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Water, Energy and Development in Angola: From Ambition to Actuality 13 December 2018 — 5:00PM TO 6:00PM Anonymous (not verified) 28 November 2018 Chatham House, London

Ten conflicts to watch in 2023 11 January 2023 — 6:00PM TO 7:00PM Anonymous (not verified) 8 December 2022 Chatham House and Online

This event examines the most dangerous wars and crises through the lens of the International Crisis Group’s flagship annual report ‘10 Conflicts to watch in 2023’.

Each year, International Crisis Group compiles a list of the ten conflicts to watch that examines key conflicts across the globe. Please join us for this event at which Dr Comfort Ero, International Crisis Group president and CEO, discusses today’s and tomorrow’s most impactful wars and crises.

Key questions to consider include:

• What far-reaching repercussions and knock-on effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine will have for Europe and the rest of the world?

• Which crises beyond Ukraine warrant collective attention in the year ahead?

• How do rising tensions among major powers impact multilateral efforts to resolve these conflicts, impede progress on global challenges and impact institutions working on crisis prevention?

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

Read the transcript. 

Issues to watch in 2023 The World Today mhiggins.drupal 29 November 2022

From nuclear proliferation to African debt, here are the issues six of our expert contributors expect to make the news in the year ahead.

Europe’s energy outlook

Mike Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy, Warwick Business School

There is cautious optimism that Europe will endure this winter without an energy crisis. Gas prices have fallen, storage is 95 per cent full, and the autumn was mild. High summer gas prices cut industrial demand but domestic heating demand will be critical over the winter. Already, France’s problematic nuclear fleet and lower hydroelectric output mean Europe is using more gas to generate power. 

Russian pipeline gas supply to southern Europe has fallen by 55 per cent. While Asian demand has fallen, Europe has still paid record prices to secure additional liquefied natural gas (LNG), largely from America but also Russia. European demand for LNG this winter will push prices up, and these will rise even higher if China relaxes its Zero-Covid policy and demand recovers. However, with luck, Europe will avoid power cuts in early 2023. The problem is next winter. With less Russian pipeline gas and a tight LNG market, 90 per cent winter gas storage levels will be much harder to achieve. 

NATO’s resurgence

Alice Billon-Galland, Research Fellow, Europe Programme, Chatham House and one of 14 NATO Young Leaders

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO adopted a new strategic concept. Member states will reinforce NATO battlegroups and bolster higher readiness forces from 40,000 troops to more than 300,000, while striving to avoid escalation with Russia. Turkey’s attempts to block Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership will preoccupy Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General, until he leaves his post next autumn.

Expect arguments on defence spending in the run-up to the July summit in Vilnius. Although only nine of its 30 members are expected to meet the 2 per cent spending target, the debate is moving towards 3 per cent, in part to reduce dependency on American assets and hedge against the uncertainty of the 2024 US presidential election. Infrastructure vulnerabilities, such as the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage in the Baltic, will also be a focus. Otherwise, NATO ’s eyes will be on China: from its relations with Russia to the threat of cyberattacks.

Universal health reforms

Robert Yates, Executive Director, Centre for Universal Health, Chatham House

In response to the perma-crisis experienced by many populations this past year, some leaders are launching or extending universal health reforms. New left-wing leaders in Chile, Colombia and Brazil have promised to rebuild their publicly financed universal health systems. In Brazil, newly elected president Lula da Silva has pledged to increase public health spending and improve access to medicines. It is hoped Malaysia’s new coalition will carry forward its predecessor’s pledge to raise health spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2027 to provide a universal package of free health services.

In September, world leaders will discuss universal health coverage at the UN General Assembly. There, Chatham House will publish its Commission for Universal Health report, identifying countries in which crises may trigger new national health programmes. Might this be when a US presidential candidate announces a platform to create a publicly financed health system?

Weapons of mass destruction

Patricia Lewis, Director of the International Security Programme, Chatham House

Since its illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia has attacked civil nuclear power stations, falsely accused Ukraine of possessing bioweapons and radiological bombs, and threatened to use nuclear weapons. In contrast, NATO has instead demonstrated that deterrence can be highly effective with conventional weaponry. In the coming year, the Kremlin’s nuclear brinkmanship will still be a focus. Washington will try to restart bilateral nuclear negotiations with Moscow and similarly try to engage Beijing.

Following the failure of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference to reach consensus in August, the next review cycle will start by looking at strengthening the process. Iran’s nuclear capabilities remain a concern, and North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme is a growing threat. So, we are left with a question: will 2023 be the year of  nuclear conflict or the year when states get busy again on non-proliferation and disarmament?  

Africa’s mounting debt

Joseph Asunka, Chief Executive Officer, Afrobarometer

Inflation is at historic highs in several African economies. Meanwhile, many African countries including Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo will hold  elections in 2023, driving up public spending, increasing inflationary pressures and exacerbating poverty. According to Afrobarometer data, the proportion of Africans experiencing high levels of poverty has increased from 19 per cent in 2014/2015 to  26 per cent in 2021/2022.

Worse still, many of those countries holding elections are either, like Zimbabwe, in debt distress – that is unable to honour their obligations to creditors – or at high risk of debt distress, like Nigeria. This makes the elections in Zimbabwe and Nigeria critical. The expiration of the World Bank/IMF-backed debt service suspension initiative in 2021 has only amplified this risk. What are viable policy options to tackle this dire economic predicament? A debt service moratorium, debt cancellation and serious attention to fiscal discipline.

Feminist foreign policy

Daniela Philipson García, Co-founder of Internacional Feminista, and a PhD candidate, Monash University

Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) is under threat. The war in Ukraine led to strengthened military budgets and alliances at odds with FFP’s human security and peace-centred approaches. Sweden’s new right-wing government reversed its FFP. In Mexico, the first Global South country to adopt an FFP, Congress has voted to expand the military’s role to curb cartel-related violence, in contradiction of its FFP. The second anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan will be a moment to assess how foreign policy, diplomacy and women’s and girls’ rights have been affected globally. 

There is hope. Germany, whose coalition government adopted an FFP in 2021, is to publish more guidelines in the spring. The governments of Colombia and Chile have announced their own FFPs. Colombia’s first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, to be announced at the UN General Assembly in September, is expected to set a standard for a region submerged in violence. 

A British daredevil was intentionally dragged behind his motorcycle at a speed of 159.52 mph to break a Guinness World Record.

Police in a small South Carolina town are warning residents to keep their doors and windows locked after 43 monkeys escaped from a research facility.

A black bear with a sweet tooth visited the front porch of a Connecticut home to raid a bowl of Halloween candy and steal a pumpkin.

The 2024 Egg Fair in Mexico broke a Guinness World Record when more than 2,000 young people participated in a race while balancing eggs on spoons.

Mysterious black balls that washed up on Sydney, Australia, beaches were initially suspected to be tar balls but turned out to be miniature "fatbergs" containing human feces.

An emperor penguin is being cared for by wildlife experts after becoming the first member of its species to make the 2,200-mile trek from Antarctica to Australia.

A British YouTube star and professional wrestling superfan showed off his knowledge by breaking the Guinness World Record for the most WWE wrestlers identified by their entrance music in one minute.

A baby goat stranded on a Hawaii cliff was rescued by members of the public after four days.

A wallaby on the loose in Kentucky was caught on security camera during a nighttime visit to a Perry County family's front yard.

A Missouri thrift store is unraveling the mystery of a cache of World War II love letters found in a donation bin.

A Rhode Island man with a passion for caffeine earned a Guinness World Record for his collection of 1,019 energy drink cans.

A new HBO Max teaser offers a glimpse of the upcoming shows viewers can look forward to in the next year.

Paramount Pictures is teasing "Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning," starring Tom Cruise.

MTV's Europe Music Awards included a heartfelt tribute to late musician Liam Payne.

"Alien: Earth," "Andor" Season 2, "The Bear" Season 4, "Daredevil: Born Again" and other Disney+ and Hulu series will premiere in 2025.

Hulu released the trailer for "Nutcrackers" Tuesday. The Ben Stiller holiday comedy premieres Nov. 29.

In this ode to improvisation, musician and comedian Reggie Watts beatboxes, raps, loops his own rhythms and reflects upon the everyday power of turning the mundane into magic. After all, he says, we're all just making it up as we go along.

COVID-19 has revealed stark inequities, but education leaders should seize the moment to dismantle them, writes Sonja Brookins Santelises.

Federal watchdogs find that Utah inflated its high school graduation rate in the last of a series of reports warning states not to make end runs around the rules for calculating graduation rates.

Blues need some energy, scoring; Joseph provides both, anxious to get back into lineup after missing six games with a lower-body injury

Nebraska women’s basketball star Alexis Markowski was named to the Preseason Women’s Top 50 Watch List for the John R. Wooden Award. This news was confirmed on Thursday per a release from the athletic department. The award is given annually to that season's mos

On Wednesday at Moody Center, a Lamar team that went 24-7 last season should provide a tougher test for the Longhorns than in their season opener.

Notre Dame sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo is on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Wade Watch List. She's among 15 players being watched as a potential winner of the oldest, most prestigious player of the year award. She was a Region I finalist for…

JuJu Watkins had 21 points, nine assists and six steals to help No. 3 Southern California trounce Cal State Northridge 124-39 on Tuesday night. The Trojans (3-0) had six players in double figures, including Kiki Iriafen with 15 points and Kayleigh Heckel with 14 points off the bench. All 13 Trojans who played scored.

26 October 2022, 09.00-16.00 (CEST)

Water is a fundamental resource enabling the production of over 95% of food on land as well the progress of all sustainable development goals [...]

Water is one of the world´s most important resources. It is central to agriculture that accounts for 72 percent of global freshwater withdrawals, to other economic sectors and is essential [...]

FAO invites all Members to the second installment of the Rome Water Dialogue at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, on October 4-5, 2023, building on the success of the first [...]

Riders--who will descend in inflatable rafts of four rather than alone--will reach speeds of more than 65 miles per hour

Scientists have created thin polymer sheets that expand and contract when in contact with water

A remote camera captures the first-ever video of an erupting underwater volcano

Erosion, evaporation, and a leaky faucet, our host Eric Schulze breaks it all down.

Manufacturing of bitumen-lined water bottles in the traditional method of Native Californian Indians. Credit: Nicholas Radtkey, UC Davis & Sabrina Sholts

Courtesy of GoPro

Researchers from the University of West Florida are slowly uncovering the remains of a 16th-century shipwreck of a Spanish galleon in the shallow, murky waters near Pensacola

A new law enforcement tool is marking alleged criminals without their knowledge

This unmanned aerial vehicle can be launched from, and land on, a moving ship thanks to new technology Narrated by T.A. Frail Script by Brendan McCabe Video courtesy of Insitu

Marc Edwards and Leeanne Walters | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winners for Social Progress The duo joined forces to protect tens of thousands of people during the disastrous water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Walters, a Flint resident, grew suspicious when her tap water changed color and her family suffered odd maladies. Officials insisted that the problems were limited to her household, but she refused to accept that answer and sought out Edwards, a Virginia Tech civil engineering professor and a veteran of municipal water wars. Combining political action and scientific credibility, the testing initiative undertaken by Walters and Edwards showed that the city’s water supply was contaminated with toxic chemicals—an explosive finding that finally forced state and local officials to address the dangers. Read more about their work: http://smithmag.co/D4dIHy | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

Credit: Leftwich Lab

Duke University scientists used vibrations from a loudspeaker to understand how water beads and rolls off lotus leaves

Whether you're a passionate astronomer or a beginner eager to explore the cosmos, join us as we deep-dive into seasonal skywatching. Gain valuable insights into identifying meteors, stars, and fascinating deep-sky objects that grace the night sky. Interested in learning more? Check out this piece from Smithsonian Magazine on the celestial events to watch in 2024: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nine-dazzling-celestial-events-to-watch-in-2024-180983505/ And don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more exciting videos exploring the wonders of the natural world. --- Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

A mesmerizing 10,000-shot video captures the dramatic life cycles of several species (Owen Reiser)

Due to a drought in Eastern Europe, the scuttled German vessels are reemerging 80 years after they disappeared beneath the river's surface

The collaboration across species reveals a surprising social behavior of octopuses, researchers say