Any discussion in politics of the future of education in Ohio inevitably turns to the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.

U.S. Ed Secretary DeVos has approved plans for 46 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Still waiting: California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Utah.

The latest approvals mean 12 of the 17 state plans submitted so far for Every Student Succeeds Act implementation have been given the federal go-ahead.

U.S. Ed Secretary DeVos has approved plans for 46 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Still waiting: California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Utah.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos green-lighted California and Utah's plans to implement the Every Student Succeed Act. That means just one state is still waiting: Florida.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has greenlighted two more Every Student Succeeds Act plans from Virginia and South Carolina. That brings the grand total of states with approved plans to 39, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

That brings the number of states with approved plans to 44, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Still awaiting the OK: California, Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Utah

Minnesota and West Virginia are the first two states that submitted plans in the fall to win federal approval.

That brings the number of states with approved plans to 44, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Still awaiting the OK: California, Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Utah

Many schools that have recently opened their doors are already seeing COVID-19 cases among students and staff. Should that shake the confidence of other school leaders who are planning to reopen?

Small businesses are keeping a close eye on the possibility of job action as they stock their shelves for Black Friday and holiday shopping.

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi has said his department will look into scrapping luxury tax on smartphones.

In spite of difficult circumstances and a change in plans, the Freedom Climbers did what they set out to do.

The Education Department wants states to re-submit "equity plans" to ensure that effective teachers are matched with disadvantaged and minority students.

More than half of the state plans fail to publicly report data on educator equity gaps, the National Council of Teacher Quality found in its analyses.

Download the data from Education Week showing how over 900 school districts provided instruction on their first day of the school year.

A Penn State Extension land-use webinar on Nov. 20 will guide local officials on the ins and outs of implementing “active transportation plans.”
 

High school students interested in science, technology, engineering, the arts or mathematics (STEAM) are invited to a day of hands-on STEAM activities at Penn State Wilkes-Barre at no cost. “Exploring STEAM Careers” will be held at the campus on Nov. 6. Sessions will be held in the areas of chemistry, engineering, information technology, mathematics and surveying engineering.

Penn State Wilkes-Barre will host a ceremony on Veterans Day to honor the bravery and dedication of our nation’s service members on Nov. 11 from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. The event will also serve as a rededication for the Daniel S. Walko Memorial, which honors a fallen service member who was a campus alumnus.

Vukile Property Fund plans to build more solar farms to power its malls and reduce its reliance on Eskom's power by another 5% by the end of March 2023.

After handing over almost 3 000 apartments to their owners, residential estates developer, Balwin's revenues surpassed R3 billion for the first time in the company's 26-year history.

The IBM Foundation has launched a website called Teacher Advisor with Watson, which uses artificial intelligence to find high-quality elementary math resources and lessons.

Ariela left Argentina to serve Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and ended up going on a journey she never could have imagined.

Christa planned to travel around Europe for fun, but OM mobilised her to instead share Jesus with people in Europe, Turkey and India.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take a slew of executive actions on his first day in the White House to ramp up immigration enforcement and roll back President Joe Biden's flagship legal entry programs.

Consumers should be wary of non-marketplace plans that offer limited benefits Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro is joining commissioners across the country in cautioning residents who may be considering purchasing an insurance plan that does not adequately meet their needs or comply with Affordable Care Act (ACA) benefit requirements. The Special Enrollment Period, which started February […]

National Antifraud Task Force takes on new charges to protect consumers Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro, Chair of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Antifraud Task Force, announced today the successful creation of the Improper Marketing of Health Plans Working Group, which aims to tackle some of the nation’s most serious consumer-centered health scam […]

DOVER, DE — In June 2022, Gov. Carney signed into law the Delaware Large-Capacity Magazine Prohibition Act of 2022 making the possession of high-capacity magazines illegal in the State. In addition, the law authorizes the Department of Safety and Homeland Security (DSHS) to conduct a limited buyback program during which Delaware residents are eligible to […]

Maserati Shamal restomod project in the works Restomod will use Biturbo Coupe body and Ghibli S twin-turbocharged V-6 Production to be limited to 33 units The Maserati Shamal launched in 1990 didn't see much success, despite featuring a body penned by the legendary Marcello Gandini, and a twin-turbocharged V-8 under the hood. It was devised when...

A new rumor suggests Apple is having a hard time making the alleged thin iPhone 17 actually thin.

Nazir SiyalKARACHI: Jeroen Willems, Head of Cooperation at the European Union Mission to Pakistan, called upon Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh, Syed Awais Qadir Shah, here on Tuesday. CEU Mission to Pakistan leader Jeroen was accompanied by Ms. … read more

Donald Trump is likely to take many executive actions on his first day as president to ramp up immigration enforcement and roll back signature Biden legal entry programs, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. - REUTERS

Thailand is targeting economic growth of 3.5% in 2025 after 2.7% growth seen this year, and the government will soon consider more stimulus measures and the rollout of phase two of its US$14 billion handout scheme, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

This infographic examines how extreme heat disproportionately impacts women in Asia and the Pacific, presenting data on health and economic vulnerabilities shaped by intersecting factors like age, hormonal influences, caregiving roles, and limited cooling access.

Nations have begun setting carbon-cutting targets for the decade ahead, and how ambitious these pledges are could make or break global efforts to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

Nearly 200 countries are supposed to publish updated climate plans by early February, but so far only three have done so.

On Wednesday, the UK became the latest, announcing during the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan that it would raise its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

All eyes will be on other big polluters like China, India, and the United States, though future US climate action is unclear following Donald Trump’s election.

Why do they matter?

The world has agreed to try and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but is nowhere near on track.

Above this threshold, scientists say humanity risks disastrous consequences from volatile weather to major ecological “tipping points” at land and sea.

Last month, the United Nations warned that even if all existing plans are implemented in full, temperatures would rise 2.6°C by the century’s end, a catastrophic outcome.

The UN says the next round of climate plans must show a “quantum leap” in ambition to avert the worst.

The G20 — which accounts for 77 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions — is under particular pressure to step up.

Early movers

Just before COP29 opened in Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates announced a 47pc reduction in emissions by 2035 compared with 2019 in its updated climate plan.

Observers said the roadmap failed to account for exported emissions —including those from its sales of crude oil abroad.

Next year’s UN climate host, Brazil, has partly unveiled its plan, increasing its emissions reduction target from a 59pc cut by 2035, from 2005 levels, to a 67pc reduction.

It is expected to unveil a more complete plan during COP29.

Plans from other major emitters, like the European Union and China, are not expected until next year.

And the current US government could soon outline Washington’s new pledge, despite questions over Trump following through once in office.

David Waskow, of the World Resources Institute, said it would help guide American cities, states and businesses wishing to continue climate action under Trump.

“It also sends an important signal internationally, a set of benchmarks for what the US ought to do,” he added.

What do countries need to do?

By signing the Paris accord, nearly 200 nations agreed to halt rising temperatures “well below 2°C” and strive for the safer goal of 1.5°C.

But it did not prescribe how to get there.

The deal left it up to countries to voluntarily chart their own plans and targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

These include emission reduction targets and measures to achieve them, such as rolling out renewable energy, electrifying transport, and ending deforestation.

There is no set template for countries to follow but richer countries —historically the largest emitters — have a responsibility to pledge the deepest emission cuts.

The plans must be reviewed every five years, with each update supposed to be more ambitious than the last. This time around countries are expected to improve their 2030 targets and outline economy-wide action they will take to 2035.

What’s the aim?

An agreement at last year’s COP28 climate summit “encouraged” countries to come forward with plans aligned with halting warming to 1.5°C.

To have a hope of meeting that goal, emissions must be slashed 42pc by 2030 and 57pc by 2035, the UN’s Environment Programme said last month.

Currently, however, emissions are continuing to rise.

Keeping 1.5°C on track would require a collective effort “only ever seen following a global conflict”, it added.

Without pulling together “on a scale and pace never seen before… the 1.5°C goal will soon be dead,” said UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.

The big moment for assessing progress towards the 1.5°C goal comes at a crunch COP30 climate summit in Brazil next year.

What about fossil fuels?

Scientists and the International Energy Agency have said that developing new fossil fuel projects is incompatible with halting warming to 1.5°C.

But many fossil fuel-producing countries argue that new oil and gas projects will be needed as the world transitions to net zero emissions.

Countries are under pressure to outline in their updated plans how they intend to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, something all nations agreed on at last year’s COP.

Header image: This picture taken on November 12 shows a wind turbine at the lignite-fired power station operated by German energy giant RWE near Neurath, western Germany. — AFP

Forget Armageddon-sized rocks, just one of 25,000 smaller asteroids could destroy a city on Earth. How to Kill an Asteroid by Robin George Andrew shows how science plans to save the planet

Forget Armageddon-sized rocks, just one of 25,000 smaller asteroids could destroy a city on Earth. How to Kill an Asteroid by Robin George Andrew shows how science plans to save the planet

Title: Too Few U.S. Cities Have Good Hurricane Evacuation Plans
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Title: Health Care Plans Keep Allergy Rescue Injectors Pricey for Some
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The site, on the shores of a famous Scottish loch, has been acquired for a luxury lodge development

With competition heating up in the foundry business – India this week approved three new semiconductor plants involving Tata Group and CG Power,, and is looking to achieve dominance in the industry – existing foundries have to up their game. Chief among them is Intel, which has been trying to recover from historical missteps that […]

Trump would face little to no resistance in confirming his picks for Supreme Court justices in the majority-GOP Congress, but Alito has no plans to step down.

Israel has proposed a revised system of food business licensing to ease the regulatory burden on industry and improve sanitary conditions. The Ministry of Health said the current regulation, regarding business licensing in general and food businesses in particular, is outdated and places a heavy regulatory burden on companies. This... Continue Reading

Azerbaijan next week will garner much of the attention of the climate tech world, and not just because it will host COP29, the United Nation’s giant annual climate change conference. The country is promoting a grand, multi-nation plan to generate renewable electricity in the Caucasus region and send it thousands of kilometers west, under the Black Sea, and into energy–hungry Europe.

The transcontinental connection would start with wind, solar, and hydropower generated in Azerbaijan and Georgia, and off-shore wind power generated in the Caspian Sea. Long-distance lines would carry up to 1.5 gigawatts of clean electricity to Anaklia, Georgia, at the east end of the Black Sea. An undersea cable would move the electricity across the Black Sea and deliver it to Constanta, Romania, where it could be distributed further into Europe.

The scheme’s proponents say this Caspian-Black Sea energy corridor will help decrease global carbon emissions, provide dependable power to Europe, modernize developing economies at Europe’s periphery, and stabilize a region shaken by war. Organizers hope to build the undersea cable within the next six years at an estimated cost of €3.5 billion (US $3.8 billion).

To accomplish this, the governments of the involved countries must quickly circumvent a series of technical, financial, and political obstacles. “It’s a huge project,” says Zviad Gachechiladze, a director at Georgian State Electrosystem, the agency that operates the country’s electrical grid, and one of the architects of the Caucasus green-energy corridor. “To put it in operation [by 2030]—that’s quite ambitious, even optimistic,” he says.

Black Sea Cable to Link Caucasus and Europe

The technical lynchpin of the plan falls on the successful construction of a high voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine cable in the Black Sea. It’s a formidable task, considering that it would stretch across nearly 1,200 kilometers of water, most of which is over 2 km deep, and, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, littered with floating mines. By contrast, the longest existing submarine power cable—the North Sea Link—carries 1.4 GW across 720 km between England and Norway, at depths of up to 700 meters.

As ambitious as Azerbaijan’s plans sound, longer undersea connections have been proposed. The Australia-Asia PowerLink project aims to produce 6 GW at a vast solar farm in Northern Australia and send about a third of it to Singapore via a 4,300-km undersea cable. The Morocco-U.K. Power Project would send 3.6 GW over 3,800 km from Morocco to England. A similar attempt by Desertec to send electricity from North Africa to Europe ultimately failed.

Building such cables involves laying and stitching together lengths of heavy submarine power cables from specialized ships—the expertise for which lies with just two companies in the world. In an assessment of the Black Sea project’s feasibility, the Milan-based consulting and engineering firm CESI determined that the undersea cable could indeed be built, and estimated that it could carry up to 1.5 GW—enough to supply over 2 million European households.

But to fill that pipe, countries in the Caucasus region would have to generate much more green electricity. For Georgia, that will mostly come from hydropower, which already generates over 80 percent of the nation’s electricity. “We are a hydro country. We have a lot of untapped hydro potential,” says Gachechiladze.

Azerbaijan and Georgia Plan Green Energy Corridor

Generating hydropower can also generate opposition, because of the way dams alter rivers and landscapes. “There were some cases when investors were not able to construct power plants because of opposition of locals or green parties” in Georgia, says Salome Janelidze, a board member at the Energy Training Center, a Georgian government agency that promotes and educates around the country’s energy sector.

“It was definitely a problem and it has not been totally solved,” says Janelidze. But “to me it seems it is doable,” she says. “You can procure and construct if you work closely with the local population and see them as allies rather than adversaries.”

For Azerbaijan, most of the electricity would be generated by wind and solar farms funded by foreign investment. Masdar, the renewable-energy developer of the United Arab Emirates government, has been investing heavily in wind power in the country. In June, the company broke ground on a trio of wind and solar projects with 1 GW capacity. It intends to develop up to 9 GW more in Azerbaijan by 2030. ACWA Power, a Saudi power-generation company, plans to complete a 240-MW solar plant in the Absheron and Khizi districts of Azerbaijan next year and has struck a deal with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy to install up to 2.5 GW of offshore and onshore wind.

CESI is currently running a second study to gauge the practicality of the full breadth of the proposed energy corridor—from the Caspian Sea to Europe—with a transmission capacity of 4 to 6 GW. But that beefier interconnection will likely remain out of reach in the near term. “By 2030, we can’t claim our region will provide 4 GW or 6 GW,” says Gachechiladze. “1.3 is realistic.”

COP29: Azerbaijan’s Renewable Energy Push

Signs of political support have surfaced. In September, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary created a joint venture, based in Romania, to shepherd the project. Those four countries in 2022 inked a memorandum of understanding with the European Union to develop the energy corridor.

The involved countries are in the process of applying for the cable to be selected as an EU “project of mutual interest,” making it an infrastructure priority for connecting the union with its neighbors. If selected, “the project could qualify for 50 percent grant financing,” says Gachechiladze. “It’s a huge budget. It will improve drastically the financial condition of the project.” The commissioner responsible for EU enlargement policy projected that the union would pay an estimated €2.3 billion ($2.5 billion) toward building the cable.

Whether next week’s COP29, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, will help move the plan forward remains to be seen. In preparation for the conference, advocates of the energy corridor have been taking international journalists on tours of the country’s energy infrastructure.

Looming over the project are the security issues threaten to thwart it. Shipping routes in the Black Sea have become less dependable and safe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To the south, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan remain after the recent war and ethnic violence.

In order to improve relations, many advocates of the energy corridor would like to include Armenia. “The cable project is in the interests of Georgia, it’s in the interests of Armenia, it’s in the interests of Azerbaijan,” says Agha Bayramov, an energy geopolitics researcher at the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands. “It might increase the chance of them living peacefully together. Maybe they’ll say, ‘We’re responsible for European energy. Let’s put our egos aside.’”

Trump plans to repeal Biden's 2023 order and levy tariffs on GPU imports.

Recent simulations conducted by left-leaning anti-Trump experts envision the U.S. facing an unprecedented erosion of democratic norms under a second Trump administration, according to Transition Integrity Project co-founder Rosa Brooks, who suggested the recent “war games” demonstrated the need for “creative” resistance and “harm reduction” tactics to counter what she describes as “autocratic” maneuvers President Donald Trump would employ.

The post ‘War Games’ on Trump Return Reveal Radical Left’s Plans to Counter ‘Autocratic Threats’ appeared first on Breitbart.