fighting

Fighting Bias and Inequality at the Team Level

Despite the investments made in the last few years, many companies are falling short of their diversity, equity, and inclusion aims. Some firms have faced difficulty spreading their DEI efforts top-down throughout the organization. Trier Bryant, the cofounder and CEO of Just Work, details why and shares a framework that teams and individuals can use to fight bias on the day-to-day level at work.




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Work Comp Matters - Free Weekly Podcast - Episode 77: Fighting Fraud

"Work Comp Matters" - the central location for all your workers' compensation, employment and labor law matters. Steve Appell hosts this weekly podcast from sunny southern California - presenting some…




fighting

Rethinking The Role Of Your UX Teams And Move Beyond Firefighting

Many UX professionals often find themselves working alone, and usually face more projects impacting user experience than they can handle. In this article, Paul Boag explains how UX teams can be transformed into a significant driver of customer-centric innovation within organizations.




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Fighting Back Against Fungal Pathogens

Two new research studies are addressing the rising threat of fungal infections, which can be very difficult to treat. One study has examined ...



  • Cell & Molecular Biology

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The FSF is turning 39! Join us in celebrating almost 40 years of fighting for software freedom




fighting

Fighting Back Against Fungal Pathogens

Two new research studies are addressing the rising threat of fungal infections, which can be very difficult to treat. One study has examined ...



  • Genetics & Genomics

fighting

Fighting Back Against Fungal Pathogens

Two new research studies are addressing the rising threat of fungal infections, which can be very difficult to treat. One study has examined ...




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Fighting pandemic: special edition of Enjoy! now available

Fighting pandemic: special edition of Enjoy! now available

Sophia Antipolis, 7 July 2020

ETSI is pleased to unveil a special edition of its magazine Enjoy! As a global pandemic hit the world at all levels, people and companies had to cope with this crisis each in their own way. Through a variety of interviews and articles, this new issue reflects the challenges and perspectives of our international members.

Read More...




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Alexander Hamilton : the fighting founding father! / by Mark Shulman ; illustrated by Kelly Tindall ; lettering & design by Comicraft ; cover art by Ian Churchill.

"A fascinating and entertaining biography of Alexander Hamilton, in graphic novel format. Alexander Hamilton: The Fighting Founding Father!tells the story of one of the most ambitious and controversial figures in American history in a graphic novel format. From a rough childhood on the Caribbean island of Nevis to the highest levels of American politics, Alexander Hamilton's life was filled with adventure, conflict, and controversy. Full-color illustrations and an entertaining narrative make this graphical biography of America's first Secretary of the Treasury accessible for readers of all ages." -- Provided by publisher.




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Veterans Week: Fighting in the Electromagnetic Spectrum (November 13, 2024 12:00pm)

Event Begins: Wednesday, November 13, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Veteran and Military Services


Naval warfare was confined for centuries to surface combat and undersea clashes. In the 20th century, aerial warfare became the third domain, and shortly thereafter, the electromagnetic spectrum also appeared. When navies began to make use of the airwaves, they soon discovered those waves could also be exploited as a source of information about the opposing force, beginning the discipline of electronic intelligence (ELINT). Furthermore, navies learned the value of interrupting or corrupting the enemy’s communication signals that were transmitted in the “ether," leading to the method of fighting termed electronic warfare (EW).

In this book, Wildenberg cuts through the secrecy about this understandably mysterious domain of combat. He offers details on aircraft and methods and provides a layman’s set of definitions of terms. Wildenberg shares lessons learned from World War II skirmishes as well as clashes in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, while providing the audience with a foundational understanding of this complex form of combat in all its forms.

This book discloses rarely covered concepts and methods that will shape future conflict among great powers.

About the Author:
Thomas Wildenberg is an independent historian and scholar with special interests in aviators, naval aviation, and technological innovation in the military. He has written extensively about the U.S. Navy during the interwar period. His articles have appeared in several scholarly journals, including the Journal of Military History, American Neptune, Air Power History, and U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. He is the author of several books on naval history covering such varied topics as replenishment at sea, the development of dive bombing, and the history of the torpedo in the U.S. Navy. His interest in the personalities of innovators has led to books on Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves, Billy Mitchel, Charles Stark Draper, and Howard Hughes. His latest work, “The Origins of Aegis,” has just been released by the Naval Institute Press.

Mr. Wildenberg served as a Ramsey Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum from 1999-2000. He is a recipient of the Arthur W. Radford Award for Excellence in Naval Aviation History (2012), the Surface Navy Association Literary Award (2005), and two John Laymen Awards from the North American Society for Oceanic History for best naval history (2013) and best biography (2003). He received the Air Force Historical Foundation's award for the best article in the 2009 volume of Air Power History, was awarded an honorable mention in the Ernest J. Eller Prize in Naval History (1994), and received the Edward S. Miller Naval War College Research Fellowship (1998).




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Tecumseh’s on the Front Line, Fighting the War on Refrigerants

In Greek mythology, Argus was a son of Zeus. Having the king of the gods up on Mount Olympus for a dad probably raised the bar in terms of expectations. Fortunately, Tecumseh seemed comfortable with that kind of lofty namesake for its biggest launch at this year’s AHR Expo, the ARGUS condensing unit platform.




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Meet the Mercaditas Fighting for Fairness in Mexico

Street selling is a risky activity in Mexico City. But the mercaditas movement aims to empower women and nonbinary sellers to protect themselves from economic exploitation.




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Fighting back against online bullying

Online bullying has become more of a problem now that more people have mobile phones and computers. Find out more about it with Newsround's guide.




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Alpine Cleaning & Restoration Specialists Bring Joy to Local Girl Fighting Cancer with a new Playset

Alpine Cleaning & Restoration Specialists team up with ROC Solid Foundation to build a backyard playset for Adlee Frampton, a brave three-year-old battling Stage 2 Wilms Tumor. This generous act not only brings joy to Adlee but also highlights the powerful impact of community support and the healing power of play during challenging times.




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Second Trailer for '2073' Doc About Fighting to Stop Climate Change

"We are worth more when we are addicted, polarized, and misinformed... than we are if we are living, breathing, free citizens." Neon revealed a second trailer for 2073, a frightening doc about climate change and the destructive future we're headed towards. Now set for a release in December in the US. It's the latest documentary film from Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia, known for Senna, Amy, Diego Maradona, and others. 2073 is a hybrid doc - featuring a live-action sci-fi segment starring Samantha Morton living in a dystopian future ruined by climate change & authoritarianism (the year 2073); along with doc segments showing how we could get there, giving clear-eyed facts about the rise of right-wing authoritarianism and libertarianism worldwide – which won't stop climate change. "Through a genre-busting mix of archive and drama Ghost witnesses the terrifying threats facing us: a Democratic recession, the rise of neo-fascism, the Climate Disaster and the intrusion of surveillance technology. This is not science fiction. This is happening now." This premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival - where I saw it. Alas despite being a good idea, the film is rather boring and won't have much of an impact. Sadly. Though we do […]




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After fighting phragmites, scientists try to bring native plants back to wetlands

Wetlands managers have spent years using fire and chemicals to fight phragmites, an invasive reed that chokes everything else out. But coaxing native plants to move back in is difficult.




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Despite what most Democrats say, the US is worth fighting for

A recent poll showed that large numbers of Democrats and young people would rather flee the United States than “stay and fight” if the nation were attacked. This alarming revelation has caused many to criticize Democrats, but the bigger focus should be on why they are wrong.




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Climate warriors fighting some of the 'greatest crises humanity has ever seen'

'Something that Sunrise has taught me, and that I've learned from the world around me, is that hope comes through collective action but is also something that you need to practice.'




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Sex, radiation and mummies: How farms are fighting a pesky almond moth without pesticides

An experimental program seeks to protect California almond trees from a pesky moth by using X-rays to sterilize the insects.




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Get fighting fit and help cancer charity

White collar boxing training offered to fundraisers.




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Fighting on the streets of Birmingham

Champions take part in city centre workout ahead of weekend promotion.




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Spies, bikes and smuggled ink: Fighting pollution and the Stasi

...in the Shadow of the Berlin Wall. [BBC] "Named 'Operation Trap', the Stasi's attempted to crush a group fighting for a cleaner environment – and for the right to speak out. The secret police's tactics ranged from interrogations and jail to bizarre mind games. In one incident, informants who managed to infiltrate the environmental movement covertly took coffee from a shared pantry without putting money into the coffee kitty. That plan did not work out. On the contrary: Operation Trap became one of the very rare cases in history in which the Stasi was forced to back down."




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Why this woman is fighting to get more help for people with long COVID

Susie Goulding knows what it's like to have long COVID. She's been dealing with symptoms since March 2020 and has been pushing governments to better recognize long COVID.



  • Radio/White Coat/ Black Art

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Colorado wildfires are more extreme than ever. Here’s how state leaders are fighting back.

Colorado wildfires are becoming more extreme, and fire officials must seek new and better ways to prevent and fight them.




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Niecy! Is That You Fighting in the Club?



SMH. This video might go viral.




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Former NBA Player Cedric Ceballos Still Fighting COVID In The ICU

He has been hospitalized for over 10 days.




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fighting fire

Having spent so many years on Twitter doing "Differences of the Day",  I have a lot of (forgive me the jargon) content that could be moved over here, to the blog. Today, I'm moving over the information from tweets that I did during my "fire week" in March 2018: five days of AmE–BrE differences relating to fire-fighting. This choice has been inspired by Frank Abate, an American lexicographer who regularly sends me the BrEisms he's come across in reading the news.  So, this post is mostly copy-pasted-edited from tweets—the smaller text is info I've added since the tweets.

Ways of referring to people who fight fires as a job:

  • AmE and BrE both use fireman and firewoman (though News on the Web corpus has both of these at higher rates in UK now)
  • orig. AmE fire fighter (or firefighter) is used about twice as much in US
  • BrE fire crew and fire (safety) officer (which is a higher rank) are not much used in US.
Those who investigate fires are BrE fire investigators or AmE fire marshals.
But in BrE fire marshal is a synonym of (also BrE) fire warden, who is a person in a big building who has a little training and is responsible for helping with evacuation in the event of a fire. I've asked American friends what this is called in the US. A British friend in NYC showed me her workplace has fire wardens, but people in other parts of the country were less certain. Floor captain seems to be used in at least some places.


These people make up the BrE fire brigade or fire service or the AmE fire department or (less commonly) fire company. Outside cities, American ones may be volunteer-run.

There are sometimes volunteer fire departments in the UK, but in the US they're common enough to have their own initialism: VFD (Volunteer Fire Department).  See Wikipedia for more. 

(Fire) appliance is much more common in news/officialese in BrE than AmE (and get a look at NZ!). This goes back to mid-1800s, and refers to a fire engine (used in both countries). AmE has fire truck, but that's a more informal term than engine/appliance.


Fire appliance in the News on the Web corpus. 

That reminded me of a sign on the fire station near my house in Brighton:


BrE and AmE both use fire station for these places. AmE also has fire house and fire hall. For me, at least, fire hall indicates that it has space for public meetings, etc., reflecting the central role of (often volunteer) fire stations in small-town life. Here's a picture of Fireman's Hall in Alfred, NY (from Wikipedia).



Finally, fire hydrant was originally an Americanism, but is now used in the UK too. They look rather different, though.

UK hydrants are marked by yellow signs with an H, which tell firefighters that there's access to a pipe nearby. I wish I could remember what I watched on television last week that had an American hydrant in an allegedly UK setting. It's one of those things that will really stand out to those who know. Two points to any commenter who can name the show or film!



UK hydrant sign (pic from here)

US fire hydrant (pic from Wikipedia)

And here's a handy-dandy guide to reading a UK hydrant sign from the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.


If you liked this, you might be interested in these earlier posts about:




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US Navy destroyers unscathed after fighting off a complex attack of cruise and ballistic missiles and exploding drones

The Houthis launched a complex attack consisting of anti-ship missiles and drones, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday.





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Fighting Fires

In many places, fire seasons keep getting longer with larger and ever more destructive wildfires. Teams of mathematicians, computer scientists, meteorologists, and firefighters are working to reduce the number of large fires before they happen and to contain those that do occur. Mark Finney talks about the math involved in modeling and fighting wildfires.




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US Navy destroyers unscathed after fighting off a complex attack of cruise and ballistic missiles and exploding drones




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New Fighting Brings Three-year Armenian-Azerbaijani Truce to an End

16 July 2020

Laurence Broers

Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme
Deadly clashes at the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan have followed renewed disappointment in the peace process, and cast a new shadow over its future.

2020-07-16-Armenia-Shrapnel-Conflict

A man shows a piece of shrapnel after attacks carried out by the Armenian army at Dondar Kuscu village near Tovuz, Azerbaijan. Photo by Aziz Karimov/Getty Images.

Although the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is focused on the Line of Contact around Nagorny Karabakh, a new - and significant - outbreak of violence has happened some 300 kilometres away on high ground along the de jure Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Although not a first, violence in this area has generally been contained by the proximity of major transport and infrastructure arteries, and of civilian populations on both sides of the border. Plus, unlike in Nagorny Karabakh, the extended deterrents conferred by Armenia’s membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and bilateral agreements with Russia are also – theoretically at least – in force.

Despite this, battlespaces opened rapidly, with bombardment of civilian homes, drone strikes and cyberattacks on government and other sites being widely reported by both sides. At the time of writing, combined reported casualties were already at least 16, the highest for a single incident since April 2016’s ‘four-day war’.

Most are known to be Azerbaijani combatants, including the highest-ranking Azerbaijani serviceman to be killed in action since the 1990s – the respected Major General Polad Hashimov. And, although rumoured to be removed soon anyway following a campaign of negative briefing, Azerbaijani foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov was publicly blamed in the immediate aftermath for ‘meaningless’ diplomacy and dismissed. He was replaced by education minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

Origins of the clashes

How the fighting began remains unclear. The escalation did not appear to result from a coordinated offensive operation of the kind that led to the four-day war, nor are there obvious strategic goals for either side in terms of the international border. There does appear to have been an element of surprise as an Azerbaijani vehicle unexpectedly encountered a new Armenian post, triggering deadly artillery exchanges.

Unclear boundaries in highland terrain may have played a role. Although referred to as the international border, the de jure boundary between Armenia and Azerbaijan - previously an inconsequential internal administrative boundary in the Soviet Union - is not clearly demarcated in many areas and does not coincide with lines of actual control.

Here, as in Nakhichevan - Azerbaijan’s exclave bordering Armenia and Iran - Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been engaged in long-term, incremental competition for tactical advantage by claiming higher ground in ‘no man’s lands’. But in remote and cartographically ambiguous areas, the precise location of borders - and even place-names - are unclear, and rival forces can unexpectedly meet their adversaries.

Although clear strategic objectives appear absent, what might then have been a lesser incident escalated purposefully into a crisis – suggesting a political rationale.

A missed opportunity for a negotiations reset

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan began 2020 with unfinished consolidations of domestic power - whether bottom-up in the case of Armenia’s ‘Velvet Revolution’, or top-down in the case of Azerbaijan elite renewal. COVID-19 then added further challenges, with the government of Armenia facing significant domestic criticism for its handling of the pandemic, while numerous opposition activists in Azerbaijan were arrested, and the country’s economic vulnerability to external shocks was highlighted.

But throughout this, the frontlines did remain calm - as they generally have since the three-year period from 2014-2017 which witnessed regular skirmishes, use of heavy weaponry and four days of intensive combat in April 2016. In January 2019, the OSCE Minsk Group made the often-cited announcement that the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed on the necessity of ‘preparing their populations for peace’.

Although the quietest year on the frontline since the 1990s then followed, neither side invested seriously in a peace strategy. After a reasonable start and moves towards humanitarian cooperation, relations between President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan eventually visibly soured.

Several moves, such as the go-ahead for new infrastructure in the occupied territories and Pashinyan’s attendance at de facto leader Arayik Harutyunyan’s inauguration in Nagorny Karabakh, were received in Azerbaijan as evidence of Armenian insincerity towards the peace process.

More inflammatory rhetoric then resumed, leading the OSCE Minsk Group to call for calm at the end of June. As recently as July 7, President Aliyev expressed public criticism of the peace process and emphasised the validity of Azerbaijan’s right to use force.

Each new round of Armenian-Azerbaijani fighting serves as an audit of the various restraining factors preventing a larger war. A Russian-Euro-Atlantic-Iranian consensus on proactively containing any new Armenian-Azerbaijani war appears to still hold, although senior-level attention from US secretary of state Mike Pompeo trailed that of his counterparts.

Russia acted quickly to offer mediation, reflecting the reality that any large-scale Armenia-Azerbaijan war would test Russia’s extended deterrence guarantees to Armenia. As in April 2016, Turkey has been vigorous in its support of Azerbaijan, raising concerns in Armenia and drawing oblique warnings from Russia. On the other hand, the CSTO - much to Armenian chagrin - dithered, initially calling then postponing a meeting citing the need for more time to study the situation.

Unprecedented spontaneous demonstrations in Baku called for war with Armenia, broke into the Azerbaijani parliament and, in some cases, articulated anti-government slogans. In the absence of reliable polling, such protests cannot be taken as evidence of a popular consensus in favour of war.

But they do underline the importance of the conflict as the one issue in Azerbaijan where open protest is accepted as legitimate and cannot easily be dispersed. As losses over the past week are counted, the dismissal of the foreign minister may not be sufficient to quell public anger.

Prospects are now real of a return to the dynamics in 2014-15: recursive low-level violence aimed at influencing the diplomatic calendar and public opinion while remaining below the deterrence threshold for triggering active external involvement.




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Fighting over ‘white gold’: Sesame in Ethiopia and Sudan

Fighting over ‘white gold’: Sesame in Ethiopia and Sudan Expert comment LJefferson 3 April 2023

The supply chain of a seemingly innocuous cash crop – sesame – has intersected with transnational conflict dynamics, exacerbating tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan.

Late 2020 saw the beginning of the devastating war in Tigray and the occupation of a disputed region on the Ethiopia–Sudan border – Al Fashaga – by the Sudanese army. These shocks disrupted settled patterns of land ownership and control in both Ethiopia’s volatile north and Sudan’s borderlands, historically the heart of the sesame and oilseed production that is economically vital to both countries.

These seemingly harmless cash crops are now embedded in local, subnational and national political contestations in both countries. Sesame value chains are being reshaped, with power and profits being used to entrench the grip of political and armed actors who are reinforcing new patterns of land control and driving informal and illicit trade – impacting the coping mechanisms of local communities and threatening to fuel further conflict.

Regional rivalries drive contestation over the Ethiopia supply chain

Internal borders between most of Ethiopia’s regions are marked by boundary disputes, which often degenerate into violent conflict. The most important is between the Tigray and Amhara regions. Since the war began in 2020, the Amhara region has annexed vast areas of western and southern Tigray, which the Amhara region claims were taken from them by Tigray 30 years ago, after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated ethnic coalition came to power.

Conflict has exacerbated a steady decline in formal revenues from sesame exports, dropping over $115 million from 2016 to 2021.

Ethiopia’s exports of spices, oilseeds and pulses brought in over half a billion dollars in 2021, roughly a quarter of the country’s total export revenues and second only to coffee. The sector has been rocked by the war in the north, which accounted for much of Ethiopia’s sesame production, with an estimated 500,000 hectares of sesame fields taken out of cultivation during the 2021 growing season. Conflict has exacerbated a steady decline in formal revenues from sesame exports, dropping over $115 million from 2016 to 2021.

Alongside falling production, the previously integrated value chain has been disrupted and decentralized by political fragmentation and land competition between Amharas and Tigrayans. Before the war, the agricultural sector in Western Tigray/Welkait was dominated by Tigrayan business interests, through the TPLF’s regional endowment fund EFFORT, a business conglomerate including subsidiaries such as Guna Trading House, and Hiwot Agricultural Mechanization.

" class="video-embed-field-lazy">

Two-minute video explainer: Supply chains, land contestation and conflict in the Horn of Africa

The taking of the area by Amhara forces in late 2020 saw the control over agricultural supply chains shift to actors from the Amhara region, amid contestation between regional officials, businessmen and security actors, backed by political elites. Thousands of displaced ethnic Tigrayan inhabitants of the area have been replaced by ethnic Amharas, enticed to settle there by the Amhara regional government’s offer of grants and leases for land which promise better livelihoods. The sesame they farm is now largely exported through informal and illicit channels, with profits used to reinforce de facto regional control.    

But there is also contestation within the Amhara region over the land and sesame supply chain between sub-regional elites from Gojjam, Gondar and indigenous Welkaites. Welkaites, who were marginalized under TPLF rule, believed that by aligning themselves with powerful Amharas they would reclaim land and influence. But this has not been fully realized, with the local administration reliant on Amhara region subsidies, rather than the federal budget. With little support from the federal government, local Welkait officials are strengthening their ties with Eritrea.

The Ethiopian government’s pursuit of peace with Tigray may lead it to turn away from the Amhara region, which could result in a renewed showdown between Amhara and Tigrayan forces.

At the national level, regional contestation over the control over Western Tigray/Welkait feeds into shifting political alliances between the Amhara, Tigrayans and Oromo which threaten the sustainability of the peace agreement struck between the federal government and TPLF in November 2022 – despite efforts by the government to defer the thorny issue.

While the constitutional return of the land to Tigray remains unlikely anytime soon, there is a feeling that Amhara control over Western Tigray/Welkait is no longer certain. The Ethiopian government’s pursuit of peace with Tigray may lead it to turn away from the Amhara region, despite their alliance during and before the war, which could result in a renewed showdown between Amhara and Tigrayan forces.

The prospect of losing territory could also heighten Amhara nationalist claims on Al Fashaga – the loss of which was partly offset by gaining Western Tigray/Welkait – leading to renewed conflagration with Sudan, outside of federal direction. Eritrea’s presence and alliance with Amhara militias remains a concern, given Asmara’s demonstrable ability to inflame tensions.  

Sudan’s securocrats battle over resources to entrench political power

The war in northern Ethiopia was also used opportunistically by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to take control of the fertile Al Fashaga borderland. This roughly 250 sq km area had been awarded to Sudan when the boundary was initially demarcated by the British in 1903, a ruling that remained contested by Ethiopia. An uneasy truce had seen Ethiopian farmers cultivate the land under nominal Sudanese administration; a settlement that collapsed in 2020 when thousands of predominantly Amhara farmers were evicted.

Local Sudanese farmers have also lost out – with some not compensated for the loss of lands to their own military, with land given to people from other parts of the country, and through lost relationships with Ethiopian farmers, labourers and investors.

The Sudanese military now allegedly controls more than 90 per cent of the disputed areas and security-linked companies and investors have moved into the lucrative sesame sector, re-routing the supply chain, which used to flow largely through Ethiopian markets. These companies are connected to Sudan’s Military Industrial Corporation, a vast conglomerate of business subsidiaries controlled by SAF – which is headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Competition between Sudanese security actors fuels volatile political rivalries, and further entrenches military control of economic resources.

The commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo (or Hemedti), also has interests in agriculture, through his family business Al-Junaid. Both sit at the top of Sudan’s Sovereign Council. Hemedti’s competition with Burhan has seen him develop relations with Ethiopia’s prime minister – counter-balanced by recent rapprochement between Abiy and Burhan – as well as senior Amhara leaders, including over business activities.

Moreover, competition between Sudanese security actors fuels volatile political rivalries, and further entrenches military control of economic resources, undermining civilians at a time when pro-democracy forces are seeking to restore a reform-minded government. One of the key challenges for a new civilian government will be to quickly build up a domestic revenue base to compete with the economic heft of the country’s prominent security institutions, which will demand taking on military-controlled holdings in civic sectors such as agriculture, including sesame.

Informal and illicit trade reinforces conflict dynamics

This context has driven the informalization of trade, with cash crops such as sesame increasingly exported outside of formal channels and connected to other illicit cross-border activities between Ethiopia and Sudan. Indications are that sesame production in Western Tigray/Welkait has recovered significantly during the current 2022/23 harvest season. However, rather than contributing much needed currency to soften Ethiopia’s forex crisis, the Amhara elite-controlled supply chain is primarily being used to secure a variety of regional interests.




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From prison to purpose through wildland firefighting | Royal Ramey

When wildfires rage in California, incarcerated people are often on the front lines fighting the flames. TED Fellow Royal Ramey was one of them. He shares the story of how doing public service in prison inspired him to cofound the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, a nonprofit helping formerly incarcerated people become wildland firefighters — and find purpose along the way.




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I Was an Angry Teacher Fighting for Better Education Policy. Now, I'm Shaping It

What goes on behind all the closed doors in politics? Most teachers never get a chance to find out, writes teacher-turned-politician John Waldron.




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He's Fighting for Details on How Hawaii Spent $2 Billion on Its Schools

An activist's lawsuit is an example of how many states, because of outdated software, have trouble answering the public's demand to detail how billions of K-12 dollars are spent.




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Democrats Are Fighting Over Charter Schools. Will Key Early Primary States Care?

Charter schools are playing a notable role in remarks about education from candidates like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Yet it's not clear what if any role they'll have in important states like Iowa and New Hampshire.




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A lifetime of fighting hunger

To celebrate FAO’s 75th anniversary, a new publication chronicles the history of the Organization and shares its vision for the future. FAO at 75 – Grow, nourish, sustain. Together provides a snapshot of [...]




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MIT startup wins prestigious Tech Museum Award for global illiteracy-fighting projector designed in SolidWorks

Design that Matters wins for contribution to humanity in education category




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Fighting Bible poverty

No method is infallible when trying to reduce Bible poverty among the least reached, an OM worker discovers as he distributed Bibles.




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Delaware Engine Crew Fighting Colorado Wildfire

Delaware's Type 6 engine and three-man crew are part of 313 personnel currently fighting the Oil Springs Fire, located 20 miles south of Rangely, Colorado. The fire was started by lightning on June 18 and has grown to 12, 613 acres with only 18 percent containment. Delaware's crew is working on one of the fire's priority areas, Division D, which involves the continued protection of the Dragon Trail Compressor Site. The fire is spreading moderately in a mixture of  pinyon, juniper and sagebrush.  Delaware's crew is comprised of engine boss Samual Topper of Maryland, engine boss trainee Adam Keever of Newark, and FFT2 Bradley Melson of Milford. The crew mobilized from Blackbird State Forest last week and started work on Saturday, June 26.



  • Department of Agriculture
  • Forest Service
  • Kent County
  • New Castle County
  • Blackbird State Forest
  • Delaware Forest Service
  • Delaware Type 6 engine
  • Delaware wildfire crew
  • Delaware wildland fire program
  • Oil Springs Fire

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Delaware Crew Fighting Montana Wildfire

Delaware's "Diamond State" Type 2IA crew is part of more than 200 personnel fighting the Harris Mountain Fire in Cascade County, Montana. Located in difficult and rugged terrain, the blaze was started by lightning on July 23 and is currently 19,103 acres in size. Managed by a Type 2 Incident Management Team (IMT), the fire is expanding in all directions and burning actively in deep drainages. Multiple crews, engines, dozers, water tenders and air resources are providing structure protection.  The Type 2IA crew from the First State is led by the Delaware Forest Service's Sam Topper and consists of 20 volunteer firefighters from the public and private sector. The group departed Blackbird State Forest on July 21 and will serve a 14-day assignment before returning to Delaware.




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Delaware Office of Animal Welfare, Delaware State Police Rescue 14 Dogs; 5 Residents Face Felony Dog Fighting Charges

DOVER, DE (Jan. 11, 2023) –   The Delaware Division of Public Health’s (DPH) Office of Animal Welfare (OAW) and the Delaware State Police (DSP) responded to a complaint of suspicious activity at a Seaford residence over the weekend resulting in charges related to dog fighting and the rescue of 14 dogs. One dog died from the […]




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DPH’s Office of Animal Welfare Announces Sixth Arrest In Connection With January 8th Dog Fighting Bust; 4 Dogs Rescued

DOVER, DE (Jan. 20, 2023) –   The Delaware Division of Public Health’s (DPH) Office of Animal Welfare (OAW) announces the arrest of a sixth man involved in a Seaford dog fighting incident from January 8. OAW charged Laurel, DE, resident Ronnell Jacobs, age 45, with three felony counts related to dog fighting, and two misdemeanor counts […]




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Fighting the Good Fight: Fiftieth-Anniversary Interview with John MacArthur (Selected Scriptures)

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.




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Niger rebels fighting for ousted president's release hand over weapons

Niamey, Niger — Nine members of an armed rebel movement seeking the release of Niger's ousted president surrendered Monday, officials in the north of the military-ruled country said.  The rebel Patriotic Liberation Front (FPL) was set up in August 2023, a month after Niger's democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown in a military coup.  Since then, Bazoum has been imprisoned with his wife, Hadiza, at the presidential palace in Niamey.  An official from Agadez governorate told AFP, "Nine FPL fighters repented and handed over their weapons and ammunition on Monday during a ceremony in the presence of General Ibra Boulama," who is the governor of the region. FPL members began surrendering at the start of the month after discreet negotiations by "influential local personalities," the Air-Info media outlet reported.  On November 1, FPL spokesman Idrissa Madaki and three other members turned themselves in separately in two towns near the Libyan border, according to Niger's army and national television.  Last week, FPL leader Mahmoud Sallah was "provisionally stripped" of his nationality as were seven members of the Bazoum regime who were suspected of "terrorist bomb attacks."  Sallah had claimed responsibility for attacking the army in the north and disabling part of a crucial pipeline carrying crude oil to Benin in June. He had also threatened to attack strategic sites.  Another rebel movement also demanding Bazoum's release, the Patriotic Front for Justice (FPJ), has held since June the military prefect of northeastern Bilma and four of his security team, who were kidnapped after an ambush.  Authorities in Niger, which is also battling attacks by jihadist groups, have stepped up security in recent weeks, with military patrols, checks and searches of vehicles.




fighting

UN appeals for Sudan cease-fire as fighting spreads

United Nations — The United Nations renewed its appeal for an immediate cease-fire in Sudan on Tuesday, with officials warning that civilians are paying a high price for the fighting, as external parties fuel the conflict by supplying weapons.  “It is long past time for the warring parties to come to the negotiating table,” said U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo. “The only path out of this conflict is a negotiated political solution.”  DiCarlo said that in the absence of a nationwide cease-fire, local ones could give civilians some respite and create openings for dialogue for a more comprehensive agreement.  She told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the rival leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appear convinced that they can each win on the battlefield and have escalated their military operations and attacks.  “This is possible thanks to considerable external support, including a steady flow of weapons into the country,” she said. “To put it bluntly, certain purported allies of the parties are enabling the slaughter in Sudan. This is unconscionable, it is illegal, and it must end.”  Russia and Egypt are reported to be among the countries providing the SAF with arms and equipment.  Meanwhile, Sudanese officials have publicly accused the United Arab Emirates of funneling weapons to the RSF militia through neighboring Chad. The UAE vehemently denies the accusation, but a U.N. panel of experts said earlier this year there was substance to media reports that cargo planes originating in the UAE capital had landed in eastern Chad with arms, ammunition and medical equipment destined for the paramilitary group.  Sudan’s ambassador stood by the claim on Tuesday, telling the council that the RSF is using humanitarian convoys to smuggle both weapons and foreign mercenaries through the Adre border crossing with Chad. Sudan’s authorization for that crossing is about to expire and humanitarians — and most council members — want it to remain open.  “We commend the Sudanese authorities for opening the Adre border crossing in mid-August,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. “This single route allowed aid organizations to bring enough food, health and nutrition supplies to serve more than 1.9 million people. Now, Sudanese authorities must keep Adre border crossing open indefinitely. Millions of lives depend on it.”  Eleven million people have been displaced and half of Sudan’s population, an estimated 25 million people, are struggling with crisis-level food insecurity, according to the U.N. Famine was confirmed in August in the northern part of Sudan’s Darfur region.  “In North Darfur, fighting in and around El Fasher continues to intensify and block the movement of aid supplies into the area,” said Ramesh Rajasingham, director of the coordination division of the U.N. office on humanitarian affairs.  El Fasher is the capital of North Darfur and has been the epicenter of a battle for the last seven months between the RSF, who are poised to capture the city, and the SAF, which are trying to hold on to it. More than 1.5 million civilians in El Fasher, many of them displaced from other parts of Sudan, are caught in the crossfire.  Humanitarians have confirmed famine conditions in parts of El Fasher, including at the Zamzam camp for displaced persons, which houses more than 400,000 people. Rajasingham said about a third of the children in the camp are malnourished, including 10% who are severely malnourished.  Since Oct. 20, tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced from eastern Al Jazirah state, following a wave of RSF attacks on villages there that reportedly killed more than 120 civilians. Women and girls were raped, markets looted, and homes and farms were burned to the ground. “The international community must take what’s happening in Sudan seriously and must take urgent action to address it,” Rajasingham said of the spreading conflict. On Friday, the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions committee for Sudan designated RSF commanders Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla and Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed for sanctions for their roles in the violence in Darfur.  The United States said Tuesday that it is adding Barkalla to its own sanctions list and noted it had already designated Hamid in May 2024. The U.N. Security Council is working on a draft resolution focused on the protection of civilians through the implementation of commitments both parties made last year in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as well as supporting mediation that would lead to a cease-fire. No date for a vote has been announced.




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Pakistani and Indian Journalists at Media Conference: Why Fight Each Other, When We’re All Fighting the Same Issues?

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Earthshot youth leader Lesedi Monnanyane on fighting pollution and water scarcity