gin

PML-N issues white paper on ‘rigging’ in G-B polls

Says matter will now be decided by the PDM




gin

Afghanistan to begin work on TAPI gas pipeline

.Progress on the TAPI pipeline has been repeatedly delayed because of security issues in conflict-ravaged Afghanistan





gin

Adapting to a changing world

Pakistan needs to capitalise on the demand in exports of sports goods as it had in the past.




gin

Polio cripples another child in Pakistan, bringing tally to 46

A female polio health worker administers polio drops to a child during the anti-polio vaccination campaign aimed at eradicating polio in the provincial capital. — AFPThis is second polio case reported from Qila Saifullah in 2024.Pakistan one of only two polio endemic countries in...




gin

Merging Jinnah hospital and SMC: Confused Sindh Medical College students call off protest for now

Say they want ‘hard facts’ on the matter.




gin

Is Pakistan’s N-CPEC+ vision finally beginning to take shape?

Russian, Chinese, and Pakistani interests are all directly served through N-CPEC+




gin

Police ‘Infringing Website List’ Portal Set For a £220K Makeover

A database of pirate sites maintained by City of London Police for more than a decade is set for a makeover. Earlier this year vendors were invited to bid for a contract to supply
a new portal for Operation Creative, the anti-piracy initiative responsible for the Infringing Website List. Nominated for inclusion by mainly overseas rightsholders, the list predominantly features overseas pirate sites. The winning bid of just over £221,000 will be settled from the UK public purse.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.




gin

AJK president lauds Joe Biden for urging India to restore people’s rights in IOJ&K

US former vice president has said restrictions on dissent, such as preventing peaceful protests, weaken democracy.



  • World
  • Jammu & Kashmir

gin

Hanging with Felix Prangenberg BMX Video






Our bro Felix Prangenberg recently shot a small documentary about a typical day in his life for wethepeople BMX. So if you always wanted to know how Felix spends the morning, sessions his BMX or the Wethepeople headquarters look like, then you've come to the right place!

Have fun with the video, your kunstform BMX Shop Team!

Video: David Schaller

Related links:




gin

In a first, constitutional bench to begin hearing cases from Nov 14

Facade of the Supreme Court. — SC website/file

Justice Mandokhail, Justice Mazhar attended committee’s meeting. Meeting held to discuss matters related to constitutional bench.Justice Ayesha will not be available on Nov 14, 15, says SC.




gin

Mattel says it 'deeply' regrets misprint on 'Wicked' dolls packaging that links to porn site

Toy giant Mattel says it "deeply" regrets an error on the packaging of its "Wicked" movie-themed dolls, which mistakenly links toy buyers to a pornographic website.




gin

Virginia Tech QB Kyron Drones ruled out of game against Syracuse with back injury

Virginia Tech starting quarterback Kyron Drones has been ruled out of Saturday's game against Syracuse with a lower-body injury.




gin

Virginia, Howard give D.C. fans a rooting interest in NCAA Tournament's First Four games

The NCAA Tournament field is set, and some college basketball fans in the D.C. area will be paying close attention to the First Four games. The First Four games in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday feature the Howard Bison, the District's lone representative in the tournament, and the University of Virginia.




gin

Maryland, Virginia announce renewal of men's basketball rivalry

As one series with Virginia ends, another begins for Maryland. The Terrapins and Cavaliers have announced a renewal of their men's basketball rivalry, to begin next year.




gin

Babydog hits the campaign trail -- accompanied by West Virginia's Gov. Justice

Here's a campaign event of note, set for Monday in the great state of Pennsylvania and featuring a lovely and personable pooch. "Join West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Babydog for food and fellowship at a Team Trump Road Trip Event in Erie, Pennsylvania," the Trump campaign noted Sunday in the briefest of brief written notices.




gin

Honda faces investigation over engine failure

U.S. regulators are investigating over 1.4 million Honda and Acura vehicles after receiving numerous engine failure reports.




gin

Competitive Virginia races could play a critical role in the battle for Congress

Virginia's marquee matchups for U.S. House races in Tuesday's election feature tight contests in a district being vacated by three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and a district known to flip between Democratic and Republican control.




gin

Virginia judge orders election officials to certify results after they sue over voting machines

A judge in a rural Virginia city has ordered two officials there to certify the results of the election after they filed a lawsuit last month threatening not to certify unless they could hand-count the ballots.




gin

Two swing House seats in Virginia remain up in the air

Two swing seats in Virginia, both key Democratic targets in the party's bid to reverse Republican control of the U.S. House, remained up in the air early Wednesday morning.




gin

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia fends off GOP challenger Hung Cao to win 3rd term

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia won reelection to his third term Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger Hung Cao.




gin

Eugene Vindman grabs victory for Democrats in Virginia House race

Democratic House candidate Eugene Vindman was victorious Wednesday over his Republican opponent for Virginia's 7th District.




gin

Lexington Market, part 2: Engines of Change

Conversations with vendors & market-goers about the past & present of Lexington Market, a look at hopes for (and doubts about) the market’s future, and a talk with the idealistic developer responsible for the big changes that lay ahead.




gin

November gauntlet begins again for Maryland with trip to No. 1 Oregon

Last season marked the first time Maryland posted a .500 or better mark in the month of November under Mike Locksley. College football's final month has always been a gauntlet for Locksley's teams, a trend that continues Saturday at No. 1 Oregon.




gin

Verstappen handed 5-place grid penalty in Brazil after another engine change

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has received a five-place grid penalty at the Brazilian Grand Prix after he again decided to change his engine.




gin

I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine is part of our Christian Music For Kids Library.




gin

Maryland's opportunity to salvage disappointing season begins with Rutgers

Now back at home for the first time in nearly a month and with three games remaining, the chance for Maryland to salvage a disappointing season with a potential bowl appearance begins with Rutgers.




gin

That's flippin' amazing! Figure skating Grand Prix season begins with backflips no longer banned

American figure skater Ilia Malinin has been doing gymnastics off the ice much of his life, one of the many reasons why he can so effortlessly land the dazzling quadruple jumps that made him a world champion at just 19 years old last March.




gin

Bringing big data to biodiversity

EU-funded project EU BON will build the European gateway for integrated biodiversity information

On 1st December 2012, 30 research institutions from 15 European countries, Brazil, Israel and the Philippines, and more than 30 associated partners started EU BON - "Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network". This €9 million, EU-funded research project aims to advance biodiversity knowledge by building a European gateway for biodiversity information, which will integrate a wide range of biodiversity data – both from on ground observations to remote sensing datasets – and make it accessible for scientists, policy makers, and the public.
The project plans to advance the technological platform for GEO BON (Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network) to improve the assessment, analysis, visualisation and publishing of biodiversity information, and to enable better linkages between biodiversity and environmental data. EU BON will ensure a timely provision of integrated biodiversity information needed to meet the global change challenges and to contribute for next generation environmental data management at national and regional levels.
"Global problems arising from rapidly changing environmental conditions and biodiversity loss require internationally coordinated solutions" said the project coordinator Dr. Christoph Häuser from the Museum für Naturkunde – MfN, in Berlin, Germany. "Current biodiversity observation systems and environmental data are unbalanced in coverage and not integrated, which limits data analyses and implementation of environmental policies. A solution seems impossible without real integration of biodiversity data across different spatial, temporal, and societal scales", added Dr Häuser.
EU BON will deliver several important products, including a European integrated biodiversity portal, a roadmap for EU citizen sciences gateway for biodiversity data, an open data publishing and dissemination framework and toolkit, a policy paper on strategies for data mobilisation and use in conservation, a prototype of integrated, scalable, global biodiversity monitoring schemes, strategies for EU-integrated national and regional future biodiversity information infrastructures, and a sustainability plan for regional and global biodiversity information network.
The cooperation for data integration between biodiversity monitoring, ecological research, remote sensing and information users will result in proposing a set of best-practice recommendations and novel approaches with applicability under various environmental and societal conditions. A key task of EU BON is to harmonise future biodiversity monitoring and assessments and to engage wider society groups, such as citizen scientists and other communities of practise.
Although focussing primarily on European biodiversity and collaborating with major EU initiatives (e.g. LifeWatch and others), EU BON will also collaborate closely with worldwide efforts such as GEO BON, GBIF, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and others. EU BON will be a valuable European contribution to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), and be built on the GEO principles of open data sharing.
The kick-off meeting of EU BON will take place on 13-15 February 2013 at the Museum für Naturkunde – MfN in Berlin, Germany and will be preceded by a symposium "Nature and governance: biodiversity data, science and policy interface" on 11-12 February 2013.

###

Additional information
EU BON (2012) stands for "Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network" and is an European research project, financed by the 7th EU framework programme for research and development (FP7). EU BON seeks ways to better integrate biodiversity information and implement into policy and decision-making of biodiversity monitoring and management in the EU.
GEO BON stands for "Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network". It coordinates activities relating to the Societal Benefit Area (SBA) on Biodiversity of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Some 100 governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations are collaborating through GEO BON to organise and improve terrestrial, freshwater and marine biodiversity observations globally and make their biodiversity data, information and forecasts more readily accessible to policymakers, managers, experts and other users. Moreover, GEO BON has been recognized by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. More information at: http://www.earthobservations.org/geobon.shtml.
GEOSS stands for Global Earth Observation System of Systems, built by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). GEO is constructing GEOSS on the basis of a 10-Year Implementation Plan for the period 2005 to 2015. The Plan defines a vision statement for GEOSS, its purpose and scope, expected benefits, and the nine "Societal Benefit Areas" of disasters, health, energy, climate, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity.

 





gin

Bridging the gap between biodiversity data and policy reporting needs: An EBV perspective

Reporting under policy instruments to inform on the trends in biodiversity requires information from a range of different elements of biodiversity, from genetically viable populations to the structure of ecosystems. A new research looks into the Essential Biodiversity Variables as an analytic framework to identify ways in which gaps between biodiversity data and policy reporting needs could be bridged. The study was published in theJournal of Applied Ecology.

The Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs, Pereira et al. 2013) which were previously developed by ecology experts in GEO BON, is as a list of the most essential elements that need to be monitored worldwide, if we want to know how biodiversity is really changing.Example of essential variables is the population abundances of species (like the Living Plant Index from the WWF) or the extent of habitat fragmentation.

In the recently published study, funded by the EU FP7 project EU BON, scientists used the identified EBVs as a framework to analyse the gaps between the biodiversity objectives stated in international policy instruments, the indicators used to develop the related policy reports and the data that is actually available to quantify indicators and proxies.

Results of the recently published study show:

1) which aspects of biodiversity are being asked for the reporting on policy instruments. Based on this knowledge,it became apparent which aspects of biodiversity are not often asked to be in these reports and thus for which aspects policy makers are unlikely to receive information. For example information on the changes in the EBV class "Genetic Composition", was not often asked in reports, not often used in indicators and little data is directly available.

2) which of these biodiversity aspects actually end up being in the CBD reports, because scientists were able to quantify indicators. For instance, information for Ecosystem function is often asked for, but is not represented by many indicators.

3) for some EBVs data seems available to improve current reporting efforts, for instance for indicators on Ecosystem structure.

Additionally, the study identified which potentially available data could be used to improve existing indicators by adding more taxa or spatial or temporal coverage. This analysis also showed that the EBVs will not cover all the information asked in policy reporting. This is because the policy objectives also include things related to awareness raising of the public and the implementation of protection measures - aspects which are not within the scope of EBVs.

"Analytical properties, such as an identification of which data and indicators are relevant per EBV, will need to be addressed before EBVs can actually become operational and facilitate the integration of data flows for monitoring and reporting." commented the lead author of the study Dr. Ilse Geijzendorffer.

###

Original Source:

Geijzendorffer, I.R., Regan, E.C., Pereira, H. M., Brotons, L., Brummitt, N., Gavish, Y., Haase, P., Martin, C.S., Mihoub, J.-B., Secades, C., Schmeller, D.S., Stoll, S., Wetzel, F. T., & Walters, M.,Journal of Applied Ecology http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12417/abstract

Additional information:

Pereira, H.M., Ferrier, S., Walters, M., Geller, G.N., Jongman, R.H.G., Scholes, R.J. M. W. Bruford, Brummitt, N. , Butchart, S.H.M., Cardoso, A.C., Coops, N.C., Dulloo, E., Faith, D.P., Freyhof, J., Gregory, R.D., Heip, C., Höft, R., Hurtt, G., Jetz, W., Karp, D.S., McGeoch, M.A., Obura, D., Onoda, Y., Pettorelli, N., Reyers, B., Sayre, R., Scharlemann, J. P. W., Stuart, S.N., Turak, E., Walpole, M., & Wegmann, M. (2013) Essential biodiversity variables. Science, 339, 277-278.





gin

Conservation Biology Special Section: "Conservation in Europe as a model for emerging conservation issues globally

A Special Section: "Conservation in Europe as a model for emerging conservation issues globally" is featured in the Early View module of Conservation Biology online. The section includes: 

Mapping opportunities and challenges for rewilding in Europe

Silvia Ceaușu, Max Hofmann, Laetitia M. Navarro, Steve Carver, Peter H. Verburg and Henrique M. Pereira

DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12533

Conservation in Europe as a model for emerging conservation issues globally

Luigi Boitani and William J. Sutherland

DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12530

The alignment of agricultural and nature conservation policies in the European Union

Ian Hodge, Jennifer Hauck and Aletta Bonn

DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12531

Scenarios of large mammal loss in Europe for the 21st century

Carlo Rondinini and Piero Visconti

DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12532

On how much biodiversity is covered in Europe by national protected areas and by the Natura 2000 network: insights from terrestrial vertebrates

L. Maiorano, G. Amori, A. Montemaggiori, C. Rondinini, L. Santini, S. Saura and L. Boitani

DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12535

The role of agri-environment schemes in conservation and environmental management

Péter Batáry, Lynn V. Dicks, David Kleijn and William J. Sutherland

DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12536

Framing the relationship between people and nature in the context of European conservation

John D. C. Linnell, Petra Kaczensky, Ulrich Wotschikowsky, Nicolas Lescureux and Luigi Boitani

DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12534





gin

Joint WP2/3/4/6/7 Workshop: Packaging EU BON’s outputs into solutions for decision-makers

A joint WP2/3/4/6/7 workshop took place on 23-24 November 2015 in Cambridge, UK. The overall goal of the workshop was to identify synergies and overlapping objectives across WP3/4 and 6/7 and beyond and to thereby identify applications of EU BON’s tools to decision-making, including at the policy level.

The idea for this small, focused workshop emerged as a result of the popularity and outreach achieved by the Aquamaps North-Sea fisheries infographic, developed under WP6. This infographic has demonstrated how the AquaMaps modelling tool can help answer a clear policy or question relevant to decision-making.

 

Under EU BON, WP3 and WP4 have developed some powerful tools, and more are in the making. The next challenge for EU BON is to use these tools to address policy-relevant issues/questions and to link EU-BON’s modelling capacity to policy needs. Producing cutting-edge innovations is important, but their implementation for policy and decision-making needs is what has real impact.

This is what the Cambridge workshop was about - bringing different players together to identify the right ways to make EU BON innovation policy relevant.

Outcomes of the meeting:

  • An improved vision of how to ‘market’ EU BON’s products for end-users;

  • A better understanding of the end-users and the barriers that they face in accessing and using biodiversity data tools; and

  • Improved collaboration between EU BON Work Packages and a coherent vision for future synergies.





gin

IALE 2013 European Congress - Changing European Landscapes: Landscape ecology, local to global

The IALE 2013 European Congress "Changing European Landscapes: Landscape ecology, local to global" will take place on 9-12 September 2013, in Manchester, UK. This major international event, organised by IALE UK and IALE Europe, will examine how and why European landscapes are changing and how landscape ecology can help us to plan for the future at local to global scales. It will consider local projects alongside international programmes and provide many opportunities for researchers, policy makers and practitioners to interact. The congress will have a European focus but we look forward to welcoming participants from around the world.

More information and how to register find here.

 





gin

EcoSummit 2016 Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change

The 5th International EcoSummit Congress, EcoSummit 2016 - Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change, will take place at The Corum Convention Centre, Montpellier from 29 August – 1 September 2016.

This conference series was founded in 1996 in Copenhagen, as a forum to meet the demands of scientists working in several new ecological disciplines, and who required a better understanding of the concepts and methods for a holistic use of ecology in environmental management. Since 1996, EcoSummit has been taken around the world (Canada and China), with EcoSummit 2012 hosting 1600 participants from 75 countries in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

EcoSummit 2016 will centre on the ecology of terrestrial ecosystems and all habitats that are integrated within those ecosystems, including river networks, wetlands and coastlines. 

More information: http://www.ecosummit2016.org/






gin

Plant Invasion and Imaging Spectroscopy




gin

Gone with the wind: Seasonal trends in foraging movement directions for a central-place forager





gin

EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals




gin

Bridging the gap between biodiversity data and policy reporting needs: An Essential Biodiversity Variables perspective




gin

D1.3 Systems for mobilizing and managing collection-based data (specimen + DNA-data) fully integrated




gin

Regina Spektor - What We Saw From the Cheap Seats

The truth about Regina Spektor is that quirky isn't the half of it.






gin

188 AAW: A Sit-Down with Hope Darst from The Belonging Co.

All About Worship talks with The Belonging Co. worship leader, Hope Darst about leading teams and showing true character through hard times.

She voices the story about writing the song “Peace Be Still”, as it evolved into one of the breakthrough worship songs of 2018.  Enjoy this week's sit down with Hope Darst!





gin

189 AAW: Transition & Celebration w/ Andrew Holt, worship leader at The Belonging Co.

The belonging Co worship leader Andrew Holt sits with us this week to talk about dealing with transition and celebration.

Andrew talks about his story and his transition into leading worship. Also, can we take celebration too far in church?  Some people may think we go too far ... how about you?  Listen in!





gin

How Singing Hymns Changed Our Church

My husband and I lead worship at a church plant south of Nashville, TN. You probably haven’t been to our church but you know our church. We’re the one that meets in a school cafeteria with folding chairs. The portable church that gets loaded in and out of trailers on the backs of selfless volunteers every week. The one where you may not quite know everyone’s name but you remember their face and you can definitely tell if there is a visitor but you try not to make it awkward. Yeah, that church.

We were not on staff when we started helping with the music. So, when we were eventually asked to lead, we had an interesting point of view. We had been the ones sitting in the aforementioned folding chairs and we had noticed a few things. We had noticed that no one really sang along. For one, it’s a bit awkward when you’re in a small setting so, that’s understandable. We noticed that they might sing along to a popular worship song but if a song was too new or too wordy or too artsy or in the wrong key people just didn’t sing much.

When we began to lead, we focused on introducing more options that would give the church confidence to join in the singing. We tried some simple, repetitive songs. We tried songs in “one size fits most” keys rather than catering to the optimal vocal range of the leader. We tried a lot of things and then one Sunday we tried a hymn. And you know what happened? They sang. They sang loud.

That changed everything. Surprisingly, as we sang that hymn together it felt like our church had found its voice. It paved the way for worship songs that have become anthems for our church. Songs that have guided us through series and seasons. Songs that comforted us through difficult situations. Songs that have steered us in new directions. All because we unlocked the power of our voice.

I wouldn’t call our church “a hymns kind of church”. We’re mostly people who wanted something different from a traditional setting. We stay pretty true to the top 100 CCLI list and even have some original worship songs. We don’t necessarily do a hymn every week but we do keep them in rotation. We started by adding familiar favorites like “Amazing Grace” and “Come Thou Fount”.

Not surprising, it has been difficult to find versions of hymns that fit well in our style of music. We struggled to find something to post in Planning Center for the band. Most versions were either too artistic or too traditional. We tackled this challenge by creating new arrangements that were easy enough for a band to play yet still recognizable enough for our church to sing along.

It has been humbling to watch an elderly face light up when they realize we are singing a hymn and equally humbling when they continue singing as we move into another worship song. I’ll never forget overhearing my 4 year old singing “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand” the same way she would sing along with the radio.

Gauging by the popularity of hybrid worship songs, it seems clear The Church still has a soft spot for hymns. Songs like “Lord I Need You”, “My Chains Are Gone”, “It Is Well” and “This Is Amazing Grace” have drawn something fresh from the hymnal page. There’s no doubt we will lean on them along with the ancient psalms and scriptures to continue crafting the sound for the next generation of The Church.

How interesting that Ephesians 5:18-19 encourages different types of songs:

...be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.

While some moments call for familiarity, others need rich vocabulary and theology, still some need simplicity. What a great perspective for us as worship leaders to see a variety of purpose in songs and to consider how to use them to serve our people. The main point is that we find a way to sing and make melody to the Lord with our hearts... together. As a worship leader, I love the moments where leading actually means stepping away from the microphone and hearing the church sing out. We get a taste of heaven as we reach across generations and look toward our future.

When we’ve been there 10,000 years Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we first begun     

-  John Newton “Amazing Grace”

How has your church found its voice in this season? Can you identify a particular song that engaged your people in worship?





gin

The Worship Podcast (Episode 28): Managing Young Creatives

Managing creatives can be a tough job, throw in the element of youthfulness and it can be downright chaotic! So, how should we managing those wanting to be all they can for God without all the wild and crazy, or is the wild and crazy a good thing?

So many questions! Take a listen as James and Dustin tackle this important but needed topic.

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter





gin

Dave Says: Bridging the Gap

Dear Dave, In light of recent events, do you have suggestions for things people should think about and prepare for if they get laid off from their jobs? Sam Dear Sam, It’s no secret that things are shutting down all across the world. If your workplace has closed its doors and isn’t offering pay, then it’s time to regroup and get some things in order. The thought of being without a paycheck can be overwhelming, but a little thought and planning can help you get though times like these. Start ...




gin

Aging in the Future Never Looked Better

LONGER LIFE EXPECTANCY  People are living far longer than they did in decades past. Dr. Roizen says life expectancy in the U.S. has increased 2.5 years every decade for the last 170 years. For example, a woman who was expected to live to age 42 in 1850 is now likely to see age 80. One reason for this, he points out, is better sanitation, public health measures, and vaccines which produced an increase in the survival and health of the young in the first half of the 20th century. In later years,...




gin

Protecting Your Brain from Damaging Habits

PROBLEM-SOLVING Dr. Don Colbert is known for helping people live healthy lifestyles. As a medical doctor who has treated over 50,000 patients, he says the answers to people's ailments are almost always linked to what they eat. Growing up, Colbert’s father began showing signs of dementia in his mid 50s. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his 60s and it progressed into severe Alzheimer’s. He lived in a nursing home for over 10 years before he died at 80.  His mother, who worked in a bank full-...