Frederica interviews Fr. Evan Armatas, priest at St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Loveland, Colorado, about the St. Nectarios Education Fund.

Carta: Tit 3: 8-15, Evangelio Lc 8:5-15 El Padre Nicholas predicó sobre las consecuencias de obrar correctamente y en fe . Letter: Tit 3: 8-15, Gospel: Lk 8: 5-15 Father Nicholas preached about the consequences of working correctly and in faith.

a useful case study given the current debacle stemming from WordPress's "benevolent dictator for life" model #

There are stupider things to do than arguing with a culty fundamentalist. As the late great Jim Croce reminded us, you don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, and you don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger. Arguing with a culty fundamentalist is, I admit, not as stupid as any of these things, but it is pretty stupid nonetheless, for it is a waste of precious time and utterly futile.

We are saddened by the problems being faced by our Orthodox Church in Alaska. The Church has sent Archbishop Nathaniel and Bishop Tikhon on a fact-finding mission. The clergy in Alaska are invited to meet with these hierarchs but many can't afford the travel. St. Andrew House Center for Orthodox Christian Studies is making funds available for that travel. Our interview is with the Treasurer, Dean Calvert. To donate, go to the St. Andrew House web site.

Learn how you can support Orthodox seminaries as we interview the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America - Fr. Alexander Garklavs. You can send your gift for this special appeal to: The Orthodox Church in America PO Box 675 Syosset, NY 11791

Listen to our interview with Dirk Lackovich-Van Gorp in Jerusalem with International Orthodox Christian Charities and learn about IOCC's work to bring much needed aid to the embattled region of Gaza. Call 1-877-803-4622 if you would like to help.

Ancient Faith Radio presents an interview with Georgia Williams, one of the founders and an administrator of the Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund (ROOF), about this important organization's needs and ministry opportunities.

Learn about schools being built in Africa by the St. Nektarios Education Fund and IOCC. We chat with board chairman Fr. Evan Armatas, board member Olga Payne, and IOCC Development Director Billy Brown. You can also view a slide presentation of the work being done.

Bobby Maddex interviews Dr. George Demacopoulos and Dr. Aristotle Papanikolaou of Fordham University. Dr. Demacopoulos is the Fr. John Meyendorff & Patterson Family Chair of Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham and Dr. Papanikolaou is the Archbishop Demetrios Chair of Orthodox Theology and Culture. Together they co-founded and co-direct Fordham's Orthodox Christian Studies Center.

Bobby Maddex interviews John Della Monica, the President of the Orthodox Church Capital Improvement Fund (OCCIF).

Bobby Maddex interviews Peter and Sharon Georges about their mission work in Uganda to help provide accessible education to children and break the cycle of poverty. To learn more about and support this incredible ministry, please visit their website here.

Earlier in the year one of Kevin's guests, Dr. George E. Demacopoulos, wrote on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese blog that through the increasing expansion of 'Orthodox fundamentalism' in ordinary parishes, "the entire Orthodox Church is at risk of being hijacked by extremists." Father John Whiteford, ROCOR priest and blogger wrote a robust rebuttal to this article. On this episode of Ancient Faith Today, Kevin discusses with his guests their views of 'Orthodox fundamentalism': what it is, whether it truly exists, and what impact it is having on the Orthodox Church today.

Bus gate fines are funding the new weekend Aberdeen services to run from Saturday until 5 January.

Conservative MP Alex Burghart has defended not visiting Northern Ireland during his time as shadow secretary.

NI is not currently in line to get one-off funding to cover the costs of the PSNI data breach.

The sports minister said his department does “not have the budget” to increase the amount of funding.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority could invest £585,000 in the Salt & Tar venue in Bootle.

Lessons have been held in temporary classrooms since it partially closed due to faulty construction.

John, whose wife Wendy is being cared for at the hospice, said it deserved more government funding.

Leonard Stanley School to reopen pool after fundraising drive, Mark Smith reports.

North Yorkshire councillors say £1m from the second homes tax premium will fund community-led plans.

Terry Clarkson and his granddaughter, Olivia, have raised thousands for the Royal British Legion.

The project's organiser says she wants to show the vibrant lives led by the care home residents.

Hoy comparto contigo información sobre una iniciativa de Fundación Occident: las becas de grado Jesús Serra, que se convocan por primera vez en 2024. Además […]

Origen

This study is unique in how it looks at how crowdfunding on the recurring pledge platform Patreon is associated with the frequency of video creation. It analyses factors that make video creators on YouTube more likely to crowdfund on Patreon. It finds channels that upload more frequently, younger channels, channels with more subscribers and views per video, and channels that shared their Facebook pages were more likely to crowdfund on that platform.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of planters and stakeholders in the East West One Group (EWOG) schemes urgently calls on Pacific Trustees Bhd (PTB) to release the funds necessary for the company’s approved rehabilitation and restructuring (R&R) exercise.

The majority of EWOG’s investors, represented by Thirunavukarasu Illamurugan, Yong Chin Koi, and Mahadevan Kathirgamathamby, are concerned that PTB’s continued withholding of these funds could further damage the company’s financial health, potentially leading to irreversible losses.

To recap, EWOG obtained planters’ approval of the company’s R&R exercise across all three schemes: East West One Planter’s Scheme (EWOP), East West Horizon Planter’s Scheme, and East-West Planter Scheme 1.

EWOG, in a statement, said the past few years have seen significant challenges that have severely impacted plantation operations, including the global Covid-19 pandemic, La Niña weather phenomena, industry-wide labour shortages, land disputes with landowners, and repeated injunctions that prevented timely convening of planters’ meetings from addressing these issues.

These cumulative challenges have compounded the company’s cash flow problems, resulting in an inability to meet payment obligations.

According to a statement by EWOG, despite the overwhelming support for the R&R plan from planters and stakeholders at the August 12 Planters’ Meeting, critical rehabilitation work on EWOG’s plantation assets remains stalled due to this delay.

For over a year, the plantation palms have relied solely on natural soil fertility, with no structured fertilisation or agronomic practices.

Prompt initiation of the R&R program is essential to restoring the plantation’s productivity.

This program leverages enhanced agronomic practices and inputs to increase fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production.

With crude palm oil (CPO) prices currently above RM4,000 per ton and projected to hold through 2025, the company has a unique window to capitalise on these favourable market conditions.

Proceeds from FFB sales could also partially offset ongoing rehabilitation costs, creating a sustainable pathway to recovery.

“Every day of delay further impacts our ability to restore the plantation and diminishes potential returns for all investors,” said Thirunavukarasu in the statement.

“These funds, specifically held in trust for the plantation’s rehabilitation, need to be released without further delay,“ he said in the statement.

According to a recent court filing by East West Horizon Plantation Bhd, the management continues to face challenges due to PTB’s reluctance to finalise necessary trust deeds despite ongoing efforts from EWOG’s management and legal team.

This impasse prevents the release of funds crucial for the R&R efforts, posing increased risks to the plantation assets and investor returns.

The investors’ representatives stressed that “a swift resolution is essential to launch the rehabilitation efforts and generate returns for all stakeholders.”

“It is time to move past the standstill and allow the EWOG group to implement the R&R plan for the benefit of all involved.”

Government facing significant difficulty in keeping a check on illegal fishing trawlers in Gwadar's marine area.

Indian police raid NewsClick and journalists' homes in foreign funding probe, raising media freedom concerns

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI is reportedly engaged in funding talks that could see the company secure a $40 billion valuation.

Call it the "Tax Cuts and Wall Act." Republicans, on the verge of a full sweep of government, are plotting immediate legislation that would extend and expand tax cuts, bolster U.S. energy production and perhaps provide money to finish building the southern border wall.

Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.

Today, 16/12/2013,  the European Commission announced the launch of a new Pilot on Open Research Data in Horizon 2020, to ensure that valuable information produced by researchers in many EU-funded projects will be shared freely. Researchers in projects participating in the pilot are asked to make the underlying data needed to validate the results presented in scientific publications and other scientific information available for use by other researchers, innovative industries and citizens. This will lead to better and more efficient science and improved transparency for citizens and society. It will also contribute to economic growth through open innovation. For 2014-2015, topic areas participating in the Open Research Data Pilot will receive funding of around €3 billion.

The Commission recognises that research data is as important as publications. It therefore announced in 2012 that it would experiment with open access to research data (see IP/12/790). The Pilot on Open Research Data in Horizon 2020 does for scientific information what the Open Data Strategy does for public sector information: it aims to improve and maximise access to and re-use of research data generated by projects for the benefit of society and the economy.

The Pilot involves key areas of Horizon 2020:

• Future and Emerging Technologies

• Research infrastructures – part e-Infrastructures

• Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Information and Communication Technologies

• Societal Challenge: Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy – part Smart cities and communities

• Societal Challenge: Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw materials – with the exception of topics in the area of raw materials

• Societal Challenge: Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective Societies

• Science with and for Society

Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda said "We know that sharing and re-using research data holds huge potential for science, society and the economy. This Pilot is an opportunity to see how different disciplines share data in practice and to understand remaining obstacles."

Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "This pilot is part of our commitment to openness in Horizon 2020. I look forward to seeing the first results, which will be used to help set the course for the future."

Projects may opt out of the pilot to allow for the protection of intellectual property or personal data; in view of security concerns; or should the main objective of their research be compromised by making data openly accessible.

The Pilot will give the Commission a better understanding of what supporting infrastructure is needed and of the impact of limiting factors such as security, privacy or data protection or other reasons for projects opting out of sharing. It will also contribute insights in how best to create incentives for researchers to manage and share their research data.

The Pilot will be monitored throughout Horizon 2020 with a view to developing future Commission policy and EU research funding programmes.

The ACI Foundation’s Concrete Research Council selected eight research projects to receive grants this year.

The defunct charity's former digital director wants to set up its digital volunteer recruitment network as a social enterprise

Charities need stability and clarity from next week’s announcement – more ambitious interventions can wait

The grantmaker announces three partnership programmes as part of the funding new package

The programme has supported 72 inactive Welsh charities to become operational again, the commission says

The Fundraising Regulator says it saw ‘little supporting documentary evidence’ to suggest the charity had comprehensive oversight over the work carried out by a clothing collection company in its name

The government has earmarked four areas for spending until 2028

Funding models must also include provisions for inflation-based adjustments, the report says

The director of fundraising and marketing on the challenges of raising money for a condition few know much about

The fundraising team assistant at the learning disability charity talks to Third Sector about being creative, using your contacts and why fundraising is like training for a marathon

The head of corporate and community engagement at the childhood bereavement charity

The head of fundraising opportunities at the cancer support charity talks to Third Sector about loss, competition in fundraising and completing fundraising events with her 16-month-old