DNA polymerase from bacteriophage T7 undergoes large, substrate-induced conformational changes that are thought to account for high replication fidelity, but prior studies were adversely affected by mutations required to construct a Cys-lite variant needed for site-specific fluorescence labeling. Here we have optimized the direct incorporation of a fluorescent un-natural amino acid, (7-hydroxy-4-coumarin-yl)-ethylglycine, using orthogonal amber suppression machinery in Escherichia coli. MS methods verify that the unnatural amino acid is only incorporated at one position with minimal background. We show that the single fluorophore provides a signal to detect nucleotide-induced conformational changes through equilibrium and stopped-flow kinetic measurements of correct nucleotide binding and incorporation. Pre-steady-state chemical quench methods show that the kinetics and fidelity of DNA replication catalyzed by the labeled enzyme are largely unaffected by the unnatural amino acid. These advances enable rigorous analysis to establish the kinetic and mechanistic basis for high-fidelity DNA replication.

Zimbabwe’s Economic Governance and Regional Integration 17 November 2020 — 12:00PM TO 1:30PM Anonymous (not verified) 6 November 2020 Online

Panellists discuss policy and governance for long-term economic prosperity in Zimbabwe, reflecting on the role of institutional change and regional integration in the context of the shocks caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

At this virtual event, panellists and participants will discuss policy and governance for long-term economic prosperity in Zimbabwe, reflecting on the role of institutional change and regional integration.

The government of Zimbabwe has emphasized its commitment to economic reform and its ambition to achieve upper-middle-income status by 2030, but there are considerable challenges to overcome.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing economic fragility. Improving the business climate to attract international private-sector investment will be contingent on clear, consistent and coherent policy and implementation, including targeting abuse and corruption.

Zimbabwe has, in recent years, successfully strengthened its regional trade integration, although some trade frictions remain. This is an important factor not only for catalysing economic growth in Zimbabwe, but for supporting regional prosperity and post-COVID recovery.

This webinar is the second in a series of events held in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung on Zimbabwe’s economic reform and recovery.

Read a meeting summary

This event will also be broadcast live on the Africa Programme Facebook page.

Chatham House Primer: Inside China’s government 30 November 2022 — 6:00PM TO 6:45PM Anonymous (not verified) 4 October 2022 Chatham House

How are decisions made in Beijing, across China and where does the CCP fit in?

Still little is known in Western circles about the inner workings of China’s government. In power since 1949, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has evolved over decades to its current embodiment under President Xi Jinping.

The need for a better understanding of China’s government has been heightened, particularly as the country navigates post-COVID troubles, global economic downturns, wars in Europe, climate change and heightened tension with the United States.

This Primer has been prepared to pull back the veil on the Chinese government. Key issues to be tackled include:

• What is the decision-making process in China’s government?

• How is the party–government relationship best explained?

• How has the party evolved in recent years with new forms of governance and leadership?

• How has China’s government evolved in recent years, particularly in a globalized environment?

• A description of the central government–province dynamic?

• How are citizens engaged in the political process?

• What are the major centres of power in the Chinese political system?

• Has the COVID-19 pandemic altered attitudes towards and the operation of government?

As with all Chatham House member events, questions from members drive the conversation.

From Iraq to Ukraine: What did governments learn? 20 March 2023 — 12:00PM TO 1:00PM Anonymous (not verified) 6 March 2023 Chatham House and Online

What were the main lessons for today’s conflicts from the way in which the war in Iraq played out?

This March marks the 20th anniversary of the US and UK-led invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein. Based primarily on unfounded fears Iraq’s WMD (weapons of mass destruction) capability was buidling up in the absence of UN inspection and constraints on the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards, the decision to go to war has reverberated throughout the Middle East, the intelligence communities, and Western political decision-making ever since.

In the 2002–03 period when UN inspectors were allowed back into Iraq, Hans Blix, chairman of UNMOVIC (UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) and Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, were at the centre of a storm in which they were put under huge pressure to agree with the US/UK narrative on the ‘missing’ WMD.

Their problem was that the evidence they were uncovering did not support the claims, but the war went ahead – and Saddam was overthrown – despite these UN findings.

Much has changed since 2003. As the geopolitical landscape has shifted, so have geopolitics and capabilities. Today’s Russia’s war against Ukraine which includes WMD threats, cyberattacks, and an assertive disinformation campaign has opened up new ways of thinking about communicating information from open source and government intelligence analysis.

This panel explores the experiences of people involved with decision-making at the UN and in the UK in 2003 and how things have changed today.

• What were the lessons from the way in which the war in Iraq played out?
• How has that influenced the way in which NATO has responded to Russia’s wars against Ukraine?
• How should information be communicated within governments and to the public?
• How to deal with disinformation campaigns in the days of open source information and social media?

As with all member events, questions from the audience drive the conversation.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead his administration's new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to end "government waste" and "slash excess regulations."

The Japanese parliament on Monday re-elected Liberal Democratic Party chief Shigeru Ishiba as prime minister in a rare runoff vote after the ruling LDP lost its majority in the lower legislative chamber.

Tua Tagovailoa and Daniel Jones are among UPI senior sports writer Alex Butler's five must-start fantasy football quarterbacks for Week 10.

Congress is voting on a bill Tuesday that will empower the executive branch to remove the tax-exempt status from any nonprofit it deems to be supporting terrorists.

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced plans to nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to head the Department of Homeland Security of his incoming administration.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead his administration's new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to end "government waste" and "slash excess regulations."

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has become increasingly critical of charter schools this year, and his new proposals for charters would change how they operate and how they are funded.

Gov. Kate Brown ordered the public release of annual school performance ratings last week after Oregon's biggest newspaper reported that a Brown appointee had delayed the release of the statistical rankings until after the high-stakes gubernatorial election Nov. 6.

A bill shielding what is now Ohio's largest online school and its sponsor from the negative consequences of accepting thousands of former Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow students is headed to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.

After clashing with the teacher community in often confrontational terms, Republican Gov. Matt Bevin faces a fierce battle to win re-election against Democratic rival Andy Beshear, the state's attorney general.

Voters in three southern states will head to the polls for governors races that have shined a spotlight on educator activism, school funding, and teacher pay.

Governors' races in Kentucky and Mississippi took center stage, testing the political muscle of teacher activists and yielding possible policy implications for everything from public employee pensions to teacher pay.

This year's November elections—a preview to next year's nationwide showdowns—cast their own spotlight on education, a dynamic that played out most prominently in the Kentucky governor's race, where teachers organized to unseat a combative incumbent who'd sparred with them.

Public and private schools named for leaders of the Confederacy have come under renewed scrutiny amid the national Black Lives Matter protests.

The governors of Oklahoma and South Carolina have directed significant portions of their states' federal education relief aid to fund private school scholarships.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he plans to forgo the process of selecting a new commissioner for the state education department and will instead take on the role himself.

Gov. Paul LePage believes Maine has a glut of school superintendents, and he intends to pressure districts into consolidating administrations with the two-year budget he will propose in early 2017.

The ability to discern fact from fiction and to recognize reliable news is fundamental, writes News Literacy Project’s Charles Salter.

“Vaccines are a choice and people have the choice and will have the choice in this state as to whether or not they should take that vaccine,” the governor said.

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Monday that schools will be required to remain open despite the rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, arguing lockdowns and closures have not worked.

The change under consideration would make the reading test less accurate not more, writes E.D. Hirsch Jr.

Former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced the Tennessee Tutoring Corps, which will recruit college students to tutor children in an effort to prevent learning loss after extended school closures.

“Vaccines are a choice and people have the choice and will have the choice in this state as to whether or not they should take that vaccine,” the governor said.

Gov. Christie has pushed to flatten the state's funding formula so that the state's impoverished urban districts would get the same amount of money wealthy suburban districts get.

Democrat Gavin Newsom, who takes office Jan. 7, plans to expand full-day kindergarten and child-care offerings in the state, according to media reports.

The bill would have given public school teachers at least six weeks of paid maternity leave.

Florida's governor signed a bill that will allow schools to arm classroom teachers, part of a longer list of school safety changes made after a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., last year.

Ron DeSantis had a thin record on K-12 issues as a Florida congressman, but as a first-term Republican governor he’s pushed an aggressive agenda on issues such as vouchers, teacher salaries and bonus pay, and even the common core.

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Monday that schools will be required to remain open despite the rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, arguing lockdowns and closures have not worked.

Gov. Erik Greitens has resigned and the board doesn't have enough governor-appointed members to form a quorum. Important tasks have been piling up.

The state's incoming governor and education commissioner both are former teachers. They face battles over school accountability, funding and the achievement gap between white and minority students.

Voters in three southern states will head to the polls for governors races that have shined a spotlight on educator activism, school funding, and teacher pay.