Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction
Mission
The University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna was founded in 1767 as the world’s third school for veterinary medicine by Milan’s Ludovico Scotti, originally-named k. k. Pferde-Curen- und Operationsschule.
It is the only veterinary, academic educational and research facility in Austria and at the same time the oldest in the German-speaking area.
Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction
Mission
CYENS Centre of Excellence is the Research Centre of Excellence in Cyprus focusing on Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies aiming to empower knowledge and technology transfer in the region.
It is a joint venture between the three public universities of Cyprus – University of Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology, and, Open University of Cyprus- , the Municipality of Nicosia, and two renowned international partners, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Germany, and, the University College London, United Kingdom.
Source: NASA
Scientists have discovered a star behaving like no other seen before, giving fresh clues about the origin of a new class of mysterious objects.
As described in our press release, a team of astronomers combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the SKA [Square Kilometer Array] Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope on Wajarri Country in Australia to study the antics of the discovered object, known as ASKAP J1832−0911 (ASKAP J1832 for short).
ASKAP J1832 belongs to a class of objects called “long period radio transients” discovered in 2022 that vary in radio wave intensity in a regular way over tens of minutes. This is thousands of times longer than the length of the repeated variations seen in pulsars, which are rapidly spinning neutron stars that have repeated variations multiple times a second. ASKAP J1832 cycles in radio wave intensity every 44 minutes, placing it into this category of long period radio transients.
Using Chandra, the team discovered that ASKAP J1832 is also regularly varying in X-rays every 44 minutes. This is the first time that such an X-ray signal has been found in a long period radio transient.
In this composite image, X-rays from Chandra (blue) have been combined with infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (cyan, light blue, teal and orange), and radio from LOFAR (red). An inset shows a more detailed view of the immediate area around this unusual object in X-ray and radio light.
Using Chandra and the SKA Pathfinder, a team of astronomers found that ASKAP J1832 also dropped off in X-rays and radio waves dramatically over the course of six months. This combination of the 44-minute cycle in X-rays and radio waves in addition to the months-long changes is unlike anything astronomers have seen in the Milky Way galaxy.
The research team argues that ASKAP J1832 is unlikely to be a pulsar or a neutron star pulling material from a companion star because its properties do not match the typical intensities of radio and X-ray signals of those objects. Some of ASKAP J1832’s properties could be explained by a neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field, called a magnetar, with an age of more than half a million years. However, other features of ASKAP J1832 — such as its bright and variable radio emission — are difficult to explain for such a relatively old magnetar.
On the sky, ASKAP J1832 appears to lie within a supernova remnant, the remains of an exploded star, which often contain a neutron star formed by the supernova. However, the research team determined that the proximity is probably a coincidence and two are not associated with each other, encouraging them to consider the possibility that ASKAP J1832 does not contain a neutron star. They concluded that an isolated white dwarf does not explain the data but that a white dwarf star with a companion star might. However, it would require the strongest magnetic field ever known for a white dwarf in our galaxy.
A paper by Ziteng Wang (Curtin University in Australia) and collaborators describing these results appears in the journal Nature. Another team led by Di Li from Tsinghua University in China independently discovered this source using the DAocheng Radio Telescope and submitted their paper to the arXiv on the same day as the team led by Dr Wang. They did not report the X-ray behavior described here.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
chandra
https://chandra.si.edu
Visual Description:
This release features two composite images of a mysterious object, possibly an unusual neutron star or white dwarf, residing near the edge of a supernova remnant. The object, known as ASKAP J1832, has been intriguing astronomers from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder radio telescope with its antics and bizarre behavior.
Astronomers have discovered that ASKAP J1832 cycles in radio wave intensity every 44 minutes. This is thousands of times longer than pulsars, which are rapidly spinning neutron stars that have repeated variations multiple times a second. Using Chandra, the team discovered that the object is also regularly varying in X-rays every 44 minutes. This is the first time such an X-ray signal has been found in a long period radio transient like ASKAP J1832.
In the primary composite image of this release, the curious object is shown in the context of the supernova remnant and nearby gas clouds. Radio data is red and and X-ray sources seen with Chandra are in dark blue. The supernova remnant is the large, wispy, red oval ring occupying the lower right of the image. The curious object sits inside this ring, to our right of center; a tiny purple speck in a sea of colorful specks. The gas cloud shows infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and resembles a mottled green, teal blue, and golden orange cloud occupying our upper left half of the square image.
The second, close-up image shows a view of the immediate area around ASKAP J1832. In this composite image, infrared data from Spitzer has been removed, eliminating the mottled cloud and most of the colorful background specks. Here, near the inside edge of the hazy red ring, the curious object resembles a bright white dot with a hot pink outer edge, set against the blackness of space. Upon close inspection, the hot pink outer edge is revealed to have three faint spikes emanating from the surface.
The primary and close-up images are presented both unadorned, and with labels, including fine white circles identifying ASKAP J1832.
Megan WatzkeChandra X-ray CenterCambridge, Mass.617-496-7998mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Lane FigueroaMarshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama256-544-0034lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
Source: NASA
Solar radio bursts, intense blasts of radio emission associated with solar flares, can wreak havoc on global navigation systems. Now, as part of the Ground Radio Lab campaign led by the University of Michigan and NASA’s SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission, which is managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, high school and college students across the nation are collecting, processing, and analyzing space weather data to help better understand these bursts.
Participating students have presented their findings at local science fairs and national conferences, including the Solar Heliospheric and INterplanetary Environment (SHINE) conference held in Juneau, Alaska in August 2024. These students sifted through thousands of hours of observations to identify and categorize solar radio bursts.
Participating high schools receive free, self-paced online training modules sponsored by the SunRISE mission that cover a range of topics, including radio astronomy, space physics, and science data collection and analysis. Students and teachers participate in monthly webinars with space science and astronomy experts, build radio telescopes from kits, and then use these telescopes to observe low frequency emissions from the Sun and other objects like Jupiter and the Milky Way.
Visit the Ground Radio Lab website to learn more about the new campaign and apply to participate.
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
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The World Health Organization (WHO) in Angola is pleased to announce the launch of “Roda de Saúde”, a new monthly series of public conversations aimed at informing, involving, and empowering Angolan institutions and society around the main public health challenges and potential solutions.
The first edition of Roda de Saúde will take place at the Private University of Angola (UPRA) on Friday, May 30, 2025, between 10:00 and 11:30. Under the theme “Celebrating the Nursing Workforce: The Role of Nursing in Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Mortality”, the event will bring together WHO experts, representatives of the Angolan Order of Nurses, UPRA lecturers and students, as well as nurses working on the front line who will share their experience in the field. This first edition aims to celebrate International Nurses’ Day, which falls on May 12th.
With the “Wheel of Health”, the WHO aims to help promote open dialogue between decision-makers, experts, and civil society, foster informed public debate on critical health issues, and strengthen health literacy based on scientific evidence. The organization also aims to bring the population closer to trusted experts, including UN agencies and national health and academic institutions, and to strengthen collaboration between the WHO, multilateral and private sector partners, academia, and civil society.
Inspired by the traditional Angolan “Rodas de Conversa”, this platform values knowledge sharing, inclusion, and community participation as pillars for identifying lasting solutions to address Angola’s public health challenges.
By celebrating nursing professionals and their crucial role in maternal and newborn health, the first edition of “Roda de Saúde” lays the foundations for an ongoing movement of positive transformation in health in Angola.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – Angola.
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Lauding the strengthening ties between India and Italy, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday said that the relations between the two nations are on an upward trajectory, marked by renewed momentum in political dialogue, official visits, and growing mutual interest. He reiterated India’s commitment to consolidating the India-Italy Strategic Partnership.
Speaking at Italy’s National Day celebrations in Delhi on Wednesday, Jaishankar highlighted the shared maritime interests and commitment to freedom of navigation between the two peninsular nations.
“Whether in the Indo-Pacific or the Indo-Mediterranean, India and Italy share maritime interests and a common commitment to ensuring freedom of navigation and shipping. Italy’s increased presence in the Indo-Pacific, as well as its participation under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) pillar of science and technology, will certainly enhance our cooperation further,” he said.
“India-Italy relations are undoubtedly progressing positively. There is new momentum in political dialogue, exchanges, and interest in each other’s potential, which I am confident will be fully tapped by stakeholders. Let me reaffirm our government’s commitment to strengthening the India-Italy Strategic Partnership,” he added.
Jaishankar expressed gratitude to Italy for its support following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. He noted India’s “firm, resolute, and measured response” in targeting terror centers and launch pads.
“Let me begin by conveying our best wishes to the government and people of Italy on your National Day. We are thankful, Ambassador, for Italy’s solidarity and support following the barbaric terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Referring to Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the attack, Jaishankar said, “India responded firmly and decisively by destroying relevant terror centers and launch pads. The global community has recognized India’s right to defend its people against acts of terror. We believe the world must uphold a zero-tolerance stance against terrorism and cross-border terrorism.”
The foreign minister noted that the strategic partnership between India and Italy is rooted in shared values and converging interests and recalled the recent meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, on the sidelines of the G20 and G7 summits.
“Our strategic partnership is founded on shared values and converging interests, as reflected in multilateral platforms such as the G20. As the Ambassador mentioned, our Prime Ministers met at both the G20 and G7 summits, and our collaboration continues through initiatives like the IMEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor), the Global Biofuels Alliance, the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, the International Solar Alliance, and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.”
He added, “Our bilateral relations have gained momentum following the adoption of the Joint Strategic Action Plan for 2025–29 by our Prime Ministers last November. We are optimistic that the roadmap outlined in the GASAP will yield concrete and practical outcomes for both our economies and societies.”
Jaishankar identified trade and economic cooperation as a vital pillar of the partnership and recalled attending the India-Italy Business, Science, and Technology Forum alongside Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani and Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini.
“Trade and economic cooperation are vital elements of our partnership. Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the India-Italy Business, Science and Tech Forum with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tajani and Minister Bernini. The event brought together business leaders and representatives from universities and research centers in both countries to explore collaboration across multiple sectors. This forum also presents an opportunity to boost our bilateral trade, which currently stands at USD 15 billion annually.”
“As the world’s fastest-growing major economy, India offers numerous opportunities for investment. Italy’s technologies and best practices in clean energy, agri-tech, logistics, and shipbuilding, among other sectors, can significantly contribute to India’s progress toward becoming a developed nation — Viksit Bharat — by 2047,” he said.
The foreign minister also acknowledged the strong Indian diaspora in Italy and expressed confidence in the future growth of mobility for professionals and academics between the two countries.
“The Indian diaspora in Italy is among the largest in the European Union. They are well-received and recognized for their contributions across sectors including agriculture, dairy, industry, and healthcare. We are confident that in the future, increased mobility of professionals, academics, and researchers will facilitate a greater exchange of knowledge and talent between our two countries,” Jaishankar said.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
ALMATY, May 28 (Xinhua) — The China-Central Asia Forum on Governance and Sustainable Development opened in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Wednesday, with about 100 representatives from government departments, universities and enterprises from China and Kazakhstan attending the event.
The forum was organized by Lanzhou University and Al-Farabi Kazakh National University /KazNU/.
Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Almaty Jiang Wei stated in her keynote speech that on the path of great national revival, China and the Central Asian countries have the same ideas, similar goals and interrelated interests. They should deepen the exchange of experience in public administration and sustainable development, work together, complement each other’s strengths and achieve common development. According to Jiang Wei, China fully respects the independent aspirations of the Central Asian countries for modernization and is ready to share development experience with them as sincerely as possible.
Vice-president of Lanzhou University Sha Yongzhong pointed out that interconnectedness and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, is a historical choice for achieving prosperity and development in the region, and knowledge cooperation opens up new space for expanding cooperation between China and Central Asian countries in the spirit of “connected hearts.” Sha Yongzhong called such cooperation an important content and engine for promoting scientific and technological innovation and building a community with a shared future for China and Central Asia.
KazNU Vice-Rector for Financial and Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Development Abdrakhman Tasybayev noted that the forum is an important platform for expanding exchanges and cooperation between Kazakhstan and China. As he emphasized, various topics discussed at the forum largely correspond to the topics of national strategic development.
At the forum, experts and scholars from China and Kazakhstan will hold friendly, substantive discussions on four main topics: environmental governance, digital development, poverty alleviation, and regional cooperation. –0–
Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The life of a wave energy converter (WEC) may sound idyllic—bobbing on ocean waves all day or swaying underwater, quietly generating electricity for the people living and working near shore.
But in reality, it takes a lot of careful planning for salt water and electronics to achieve that perceived state of bliss. And that is where a robust risk management plan can find ways to make that pairing work.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Marine Energy Technology Development Risk Management Framework gives marine energy researchers and developers a comprehensive process to break down their approach and any variables that may impede or accelerate their success. The tool includes technical components, environmental conditions, funding sources, staffing, stakeholder support, deployment permits, and more.
With a greater understanding of each factor and its underlying components, the framework enables groups to better manage uncertainties (both positive and negative) and develop effective contingency plans.
“You might have one little vulnerable part that costs 10 cents to buy, like an O-ring, but the effects of it failing might be a $1 million loss because it leads to water entering a sealed chamber,” said David Snowberg, NREL engineer and lead author on the report. “That kind of information is useful to know early on.”
The revised framework includes a new template for assessing failure modes, their effects, and their potential causes, which are prioritized through a criticality analysis. This free, public tool can help organizations prioritize their investments while minimizing potential damage and costs.
“A risk register provides a structured approach for managing all sources of uncertainty that might impact your objectives,” Snowberg added. “That uncertainty can also be opportunities where potential unknowns become benefits to your project. A risk register can help you manage both those positive and negative uncertainties.”
He emphasized that it is critical to consider more than just the technical components of a project. Human aspects, such as stakeholder support, are equally important factors in the overall success and timeline of a project.
“Ignoring risks is rarely a good approach,” said Scott Jenne, NREL ‘s marine energy desalination lead. “They usually come back and cause greater problems than if you had dealt with them early on.”
Using the marine energy risk management framework, people can identify risks, analyze them, and then plan a response. This cycle continues throughout the course of a project so that groups have a responsive, adaptable way to monitor and manage any type of uncertainty that they encounter.
At NREL, Snowberg is working through the framework with Jenne and the team that designed and built the hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis WEC (HERO WEC), a wave-powered desalination device that has gone through extensive laboratory testing and five ocean installations in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
“The HERO WEC is able to desalinate seawater using either the hydraulic configuration or the electric configuration—so it has two different energy conversion systems that can be swapped out based on the specific area of research the team is focusing on, which makes it at least twice as complicated as it would be otherwise,” Snowberg said.
Having worked through multiple designs since 2020, Jenne noted, “The complexity increases due to the need to integrate two unique conversion systems on the same device and the fact that you’ve added more things that depend on each other.”
For a device like the HERO WEC, it is not just about basic functionality—survivability is also a key priority. What would it need to survive a 1-in-50-year storm? And what types of conditions would that storm create, from waves and winds to currents and surf?
“The marine environment is harsh,” Snowberg said. “Getting things to survive the corrosion, the biofouling, and everything out there is challenging.”
The HERO WEC team is currently redesigning the second version of the device and leveraging the risk management framework throughout their process—helping them apply lessons learned to build on past successes and steer clear of previous challenges.
“It’s really important that we design HERO WEC to be highly survivable and reliable,” Jenne said. “Having this framework is a critical tool for us to be able to evaluate what might go wrong before we build another physical model.”
Since the development of the original framework 10 years ago, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office has worked closely with NREL to incorporate key components and uphold specific requirements for projects with open water testing that they support.
Snowberg emphasized that the risk management processes are tools for success, meant to meet people where they are at and provide guidance at any stage of project development.
“If you can manage the uncertainty of your project in a way that you see those benefits, then it’s something you’ll be motivated to continue doing,” Snowberg said. “I’ve been at NREL for 15 years, and managing risks to help support marine energy has been the most fulfilling and rewarding type of project that I’ve worked on because it has the most tangible impact.”
With these concrete tools in hand, WPTO and NREL can help pave the way for the marine energy industry to find clearer, quicker paths to success.
Co-authors on the Marine Energy Technology Development Risk Management Framework include Ritu Treisa Philip, NREL mechanical engineer, and Jochem Weber, chief engineer of NREL’s Water Power program.
Source: US State of North Carolina
Headline: NCDHHS Names New State Health Director
NCDHHS Names New State Health Director
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Dr. Lawrence Greenblatt, a distinguished physician, professor and public health champion, has been appointed as State Health Director and Chief Medical Officer for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and will begin his duties on Monday, June 2, 2025. He is widely recognized for his commitment to high-quality care for medically and socially complex patients, his leadership in medical education and his pioneering work to improve mental health and addiction services.
“Dr. Greenblatt is an innovator and public health advocate with a long track record of increasing access to mental and physical health care in North Carolina,” said NC Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai. “He has the vision and experience needed to lead our state’s public health efforts as we work to create a healthier North Carolina for all.”
Dr. Greenblatt served for three decades as a general internist, educator and leader in Medicaid policy with Duke University Health System, earning recognition for his work to integrate behavioral health and addiction services into primary care.
Since 2008, Dr. Greenblatt has led Duke’s Medicaid Network, first as Northern Piedmont Community Care, which was part of the statewide Community Care of North Carolina network. He continued as Medical Director of Duke’s Clinically Integrated Network under Medicaid transformation in 2021. This well-run network serves 100,000 Medicaid enrollees and supports dozens of practices.
“I am honored to be chosen for this important role in improving the health and well-being of the more than 11 million North Carolinians that call this great state home,” said Dr. Greenblatt. “As a physician and educator, I know the value of making sure every person has access to mental and physical health care when they need it and in the setting that is most appropriate for them.”
In 2012, he launched one of the nation’s first academic initiatives to promote safe opioid prescribing and expand treatment for opioid use disorder. He also served as Chair of the NC Medicaid Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and Secretary of the NC Medicaid Physician Advisory Group. As a long-time advocate for improved mental health care, Dr. Greenblatt has co-led the Durham Crisis Collaborative and actively contributed to local substance use and mental health planning efforts.
El Dr. Lawrence Greenblatt, un distinguido médico, profesor y defensor de la salud pública, ha sido nombrado director de salud del estado y director médico del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte y comenzará sus funciones el lunes 2 de junio de 2025. Es ampliamente reconocido por su compromiso con la atención de alta calidad para pacientes médica y socialmente complejos, su liderazgo en educación médica y su trabajo pionero para mejorar los servicios de salud mental y adicción.
“El Dr. Greenblatt es un innovador y defensor de la salud pública con un largo historial de aumentar el acceso a la atención de la salud mental y física en Carolina del Norte”, dijo el secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte, Dev Sangvai. “Tiene la visión y la experiencia necesarias para liderar los esfuerzos de salud pública de nuestro estado mientras trabajamos para crear una Carolina del Norte más saludable para todos”.
El Dr. Greenblatt se desempeñó durante tres décadas como internista general, educador y líder en políticas de Medicaid con el Sistema de Salud de la Universidad de Duke, obteniendo reconocimiento por su trabajo para integrar los servicios de salud conductual y adicción en la atención primaria.
Desde 2008, el Dr. Greenblatt ha dirigido la red de Medicaid de Duke, primero como Atención Comunitaria del Norte de Piedmont (Northern Piedmont Community Care), que formaba parte de la red estatal de Atención Comunitaria de Carolina del Norte (Community Care of North Carolina). Continuó como director médico de la Red Clínicamente Integrada de Duke bajo la transformación de Medicaid en 2021. Esta red bien administrada sirve a 100,000 miembros de Medicaid y apoya docenas de prácticas.
“Me siento honrado de ser elegido para este importante papel en la mejora de la salud y el bienestar de los más de 11 millones de habitantes de Carolina del Norte que llaman hogar a este gran estado”, dijo el Dr. Greenblatt. “Como médico y educador, sé el valor de asegurarme de que cada persona tenga acceso a la atención de salud mental y física cuando la necesite y en el entorno que sea más apropiado para ellos”.
En 2012, lanzó una de las primeras iniciativas académicas del país para promover la prescripción segura de opioides y ampliar el tratamiento para el trastorno por uso de opioides. También se desempeñó como presidente del Comité de Farmacia y Terapéutica de NC Medicaid y secretario del Grupo Asesor de Médicos de NC Medicaid. Como defensor desde hace mucho tiempo de una mejor atención de la salud mental, el Dr. Greenblatt ha codirigido la colaborativa de crisis de Durham (Durham Crisis Collaborative) y ha contribuido activamente a los esfuerzos locales de planificación del uso de sustancias y la salud mental.
Source: US State of North Carolina
Headline: New Research Showing Critical Impact Medicaid Expansion and Healthy Opportunities Pilots Have in Creating Healthier North Carolina
New Research Showing Critical Impact Medicaid Expansion and Healthy Opportunities Pilots Have in Creating Healthier North Carolina
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Credentialed media are invited to a symposium highlighting the life-saving impact Medicaid expansion and the Healthy Opportunities Pilots are having on the health and well-being of North Carolinians on Friday, May 30 at 9 a.m. at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina will present new research about the programs, including rural health outcomes, economic impact and services people are receiving.
Since Medicaid expansion began in 2023, more than 650,000 newly eligible North Carolinians have gained access to affordable health care through Medicaid expansion, including veterans and workers in child care, construction, hospitality, home health care and other industries essential to the state. Including those covered through Medicaid expansion, NC Medicaid provides affordable health coverage to more than 1 in 4 North Carolinians: more than 3 million children, older adults, people living with disabilities and other working adults.
Additionally, the innovative first of its kind Healthy Opportunities Pilots in North Carolina have been described as a “life changer” for thousands of North Carolina families. Healthy Opportunities addresses people’s social needs with services like food, housing, transportation and assistance related to interpersonal violence and toxic stress. The program proves the best way to lower health care costs and create healthier communities is to reduce the need for medical care in the first place. Additionally, the state is seeing $1,020 in annual health care costs savings per Healthy Opportunities enrollee, and stronger local economies that are supported by local businesses from family farms to home repair.
The event will bring together community leaders, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and researchers to explore the evolving landscape of Medicaid in North Carolina.
What: Medicaid Expansion and Healthy Opportunities Pilots Symposium
Who: Dr. Dev Sangvai, Secretary, NCDHHS
Jay Ludlam, Deputy Secretary for NC Medicaid, NCDHHS
Mark Holmes, PhD, Director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, UNC
Seth Berkowitz, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, UNC
Sandra Greene, PhD, Professor, Health Policy and Management, UNC
Marisa Domino, PhD, Executive Director of the Center for Health Information and Research, ASU
Valerie Lewis, PhD, Professor of Health Policy and Management, UNC
Nancy Messonnier, MD, Dean of Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC
Christopher Shea, PhD, Professor, Health Policy and Management, UNC
When: Friday, May 30
9 – 11:45 a.m.
Presentations from 9 – 11:15 a.m.
Audience and Media Q&A from 11:15 – 11:45 a.m.
Where: NC Museum of Natural Sciences: Nature Research Center
121 W Jones St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Media: Credentialed media are invited. Please RSVP to news@dhhs.nc.gov if you are planning to attend.
Source: University of Aberdeen
Glenlivet landscape dams
Whisky is ‘the water of life’ but in one of the driest starts to a year seen in Scotland, distillers are turning to researchers to improve access to the crucial water supplies for their unique products.
Scientists from the University of Aberdeen are leading a project funded by Chivas Brothers, the Pernod Ricard business dedicated to Scotch whisky and maker of Ballantine’s, The Glenlivet and Chivas Regal to develop innovative nature-based solutions that could help to mitigate water scarcity but also slow down water run-off following rapid downpours.
The issue has been brought into sharp focus in recent weeks with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) issuing country-wide alerts for low water levels. The dry soil a long dry spell leaves in its wake can repel water rather than letting it soak in as damp soil would, meaning it is harder to hold water when and where it is most needed.
In areas like Speyside – home to half Scotland’s malt distillers – ensuring a continuous water supply, both now and in the future, is essential as temporary closures can cost the industry millions of pounds.
Chivas Brothers is funding new research led by the University of Aberdeen and working with the James Hutton Institute, following a successful project in 2022 which focused on The Glenlivet distillery.
There the team demonstrated the benefits of a series of small leaky dams installed in channels to slow water flow by holding the water in that location in temporary mini reservoirs. This allows it to soak into the subsurface so that more water is available at times when it is needed.
The new research will broaden the geographic scope of the project across Speyside and explore a wider range of possible nature-based solutions for water management.
Project lead Dr Josie Geris, a lecturer in hydrology at the University of Aberdeen, said the techniques they are investigating, including soil and vegetation management, could bring benefits beyond the whisky industry as around three percent of people living in Scotland rely on vulnerable private water supplies.
“First, we will take a comprehensive look at data gathered from across Speyside and carry out detailed monitoring at The Glenlivet and two other distillery sites to develop understanding of how surface water and groundwater are connected, and how this varies across the different locations.” she added.
“This will help us to assess how resilient different water resources in Speyside are to drought and to understand what causes certain water resources to be more vulnerable whether it is driven by geology, land use or other issues.
“We will then use modelling to help future planning and our understanding of which nature-based solutions might work best where to mitigate water scarcity across the region.”
The research team, which also includes Dr Mark Wilkinson (James Hutton Institute), Dr Ronald Daalmans (Chivas Brothers) Dr Jean-Christophe Comte, and PhD student Jennifer Pirie (University of
Aberdeen), will investigate a range of techniques at The Glenlivet, Glenburgie and Aberlour distilleries.
PhD student Jennifer Pirie, from the University of Aberdeen, said: “The techniques used successfully at Glenlivet cannot be applied everywhere and so we are looking at a range of measures to improve water availability in different environments.
“What works best where will depend on local site characteristics, like the geology and soil properties, and so it is vital we build this understanding and knowledge.”
As well as drought conditions, the techniques the team will use could also help with flooding and are applicable to other environmental issues such as improvements to carbon storage, water quality and biodiversity.
Dr Mark Wilkinson, from the James Hutton Institute, said: “There is significant interest from diverse stakeholders for these ‘green solutions’ to environmental problems and the project is designed to share insights and to develop a toolkit of options for different environments and users.”
Ronald Daalmans, Sustainability Director at Chivas Brothers, said: “This important work will help inform the whisky sector on how it can adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change for this critical resource. It forms part of a wider programme, called The River Within, which aims to support river restoration and enhancement in North-East Scotland.”
In addition to supporting research projects, Chivas Brothers’ The River Within, a long-term programme in partnership with three Scottish river trusts – the Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Charitable Trust, Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Rivers Trust, and the Spey Catchment Initiative – aims to support the delivery of habitat restoration projects to ultimately preserve, protect and improve the health of Scotland’s rivers and waterways.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Tashkent, May 28 /Xinhua/ — A gala concert “Dance of the Sea and Land. Fragrant Tea on the Great Silk Road” dedicated to the friendship between China and Uzbekistan was recently held in Tashkent with the support of the Chinese Embassy in Uzbekistan, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Fujian Province /East China/ and the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies (TSUOS).
The event was attended by representatives of the embassy and the department, the rector of TSU and more than 700 cultural figures, media representatives and universities.
Artists of the Fujian Opera and Dance Theatre, together with artists of the State Philharmonic of Uzbekistan, members of the Wushu Federation of Uzbekistan and the Children’s Dance Ensemble “Asal” of the “Barkamol Avlod” school, performed vibrant traditional dances, folk music and martial arts numbers, personifying the harmonious unity of Chinese and Uzbek cultures.
Before the concert, guests were introduced to traditional Chinese culture in the interactive zones “Tea Unites the World” and “Hello, China!” They tasted tea, learned the art of paper cutting and tried on flower hairpins. –0–
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Nitin Deckha, Lecturer in Justice Studies, Early Childhood Studies, Community and Social Services and Electives, University of Guelph-Humber
We live in a time of growing anxiety and fear, where the disruptive forces of artificial intelligence (AI), automation, Big Data, virtual reality and augmented reality loom ominously over people’s lives.
In a recent Scientific American article, psychologist Mary Alvord described how these anxieties are manifesting in her clients. Their concerns ranged from the increase in students cheating with generative AI to the erosion of online data privacy, to more existential fears of job loss and even the “possibility of overall human obsolescence.”
These aren’t abstract concerns. Beyond the psychologist’s chair, the concern over the loss and transformation of work by generative AI is well-founded and widely documented by academic research studies and reports. As AI becomes more capable and embedded in daily routines, anxieties surrounding it are likely to intensify.
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2025 Future of Jobs Report found that 85.7 per cent of employers surveyed see AI, information processing, Big Data, virtual reality and augmented reality as the biggest technological driver of business transformation. Robots and automation follow at 57.8 per cent.
While the report notes that long-term productivity gains from these technologies remain uncertain, it found that certain jobs are being impacted more than others. Roles where generative AI can mimic human capacities — like data entry, administration, legal and executive secretaries, claim adjusters and examiners, and graphic designers — are declining the fastest.
These findings are corroborated by a recent joint report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Poland’s National Research Institute. It found that 25 per cent of jobs are at risk of being changed by generative AI, a number that jumps to 34 per cent in higher-income countries.
The report also noted a gendered impact: in high-income countries, 9.6 per cent of jobs held by women are at high risk of automation, compared to just 3.5 per cent of jobs held by men.
The impact on clerical jobs noted by the WEF is supported by ILO’s data as well. Joining these roles are what the ILO describes as “highly digitized cognitive jobs in media, software, and finance-related” fields.
The significant exposure of jobs such as securities and finance dealers and brokers, software developers, financial advisers, authors and writers, translators, interpreters and journalists underscores the encroachment of generative AI onto all sorts of “thinking” and creative work.
It is no wonder psychologists like Alvord suggest some humans are questioning what role they will have in the future world of work.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on work — including the “great resignation” which saw record numbers of employees quitting their jobs — encouraged workers to reflect on their relationship to work.
Although workplace trends like remote work, flexible hours and employees re-evaluating their job expectations were already underway before the pandemic, COVID-19 accelerated these shifts.
According to futurists at Policy Horizons Canada, there are a number of “game changers” transforming the future of work. Disruptive technologies like generative AI and automation are just one driver.
Read more:
Generative AI can boost innovation – but only when humans are in control
Another major force is the fraying of the social contract between employers and employees. This shift speaks to larger currents of anxiety, fear and employee disengagement and low morale. Put simply, employers and employees are no longer investing in each other as much as before.
With the erosion of benefits, the rise of the gig economy and the increasing cost of living, employees were already feeling vulnerable and anxious about their work before the launch of ChatGPT in 2023.
As with any form of anxiety, it’s important to acknowledge your feelings and take steps to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
Psychologists suggest several specific strategies for managing anxiety about generative AI. These include: trying out AI tools to figure out how and where they can be useful; taking breaks from technology to restore and revitalize; building new skills; and pursuing activities that activate human creativity and imagination.
I would like to expand on the third strategy — building new skills. In a recent research study, my colleagues and I investigated the skills that are required to succeed in the future of work. We reviewed six research studies from around the world and created a skills inventory of future of work skills.
We identified 10 skills that were most frequently identified as key for the future of work: collaboration, communication, creativity and innovation, critical thinking, cross-cultural competency, decision-making and judgment, learning/willingness to learn, problem-solving and social intelligence/perceptiveness.
For those concerned about remaining employable in the face of AI disruption, focusing on these skills is a practical starting point, as they are likely to remain in demand as workplaces evolve.
Importantly, all these skills are “human” skills, meaning not digital or technological. In this context, perhaps one of the most effective responses to anxiety about AI is focusing on developing our own human capacities.
Researchers argue that the disruptive potential of AI in the workplace involves one of three channels: replacing aspects of human work; complementing or augmenting human workers and their skills; and creating new tasks for workers.
Of these, the second — complementing or augmenting human work — might be the best path forward. Rather than viewing generative AI solely as a threat, it can be seen as a tool that enhances human abilities.
Exploring how our own cognitive and creative capacities could be augmented through “collaborative intelligence” with generative AI, might be a useful antidote to being anxious about it.
Such collaboration may also catalyze our re-imagining of our relationship to work and enhance our sense of purpose in a rapidly changing world.
Nitin Deckha 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.
– ref. Anxious over AI? One way to cope is by building your uniquely human skills – https://theconversation.com/anxious-over-ai-one-way-to-cope-is-by-building-your-uniquely-human-skills-256213
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel O’Brien, Lecturer, Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex
As someone attuned to the distinct styles of auteur filmmakers, I came to Wes Anderson’s latest offering The Phoenician Scheme intrigued, feeling a mix of distance and familiarity.
My appreciation for other auteur directors like Stanley Kubrick, Spike Lee and Alfred Hitchcock may have sometimes inadvertently pushed Anderson’s work to the periphery of my viewing habits, but The Phoenician Scheme (his 13th directorial film) provides an opportunity to reassess that omission.
The cinematic trademarks were all there: deadpan performances, meticulous symmetry, whip-pan camera work (when the camera whips round so fast, everything blurs), ice-cream colour palettes and trains, frequently present in some form throughout Anderson’s
filmography.
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And a Bill Murray cameo? Of course – along with other minor roles from Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Richard Ayoade, Riz Ahmed and Benedict Cumberbatch (as well as many others), all appearing briefly across the film’s brisk 90-minute runtime – a fairly typical length for an Anderson feature.
Although I found The Phoenician Scheme a fairly enjoyable film and one that ardent fans will surely embrace, my issue was perhaps precisely within the formulaic nature of this work. This sense of familiarity makes the viewing simultaneously comfortable, but also a little predictable.
Aside from a genuinely unexpected explosion in the film’s opening moments, there was little that caught me off guard, making it difficult to gauge just how memorable The Phoenician Scheme will be in the long run. It entertains but rarely surprises and despite the litany of cameos, each one is fairly unmemorable. In fact, while writing this, I’ve only just remembered that Willem Dafoe is in a scene or two as well.
It’s not that anyone is necessarily giving a bad performance but rather each iteration of wry whimsy results in a kind of stylistic uniformity that renders them indistinct from one another. By contrast, the film’s three leading roles benefit from sustained screen time, allowing for a little more nuance.
Benicio del Toro leads the cast as Zsa-Zsa Korda, a rich and morally ambiguous industrialist, set within the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Phoenicia during the 1950s. Korda is on the point of political and personal ruin. His life is constantly in danger with ongoing visual and verbal gags from the beginning about his nonchalance towards assassination.
Korda faces execution threats from shadowy agencies and members of his own board to the extent that his suspiciousness has become a comfortable characteristic. Newcomer Mia Threapleton (daughter of Kate Winslet) stars as Liesl Korda, his estranged daughter who has spent years in quiet devotion as a nun in a remote convent.
Her sudden appointment as her father’s heir thrusts her back into a world she had long abandoned, continuing Anderson’s other fascination with fractured, complex familial dynamics, as the rest of her siblings look on. Michael Cera portrays Bjorn Lund, a docile yet quietly astute tutor with a fascination for insects, who is brought in to help Liesl adjust to her new responsibilities.
Without revealing too much, Lund turns out to be more than he initially seems, giving Cera the chance to slip back into that awkward, mock-cool persona –reminiscent of his Twin Peaks: The Return role, in which he channels a Marlon Brando–style rebel straight out of The Wild One.
In typical Anderson style, visual gags (here in the form of props) propel the film along, from Lund’s bugs to Liesl’s jewel-encrusted rosary and Korda’s weapons, which include grenades that he politely offers to other diplomats as a formal greeting.
The visually rich and symmetrical arrangement of characters, against a static or sideways moving camera reminded me of how much Anderson is inspired by Peter Greenaway’s work, particularly The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989).
Anderson draws on this auteur aesthetically and thematically but also through absurdity. While Greenaway’s films take inspiration from canvas painting, the closing credit sequence of The Phoenician Scheme also features well known artworks, serving as inspiration for the content.
The visuals, which are rich throughout, are also interestingly compacted to a 1.50 aspect ratio, making the frame of the screen quite box like. This is perhaps also relevant to the structure of the film in which most of the events and visitations of external characters are pre-organised into a range of numbered shoeboxes, which is afforded a lengthy sequence, with plenty of overview shots of the boxes neatly arranged.
Each section of the film that follows pertains to a certain box. Viewers are reminded as to which box they are in through a range of title cards which divides the film into a series of vignettes, not unlike Anderson’s chapter structure in The Royal Tenenbaums.
This earlier film is perhaps his better-known one about the estrangement and reconnection of dysfunctional family members. This trait can also be found in The Darjeeling Limited aboard a train, or in a submarine in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The Phoenician Scheme echoes these familiar tropes (domestic dysfunction wrapped in whimsical packaging) aboard a number of private plane journeys (with a token train scene in the middle).
While it may feel like a familiar journey aboard a new vessel, that familiarity will probably be either the reason you enjoy the ride – or the very thing that makes it feel like an exhausting commute, one where you’re tempted to pull the emergency cord.
While there is much to enjoy, I doubt The Phoenician Scheme will be remembered as one of Anderson’s most essential works. At times, it teeters on the edge of parodying its own auteur style. Despite this I found it compelling enough to spark a renewed interest in his earlier films.
And any work that can reignite curiosity, even while treading familiar ground, is worth your time, even if it’s only for a chance to play cameo bingo.
Daniel O’Brien 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.
– ref. The Phoenician Scheme: a fun watch even though it’s the same journey in a different vehicle – https://theconversation.com/the-phoenician-scheme-a-fun-watch-even-though-its-the-same-journey-in-a-different-vehicle-257658
Source: The Conversation – UK – By John Luiz, Professor of International Management and Strategy, University of Sussex
Even as the war in Ukraine grinds on, some multinational companies are quietly positioning themselves for a thaw in relations with Russia.
Many of those who rushed to divest from the country, selling off assets after the full-scale invasion in 2022, may now be reassessing their options. It’s also becoming clear that some of these companies never completely left to begin with.
What is apparent is that divestment was, in many cases, provisional rather than permanent – with firms embedding “buy-back” clauses in their sales contracts, or structuring their exits in ways that would make future re-entry simple.
This should not come as a surprise. Our research into foreign divestment from apartheid-era South Africa shows this is a well-trodden business path.
In South Africa, sanctions inadvertently strengthened local white business elites aligned with the ruling regime. Multinationals sold their assets under pressure – often at discounts, often to the local companies of politically connected elites – and later bought them back at a premium.
Today, the same dynamic could be playing out in Russia.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, more than 1,600 multinational enterprises announced they were pulling out of the country. However, reports last year suggested that 2,175 foreign companies, including some who had announced they were pulling out, remained in Russia – and were becoming increasingly open about their operations.
One CEO stated that investors did not “morally care” about doing business in Russia, and that if they pulled out, rivals would simply take their place.
Even for those companies that did leave, many of these exits were more symbolic than substantial. Research has shown that even companies that claimed to have fully divested left behind options to return.
Carmaker Nissan, for example, appears to have sold its Russian subsidiary to state-owned NAMI in 2022 with a six-year buy-back clause. In a statement at the time, the company said the terms allowed it “the option to buy back the entity and its operations within the next six years”.
And fast-food giant McDonald’s can reportedly reacquire its Russian business within 15 years. A statement from McDonald’s in 2022 said that, for the first time in its history, it was “de-Arching” a major market – but suggested it hoped to return eventually.
Such arrangements, often quietly written into exit contracts, allow multinationals to comply with sanctions in the short term – while keeping the door open for a future comeback.
In many cases, the operations have continued seamlessly under new ownership. While the brand names may have changed in Russia, the staff and product designs remain almost identical. And sometimes, the foreign supply chains and intellectual property are still in play too.
The South African precedent is instructive. During the 1980s, foreign companies divested under pressure from shareholders, activists and governments over apartheid. But very few truly left. Most sold their operations to local elites – powerful business groups aligned with the ruling regime. They then continued to supply products, license trademarks and support operations through quiet back channels.
The intention of sanctions is to weaken the sanctioned state. However, our study shows that the economic value created by foreign multinationals in South Africa did not disappear.
In Russia, foreign companies have sold assets at big discounts to Russian oligarchs and state-linked entities since 2022. In some cases, the buyers were longstanding local partners or franchisees. In others, they were entities unknown to consumers but which were thought to have close ties to the Kremlin.
The consequences are predictable. Rather than weakening the regime’s economic base, sanctions may have consolidated it. As in South Africa, the departure of foreign firms appears to have strengthened domestic elites and allowed them to accumulate new assets and market power.
Some companies that left Russia are reported to be reconsidering their decisions. Negotiations are taking place behind the scenes about how to ree-stablish operations should conditions shift. Their re-entry may be smoothed by structures – buy-back clauses, licensing deals or local partnerships – that firms put in place on their way out.
This strategy mirrors what we found in South Africa. In the 1990s, once apartheid ended, foreign multinationals returned in large numbers. But they didn’t start from scratch. They repurchased their former assets, often at a much higher price, from the local elites.
In short, in the case of South Africa at least, the period of supposed withdrawal was often one of careful preparation for re-entry. Meanwhile, our study also found that South African conglomerates used their windfalls to fund international expansion and entrench their power in the new economy.
Sanctions remain a key tool of international diplomacy. But our research shows their effectiveness depends heavily on how firms implement them – and who ends up with the assets that are divested. If those assets are consistently transferred to politically connected insiders, the long-term outcome may be to reinforce the very regimes the sanctions were intended to pressure.
Sanctions policy should not just consider whether firms have divested, but how and to whom. Without that, even the most well-intentioned measures may end up producing unintended results.
This means that governments should go beyond imposing sanctions and develop mechanisms to ensure transparency, monitoring and accountability in how corporate exits are structured.
South African sanctions are generally seen as having played a useful role in ending apartheid. But as unemployment and inequality continue to plague the country along old institutional lines, the South African experience offers a clear historical warning. If sanctions are meant to promote accountability and change, it’s vital to pay close attention to what happens after the headlines fade.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Have sanctions against Russia backfired? What apartheid-era South Africa tells us about who may be profiting – https://theconversation.com/have-sanctions-against-russia-backfired-what-apartheid-era-south-africa-tells-us-about-who-may-be-profiting-257422
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Emily Thrift, PhD Candidate and Doctoral Tutor in Ecology, University of Sussex
For many people, “plastic pollution” calls to mind pictures of turtles and other marine life drowning in single-use plastic bottles and discarded fishing nets. My own research looks at how the same story is playing out on land.
Plastics are increasingly found in small mammals, insects and the soil. But how it moves through these ecosystems – and the damage it might be doing – is still poorly understood.
My own research into this started during my masters degree. I wanted to find out if plastic pollution was affecting UK mammals – and the results were startling.
Colleagues and I first looked at the faeces of a range of small UK mammals. We then used a special machine that detects infrared light to identify different types of plastic.
We found plastics in the faeces of European hedgehogs, wood mice, field vole, and brown rats. Of the 189 hedgehog samples, 19% contained plastics. In one sample alone I was shocked to find a total of 12 pink and clear fibres of polyester. This is the UK’s most popular wild mammal, and no one knew they were ingesting plastic.
As part of my ongoing PhD, the next step was figuring out how this plastic was getting into the hedgehogs in the first place. Hedgehogs feed on invertebrates like beetles, snails, slugs, earthworms, caterpillars and woodlice. We wanted to see if those creatures could themselves be contaminated by plastic.
We collected over 2,000 invertebrates and soil samples from 51 sites in Sussex, England. The sites covered farmland, grassland and suburban areas.
To trace how plastic might move through the food web, we sampled creatures at various different points in the food web (known as “trophic levels”). This meant plant-eaters, like peacock butterfly caterpillars, and earthworms and other animals that feed on dead plants. We sampled omnivores who will eat all sorts, like the red-footed soldier beetle, and carnivores like ladybirds and ground beetles, who eat other animals and are found higher up the food web.
After we had grouped the invertebrates by both species and location, we had 530 samples to analyse. We recently published our results in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Overall, plastic showed up in 12% of the invertebrate samples. Earthworms had the highest rate at 29%, followed by snails & slugs at 24%. Interestingly, the types of plastic found in carnivores didn’t match those in herbivores and dead plant-eaters. That suggests the carnivores are not just getting it from eating contaminated prey – they might also be picking up plastic as they move through the soil or even from airborne particles that land on their next meal.
We also found the first evidence of plastic in species of caterpillar like the peacock, powder blue and red admiral butterflies, and in beetles such as ladybirds.
The most common plastic we found was polyester, probably from clothing and furniture. Other common plastics were those used in single-use packaging, agricultural materials (such as fleece, mulch film, greenhouse films and silage wrap), and even paint.
So, does it matter if a few slugs or worms are ingesting plastic? Absolutely.
Invertebrates play important roles within their ecosystems. Earthworms, for example, add air to the soil and help cycle nutrients. Therefore, when they consume plastic, it affects the animals that prey on them, the soil they live in, and even the food we grow.
In fact, plants grown in plastic-contaminated soil have been shown to take microplastics into their cells. This can stunt their growth and limit the water they can retain, and ultimately reduce our ability to grow the food we need.
Insect-eating birds like swifts,thrushes and blackbirds are also ingesting similar plastic, likely from their prey. This can stunt their growth, damage organs, and make them less fertile.
It is too easy to place the responsibility solely on individuals to avoid single-use packaging, recycle more, and avoid synthetic materials. These things make a difference, of course, but big polluters must be held accountable. That means fast fashion companies, drinks giants, supermarket chains and the agriculture sector, which all produce a huge amount of plastic waste and have failed to take responsibility for the damage this causes.
If we want to protect ecosystems from plastic – on land as well as at sea – we need more than personal action. We need serious accountability, better waste management, and real investment in truly sustainable alternatives.
Emily Thrift 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.
– ref. From soil to slugs to songbirds – how plastic is moving through ecosystems – https://theconversation.com/from-soil-to-slugs-to-songbirds-how-plastic-is-moving-through-ecosystems-257685
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Folahanmi Aina, Lecturer in Political Economy of Violence, Conflict and Development, SOAS, University of London
Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap), one of the most powerful global affiliates of the Islamic State jihadist organisation, is in the middle of its largest offensive against the Nigerian military in years.
The group has overrun security positions in Borno state, a region of north-east Nigeria, a dozen times in the past few months. Borno state has been the epicentre of a conflict between the Nigerian army and jihadist insurgents for 15 years. The UN Development Programme said in 2021 that the violence had killed more than 35,000 people there directly.
The latest offensive began in March with a string of attacks. This included an improvised explosive device planted underneath a commercial vehicle in Biu, a town in southern Borno state, which killed four people and injured four others.
Iswap then launched several more attacks the following month, including an operation on a Nigerian army barracks in Yamtage town. It claimed to have killed three soldiers. The group sustained its campaign into May, with the launch of one of its most sophisticated attacks in recent memory.
On May 12, suspected Iswap militants stormed the town of Marte, capturing several soldiers and forcing others to retreat. A coordinated dual strike on nearby Rann and Dikwa towns followed hours later. The insurgents now have a strong presence in Marte, which holds immense strategic value due to its access to Lake Chad smuggling corridors.
Iswap, which was originally formed in 2015 as an offshoot of Boko Haram and has around 5,000 fighters, appears to be adapting to the Nigerian army’s military strategy. Since 2019, the Nigerian army has consolidated its forces in a heavily fortified “super camp” in key towns and cities in the north-east, from which they can respond to reported insurgent activity.
However, Iswap militants have launched several attacks on some of these camps by using tactics such as nighttime raids. They have also targeted bridges and roads between the camps, as well as launching attacks on nearby positions as a diversion, to prevent reinforcements from reaching targeted bases.
There are several factors that could explain Iswap’s resurgence. The first is that there have been strategic shifts on the ground, including a lull in fighting between Iswap and rival faction Boko Haram over territorial control.
Niger also withdrew its troops from the region’s counter-terrorism joint task force in March. The security vacuum created by this withdrawal may have further emboldened Iswap to carry out its offensive.
Nigeria and Niger share a long border, so the reduction in military patrols could have led to an increase in the number of weapons and militants supplied to Iswap from its regional network.
The second factor is that the authorities have relied too heavily on responding militarily to the threat posed by Boko Haram and Iswap. The joint task force has launched several major offensives against the two groups in recent years, helping to contain the insurgency. This has led to the return of refugees to some parts of the Lake Chad basin.
But the reliance on military offensives has only prolonged the conflict, allowing the terrorist groups to evolve. Iswap, for instance, is now using sophisticated weaponry including armed drones to stage attacks.
A recent assault on a military base in Wajikoro in north-eastern Borno state began with the use of four drones armed with grenades. The group had previously used drones almost entirely to conduct surveillance and gather intelligence.
Dismantling and ultimately defeating terrorist groups such as Iswap in the region will require addressing the root causes and drivers of insecurity. These include poverty, inequality, unemployment, poor governance and weak institutions. Poverty rates in north-eastern Nigeria are estimated at over 70%, almost double the rate in the rest of the country.
The third factor that could explain Iswap’s resurgence is that it has been using technology effectively to expand its appeal, particularly among young people, and drive recruitment.
It has intensified its presence on social media, using TikTok to post videos justifying killings, lecture young audiences about extremist ideologies and spreading jihadist propaganda. It is also deploying AI tools to edit videos and written communications.
At the same time, it is making use of new satellite-based internet services such as Starlink to record footage of prayers and sermons. Starlink launched in 2019 with the aim of providing high-speed broadband internet to people all over the world, especially in remote areas.
Another factor is that Iswap has expanded its sources of funding. The group collects tax revenue from local populations in areas where it has a strong presence, with farmers in some parts of Borno state reportedly paying about ₦10,000 (£5) per hectare.
But Iswap is also allegedly tapping into Nigeria’s fast-growing cryptocurrency markets and earns considerable revenue from black market operations. The groups’s ability to rely on multiple revenue sources has ensured its supremacy over other terrorist groups in the region, while enabling it to plan and execute more sophisticated attacks.
The growing strength of Iswap will undoubtedly have dire consequences for peace and security in Nigeria. It could help coordinate Islamic State’s activity in west Africa, giving it a stronger foothold in the region.
Emphasis should be placed on addressing the root causes of the insurgency in Nigeria, as well as implementing tighter measures to constrain Iswap’s sources of funding.
Folahanmi Aina 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.
– ref. Why Islamic State is expanding its operations in north-eastern Nigeria – https://theconversation.com/why-islamic-state-is-expanding-its-operations-in-north-eastern-nigeria-256935
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jon Roozenbeek, Lecturer in Psychology, University of Cambridge
In May 2025, a post asking “[Am I the asshole] for telling my husband’s affair partner’s fiancé about their relationship?” quickly received 6,200 upvotes and more than 900 comments on Reddit. This popularity earned the post a spot on Reddit’s front page of trending posts. The problem? It was (very likely) written by artificial intelligence (AI).
The post contained some telltale signs of AI, such as using stock phrases (“[my husband’s] family is furious”) and excessive quotation marks, and sketching an unrealistic scenario designed to generate outrage rather than reflect a genuine dilemma.
While this post has since been removed by the forum’s moderators, Reddit users have repeatedly expressed their frustration with the proliferation of this kind of content.
High-engagement, AI-generated posts on Reddit are an example of what is known as “AI slop” – cheap, low-quality AI-generated content, created and shared by anyone from low-level influencers to coordinated political influence operations.
Estimates suggest that over half of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are written by AI. In response to that report, Adam Walkiewicz, a director of product at LinkedIn, told Wired it has “robust defenses in place to proactively identify low-quality and exact or near-exact duplicate content. When we detect such content, we take action to ensure it is not broadly promoted.”
But AI-generated low-quality news sites are popping up all over the place, and AI images are also flooding social media platforms such as Facebook. You may have come across images like “shrimp Jesus” in your own feeds.
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AI-generated content is cheap. A report by the Nato StratCom Center of Excellence from 2023 found that for a mere €10 (about £8), you can buy tens of thousands of fake views and likes, and hundreds of AI-generated comments, on almost all major social media platforms.
While much of it is seemingly innocent entertainment, one study from 2024 found that about a quarter of all internet traffic is made up of “bad bots”. These bots, which seek to spread disinformation, scalp event tickets or steal personal data, are also becoming much better at masking as humans.
In short, the world is dealing with the “enshittification” of the web: online services have become gradually worse over time as tech companies prioritise profits over user experience. AI-generated content is just one aspect of this.
From Reddit posts that enrage readers to tearjerking cat videos, this content is extremely attention-grabbing and thus lucrative for both slop-creators and platforms.
This is known as engagement bait – a tactic to get people to like, comment and share, regardless of the quality of the post. And you don’t need to seek out the content to be exposed to it.
One study explored how engagement bait, such as images of cute babies wrapped in cabbage, is recommended to social media users even when they do not follow any AI-slop pages or accounts. These pages, which often link to low-quality sources and promote real or made-up products, may be designed to boost their follower base in order to sell the account later for profit.
Meta (Facebook’s parent company) said in April that it is cracking down on “spammy” content that tries to “game the Facebook algorithm to increase views”, but did not specify AI-generated content. Meta has used its own AI-generated profiles on Facebook, but has since removed some of these accounts.
This may all have serious consequences for democracy and political communication. AI can cheaply and efficiently create misinformation about elections that is indiscernible from human-generated content. Ahead of the 2024 US presidential elections, researchers identified a large influence campaign designed to advocate for Republican issues and attack political adversaries.
And before you think it’s only Republicans doing it, think again: these bots are as biased as humans of all perspectives. A report by Rutgers University found that Americans on all sides of the political spectrum rely on bots to promote their preferred candidates.
Researchers aren’t innocent either: scientists at the University of Zurich were recently caught using AI-powered bots to post on Reddit as part of a research project on whether inauthentic comments can change people’s minds. But they failed to disclose that these comments were fake to Reddit moderators.
Reddit is now considering taking legal action against the university. The company’s chief legal officer said: “What this University of Zurich team did is deeply wrong on both a moral and legal level.”
Political operatives, including from authoritarian countries such as Russia, China and Iran, invest considerable sums in AI-driven operations to influence elections around the democratic world.
How effective these operations are is up for debate. One study found that Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 US elections through social media were a dud, while another found it predicted polling figures for Trump. Regardless, these campaigns are becoming much more sophisticated and well-organised.
And even seemingly apolitical AI-generated content can have consequences. The sheer volume of it makes accessing real news and human-generated content difficult.
Malign AI content is proving to be extremely hard to spot by humans and computers alike. Computer scientists recently identified a bot network of about 1,100 fake X accounts posting machine-generated content (mostly about cryptocurrency) and interacting with each other through likes and retweets. Problematically, the Botometer (a tool they developed to detect bots) failed to identify these accounts as fake.
The use of AI is relatively easy to spot if you know what to look for, particularly when content is formulaic or unapologetically fake. But it’s much harder when it comes to short-form content (for example, Instagram comments) or high-quality fake images. And the technology used to create AI slop is quickly improving.
As close observers of AI trends and the spread of misinformation, we would love to end on a positive note and offer practical remedies to spot AI slop or reduce its potency. But in reality, many people are simply jumping ship.
Dissatisfied with the amount of AI slop, social media users are escaping traditional platforms and joining invite-only online communities. This may lead to further fracturing of our public sphere and exacerbate polarisation, as the communities we seek out are often comprised of like-minded individuals.
As this sorting intensifies, social media risks devolving into mindless entertainment, produced and consumed mostly by bots who interact with other bots while us humans spectate. Of course, platforms don’t want to lose users, but they might push as much AI slop as the public can tolerate.
Some potential technical solutions include labelling AI-generated content through improved bot detection and disclosure regulation, although it’s unclear how well warnings like these work in practice.
Some research also shows promise in helping people to better identify deepfakes, but research is in its early stages.
Overall, we are just starting to realise the scale of the problem. Soberingly, if humans drown in AI slop, so does AI: AI models trained on the “enshittified” internet are likely to produce garbage.
Jon Roozenbeek has received funding from the UK Cabinet Office, the US State Department, the ESRC, Google, the American Psychological Association, the US Centers for Disease Control, EU Horizon 2020, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Alfred Landecker Foundation.
Sander van der Linden has received funding from the UK Cabinet Office, Google, the American Psychological Association, the US Centers for Disease Control, EU Horizon 2020, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Alfred Landecker Foundation.
Yara Kyrychenko receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is supported by the Alan Turing Institute’s Enrichment Scheme.
– ref. What is AI slop? Why you are seeing more fake photos and videos in your social media feeds – https://theconversation.com/what-is-ai-slop-why-you-are-seeing-more-fake-photos-and-videos-in-your-social-media-feeds-255538
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Johann Kirsten, Director of the Bureau for Economic Research, Stellenbosch University
When world leaders engage, the assumption is always that they engage on issues based on verified facts, which their administrative staff are supposed to prepare. Under this assumption, we thought the meeting at the White House on 21 May between South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and US president Donald Trump would follow this pattern.
Disappointingly, the televised meeting was horrifying to watch as it was based on misrepresenting the reality of life in South Africa.
Issues of agriculture, farming and land (and rural crime) were central to the discussions. What is clear to us as agricultural economists is that the skewed views expressed by Trump about these issues originate in South Africa. This includes Trump’s statement: “But Blacks are not farmers.”
In our work as agricultural economists, we have, in many pieces and books (our latest titled The Uncomfortable Truth about South Africa’s Agriculture), tried to present South Africans with the real facts about the political economy policy reforms and structural dimensions of South African agriculture.
Writing on these matters was necessary given that official data – agricultural census 2017, as well as the official land audit of 2017 – all provide an incomplete picture of the real state and structure of South African agriculture. The reason is that the agricultural census, which is supposed to provide a comprehensive and inclusive assessment of the size and structure of the primary agricultural sector, and the land audit, which was supposed to record the ownership of all land in South Africa, are incomplete in their coverage.
The incomplete and inaccurate official data provides fertile ground for radical statements by the left and the right – and novices on social media. This is why South Africa has to deal with falsehoods coming from the US. These include Trump’s statement that black people are not farmers in South Africa.
South Africa is to blame for providing inaccurate data to feed these false narratives.
The facts presented here should allow a more nuanced interpretation of South Africa’s farm structure. Firstly, there are more black farmers in South Africa than white farmers. And not all white commercial farm operations are “large-scale”, and not all black farmers are “small-scale”, “subsistence” or “emerging”. Most farm operations can be classified as micro, or small in scale.
This is important so that one doesn’t view South Africa’s agriculture as mainly white farmers. Indeed, we are a country of two agricultures with black farmers mainly at small scale and accounting for roughly 10% of the commercial agricultural output. Still, this doesn’t mean they are not active in the sector. They mainly still require support to expand and increase output, but they are active.
In the wake of the circus in the Oval Office, we were amazed by the total silence of the many farmers’ organisations in South Africa. We have not seen one coming out to reject all of Trump’s claims. The only thing we can deduce from this is that these falsehoods suit the political position of some farmer organisations. But at what cost? Will many of their members be harmed by trade sanctions or tariffs against South Africa? The US is an important market for South Africa’s agriculture, accounting for 4% of the US$13.7 billion exports in 2024.
When Ramaphosa highlighted the fact that crime, and rural crime in particular, has an impact on all South Africans and that more black people than white people are being killed, Trump’s response was disturbing, to say the least: “But Blacks are not farmers”. This requires an immediate fact check.
We returned to the text from our chapter in the Handbook on the South African Economy we jointly prepared in 2021. In the extract below, we discuss the real numbers of farmers in South Africa and try to provide a sensible racial classification of farmers to denounce Trump’s silly statement.
As highlighted earlier, the two latest agricultural censuses (2007 and 2017) are incomplete as they restricted the sample frame to farm businesses registered to pay value added tax. Only firms with a turnover of one million rands (US$55,500) qualify for VAT registration.
We were able to expand the findings from the censuses with numbers from the 2011 population census and the 2016 community survey to better understand the total number of commercial farming units in South Africa. The Community Survey 2016 is a large-scale survey that happened between Censuses 2011 and 2021. The main objective was to provide population and household statistics at municipal level to government and the private sector, to support planning and decision-making.
Data from the 2011 population census (extracted from three agricultural questions included in the census) shows that 2,879,638 households out of South Africa’s total population, or 19.9% of all households, were active in agriculture for subsistence or commercial purposes.
Only 2% of these active households reported an annual income derived from agriculture above R307,000 (US$17,000). This translates into 57,592 households that can be considered commercial farmers, with agriculture as the main or only source of household income. This corresponds in some way with the 40,122 farming businesses that are registered for VAT as noted in the 2017 agricultural census report.
If we use the numbers from the agricultural census it is evident almost 90% of all VAT-registered commercial farming businesses could be classified as micro or small-scale enterprises. If the farm businesses excluded from the census are accounted for under the assumption that they are too small for VAT registration, then the fact still stands that the vast majority of all farm enterprises in South Africa are small family farms.
There are, however, 2,610 large farms (with turnover exceeding R22.5 million (US$1.2 million per annum) which are responsible for 67% of farm income and employed more than half the agricultural labour force of 757,000 farm workers in 2017.
Another way to get to farm numbers is to use the 2016 Community Survey. Using the shares as shown in Table 2, we estimate there are 242,221 commercial farming households in South Africa, of which only 43,891 (18%) are white commercial farmers. (This is very much in line with the VAT registered farmers but also acknowledging the fact that many white farm businesses are not necessarily registered for VAT.)
Let’s consider only the agricultural households with agriculture as their main source of income, surveyed in the 2016 community survey. We end up with a total of 132,700 households, of whom 93,000 (70%) are black farmers. This reality is something that policy makers and farm organisations find very difficult to deal with and it seems that Trump also found this too good to be true.
We have tried here in a long winded way to deal with farm numbers and how to get to a race classification of farmers in South Africa. In the end we trust that we have managed to show that there are more black farmers in South Africa than white farmers. Their share in total output is smaller than that of their white counterparts. The National Agricultural Marketing Council puts black farmers’ share of agricultural production as roughly 10%. But these numbers are also incomplete and largely an undercount.
It will always be challenging to get to the real number of black farmers’ share of agricultural output as nobody would ever know whether the potato or the cabbage on the shelf came from a farm owned by a black farmer or a white person but operated by a black farmer, for example. As South Africans know, the labour on farms, in pack houses, distribution systems and retail are all black. So, the sweat and hard work of black South African workers are integral to the food supply chain in South Africa.
Let’s get these facts straight and promote them honestly.
– Most South African farmers are black: why Trump got it so wrong
– https://theconversation.com/most-south-african-farmers-are-black-why-trump-got-it-so-wrong-257668
Source: Government of Canada regional news
Released on May 28, 2025
The Government of Saskatchewan is proud to announce the 2025-26 recipients of the Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Scholarship and the Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Indigenous Scholarship.
Valued at $20,000 each, these scholarships support graduate and postgraduate students in Saskatchewan who are pursuing research and demonstrating leadership in their chosen fields. This year, each scholarship has been divided between two deserving recipients. Four students will receive $10,000 each.
“I congratulate the 2025 recipients and commend them for the level of excellence they have shown in earning this recognition,” Lieutenant Governor Bernadette McIntyre said. “It is gratifying to know that these scholarships will help springboard four gifted students towards reaching their goals.”
“These scholarships recognize the talent, commitment and leadership of Saskatchewan’s graduate and post-graduate students,” Advanced Education Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said. “By supporting their academic and research pursuits, we are investing in a brighter future for our province and empowering the next generation of innovators and leaders.”
The 2025-26 Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Scholarship recipients are Thulani Hewavithana and Jessica Ollinik.
Thulani Hewavithana is pursuing a Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) in Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan, developing computational methods to analyze complex plant genomes and enhance crop resilience, yield and breeding efficiency. This work will help plant scientists develop better crop varieties.
Jessica Ollinik is pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Regina, where her research focuses on developing a new tool to monitor insecticide and fungicide contamination in honeybee colonies. This work supports sustainable agriculture and pollinator conservation in Saskatchewan.
The 2025-26 Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Indigenous Scholarship recipients are Ethan Landry and Russell Fayant.
Ethan Landry is completing a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, researching how geosynthetic stabilization can improve road durability and safety under harsh prairie conditions, particularly in rural and industrial areas. The research will also build understanding of how to reduce long-term maintenance costs.
Russell Fayant is pursuing a PhD in Education at the University of Regina, focusing on revitalizing the Michif language to strengthen Métis identity and support greater Indigenous participation in Saskatchewan’s natural resource sector.
“I am incredibly honoured and immeasurably grateful to receive this award,” Russell Fayant said. “It is an affirmation that my research, which is centered around Michif language reclamation, is valued and seen as helping to preserve a part of the fabric of this province. The scholarship will allow me to take time from work to focus on developing research that will hopefully assist others to revitalize other endangered languages in Saskatchewan.”
These scholarships are awarded annually to graduate or post-graduate students studying in Saskatchewan who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and whose research aligns with the goals of Saskatchewan’s Growth Plan.
To learn more about scholarships, visit:
https://www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/education-and-learning/scholarships-bursaries-grants
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For more information, contact:
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jeff Inglis, Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation US
President Donald Trump’s speech at the graduation of the class of 2025 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point included segments that were clearly scripted and portions that were obviously not.
During the unscripted portions, Trump, who wore a bright red “Make America Great Again” campaign hat during his entire appearance on May 24, 2025, delivered remarks that hit many of his frequent partisan political talking points. That included attacking presidential predecessors Barack Obama and Joe Biden, describing immigrants to the U.S. as “criminals” and trumpeting other policy accomplishments in his first and second terms.
That level of partisanship in a military setting – on the campus of the nation’s first military academy, and before an audience of cadets and their families, many of whom are veterans – is unusual in the United States.
The Conversation U.S. has published several articles discussing the importance to democracy of keeping the military and partisan politics separate. Here are two highlights from that coverage.
During the West Point ceremony, the graduates themselves took an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” And all of them had studied the significance of that oath, including in classes like those taught by Joseph G. Amoroso and Lee Robinson, active-duty Army officers who graduated from West Point and later served as professors there.
As Amoroso and Robinson wrote, those classes teach cadets that, like all military personnel, they serve the Constitution and the American people, not a particular person or political party:
“(O)ur oath forms the basis of a nonpartisan ethic. In the U.S., unlike in many other countries, the oath implies military leaders should be trusted for their expertise and judgment, not for their loyalty to an individual or political party. We emphasize to cadets the rules and professional expectations associated with this profound responsibility.”
Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Samuel C. Mahaney, who teaches history, national security and constitutional law at Missouri University of Science and Technology, observed:
“(S)ince the days of George Washington, the military has been dedicated to serving the nation, not a specific person or political agenda. … (N)onpartisanship is central to the military’s primary mission of defending the country.”
Mahaney wrote that if Trump’s actions during his second term meant a change from the centuries of precedent, “military personnel at all levels would face a crucial question: Would they stand up for the military’s independent role in maintaining the integrity and stability of American democracy or follow the president’s orders – even if those orders crossed a line that made them illegal or unconstitutional?”
Read more:
Trump’s firings of military leaders pose a crucial question to service members of all ranks
This story was updated to highlight two articles from The Conversation’s archives.
– ref. Trump’s West Point speech brought partisanship to the home of the US military − 2 essential reads – https://theconversation.com/trumps-west-point-speech-brought-partisanship-to-the-home-of-the-us-military-2-essential-reads-257673
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
The XVI All-Russian Interuniversity Personnel Forum named after A.Ya. Kibanov “Innovative Personnel Management” was held at the State University of Management.
More than 230 students, young scientists, authoritative teachers and experts in the field of personnel management took part in the forum’s in-person events. In total, over 450 people from different regions of Russia became participants in the event this year.
The concept of the A.Ya. Kibanov Personnel Forum this year was based on the idea that HR specialists, like legendary Russian heroes, stand guard over the interests of the company and, armed with knowledge and skills, are ready to bring glory and prosperity to their organization, and create and strengthen its HR brand.
Read about the opening and first day of the forum in this article.
Participants discussed how to build effective and trusting communications within a company, which become the foundation for a cohesive and motivated team. Particular attention was paid to creating a unique and attractive employer brand for candidates, which would reflect the values of the organization and arouse genuine interest in talented specialists.
Modern approaches to attracting and retaining highly qualified personnel were discussed, as well as strategies for increasing human capital through training, development and involvement. Experts shared practices for developing a corporate culture that helps to unlock the potential of each employee and create an atmosphere of mutual respect and support.
The HR Forum became a platform for exchanging experiences and inspiration, where future HR specialists received new tools and ideas for creating a strong HR brand and building communications that can lead the company to sustainable growth and prosperity.
Over the course of three days, the participants of the Student Olympiad immersed themselves in the world of HR: conducted analytical research, developed strategies, exchanged experiences, generated innovative ideas, fought in battle mode and presented their solutions to the expert jury. The victory went to the most goal-oriented and creative. In addition to the main assessment of the works by the expert jury, the Student Olympiad also included a Competition for the Audience Award, which was held in person: experts, speakers, teachers and jury members voted for the most liked homework from the teams participating in the Olympiad – the poster “HR-Bingo-Brand”.
Also this year, the forum included an advanced training course on “Effective Methods of Training HR Specialists”, where 35 students studied and discussed current issues on the development of the use of effective methods in the process of training students in the field of “HR Management”.
The XVI All-Russian Interuniversity Personnel Forum named after A.Y. Kibanov “Innovative Personnel Management” was held with the support of the Council for Professional Qualifications in Personnel Management, as well as with active interaction with such partners as: ANCOR, SuperJob, Roskachestvo, Aktion Students, Trivio, Perviy Bit, Independent Veterinary Laboratory “Chance Bio”, Educational Center Higher Veterinary School, City Clinical Hospital No. 67 named after L.A. Vorokhobov, Chernogolovka Group of Companies, SPILS.ART Creative Cluster, Aromapsychologist. Partner companies highlighted their nominations and provided participants and winners with valuable gifts and prizes.
On the final day of the forum, the results were summed up, the winners were officially announced, and awards and gifts were presented.
Results of the XVI All-Russian Interuniversity Personnel Forum named after A.Ya.Kibanov “Innovative Personnel Management”
Correspondence competitions “Innovative personnel management – 2025”
Competition “Best article on personnel management”
1st place – Chulanova O.L., Savchenko A.Yu. (Surgut State University)
Article “Tools for Overcoming the Shortage of Highly Qualified Personnel Based on the Bionic Approach and Sharing of Competencies”
2nd place – Abdulova T.G., Gagarinskaya G.P., Khorovinnikova E.G. (Volga Region State Transport University)
Article “Transformation of labor and human capital management in the context of digitalization: challenges, principles and trends”
3rd place – Shumanskaya A.B., Obumova A.I. (Saint Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University))
Article “Dependence of professional burnout on the social orientation of the profession and the level of empathy of the individual”
Competition “Best article of a young scientist on human resource management”
1st place – Zlobina N.K., Shanina E.V. (Penza State University)
Article “Integration of Well-being approach into the organization’s personnel management”
Scientific supervisor: Ekaterina Vladimirovna Shanina
2nd place – Oglezneva E.E. (Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation)
Article “Reverse Mentoring: Concept, Problems and Development Prospects”
Scientific supervisor: Aleksashina Tatyana Viktorovna
3rd place – Shkerina E.E., Goncharenko K.A. (Saint Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University))
Article “Emotional intelligence of a manager as a factor in increasing the involvement of subordinates”
Supervisor: Anna Anatolyevna Dorogovtseva
Competition “Best educational and methodological development on personnel management”
1st place – Lysenko E.V. INTERNATIONAL HR MANAGEMENT. Study guide for students studying in the direction 38.03.03 – Personnel Management (manuscript)
2nd place – Learn to learn: features of working with information in the educational and scientific activities of university students: a teaching aid / E.A. Berezovskaya, O.V. Klimova, N.L. Krasnogor [et al.]; under the general editorship of I.Yu. Plotnikova; Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Ural Federal University. – Yekaterinburg: Publishing house of the Ural. University, 2024. – 260 p.
3rd place – Fundamentals of project activities: textbook / Yu.A. Alekseeva, M.V. Gashkov, M.I. Imamverdieva; edited by O.L. Chulanova. – Moscow: INFRA-M, 2025 – 307 p.
Competition “Best scientific work on personnel management”
1st place – Milyaeva L.G. Modern technologies of personnel management: selected 2: monograph /L.G. Milyaeva. – Moscow: RUSAINS, 2024. – 212 p.
Competition of innovative projects on personnel management and labor economics for students and postgraduates
Winner in the nomination “Homo qui videt”
Evseeva A.A., Le Thi My Linh, Petrishchev A.K. (Ulyanovsk State Technical University)
Scientific supervisor: Natalia Mikhailovna Tsytsarova
Project “Ageism in the Labor Market: A Modern View”
Winner in the nomination “Homo aliena”
Vdovichenko V.A., Fedchuk A.V., Potapova D.S. (Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation)
Scientific supervisor: Natalia Valerievna Sakharova
Project: “Animal ID. Paw HR”
Winner in the nomination “Homo excitari”
Gataullina A.I. (Surgut State University)
Scientific supervisor: Chulanova Oksana Leonidovna
Project: “Development of tools for motivating project teams”
Winner in the nomination “Homo neiro”
Dudnik E.V., Monul D.A., Fomenko M.V. (State University of Management)
Scientific supervisor: Mitrofanova Alexandra Evgenievna
Project: “Atlas of HR Professions”
3rd place
Smirnov D.R. (Surgut State University)
Scientific supervisor: Chulanova Oksana Leonidovna
Project: “Using a dashboard in working with the staff of the Admissions Office of Surgut State University”
2nd place
Kabanova Yu.I., Druzhinina S.A., Kutumova D.R. (National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky)
Supervisor: Mariko Valeria Valerievna
Project: “Chatbot for translation and explanation of Anglicisms “Info Motya””
1st place
Nikitina K.D., Druzhinina P.Yu., Nguyen Ngoc Ha Phyung, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, Fastovskaya M.S., Makarkin M.M. (State University of Management)
Scientific supervisor: Ph.D., Associate Professor Lobacheva Anastasia Sergeevna
Project: “HR in the Heart”
Grand Prix
Krapiventseva A.A. (State University of Management)
Scientific supervisor: Ph.D., Associate Professor Ekaterina Viktorovna Kashtanova
Project: “Development of a board business game for student adaptation”
Student Olympiad “Human Resources Management: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”
Best homework
Team: “Mafia HR”.
Team members: Arustamyan Nane Armenovna, Bakhteeva Alina Fyaimovna, Drobysheva Victoria Vitalievna, Tkacheva Irina Olegovna, Churikova Kristina Maksimovna (State University of Management)
Scientific supervisor: Illarionova Ekaterina Sergeevna
The best case
Command: “NEXT PROFI”. Team composition: Aminov Danila Fanilievich, Vedeneeva Polina Dmitrievna, Kabanova Yulia Ivanovna, Zubova Ekaterina (National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N. I. Lobachevsky)
Scientific supervisor: Ulmaeva Liliya Nailevna
The best quest
Team: “Adepts of Human Resources”. Team members: Snezhana Evgenievna Batayeva, Georgy Mikhailovich Solomatin, Vladislav Denisovich Abrashnev (Moscow Automobile and Road State Technical University (MADI)
Scientific supervisor: Olga Anatolyevna Peshkova
3rd place
Team: “Vedunya Kadrov” (Personnel Witches). Team members: Sokolovskaya Sofia Sergeevna, Sushkevich Yulia Dmitrievna, Chernikova Polina Vadimovna (Volga Region Institute of Management named after P. A. Stolypin – branch of RANEPA)
Scientific supervisor: Moiseenko Natalia Vladimirovna
2nd place
Command: “Vector”. Team composition: Druzhinina Svetlana Andreevna, Negodnova Anastasia Sergeevna, Khakov Rinat Denisovich, Chabanyuk Elina Aleksandrovna, Kutumova Daria Romanovna (National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N. I. Lobachevsky)
Supervisor: Mariko Valeria Valerievna
1st place
Team: “Polyanitsi”. Team members: Kvach Ekaterina Sergeevna, Kozhevnikova Darina Alekseevna, Sergeeva Polina Aleksandrovna (St. Petersburg State University)
Scientific supervisor: Kulchitskaya Elena Valerievna
Grand Prix
Team: “Snake Icharych.” Team composition: AGlushkova Anastasia Sergeevna, Ishkova Olga Andreevna, Shchetinin Mark Alekseevich (State University of Management)
Scientific supervisor: Ekaterina Viktorovna Kashtanova
Detailed information about the Forum, its annual program, format and results is presented on the official website, and you can see more photos in the VKontakte community.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Anglia Ruskin University
Picture: Richard Fraser Photography
ARU Peterborough has played a key role in a landmark report that outlines strategies to better support disabled entrepreneurs across the UK, potentially driving significant economic growth.
The Lilac Review, an independent, Government-backed review to address the inequality disabled entrepreneurs face, has concluded that significant financial, operational, and accessibility barriers are holding back the nation’s disabled-led businesses.
Disabled entrepreneurs represent 25% of the UK’s 5.45 million small businesses, but just 8.6% of business turnover. The Lilac Review estimates that removing these obstacles could unlock an additional £230 billion in UK business revenue.
The research for The Lilac Review report was supported by Professor Tom Williamson and Dr Cheryl Greyson from ARU Peterborough in collaboration with Small Business Britain, with support from Lloyds.
The ARU Peterborough academics analysed survey data from 750 disabled entrepreneurs and found that despite their resilience, disabled founders face additional and complex barriers to growth and funding. Over half (57%) of respondents identified financial support as their critical need for the coming year.
Alongside a range of targeted support and tailored solutions, a key recommendation from The Lilac Review is to enhance the reach and impact of the new Disability Finance Code launched last December.
The Lilac Review also highlights the importance of greater access to peer-led business networks and mentorship, with 51% of respondents indicating that bridging this gap would benefit them.
The need to embed inclusivity at the heart of all future business support to build equity and opportunity was emphasised, with data showing 35% of disabled entrepreneurs find current programmes inaccessible.
The Lilac Review also advocates for greater investment and innovation in inclusive AI training and skills development and AI-powered assistive technology, as well as placing accessibility and inclusion at the heart of AI policy and product development. This recognises the transformative potential of AI to level the business playing field.
Professor Williamson of ARU Peterborough took part in the review’s Steering Board, alongside a number of prominent disabled founders and representatives from the wider business community including: Small Business Britain, Lloyds, eBay, BT, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), The Entrepreneurs Network, and the Business Disability Forum.
“We’re proud that ARU Peterborough has played a key role in this important new report. The recommendations could help empower millions of disabled entrepreneurs across the country, combat inequality and drive business growth, which could significantly benefit the UK economy.
“The next phase of The Lilac Review will see us working closely with Small Business Britain over the next 12 months to develop the concept for The LILAC Centre for Disabled Entrepreneurship. This would be the UK’s first business incubator and research centre dedicated to advancing the success of disabled entrepreneurs, and our aim is for this to be hosted at ARU Peterborough.”
Professor Williamson, Assistant Principal of ARU Peterborough and head of the Faculty of Business, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
“I’m proud to have co-chaired The Lilac Review and welcome its valuable insights and recommendations to help empower disabled entrepreneurship, tackle inequality, and unlock growth opportunities.
“Through our Plan for Change, this government is committed to delivering further and faster economic growth. A key part of this is ensuring that those with the ambition to start and scale up a business have the right support to do so, no matter their background or circumstances.”
Gareth Thomas, Minister for Small Businesses and co-chair of The Lilac Review
“Disabled entrepreneurs are innovative, impactful, and growing. Yet we remain underrepresented, underfunded, and underestimated.
“The Lilac Review is a bold and necessary step toward recognising the unique challenges that disabled entrepreneurs face – and more importantly, toward removing them. The findings of this report are clear: change is needed – not later, but now. That means inclusive finance, accessible business support, and communities that empower rather than exclude.
“It has been an honour to co-chair this review, and I hope the voices within it spark action, partnership, and a fundamental rethinking of what opportunity should look like – for everyone.”
Victoria Jenkins, co-chair of The Lilac Review and founder of Unhidden
“Our university is driving forward real change in the workforce not only in Peterborough, but across the whole of the UK. The Lilac Review represents a real opportunity to level the playing field for disabled entrepreneurs and to remove some of the unique challenges they face.
“The whole city is really proud of those who have been involved in this pioneering project and are now re-shaping the future of business in the UK.”
Councillor Nick Thulbourn, cabinet member for growth and regeneration at Peterborough City Council
For more information on The Lilac Review visit https://lilacreview.com/final-report
ARU Peterborough is a partnership between Anglia Ruskin University, Peterborough City Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Johann Kirsten, Director of the Bureau for Economic Research, Stellenbosch University
When world leaders engage, the assumption is always that they engage on issues based on verified facts, which their administrative staff are supposed to prepare. Under this assumption, we thought the meeting at the White House on 21 May between South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and US president Donald Trump would follow this pattern.
Disappointingly, the televised meeting was horrifying to watch as it was based on misrepresenting the reality of life in South Africa.
Issues of agriculture, farming and land (and rural crime) were central to the discussions. What is clear to us as agricultural economists is that the skewed views expressed by Trump about these issues originate in South Africa. This includes Trump’s statement: “But Blacks are not farmers.”
In our work as agricultural economists, we have, in many pieces and books (our latest titled The Uncomfortable Truth about South Africa’s Agriculture), tried to present South Africans with the real facts about the political economy policy reforms and structural dimensions of South African agriculture.
Writing on these matters was necessary given that official data – agricultural census 2017, as well as the official land audit of 2017 – all provide an incomplete picture of the real state and structure of South African agriculture. The reason is that the agricultural census, which is supposed to provide a comprehensive and inclusive assessment of the size and structure of the primary agricultural sector, and the land audit, which was supposed to record the ownership of all land in South Africa, are incomplete in their coverage.
The incomplete and inaccurate official data provides fertile ground for radical statements by the left and the right – and novices on social media. This is why South Africa has to deal with falsehoods coming from the US. These include Trump’s statement that black people are not farmers in South Africa.
South Africa is to blame for providing inaccurate data to feed these false narratives.
The facts presented here should allow a more nuanced interpretation of South Africa’s farm structure. Firstly, there are more black farmers in South Africa than white farmers. And not all white commercial farm operations are “large-scale”, and not all black farmers are “small-scale”, “subsistence” or “emerging”. Most farm operations can be classified as micro, or small in scale.
This is important so that one doesn’t view South Africa’s agriculture as mainly white farmers. Indeed, we are a country of two agricultures with black farmers mainly at small scale and accounting for roughly 10% of the commercial agricultural output. Still, this doesn’t mean they are not active in the sector. They mainly still require support to expand and increase output, but they are active.
In the wake of the circus in the Oval Office, we were amazed by the total silence of the many farmers’ organisations in South Africa. We have not seen one coming out to reject all of Trump’s claims. The only thing we can deduce from this is that these falsehoods suit the political position of some farmer organisations. But at what cost? Will many of their members be harmed by trade sanctions or tariffs against South Africa? The US is an important market for South Africa’s agriculture, accounting for 4% of the US$13.7 billion exports in 2024.
When Ramaphosa highlighted the fact that crime, and rural crime in particular, has an impact on all South Africans and that more black people than white people are being killed, Trump’s response was disturbing, to say the least: “But Blacks are not farmers”. This requires an immediate fact check.
We returned to the text from our chapter in the Handbook on the South African Economy we jointly prepared in 2021. In the extract below, we discuss the real numbers of farmers in South Africa and try to provide a sensible racial classification of farmers to denounce Trump’s silly statement.
As highlighted earlier, the two latest agricultural censuses (2007 and 2017) are incomplete as they restricted the sample frame to farm businesses registered to pay value added tax. Only firms with a turnover of one million rands (US$55,500) qualify for VAT registration.
We were able to expand the findings from the censuses with numbers from the 2011 population census and the 2016 community survey to better understand the total number of commercial farming units in South Africa. The Community Survey 2016 is a large-scale survey that happened between Censuses 2011 and 2021. The main objective was to provide population and household statistics at municipal level to government and the private sector, to support planning and decision-making.
Data from the 2011 population census (extracted from three agricultural questions included in the census) shows that 2,879,638 households out of South Africa’s total population, or 19.9% of all households, were active in agriculture for subsistence or commercial purposes.
Only 2% of these active households reported an annual income derived from agriculture above R307,000 (US$17,000). This translates into 57,592 households that can be considered commercial farmers, with agriculture as the main or only source of household income. This corresponds in some way with the 40,122 farming businesses that are registered for VAT as noted in the 2017 agricultural census report.
If we use the numbers from the agricultural census it is evident almost 90% of all VAT-registered commercial farming businesses could be classified as micro or small-scale enterprises. If the farm businesses excluded from the census are accounted for under the assumption that they are too small for VAT registration, then the fact still stands that the vast majority of all farm enterprises in South Africa are small family farms.
There are, however, 2,610 large farms (with turnover exceeding R22.5 million (US$1.2 million per annum) which are responsible for 67% of farm income and employed more than half the agricultural labour force of 757,000 farm workers in 2017.
Another way to get to farm numbers is to use the 2016 Community Survey. Using the shares as shown in Table 2, we estimate there are 242,221 commercial farming households in South Africa, of which only 43,891 (18%) are white commercial farmers. (This is very much in line with the VAT registered farmers but also acknowledging the fact that many white farm businesses are not necessarily registered for VAT.)
Let’s consider only the agricultural households with agriculture as their main source of income, surveyed in the 2016 community survey. We end up with a total of 132,700 households, of whom 93,000 (70%) are black farmers. This reality is something that policy makers and farm organisations find very difficult to deal with and it seems that Trump also found this too good to be true.
We have tried here in a long winded way to deal with farm numbers and how to get to a race classification of farmers in South Africa. In the end we trust that we have managed to show that there are more black farmers in South Africa than white farmers. Their share in total output is smaller than that of their white counterparts. The National Agricultural Marketing Council puts black farmers’ share of agricultural production as roughly 10%. But these numbers are also incomplete and largely an undercount.
It will always be challenging to get to the real number of black farmers’ share of agricultural output as nobody would ever know whether the potato or the cabbage on the shelf came from a farm owned by a black farmer or a white person but operated by a black farmer, for example. As South Africans know, the labour on farms, in pack houses, distribution systems and retail are all black. So, the sweat and hard work of black South African workers are integral to the food supply chain in South Africa.
Let’s get these facts straight and promote them honestly.
Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).
Johann Kirsten 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.
– ref. Most South African farmers are black: why Trump got it so wrong – https://theconversation.com/most-south-african-farmers-are-black-why-trump-got-it-so-wrong-257668
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Natalie Spadafora, Research Associate, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University
(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency/EDUimages), CC BY-NC-SA
Teachers’ perceptions and judgments of student skills are key to measuring children’s academic progress. But educators’ own biases can distort these perceptions and judgments.
For example, research in Canada has shown that racialized students were less likely to be perceived as “excellent” in their achievement and learning skills than white students, despite doing well academically. To our knowledge, no work has been done focusing specifically on teachers, assessment, bias and the Canadian kindergarten population.
Our team at the Offord Centre for Child Studies set out to understand more about how educators perceive the system for assessing kindergarten children’s development, in the context of children’s race, gender and family socioeconomic status.
In Ontario, kindergarten features five full days of play-based learning every week. Classes are led by a team of one teacher and one early childhood educator (ECE). Teachers have knowledge of the curriculum and are responsible for student learning and reporting to parents. ECEs have knowledge of early childhood development and plan age-appropriate activities to support development.
Read more:
A team approach makes full-day kindergarten a success
As part of our study, we conducted a series of four focus groups with kindergarten educators (five kindergarten teachers and one designated early childhood educator) from a school board in Ontario.
To be eligible to participate, educators had to have previously participated in cultural responsiveness initiatives and administered a teacher-completed developmental health checklist for kindergarten students at least once. All participants in our focus group were female, taught schools in urban neighbourhoods and five of the six were racialized.
Educators discussed how their feelings and potential biases might creep into their assessments, and the strategies they use to limit this bias. Specifically, we asked about their use of the standard tool for assessing child development in kindergarten: The Early Development Instrument (EDI).
Read more:
‘Dreams delayed’ no longer: Report identifies key changes needed around Black students’ education
The EDI asks teachers to evaluate children in five areas of development: physical health and well-being; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive development; and communication skills and general knowledge.
Race-related data are not routinely collected with the EDI (such as asking teachers to report how a child’s family identifies a child’s race, or in reporting their own race), even though, as some researchers and educators have noted, race-related data could be used to inform provision of supports.
While teachers complete this assessment for every child in their classrooms, the results are aggregated and reported at the population level. All publicly funded school boards in Ontario have collected the EDI roughly every three years since 2004.
Several key themes emerged from our discussions with educators. First, educators admitted that the social identities and demographic characteristics of the students in their classrooms could impact how they interpret kindergarteners’ skills and behaviours.
They explained that being exposed to a wide variety of students would increase their own awareness of children’s and their families’ identities, shaped by factors like race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status and language, and help broaden their perceptions. For example, this would allow them to have a greater understanding of the range of behaviours children display.
Second, educators addressed the consequences of racial and gender biases in schools, some of them reflecting systemic racism. Educators acknowledged these systemic biases could impact their internal expectations of students, and potentially their reactions and interpretation of student behaviour.
Recognizing the potential for such unfairness, educators also identified deliberate strategies they use to minimize the impact of individual and systemic biases on their assessment.
They told us they pause and think critically about what may influence their perceptions of students, reframe how they might be looking at certain situations (that is, taking an “asset-based” approach, focusing on the students’ strengths) or check in with colleagues to be sure they’re being equitable.
Read more:
Children with special health needs are more likely to come from poorer neighbourhoods
The educators we interviewed revealed many personal feelings come up as they complete assessments and interact with students. For example, educators noted that it can be hard to separate assessing a child from their history with the child, or that they felt they were judging the child’s family.
In addition to the acknowledgement that biases and preconceived expectations could colour their assessments, they also acknowledged that these feelings, whether positive or negative, can make it difficult to assess their pupils objectively.
Similar to exposure to a diverse group of students, having knowledge of the whole child and building trusting and reciprocal relationships with families are other ways educators can reduce the impact of bias. For example, if their family is going through hard times, it could be expected that the child might be sad or worried.
Regarding the specific characteristics of the EDI, educators explained it was sometimes difficult to choose the most accurate responses to each item on a checklist when there were only two or three options.
Educators said they often wished they could explain their responses more.
Finally, educators agreed that the scarcity of dedicated resources, time, attention and training on bias affected their ability to assess their students’ development as accurately as they would like.
While our study used the example of the EDI to elicit the discussion on assessment being influenced by student identities, the issues mentioned by educators go beyond this specific tool.
In our study, educators were not only aware of this influence; they used strategies to overcome it. These educators acknowledge that their expertise in evaluating children’s skills and behaviours can improve with better knowledge of and relationships with individual children and their families, by collaborating with colleagues and by having more time and training.
Our results suggest that policy improvements are necessary to make sure all educators have access to better strategies and opportunities to reduce unintended identity bias and provide more accurate assessments.
Given that the educators in this study had already participated in cultural responsiveness initiatives, further research could examine how interventions mitigate occurrences of particular biases and their potential adverse effects on students.
This research was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Council Partnership Engagement Grant.
Magdalena Janus receives funding from SSHRC.
– ref. Do biases affect assessment in kindergarten? Educators discuss strategies for mitigation – https://theconversation.com/do-biases-affect-assessment-in-kindergarten-educators-discuss-strategies-for-mitigation-250580
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via IBN – Roth Capital Partners (“ROTH”), www.roth.com, today announced Kyle Bauser, Ph.D., as Managing Director, Senior Research Analyst. Dr. Bauser has joined the firm’s healthcare research team, covering the medical technology sector. He has over a decade of MedTech experience across equity research and industry.
Dr. Bauser began his career in MedTech equity research over 12 years ago at Piper Sandler. He later worked in marketing and corporate development at Vascular Solutions before returning to research at Dougherty & Co, where he became Managing Director and Co-Head of Equity Capital Markets. His research primarily focuses on small- to mid-cap and underfollowed companies with novel technologies. He studied Mathematical Economics and Pre-Med at Colorado College as an undergraduate and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the City University of New York Graduate Center.
Jeff Martin, CFA, Co-Director of Research & Senior Research Analyst at ROTH, commented, “I’m pleased to welcome Kyle to our healthcare research team. I am confident his strong research background and understanding of equity markets in MedTech will serve our clients well.”
“We are committed to expanding our research department across industries and market caps”, said Sagar Sheth, CEO of ROTH. “I’m confident that Kyle’s expertise will provide valuable insights for our clients and help expand our healthcare practice.”
Dr. Bauser noted, “I am thrilled to be joining the impressive ROTH platform, which has a full suite of offerings dedicated to small-cap growth companies. I look forward to collaborating with the team and utilizing my diverse set of experiences to identify unique MedTech opportunities for our clients.”
Since 2010, ROTH has been involved in over 600 transactions for its healthcare clients, with a total transaction value of over $25 Billion. (Source: ROTH 05.21.25)
About ROTH:
ROTH is a relationship-driven investment bank focused on serving growth companies and their investors. Our full-service platform provides capital raising, high impact equity research, macroeconomics, sales and trading, technical insights, derivatives strategies, M&A advisory, and corporate access. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, Roth is a privately held, employee-owned organization and maintains offices throughout the U.S. For more information on Roth, please visit www.roth.com.
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Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Mark Edele, Hansen Professor in History and Deputy Dean, The University of Melbourne
United States President Donald Trump was “not happy” with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, this week.
For three consecutive nights, from Friday to Sunday, Russia launched about 900 drones and scores of missiles at Ukraine. At least 18 people were killed, including three children.
“We’re in the middle of talking and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, after Putin ordered the largest air assault on Ukraine’s civilians in its three-year war.
Following up on his remarks, Trump posted on social media that Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY!”
Putin is not crazy. He is a tactician with a long-term goal: to make Russia a great power again and secure his place in the history books as the re-builder of Russia’s imperial might.
Trump announced after a phone call with Putin on May 19 that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately start negotiations” towards a ceasefire.
With his latest air campaign on Ukraine, however, Putin is threatening to destroy the goodwill he’s built up in Washington, where Trump has been consistently soft on Russia and tough on his allies.
So, what is Putin’s strategy? Why is he launching these massive air bombardments on Ukrainian civilians now?
One theory is these attacks are somehow preparations for a major offensive. That makes little sense.
Attacking military facilities, weapons depots or even frontline troops are useful preparations for an impending attack. Indiscriminate bombing of civilians, meanwhile, is a sign of either desperation or impatience.
Britain and the US bombed German cities during the second world war because they had no alternatives until they built up enough capacity to transport land forces across the sea to invade the continent.
The US also sent bombers to Japan in the final stages of the war because the American public became tired of seeing their sons, husbands, brothers and fathers die on Pacific islands they had never heard of. The war had dragged on forever by this point, and there seemed no end in sight.
Is Putin desperate or impatient? Likely the latter.
From the perspective of the Kremlin, Russia’s strategic situation is as good as it has been for years.
The US is trying to destroy itself through trade wars and boorish diplomacy. Trump clearly dislikes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and hopes the war will somehow end if he just demands it.
Europe is continuing to back Ukraine. However, for the time being, it still needs US support because its entire security structure is built around NATO and US strength, both economic and military.
What Putin sees when he surveys the international scene is weakness. In his thinking, such weakness needs to be exploited – now is the time to hurt Ukraine as much as possible, and hope it will crack. Analysts call this a “cognitive warfare effort”.
Indiscriminate air war on civilians is the only means Putin currently has to pressure Ukraine. His army has been advancing, but painfully slowly. There is no breakthrough in sight, even once the spring muds dry and the summer fighting season starts in earnest.
Russia has gradually advanced in Ukraine throughout 2024, but with no perceivable change in the overall situation. Putin does not command precision weapons or super spies, which he could use to take out Ukraine’s leadership.
All he can do is rain death on women, children and the elderly from relatively cheap, unsophisticated weapons, such as drones. He now has these in large supply, thanks to ramping up military production at home.
A strategic air war on civilians seldom works, however.
Japan’s surrender in 1945 is an exception, but it is misleading in many ways. The Americans had flattened Japan’s cities for a while already, just not using their new atomic weapons. Japan had already lost the war and the real question was if there would be a bloody US invasion or surrender.
And as the US dropped its two nuclear bombs in August of that year, the Red Army joined the fight, racing across Manchuria to help occupy Japanese territories.
In Germany, the British-American bombings from 1942 onwards certainly had an effect on war production, as they killed workers and destroyed factories. But they did not incapacitate the German army and certainly did not break morale.
Instead, the bombings led to embitterment and a closing of ranks around the regime. German society fought to the last moment. It did so not just despite, but because of the air war. The German army was eventually defeated by the ground troops of the Red Army, who took Berlin in an incredibly bloody fight.
Other historical failures are even more spectacular. The US air force dropped 864,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam during an air campaign of more than 300,000 sorties lasting from 1965 to late 1968. The North Vietnamese lost maybe 29,000 people (dead and wounded), more than half of them civilians. The Americans and their South Vietnamese allies still lost the war.
Putin’s air war will likely follow the historical pattern: it has further embittered the Ukrainians, who know very well that what comes from the east is not liberation.
Another summer of fighting lies ahead. Ukraine’s friends in the democratic world need to urgently redouble their efforts to support Ukraine. The misguided hopes that Putin would somehow “make a deal” lie under the rubble his drones leave behind in Ukraine’s cities.
Mark Edele receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
– ref. Is Vladimir Putin’s indiscriminate bombing of Ukrainian civilians ‘crazy’? It’s more a sign of impatience – https://theconversation.com/is-vladimir-putins-indiscriminate-bombing-of-ukrainian-civilians-crazy-its-more-a-sign-of-impatience-257630
Source: Republic of Taiwan – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
May 20, 2025
No. 165
Former President Tsai Ing-wen visited Europe from May 10 to 19, traveling to Lithuania and Denmark before continuing to the United Kingdom. On May 15, the first day of her stay in the United Kingdom, she visited the UK Parliament at the invitation of British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Cochairs Sarah Champion MP and Lord Rogan. She was warmly welcomed by parliamentarians from across the political spectrum.
The former president met with House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and took part in a reception at the House of Lords, where she delivered a speech. She exchanged greetings with nearly 50 parliamentarians and staff, including former Lord Speaker Baroness D’Souza, House of Lords Deputy Speaker Baroness Finlay, Trade Envoy to Taiwan Lord Faulkner, Labour Friends of Taiwan Chair Navendu Mishra MP, former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Conservative Shadow Minister for Innovation and Technology Ben Spencer MP, and Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Calum Miller MP.
In her address at the House of Lords, former President Tsai said that the growing threat of antidemocratic forces was testing democracy around the world, adding that this demonstrated the need for Taiwan and the United Kingdom to work together in defense of freedom and democracy. She commended the House of Commons for passing a motion last November clarifying that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 made no reference to Taiwan. This was important in countering reckless behavior in the Taiwan Strait, she explained. Highlighting Taiwan’s position on the front line of defending democracy, former President Tsai said that Taiwan was a critical deterrent to China’s expansionist ambitions and would continue to contribute to protecting democratic values.
APPG Cochair Champion noted that Taiwan and the United Kingdom had a deep friendship and shared core values. She said that the United Kingdom should continue to pay attention to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which she added were essential to global security and prosperity. Cochair Champion noted that in recent years the Taiwan-UK partnership had deepened. She expressed hope that cooperation would expand in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, economic resilience, and other areas.
Former President Tsai also delivered a speech titled “In an Era of Shifting World Order: Taiwan as a Stabilizing Force” at her alma mater, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The event was moderated by incoming LSE Law School Dean Andrew Murray, who represented the university and LSE President Larry Kramer. Around 100 people, including General Counsel Elizabeth Messud, attended the speech. In her remarks, former President Tsai noted that the international community was experiencing a reassignment of security responsibilities and a rebalancing of trade relations. She said that to appropriately respond to multiple challenges such as economic fragmentation, political extremism, and military conflict, the function of multilateralism was becoming even more important. The former president emphasized that Taiwan had shown a high degree of resilience in turbulent times in the past, such as during supply chain restructuring, and had proven to be a trustworthy and competitive strategic partner. She added that Taiwan was ready to play a more proactive role in the new world order by further deepening cooperation with democratic countries and contributing to the global trade system. Her remarks were enthusiastically received by the audience.
During her visit to the United Kingdom, former President Tsai also gave an address at Cambridge University, met with faculty and students at the School of Oriental and African Studies, attended a forum hosted by the Royal United Services Institute, and met with Taiwanese people working in the United Kingdom on technology startups and in the arts.
Taiwan-UK relations have witnessed significant progress in recent years. In 2023, the United Kingdom signed the Enhanced Trade Partnership arrangement with Taiwan, becoming the first European country to establish a formal economic and trade framework with Taiwan. The United Kingdom is Taiwan’s fourth-largest trading partner in Europe, third-largest source of investment, and fifth-most popular destination for Taiwanese students studying abroad. The countries collaborate closely in fields such as technological innovation, renewable energy, and societal resilience. Taiwan will further work together with the United Kingdom and other like-minded countries to advance democratic resilience and prosperity. It looks forward to the United Kingdom continuing to demonstrate its commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific region by deploying naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait and taking other concrete actions.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
Polytechnics won the Yunus Akhmetzyanov Young Chefs Tournament, which was held in Kazan at the Kazan-Expo International Exhibition Center. Students from Moscow, the Sverdlovsk Region, Tatarstan, and other regions of Russia participated in the competition. ISPO SPbPU was represented by three teams of 2nd and 3rd year students.
To get to the final of the international tournament, the guys had to pass a serious competitive selection. The participants had to prepare an original set of three dishes (appetizer, main course, dessert) on the theme “National Lunch of Your Region”. The ISPO teams presented dishes of St. Petersburg cuisine, successfully passed the semi-finals and performed well in the final stage.
Egor Ivanov, Ekaterina Romanova and Aleksandr Kiselev won in the Fundamental Knowledge category. The guys prepared a set called “Petrovsky Nocturne”, consisting of forshmak with gorgonzola mousse, a hot dish – chicken roll, mashed potatoes with spinach, wild mushroom mousse, and a dessert called “Blancmange”.
In the nomination “Technologies of the Future” the best were Irina Murtazina, Darya Shramova and Ivan Voronin. They presented the set “Gold of the North”. Cloudberry was used in each of the three dishes: in the quail appetizer “Northern Desire”, the hot dish of rabbit lapin à Petersburg and in the dessert “White Forest”.
In the nomination “Art of serving a dish”, the first place was taken by Maria Petrova, Anastasia Semenova and Andrey Bratok. The team prepared a set called “Monplaisir”: bruschetta with roast beef in honey-mustard sauce, duck breast sous-vide under raspberry sauce with pumpkin and celery puree and a tarte charlotte dessert. The guys said that they were inspired by the 19th century, when European culture, including gastronomic culture, came to the Northern capital.
The jury included international pastry chef, TV presenter, author of cookbooks Nina Tarasova, head of the tournament directorate Mikhail Sharipov, chef and brand chef of the Kazan restaurant chain Andrey Sakhovsky and other experts. The tournament participants received recommendations from authoritative chefs not only from Russia, but also from representatives of other countries, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, Tunisia, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco.
After the tournament, Azerbaijani chef Tahir Amiraslanov visited the Institute of Secondary Vocational Education. In 1984, he graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade. Now Tahir Amiraslanov is the general director of the Center for Azerbaijani National Culinary Arts, the president of the national association of chefs of Azerbaijan, and the author of books on cooking and the art of nutrition. Tahir Amiraslanov gave a lecture to students of the ISPO. He shared stories from his student days, revealed the secrets of preparing some dishes, their composition and serving. After a tour of the Museum of the History of the Development of Public Catering in St. Petersburg, Tahir Amiraslanov donated his books to the ISPO.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Republic of China Taiwan
May 20, 2025
No. 165
Former President Tsai Ing-wen visited Europe from May 10 to 19, traveling to Lithuania and Denmark before continuing to the United Kingdom. On May 15, the first day of her stay in the United Kingdom, she visited the UK Parliament at the invitation of British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Cochairs Sarah Champion MP and Lord Rogan. She was warmly welcomed by parliamentarians from across the political spectrum.
The former president met with House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and took part in a reception at the House of Lords, where she delivered a speech. She exchanged greetings with nearly 50 parliamentarians and staff, including former Lord Speaker Baroness D’Souza, House of Lords Deputy Speaker Baroness Finlay, Trade Envoy to Taiwan Lord Faulkner, Labour Friends of Taiwan Chair Navendu Mishra MP, former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Conservative Shadow Minister for Innovation and Technology Ben Spencer MP, and Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Calum Miller MP.
In her address at the House of Lords, former President Tsai said that the growing threat of antidemocratic forces was testing democracy around the world, adding that this demonstrated the need for Taiwan and the United Kingdom to work together in defense of freedom and democracy. She commended the House of Commons for passing a motion last November clarifying that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 made no reference to Taiwan. This was important in countering reckless behavior in the Taiwan Strait, she explained. Highlighting Taiwan’s position on the front line of defending democracy, former President Tsai said that Taiwan was a critical deterrent to China’s expansionist ambitions and would continue to contribute to protecting democratic values.
APPG Cochair Champion noted that Taiwan and the United Kingdom had a deep friendship and shared core values. She said that the United Kingdom should continue to pay attention to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which she added were essential to global security and prosperity. Cochair Champion noted that in recent years the Taiwan-UK partnership had deepened. She expressed hope that cooperation would expand in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, economic resilience, and other areas.
Former President Tsai also delivered a speech titled “In an Era of Shifting World Order: Taiwan as a Stabilizing Force” at her alma mater, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The event was moderated by incoming LSE Law School Dean Andrew Murray, who represented the university and LSE President Larry Kramer. Around 100 people, including General Counsel Elizabeth Messud, attended the speech. In her remarks, former President Tsai noted that the international community was experiencing a reassignment of security responsibilities and a rebalancing of trade relations. She said that to appropriately respond to multiple challenges such as economic fragmentation, political extremism, and military conflict, the function of multilateralism was becoming even more important. The former president emphasized that Taiwan had shown a high degree of resilience in turbulent times in the past, such as during supply chain restructuring, and had proven to be a trustworthy and competitive strategic partner. She added that Taiwan was ready to play a more proactive role in the new world order by further deepening cooperation with democratic countries and contributing to the global trade system. Her remarks were enthusiastically received by the audience.
During her visit to the United Kingdom, former President Tsai also gave an address at Cambridge University, met with faculty and students at the School of Oriental and African Studies, attended a forum hosted by the Royal United Services Institute, and met with Taiwanese people working in the United Kingdom on technology startups and in the arts.
Taiwan-UK relations have witnessed significant progress in recent years. In 2023, the United Kingdom signed the Enhanced Trade Partnership arrangement with Taiwan, becoming the first European country to establish a formal economic and trade framework with Taiwan. The United Kingdom is Taiwan’s fourth-largest trading partner in Europe, third-largest source of investment, and fifth-most popular destination for Taiwanese students studying abroad. The countries collaborate closely in fields such as technological innovation, renewable energy, and societal resilience. Taiwan will further work together with the United Kingdom and other like-minded countries to advance democratic resilience and prosperity. It looks forward to the United Kingdom continuing to demonstrate its commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific region by deploying naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait and taking other concrete actions.
