, data-driven decision-making.
130. SURA Investments, the largest asset manager in Latin America, developed an AI-based analysis model for employees that allows them to better understand customer needs and improve customer experience and satisfaction.
131. AI21 Labs offers a BigQuery integration called Contextual Answers that allows users to query data conversationally and get high-quality answers quickly.
132. Anthropic has partnered with Google Cloud to offer its family of Claude 3 models on Vertex AI — providing organizations with more model options for intelligence, speed, cost-efficiency, and vision for enterprise use cases.
133. The Asteroid Institute is using AI to discover hidden asteroids in existing astronomical data. This is a major focus for astronomers researching the evolution of the Solar System, investors and businesses hoping to fly missions to asteroids, and for all of us who want to prevent future large asteroid impacts on Earth.
134. Contextual is working with Google Cloud to offer enterprises fully customizable, trustworthy, privacy-aware AI grounded in internal knowledge bases.
135. Cox 2M, the commercial IoT division of Cox Communications, is able to make smarter, faster business decisions using AI-powered analytics.
136. Essential AI, a developer of enterprise AI solutions, is using Google Cloud’s AI-optimized TPU v5p accelerator chips to train its own AI models.
137. Generali Italia, Italy’s largest insurance provider, used Vertex AI to build a model evaluation pipeline that helps ML teams quickly evaluate performance and deploy models.
138. Globo, one of Brazil’s largest media networks, is using Service Extensions and Media CDN to fight piracy during live events by blocking pirated streams in real time.
139. Golden State Warriors are using AI to improve the fan experience content in their Chase Center app.
140. Hugging Face is collaborating with Google across open science, open source, cloud, and hardware to enable companies to build their own AI with the latest open models from Hugging Face and Google Cloud hardware and software.
141. Kakao Brain, part of Korean technology company Kakao Group, has built a large-scale AI language model that is the largest Korean language-specific LLM in the market, with 66 billion parameters. They’ve also developed a text-to-image generator called Karlo.
142. Mayo Clinic has given thousands of its scientific researchers access to 50 petabytes worth of clinical data through Vertex AI search, accelerating information retrieval across multiple languages.
143. McLaren Racing is using Google AI to get up-to-the-millisecond insights during races and training to gain a competitive edge.
144. Mercado Libre is testing BigQuery and Looker to optimize capacity planning and reservations with delivery carriers and airlines to fulfill shipments faster.
145. Mistral AI will use Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure, to further test, build, and scale up its LLMs, all while benefiting from Google Cloud’s security and privacy standards.
146. MSCI uses machine learning with Vertex AI, BigQuery and Cloud Run to enrich its datasets to help our clients gain insight into around 1 million asset locations to help manage climate-related risks.
147. NewsCorp is using Vertex AI to help search data across 30,000 sources and 2.5 billion news articles updated daily.
148. Orange operates in 26 countries where local data must be kept in each country. They are using AI on Google Distributed Cloud to improve network performance and deliver super-responsive translation capabilities.
149. Spotify leveraged Dataflow for large-scale generation of ML podcast previews, and they plan to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with data engineering and data science to build better experiences for their customers and creators.
150. UPS is building a digital twin of its entire distribution network, so both workers and customers can see where their packages are at any time.
151. Workday is using natural language processing in Vertex Search and Conversation to make data insights more accessible for technical and non-technical users alike.
152. Woven — Toyota‘s investment in the future of mobility — is partnering with Google to leverage vast amounts of data and AI to enable autonomous driving, supported by thousands of ML workloads on Google Cloud’s AI Hypercomputer. This has resulted in resulting in 50% total-cost-of-ownership savings to support automated driving.
152-153. Broward County, Florida, and Southern California Edison are using geospatial capabilities and AI to improve infrastructure planning and monitoring, generate new insights, and create regional resilience for communities facing climate challenges today and tomorrow.
154-155. Kinaxis and Dematic are building data-driven supply chains to address logistics use cases including scenario modeling, planning, operations management, and automation.
156-157. NOAA and USAID are among the U.S. government agencies using Google Cloud AI to unlock critical data insights to streamline operations and improve mission outcomes — all with an emphasis on responsible AI.
Security agents
Security agents assist security operations by radically increasing the speed of investigations, automating monitoring and response for greater vigilance and compliance controls. They can also help guard data and models from cyberattacks, such as malicious prompt injection.
158. Apex Fintech is using Gemini in Security to accelerate the writing of complex threat detections from hours to a matter of seconds.
159. Exabeam has built a generative AI copilot for security analysts into its New-Scale Security Operations Platform.
160. Fiserv, a developer of financial services technology, can now summarize threats, find answers, and detect, validate, and respond to security events faster with the Gemini in Security Operations platform.
161. NetRise developed Trace to provide software supply chain security by introducing AI-powered intent-driven searches; these allow users to search their assets based on the underlying motives or purposes behind the code and configurations, rather than solely relying on signature-based methods.
162. Palo Alto Networks is using Gemini to create a grounded AI assistant for 24/7 security platform support in order to improve agent efficiency and response time; grounding the assistant in organizational data and security protocols has greatly improved the accuracy of responses.
163. BBVA uses AI in Google SecOps to detect, investigate, and respond to security threats with more accuracy, speed, and scale. The platform now surfaces critical security data in seconds, when it previously took minutes or even hours, and delivers highly automated responses.
164. Behavox is using Google Cloud technology and LLMs to provide industry leading regulatory compliance and front office solutions for financial institutions globally.
165. Charles Schwab has integrated their own intelligence into the AI-powered Google SecOps, so analysts can better prioritize work and respond to threats.
166. Fiserv’s security operations engineers create detections and playbooks with much less effort, while analysts get answers more quickly.
167. Grupo Boticário, one of the largest beauty retail and cosmetics companies in Brazil, employs real-time security models to prevent fraud and to detect and respond to issues.
168. Palo Alto Networks’ Cortex XSIAM, the AI-driven security operations platform, is built on more than a decade of expertise in machine-learning models and the most comprehensive, rich, and diverse data store in the industry. Backed by Google’s advanced cloud infrastructure and advanced AI services, including BigQuery and Gemini models, the combination delivers global scale and near real-time protection across all cybersecurity offerings.
169. Pfizer can now aggregate cybersecurity data sources, cutting analysis times from days to seconds.
Creative agents
Creative agents can expand your organization with the best design and production skills, working across images, slides, and exploring concepts with workers. Many organizations are building agents for their marketing teams, audio and video production teams, and all the creative people that can use a hand. With creative agents, anyone can become a designer, artist, or producer.
170. AdoreMe marketers write differentiated product descriptions in one hour, a tedious task which used to take 30-40 hours a month thanks to Gemini for Google Workspace.
171. Globo, the largest media group in Latin America, is using Google Cloud’s AI to hyper-personalize content for its streaming users, and create a better experience for spectators.
172. Higgsfield.ai built a number of text-to-video apps for consumers, including Diffuse 2.0, which can combine users photos, videos, and texts through AI models to create more realistic avatars.
173. Jasper trains its suite of creativity-, writing-, and marketing-focused AI models on Google’s AI infrastructure, delivering on-brand, data-optimized assets faster and at scale to teams large and small.
174. Puma is using Imagen to customize product photos on its website, saving time and ensuring they are locally relevant across markets; PUMA India has already seen a 10% increase in click through rate.
175. RadissonHotel Group personalized its advertising at scale in collaboration with Accenture and using Vertex AI and Gemini models, training them on extensive datasets stored in BigQuery; ad teams saw productivity rise around 50% while revenue increased from AI-powered campaigns by more than 20%
176. SquareEnix is using customer data to develop AI-optimized marketing assets to keep its gamers engaged, sharing personalized emails suited to each player’s preferences, leading to a 20% increase in email opens and a 10% increased retention rate.
177. Urmobo, a mobile-device management platform, created a virtual agent, Odin, that significantly improved user experience and reduced support tickets by enabling clients to interact with the platform using natural language.
178. The World Bank is developing a tool to extract key information from research literature on the causal impact of development interventions, with the ultimate goal to empower decision-makers to allocate the $220B in annual aid and trillions in annual impact investing more effectively.
179. Belk ECommerce is using generative AI to craft better product descriptions, a necessary yet time-consuming task for digital retails that has often been done manually.
180. Canva is using Vertex AI to power its Magic Design for Video, helping users skip tedious editing steps while creating shareable and engaging videos in a matter of seconds.
181. Carrefour used Vertex AI to deploy Carrefour Marketing Studio in just five weeks — an innovative solution to streamline the creation of dynamic campaigns across various social networks. In just a few clicks, marketers can build ultra-personalized campaigns to deliver customers advertising that they care about.
182. Major League Baseball continues to innovate its Statcast platform, so teams, broadcasters, and fans have access to live in-game insights.
183. Paramount currently relies on manual processes to create the essential metadata and video summaries used across its Paramount+ platform for showcasing content and creating personalized experiences for viewers. VertexAI Text Bison is now helping to streamline this process.
184. Procter & Gamble used Imagen to develop an internal gen AI platform to accelerate the creation of photo-realistic images and creative assets, giving marketing teams more time to focus on high-level planning and delivering superior experiences for its consumers.
185. WPP will integrate Google Cloud’s gen AI capabilities into its intelligent marketing operating system, called WPP Open, which empowers its people and clients to deliver new levels of personalization, creativity, and efficiency. This includes the use of Gemini 1.5 Pro models to supercharge both the accuracy and speed of content performance predictions.
To find even more customers using our AI tools to build agents and solutions for their most important enterprise projects, visit the Google Cloud customer hub.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Following the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly, the following statement was made by Chair Antonio Tajani.
1. Introduction
In today’s meeting in New York, in the wake of the Summit of the Future, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the High Representative of the European Union reiterated their commitment to upholding the rule of law, humanitarian principles and international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, and to protecting human rights and dignity for all individuals.
They re-emphasized their determination to foster collective action in order to preserve peace and stability to address global challenges, such as the climate crisis and to advance the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In doing so, the G7 members renewed their commitment to the promotion of free societies and democratic principles, where all persons can freely exercise their rights and freedoms.
2. Summit for the Future
In the spirit of the renewed determination to strengthen the multilateral system based on the UN Charter’s principles, as reflected in the Pact for the Future adopted at the Summit of the Future by world Leaders, the G7 members committed to continue working with countries and all relevant stakeholders within the UN system through dialogue, mutual understanding and respect in the pursuit of common solutions, with the aim of upholding and reforming the multilateral system so that it better reflects today’s world and is fit to respond to the complex global challenges of the future. They reaffirmed their commitment to work with all UN member states to strengthen the roles of the UNSG as well as the UNGA. They also recommitted to the reform of the UNSC.
3. Steadfast Support to Ukraine
The G7 members reaffirmed their unwavering support to Ukraine as it defends its freedom, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, against Russia’s brutal and unjustifiable war of aggression. The G7 members strongly condemned Russia’s blatant breach of international law, including the UN Charter, and of the basic principles that underpin the international order. They strongly condemned the serious violations of international humanitarian law perpetrated by Russia’s forces in Ukraine, which have caused a devastating impact on the civilian population. Violence against civilians, including women, children, and prisoners of war is unacceptable.
They expressed their outrage at Russia’s repeated attacks against critical infrastructure and they condemned in the strongest possible terms any targeting of civilian buildings and even hospitals. Ensuring the protection and resilience of Ukraine’s energy grid and its power generation capacity remains a fundamental and urgent priority as winter approaches. They welcomed the international conference on energy security held on August 22. .as well as the ongoing coordination of the G7 energy group. They reiterated their commitment to help Ukraine meet its urgent short-term financing needs, as well as support its long-term recovery and reconstruction priorities.
Russia must end its war of aggression and pay for the damage it has caused to Ukraine. The G7 members reiterated their commitment to explore and use all possible lawful avenues by which Russia is made to meet those obligations.
The launch of the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans for Ukraine, as mandated by G7 leaders, will make available approximately USD 50 billion in additional funding to Ukraine that will be serviced and repaid by future flows of extraordinary revenues stemming from the immobilization of Russian sovereign assets held in the European Union and other relevant jurisdictions.
The G7 Foreign Ministers and the High Representative are working, together with Finance Ministers, to operationalize the G7 Leaders’ commitment by the end of the year. They will maintain solidarity in this commitment to providing this support to Ukraine. The G7 members confirmed that, consistent with all applicable laws and their respective legal systems, Russia’s sovereign assets in their jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia ends its aggression and pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.
They also committed to strengthening the Ukraine Donor Platform to help coordinate the disbursal of funds and ensure they align with Ukraine’s highest priority needs at a pace it can effectively absorb. This will play a key role in advancing Ukraine’s reforms in line with its European path and in contributing to a successful Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in Italy in 2025.
Any use of nuclear weapons by Russia in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine would be inadmissible. They therefore condemned in the strongest possible terms Russia’s irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric, as well as its posture of strategic intimidation. They also expressed their deepest concern about the reported use of chemical weapons as well as riot control agents as a method of warfare by Russia in Ukraine.
The G7 members remained committed to holding those responsible accountable for atrocities in Ukraine, in line with international law. They also condemned the seizures of foreign companies and called on Russia to reverse these measures and seek acceptable solutions with the companies targeted by them.
They condemned Russia’s seizure and continued control and militarization of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which poses severe risks for nuclear safety and security, potentially affecting the entire international community. They reiterated their support to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s efforts directed at mitigating such risks.
They underlined once again their support for Ukraine’s right of self-defense and reiterated their commitment to Ukraine’s long-term security, recalling the launch of the Ukraine Compact in Washington on 11 July 2024. They re-affirmed the intention to increasing industrial production and delivery capabilities to assist Ukraine’s self-defense. They highlighted their support to Ukraine in its efforts to modernize its armed forces and strengthen its own defense industry. They expressed their resolve to bolster Ukraine’s air defense capabilities to save lives and protect critical infrastructure.
They remained committed to raising the costs of Russia’s war of aggression by building on the comprehensive package of sanctions and economic measures already in place. Though existing measures have had a significant impact on Russia’s war machine and ability to fund its invasion, its military is still posing a threat not just to Ukraine but also to international security.
The G7 members expressed the intention to continue taking appropriate measures, consistent with their legal systems, against actors in China and in third countries that materially support Russia’s war machine, including financial institutions, and other entities that facilitate Russia’s acquisition of items for its defense industrial base.
They expressed their intention to continue to apply significant pressure on Russian revenues from energy and other commodities. This will include improving the efficacy of the oil price cap policy by taking further steps to tighten compliance and enforcement, including against Russia’s shadow fleet, while working to maintain market stability.
They especially emphasized the urgency to support Ukraine’s energy security, including by coordinating international assistance through the G7+Ukraine Energy Coordination Group. They underscored the importance to continue working with the Ukrainian authorities and International Financial Institutions through the Ukraine Donor Platform, and by mobilizing private investments and fostering participation of civil society.
They highlighted the reality of millions of internally displaced Ukrainians and the importance of an inclusive rights-based, gender-responsive recovery, including the reintegration of veterans and civilians with disabilities, and to address the needs of women, children as well as other population groups who have been disproportionately affected by Russia’s war of aggression. They reiterated their condemnation of Russia’s unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children and welcomed coordinated efforts to secure their safe return. They called on Russia to release all persons it has unjustly detained and safely return all civilians it has illegally transferred or deported, starting with children. They welcomed the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s 10 point peace formula that will be hosted by Canada on October 30-31.
They reiterated the need to support Ukraine’s agriculture sector, which is critical for global food supply, particularly for the most vulnerable nations, and called for unimpeded exports of grain, foodstuffs, fertilizers and inputs from Ukraine.
They acknowledged the importance to involve the private sector in the sustainable economic recovery of Ukraine. They welcomed and underscored the significance of Ukraine itself continuing to implement domestic reform efforts, especially in the fields of anti-corruption, justice system reform, decentralization, and promotion of the rule of law. These endeavors are in line with the Euro-Atlantic path Ukraine has embraced. The G7 members were unanimous on the need to continue to support efforts of the Ukrainian government and people in these endeavors.
They resolutely condemned Russia’s holding of illegitimate ‘elections’ in the occupied Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Russia’s actions once again demonstrate its blatant disregard for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, and the UN Charter. They called on all members of the international community to refrain from recognizing Russia’s illegitimate actions.
They welcomed the Summit on Peace in Ukraine that took place in Switzerland on June 15-16 and its focus on the key priorities needed to achieve a framework for peace based on international law, including the UN Charter and its principles, and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They remained committed to follow up on the Conference through constructive engagement with all international partners to reach a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
The G7 members acknowledged that Russia continues to expand its campaigns of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). They condemned Russia’s use of FIMI to support its war of aggression against Ukraine. They reiterated their determination to bolster the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism by developing a collective response framework to counter foreign threats to democracies.
4. Situation in the Middle East
The G7 members reiterated their condemnation of Hamas’ horrendous attacks on October 7, 2023. 101 hostages are still in the hands of Hamas. They noted with deep concern the trend of escalatory violence in the Middle East and its repercussions on regional stability and on the lives of civilians shattered by this conflict, from the Gaza Strip to the Israeli-Lebanese Blue Line. Actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences. They called for a stop to the current destructive cycle, while emphasizing that no country stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.
They expressed their deep concern about the situation along the Blue Line. They recognized the essential stabilizing role played by the Lebanese Armed Forces and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon in mitigating that risk. They demanded the full implementation of UNSCR 1701 (2006) and urged that all relevant actors implement immediate measures towards de-escalation.
The G7 members reaffirmed their strong support for the ongoing mediation efforts undertaken by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to reach a resolution between the parties to the conflict in Gaza. They reiterated their full commitment for the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 2735 (2024) and the comprehensive deal outlined by President Biden in May that would lead to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, a significant and sustained increase in the flow of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, and an enduring end to the crisis, to secure a pathway to a two-state solution with a safe Israel alongside a sovereign Palestinian state. They urged the parties to the conflict to unequivocally accept the ceasefire proposal, stressing the need for countries in a position to directly influence the parties to cooperate in strengthening mediation efforts. They called for the full implementation of the terms of the ceasefire proposal without delay and without conditions.
They called on all parties to fully comply with international law, including international humanitarian law. They expressed their deep alarm for the heavy toll this conflict has taken on civilians, deploring all losses of civilian lives equally and noting with great concern that, after nearly a year of hostilities and regional instability, it is mostly civilians, including women and children, who are paying the highest price. Protection of civilians must be an absolute priority for all parties at all times.
The G7 members expressed concern at the unprecedented level of food insecurity affecting most of the population in the Gaza Strip. Securing full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access in all its forms and through all relevant crossing points remains an absolute priority. They urged all parties to allow the unimpeded delivery of aid and ensure protection of humanitarian workers by properly implementing de-confliction measures. They recognized the crucial role played by UN agencies and other humanitarian actors in delivering assistance especially health care for the most vulnerable persons, including the polio vaccination campaign. They expressed their support for UNRWA to effectively uphold its mandate, emphasizing the vital role that the UN Agency plays.
The G7 members reaffirmed their unwavering commitment, through reinvigorated efforts in the Middle East Peace Process, to the vision of a two-state solution where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stress the importance of unifying the Gaza strip with the West Bank under Palestinian Authority. We note that mutual recognition, to include the recognition of a Palestinian state, at the appropriate time, would be a crucial component of that political process. They expressed their concern about the risk of weakening the Palestinian Authority and underlined the importance of maintaining economic stability in the West Bank. They welcomed the EU’s 400 million Euro emergency package for the Palestinian Authority. All parties must refrain from unilateral actions and from divisive statements that may undermine the prospect of a two-state solution, including the Israeli expansion of settlements and the “legalization” of settlement outposts. They condemned the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians, which undermines security and stability in the West Bank and threatens prospects for a lasting peace. They expressed their deep concern regarding the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank.
They reiterated their commitment to working together – and with other international partners – to closely coordinate and institutionalize their support for civil society peacebuilding efforts, ensuring that they are part of a larger strategy to build the foundation necessary for a negotiated and lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace. The G7 members called on Iran to contribute to de-escalation of tensions in the region. They demanded that Iran cease its destabilizing actions in the Middle East. They underlined that they stand ready to adopt further sanctions or take other measures in response to further destabilizing initiatives.
They reiterated their determination that Iran must never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon and that the G7 will continue working together, and with other international partners, to address Iran’s nuclear escalation. A diplomatic solution remains the best way to resolve this issue. As the IAEA remains unable to verify that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, they urged Iran’s leadership to cease and reverse nuclear activities that have no credible civilian justification and to cooperate with the IAEA without further delay to fully implement their legally binding safeguards agreement and their commitments under UNSCR 2231(2015).
They condemned in the strongest possible terms Iran’s export and Russia’s procurement of Iranian ballistic missiles. Evidence that Iran has continued to transfer weaponry to Russia despite repeated international calls to stop represents a further escalation of Iran’s military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia has used Iranian weaponry such as UAVs to kill Ukrainian civilians and strike their critical infrastructure.
They reiterated that Iran must immediately cease all support to Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and halt such transfers of ballistic missiles, UAVs and related technology, which constitute a direct threat to the Ukrainian people as well as European and international security more broadly.
They reaffirmed their steadfast commitment to hold Iran to account for its unacceptable support for Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine that further undermines global security. In line with their previous statements on the matter, they underscored that they are already responding with new and significant measures.
They also reiterated their deep concern about Iran’s human rights violations, especially against women and minority groups. They reiterated their call on Iran to allow access to the country to relevant UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures mandate holders.
De-escalation efforts in the region must also include the immediate and unconditional termination of any attack by the Houthis against international and commercial vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea. The G7 members reiterated their strong condemnation of these attacks and the right of countries to defend their vessels from attacks. They called for the immediate release by the Houthis of the Galaxy Leader and its crew. They expressed their strong concern about the August 21 attack on the merchant vessel Sounion and the ongoing risk of an environmental catastrophe as salvage operations continue. They welcomed the efforts by the EU maritime operation Aspides and by the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect vital sea lanes. They appreciated the efforts of those countries that are committed to protect freedom of navigation and trade, as well as maritime security, in line with UNSCR 2722 (2024) and in accordance with international law.
5. Fostering partnerships with African Countries
The G7 members reaffirmed their commitment to support African nations in the pursuit of sustainable development as well as the creation of jobs and growth. The focus remains on fostering fair partnerships, built on shared principles, democratic values, local leadership, and practical initiatives.
They reiterated their intention to align actions with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the specific needs of African countries, including plans to improve local and regional food security, infrastructure, trade, and agricultural productivity. They expressed their support for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, a crucial factor for Africa’s growth in the next decade.
The G7 members emphasized the need to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with African countries and regional organizations. In addition to maintaining financial support for African nations, they expressed their determination to improve the coordination and effectiveness of G7 resources, mobilizing domestic resources and encouraging increased private investments.
They welcomed the African Union’s permanent membership in the G20, and the creation of an additional Chair for Sub-Saharan Africa on the IMF Executive Board in November.
They reaffirmed their commitment to the G20 Compact with Africa, a tool aimed at enhancing private investment, driving structural reforms, supporting local entrepreneurship, and fostering cooperation, particularly in the energy sector. The G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), and initiatives like the EU’s Global Gateway can contribute to promote sustainable, resilient, and economically viable infrastructure in Africa, ensuring transparency in project selection, procurement, and financing. In this framework, they welcomed Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa.
They recognized that sustainable development, peace and security and democracy go hand in hand, reaffirming their commitment to help African governments in strengthening democratic governance and respect for human rights, while addressing conditions conducive to terrorism, violent extremism, and instability.
They expressed their deep concern about the destabilizing activities of the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group and other Russia-supported entities. They called for accountability for all those responsible for human rights violations and abuses.
6. Indo-Pacific
The G7 members reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, based on the rule of law, which is inclusive, prosperous and secure, grounded on sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful resolution of disputes, fundamental freedoms and human rights. They reaffirmed the importance of working together with regional partners and organizations, notably the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). They reaffirmed their thorough support for ASEAN centrality and unity. They reaffirmed their intention to work to support Pacific Island Countries’ priorities, as articulated through the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
As they seek constructive and stable relations with China, they recognized the importance of direct and candid engagement to express concerns and manage differences. They reaffirmed their readiness to cooperate with China to address global challenges. They expressed their deep concern at the China’s support to Russia. They called on China to step up efforts to promote international peace and security, and to press Russia to stop its military aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine. They encouraged China to support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on territorial integrity and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, including through its direct dialogue with Ukraine. They also expressed their deep concern at China’s ongoing support for Russia’s defense industrial base, which is enabling Russia to maintain its illegal war in Ukraine and has significant and broad-based security implications. They called on China to cease the transfer of dual-use materials, including weapons components and equipment, that are inputs for Russia’s defense sector.
They recognized the importance of China in global trade. However, they expressed their concerns about China’s persistent industrial targeting and comprehensive non-market policies and practices that are leading to global spillovers, market distortions and harmful overcapacity in a growing range of sectors, undermining our workers, industries and economic resilience and security, as well as impacting on currencies. The G7 members are not decoupling or turning inwards. They are de-risking and diversifying supply chains where necessary and appropriate and fostering resilience to economic coercion. They called on China to refrain from adopting export control measures, particularly on critical minerals, that could lead to significant supply chain disruptions. Together with partners, the G7 members will invest in building their respective industrial capacities, promote diversified and resilient supply chains, and reduce critical dependencies and vulnerabilities.
They remained seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterated their strong opposition to any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or coercion. They reaffirmed that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, and they reiterated their opposition to China’s militarization and coercive and intimidation activities in the South China Sea. They re-emphasized the universal and unified character of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and reaffirmed UNCLOS’s important role in setting out the legal framework that governs all activities in the oceans and the seas. They reiterated that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on 12 July 2016 is a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties. They reiterated their strong opposition to China’s dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea and its repeated obstruction of countries’ high seas freedom of navigation. They expressed deep concern about the dangerous and obstructive maneuvers, including water cannons and ramming, by the China Coast Guard and maritime militia against Philippines vessels.
The G7 members reaffirmed that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is indispensable to international security and prosperity, and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. There is no change in the basic position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated One-China policies. They supported Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations as a member where statehood is not a prerequisite and as an observer or guest where it is.
They remained concerned by the human rights situation in China, including in Xinjiang and Tibet. They are also worried about the crackdown on Hong Kong’s autonomy and independent institutions, and ongoing erosion of rights and freedoms. They urged China and the Hong Kong authorities to act in accordance with their international commitments and applicable legal obligations.
The G7 members strongly condemned North Korea’s continuing expansion of its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions and its continuous destabilizing activities. They reiterated their call for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and demanded that North Korea abandons all its nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs, and any other WMD and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, in accordance with all relevant UNSC resolutions. They called on North Korea to return to dialogue to promote peace and stability in the Korean peninsula. They urged all UN Member States to fully implement all relevant UN Security Council resolutions. They reiterated their deep disappointment with Russia’s veto last March on the mandate renewal of the UNSC 1718 Committee Panel of Experts.
They condemned in the strongest possible terms the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea’s export and Russia’s procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles and munitions in direct violation of relevant UNSCRs, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles and munitions against Ukraine. They are also deeply concerned about the potential for any transfer of nuclear or ballistic missiles-related technology to North Korea, in violation of the relevant UNSCRs. They urged Russia and North Korea to immediately cease all such activities and abide by relevant UNSCRs. They urged North Korea to respect human rights, facilitate access for international humanitarian organizations, and resolve the abductions issue immediately.
They called on China not to conduct or condone activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities and the integrity of our democratic institutions, and to act in strict accordance with its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
7. Regional Issues
Venezuela
The G7 members reiterated their deep concern about the situation in Venezuela, following the vote on July 28.
They emphasized that the announced victory of Maduro lacks credibility and democratic legitimacy, as indicated by reports of the UN Panel of Experts and independent international observers as well as data published by the opposition. They underscored that it is essential for electoral results to be complete and independently verified to ensure respect for the will of the Venezuelan people.
They expressed their outrage for the arrest warrant and constant threats to the security of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who decided to seek refuge in Spain. According to the above-mentioned independent reports, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia appears to have won the most votes.
They urged Venezuelan representatives to cease all human rights violations and abuses, arbitrary detentions and widespread restrictions on fundamental freedoms, particularly affecting the political opposition, human rights defenders, and representatives of independent media and civil society. They called for the release of all political prisoners and for a path to freedom and democracy for the people of Venezuela.
They urged the international community to keep Venezuela high on the diplomatic agenda and they expressed their support for efforts by regional partners to facilitate the Venezuelan-led democratic and peaceful transition that the people of Venezuela have clearly chosen in the polls.
Haiti
The G7 members expressed their determination to continue supporting Haitian institutions – including the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) and the Government of Prime Minister Conille – in their commitment to create the necessary conditions of general security and stability for the convening, by February 2026, of free and fair elections. The expression of popular will would set the foundation for the full restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Haiti.
They also expressed full support to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which is providing critical support to the Haitian National Police as they counter criminal gangs engaged in illicit trafficking and inflicting brutal violence upon the population.
The G7 members emphasized the importance of continued support to the MSS mission through financial contributions to the UN Trust Fund as well as contributions in kind. They expressed their strong appreciation for the commitment of the Government of Kenya – which has already deployed 380 personnel on the ground – to support the Haitian National Police in restoring peace and security.
They called on all countries that have committed to deploy their contingents to the MSS mission to do so as soon as possible, to consolidate the mission and its fundamental role in the Country. They called on Haiti’s partners to continue their humanitarian assistance to the Haitian people and to expedite their financial and in-kind contributions to the MSS mission to help ensure that the mission is resourced for success.
They called also on the United Nations Security Council to consider a UN Peace Operation to maintain the security gains of the Haiti National Police and the MSS mission for holding free and fair elections and called on the Secretary-General accordingly to provide support.
The G7 members welcomed the work of the G7 Working Group on Haiti in monitoring institutional, political, social and security developments in Haiti, with a view to supporting the stabilization of the country and the restoration of full democratic governance.
Libya
The G7 members reiterated their unwavering commitment to Libyan stability, sovereignty, independence and unity. They expressed deep concern about recent developments in the country, in particular those involving the leadership of the Central Bank of Libya and the High Council of State, which show the fragility and unsustainability of the present status quo. They urged relevant Libyan parties to rapidly reach the necessary compromises to begin to restore the institutional integrity of the Central Bank of Libya and its standing with the international financial community. They called on Libyan political actors to refrain from taking harmful unilateral actions that create further political tension and fragmentation and make the country vulnerable to harmful foreign interference.
They noted advances made in the organization of local elections and they called for a free, fair and inclusive participation of all Libyans. It is now imperative to relaunch a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned political process facilitated by the UN towards free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections.
They expressed their support and commended the efforts made by UNSMIL officer in charge Stephanie Koury in support of the stabilization of Libya. They called on the Secretary General to appoint a new Special Representative without delay.
Sudan
The G7 members reiterated their grave concern over the ongoing fighting, mass-displacement and famine in Sudan.
They condemned the serious human rights violations and abuses against the civilian population, including widespread sexual and gender-based violence, as well as international humanitarian law violations by both sides to the conflict. They called for an immediate end to the escalating violence, which is creating further displacement, and urged the warring parties to ensure the protection of civilians. They reiterated their commitment to holding accountable all those responsible for violations of international law in Sudan.
They condemned the emergence of famine in Sudan as a direct consequence of efforts to restrict access of humanitarian actors. They noted recent progress in relation to the re-opening of the Chad-Sudan Adre border crossing, in the wake of the Paris Conference and of the Geneva talks. They called for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access both into Sudan and across lines of conflict so aid can reach all those in need.
They urged all parties to cease hostilities immediately and to engage in serious negotiations aimed at achieving a lasting ceasefire, humanitarian access and protection of civilians without pre-conditions.
They called on external actors to refrain from fueling the conflict, to respect the UN arms embargo on Darfur, and to play a responsible role in resolving the crisis.
They welcomed mediation efforts by regional and international actors and organizations to facilitate a durable peace for the country.
Inclusive, national dialogue, aimed at restoring democracy, re-establishing and strengthening the civilian and representative institutions after the end of the conflict, is a prerequisite for lasting peace. The G7 Members emphasized that it is necessary for representatives of Sudanese civil society, including women, to be fully engaged in the reflection on the political future of the country.
Coventry City Council has received an award for the way it works to support the Armed Forces.
The Council received the Silver Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.
Cllr Linda Bigham, the Council’s Armed Forces Champion, received the award at the National Memorial Arboretum from Air Vice Marshall Adam Sansom.
Cllr Bigham said: “The Council and the city of Coventry are proud supporters of our Armed Forces.
“They have done so much for us over the years, and we owe them a debt of gratitude. We are honoured to receive the Silver Award and we promise we will continue our work to help those who wear, or have worn their uniforms with such pride and courage.
“This award will help us to show them we are there for them and we care, and it will help us to inspire others to offer their support to the Forces, families, their veterans and cadets.
“Coventry is a city of peace and reconciliation and that work is supported so well by the Armed Forces. We look forward to building closer links in the years ahead.”
The Employer Recognition Scheme works to encourage employers to support the Armed Forces and their personnel and inspire others through their work. The award is open to all companies and businesses, as well as public organisations such as the emergency services, local authorities, and NHS trusts.
To earn the Silver Award, employers must have pledged to support the Armed Forces, including existing or prospective employees who are members of the community, and they must have signed the Armed Forces Covenant.
They have to promote being Armed Forces-friendly and be open to employing reservists, veterans (including the wounded, injured and sick), cadet instructors and military spouses/partners.
They have to proactively demonstrate that service personnel and the Armed Forces community are not unfairly disadvantaged as part of their recruiting and selection processes; and ensure that the workforce is aware of their positive policies towards defence people issues. They must also show support to training by providing at least five days’ additional unpaid/paid leave and demonstrate support to the Cadet movement.
The Council has been a long-time supporter of the Armed Forces and is proud to be signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant.
The Covenant is a promise to acknowledge and understand that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy, and society they serve with their lives.
Pipeline meetings between our regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are an opportunity to exchange information on new developments and collaborate on new possibilities.
The meetings will also help Access regulators plan and prepare for future work-share applications.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today pledged to ‘turbo-charge’ restoring nature to London’s rivers and waterways. As part of his bold plans to clean up London’s rivers over the next 10 years, Sadiq will work with partners to bring species such as water voles, eels, otters, mayflies and others back to the capital.
Last year, the Mayor successfully reintroduced beavers to Ealing for the first time in 400 years, with the creatures restoring habitats, increasing the area’s protection from flooding and making it safe for other species. Sadiq is now pledging to spearhead a revival of nature in London’s waterways to bring back many more species and improve climate resilience.
The Mayor visited New York Harbour today to see first-hand the return of oysters to the Hudson and how the city is embracing nature to clean up the river. The Mayor toured the Billion Oyster Project, which was started in 2014 with the aim of restoring one billion oysters to the New York Harbour by 2035 – with 50 million oysters added to the local waterways every year to help naturally filter the water and protect New York City from flood damage.
The oyster reefs in New York provide a habitat for hundreds of species and reduce the risk of erosion. Sadiq hopes the return of species such as water voles, eels, otters and mayflies to London will have a similar effect in protecting London’s waterways and will explore and consider the role of oysters in the eastern part of London’s Thames.
Sadiq is already in discussions with partners in London about how to deliver a revival of nature in London’s waterways. This could include new nature interventions that build upon:
Introducing saltmarsh plants around the Greenwich peninsula to create a shoreline of life and improve flood defences, along with new sandbanks.
Enabling the return of dragonflies and restoring the chalk stream to the Wandle, alongside trout that once flourished there.
The Mayor wants London to become a safer home to a vast array of river creatures, from eels making their journey from the Sargasso sea to otters being brought back from the brink of extinction in the Roding.
He will prioritise nature-based solutions, similar to those deployed in New York, and bring together companies, government agencies, charities and campaigners to get the capital’s rivers safe, clean and open to more people.
The Mayor has already invested almost £30m since 2016 to help grow the city’s biodiversity and his manifesto pledge for a new Green Roots fund will see more money on projects that expand access to our vital waterways.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am delighted to visit the Billion Oyster Project and take inspiration from this nature-first project, which literally sees nature clean nature while increasing biodiversity in New York’s waterways.
“In London, the Thames and its tributaries are the lifeblood of London, shaping communities, sustaining livelihoods and bringing people closer to nature. As Mayor, I want to turbo-charge the restoration of nature to London’s rivers and waterways, working with partners across the capital to spearhead the return of a whole host of species – from water voles, to eels, and the return of otters.
“We have done so much to clean up our air. Now we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore our capital’s waterways as we continue to see a return of dozens of species, like here in New York. This will enable Londoners to connect with nature as we continue to build a greener London for everyone.”
Pete Malinowski, Executive Director of Billion Oyster Project, says: “For ten years, we’ve worked closely with hundreds of New York City schools, restaurants, and communities throughout the five boroughs to build a better future for the city and its waterways. We are incredibly humbled and inspired to have the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, visit our Brooklyn Bridge Park reef site to learn more about our approach to urban harbour restoration. We look forward to seeing more Londoners connect back to nature through waterway restoration efforts – and the restoration of the abundant natural biodiversity of the Thames.”
The Billion Oyster Project’s restoration efforts includes eighteen restoration sites along the Hudson River, from Coney Island Creek in Brooklyn to SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx.
Last week Sadiq visited the Thames Tideway ‘super sewer’ with Secretary of State Rt Hon Steve Reed MP and pledged, alongside the Zoological Society of London, London Wildlife Trust, Thames Water and other stakeholders, to deliver a natural revolution for London’s waterways. He has committed to draw up a plan to clean up the capital’s rivers in the next 10 years, harnessing the power of nature itself.