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Western monarch populations grew over 100-fold in 2021. Why?

The beloved butterflies had fallen to critical levels in recent years. Experts weigh in on what might be causing their remarkable return.




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The world’s oldest tree has competition

Will a Patagonian cypress in Chile prove older than California’s most elderly bristlecone pine?




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2-million-year-old DNA reveals surprising Arctic ecosystem

The oldest DNA ever retrieved, preserved in sediments in northern Greenland, reveals that Arctic and temperate species once commingled in an ecosystem unlike anything that exists today.




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How Old Is Earth?

How did our solar system form? And when did Earth come to be?




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What Big Pharma Told Us Is Far From The Truth…

Big Pharma has been deceived and has been deceiving others since its inception.  So, it’s no wonder that when they make claims about their “vaccines”, one should not trust a word they say or print.  This is true with the COVID shots, as well as their claims about COVID and long COVID. Investigative journalist Jonathan …




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Congress To Hold Another UFO/UAP Hearing

Longtime Slashdot reader thephydes writes: The hearing will go ahead on November 13 at 11:30 ET (16:30 GMT). Apparently, it will "further pull back the curtain on secret UAP research programs conducted by the U.S. government, and undisclosed findings they have yielded," according to a House statement. It's driven by two republicans, Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), who say: "Americans deserve to understand what the government has learned about UAP sightings, and the nature of any potential threats these phenomena pose. We can only ensure that understanding by providing consistent, systemic transparency. We look forward to hearing from expert witnesses on ways to shed more light and bring greater accountability to this issue." "Expert witnesses in the hearing will include Luis Elizondo, a decorated former counterintelligence officer who has claimed for years that the U.S. government is hiding knowledge of UAP, including materials recovered from crashed flying saucers," reports Space.com. "The House hearing will also include Tim Gallaudet, a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral who unidentified submersible objects, arguing that 'these underwater anomalies jeopardize US maritime security.'" "Other speakers at the hearing include journalist Michael Shellenberger, who has also claimed the U.S. government is hiding UFO crash retrieval programs, and former NASA Associate Administrator of Space Policy and Partnerships Michael Gold, who is a member of NASA's independent UAP study team."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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FEMA Supervisor Told Employees To ‘Avoid Homes Advertising Trump’

By Robert McGreevy A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor told aid workers to skip over Trump supporters’ homes while doling out aid after Hurricane Milton in Florida, according to internal communications and federal workers. Marn’i Washington, a FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crew leader for Highland County, was identified as the supervisor who allegedly gave […]

The post FEMA Supervisor Told Employees To ‘Avoid Homes Advertising Trump’ appeared first on Liberty Unyielding.



  • Law and Government

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A Quick Bible Study Vol. 240: What the Old Testament Says About How to Please God

Thanks for joining us today about what the New Testament has to say about how to please God. If you missed last week’s study concerning the Old Testament, please read it now. While we wait, here is a “pleasing” song. Last week I offered my take on pleasing God which is always at the top […]

The post A Quick Bible Study Vol. 240: What the Old Testament Says About How to Please God appeared first on Liberty Unyielding.





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'I embrace my alopecia, but I’d love my old hair back’

People living with alopecia could have access to treatment on the NHS in Scotland for the first time.




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High-grade masks evidence weak, Covid inquiry told

UKHSA's Prof Susan Hopkins said respirator masks may have worked no better than thin surgical masks.




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We were not treated as parents, Covid inquiry told

Mum of premature twins says rigid restrictions on birthing wards during Covid were traumatic.




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Covid inquiry told of trust do-not-resuscitate rule

Patients' families were “horrified but not surprised” when told the blanket policy had been in place.




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Covid inquiry told top NHS doctor was terrified

Sir Stephen Powis says points-based tool was drawn up should need to prioritise patients have arisen.




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Somebody moved UK's oldest satellite, and no-one knows who or why

Britain's oldest satellite is in the wrong part of the sky, but no-one's really sure who moved it.




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BBC tours hospital Israel says sits above millions in Hezbollah gold

The BBC’s Orla Guerin is taken on a tour of Al Sahel Hospital in Beirut.




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Firefighter rescues two-year-old from burning building

Body camera footage shows the moment a boy was saved from his home in Texas after his mother couldn't reach him in the fire.




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Gold, prices, and jobs: What's at stake in Ghana's elections?

In an echo of the US, the current vice-president is up against an ex-president in the 7 December vote.




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'Dreams do come true': When Riley met Ryan Reynolds

Riley, who has cancer, is surprised after an online appeal to meet the Marvel star.






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Wooldridge: Saving Our Republic from the Invasion & Kamala

By Frosty Wooldridge, Well, what do you know? Trump won! How do you feel? What is the Golden Age of America? How does the other half of the country feel? When will we all get on the same page? And please, Jimmy Kimmel, you’re not funny. Stop crying. One talking head said, “If you’re in […]

The post Wooldridge: Saving Our Republic from the Invasion & Kamala appeared first on The Lid.




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Biden’s Corrupt FEMA Told Workers Not to Help Hurricane Victims Who Had Trump Signs

Joe Biden’s corrupt Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has been caught telling its on-the-ground operatives not to help anyone with a Donald Trump campaign sign in their yard. The news broke late last week when a whistleblower revealed agency messages that told workers to refuse to help Trump supporters in the wake of Hurricane Milton […]

The post Biden’s Corrupt FEMA Told Workers Not to Help Hurricane Victims Who Had Trump Signs appeared first on The Lid.




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Herschel Grynszpan And the Untold Story Of Kristallnacht

By Shimshon Cook, Herut Zionist, Texas U.S. On the night of NNovember 9 1938, all across Nazi Germany, ] an organized pogrom was perpetrated against the Jewish population by Nazis in an event now known as Kristallnacht. They stretched from Germany proper and annexed Austria and Sudetenland in what was Czechoslovakia. 30,000+ Jewish men were “arrested” […]

The post Herschel Grynszpan And the Untold Story Of Kristallnacht appeared first on The Lid.




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The full list of major US companies slashing staff this year, including Goldman Sachs, Meta, and Chegg

Companies have continued to cut jobs in 2024 after a wave of layoffs last year. Meta, Goldman Sachs, Google, and Tesla are among those shedding staff.




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News24 | Mozambique deploys soldiers ahead of planned protests

Soldiers and police were patrolling Mozambique's capital Maputo early on Thursday ahead of a planned protest against election results seen by the opposition as fraudulent.




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News24 | UPDATE 1-Mauritius holds election with cost of living on everyone's minds

PORT LOUIS, Nov 10 - Mauritius was holding a parliamentary election on Sunday with Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and his main rivals all promising to tackle a cost of living crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago.




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News24 | SA sold Côte d'Ivoire R3.2m worth of wine last year. Now the US wants a piece of that action

Côte d'Ivoire is sub Sahara Africa's biggest importer of wine, says the US department of agriculture, and it is time American companies take advantage of the market.





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Dogecoin at the Edge of a Major Breakout – Could $2 Be Possible with Bitcoin Dominance Holding Strong?

Dogecoin has experienced a significant surge in value since last month, with impressive price gains continuing today as it trades… Continue reading Dogecoin at the Edge of a Major Breakout – Could $2 Be Possible with Bitcoin Dominance Holding Strong?

The post Dogecoin at the Edge of a Major Breakout – Could $2 Be Possible with Bitcoin Dominance Holding Strong? appeared first on ReadWrite.




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News24 Business | Investment update | Cybersecurity is a goldmine - top picks for investors

The latest investment insights and market developments.




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Biden’s Corrupt FEMA Told Workers Not to Help Hurricane Victims Who Had Trump Signs

The following article, Biden’s Corrupt FEMA Told Workers Not to Help Hurricane Victims Who Had Trump Signs, was first published on Conservative Firing Line.

Joe Biden’s corrupt Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has been caught telling its on-the-ground operatives not to help anyone with a Donald Trump campaign sign in their yard. The news broke late last week when a whistleblower revealed agency messages that told workers to refuse to help Trump supporters in the wake of Hurricane Milton …

Continue reading Biden’s Corrupt FEMA Told Workers Not to Help Hurricane Victims Who Had Trump Signs ...






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A.F. Branco Cartoon – Out In The Cold

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Revised from 2018 and revised for 2024 Veterans Day. Our Veterans are being left in the..




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Melania Trump to Give Jill Biden the Cold Shoulder This Week: Report

Melania Trump will not be traveling with her husband to Washington on Wednesday when President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have a formal transition meeting, according to multiple reports. […]

The post Melania Trump to Give Jill Biden the Cold Shoulder This Week: Report appeared first on The Western Journal.




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Mutation of an atypical oxirane oxyanion hole improves regioselectivity of the {alpha}/{beta}-fold epoxide hydrolase Alp1U [Enzymology]

Epoxide hydrolases (EHs) have been characterized and engineered as biocatalysts that convert epoxides to valuable chiral vicinal diol precursors of drugs and bioactive compounds. Nonetheless, the regioselectivity control of the epoxide ring opening by EHs remains challenging. Alp1U is an α/β-fold EH that exhibits poor regioselectivity in the epoxide hydrolysis of fluostatin C (compound 1) and produces a pair of stereoisomers. Herein, we established the absolute configuration of the two stereoisomeric products and determined the crystal structure of Alp1U. A Trp-186/Trp-187/Tyr-247 oxirane oxygen hole was identified in Alp1U that replaced the canonical Tyr/Tyr pair in α/β-EHs. Mutation of residues in the atypical oxirane oxygen hole of Alp1U improved the regioselectivity for epoxide hydrolysis on 1. The single site Y247F mutation led to highly regioselective (98%) attack at C-3 of 1, whereas the double mutation W187F/Y247F resulted in regioselective (94%) nucleophilic attack at C-2. Furthermore, single-crystal X-ray structures of the two regioselective Alp1U variants in complex with 1 were determined. These findings allowed insights into the reaction details of Alp1U and provided a new approach for engineering regioselective epoxide hydrolases.




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Tyrosine phosphorylation of the scaffold protein IQGAP1 in the MET pathway alters function [Signal Transduction]

IQGAP1 is a key scaffold protein that regulates numerous cellular processes and signaling pathways. Analogous to many other cellular proteins, IQGAP1 undergoes post-translational modifications, including phosphorylation. Nevertheless, very little is known about the specific sites of phosphorylation or the effects on IQGAP1 function. Here, using several approaches, including MS, site-directed mutagenesis, siRNA-mediated gene silencing, and chemical inhibitors, we identified the specific tyrosine residues that are phosphorylated on IQGAP1 and evaluated the effect on function. Tyr-172, Tyr-654, Tyr-855, and Tyr-1510 were phosphorylated on IQGAP1 when phosphotyrosine phosphatase activity was inhibited in cells. IQGAP1 was phosphorylated exclusively on Tyr-1510 under conditions with enhanced MET or c-Src signaling, including in human lung cancer cell lines. This phosphorylation was significantly reduced by chemical inhibitors of MET or c-Src or by siRNA-mediated knockdown of MET. To investigate the biological sequelae of phosphorylation, we generated a nonphosphorylatable IQGAP1 construct by replacing Tyr-1510 with alanine. The ability of hepatocyte growth factor, the ligand for MET, to promote AKT activation and cell migration was significantly greater when IQGAP1-null cells were reconstituted with IQGAP1 Y1510A than when cells were reconstituted with WT IQGAP1. Collectively, our data suggest that phosphorylation of Tyr-1510 of IQGAP1 alters cell function. Because increased MET signaling is implicated in the development and progression of several types of carcinoma, IQGAP1 may be a potential therapeutic target in selected malignancies.




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Moldova and Georgia face crucial elections – and diverging paths

Moldova and Georgia face crucial elections – and diverging paths Expert comment LToremark

The two countries face unusually consequential elections where their populations must choose between moving unambiguously towards the West – or towards closer ties with Russia.

Moldova and Georgia both go to the polls at the end of October; Moldova for presidential elections on the 20th and Georgia for parliamentary elections on the 26th. The two countries share a number of similarities – beyond their justified reputation as world-class wine producers. They are both small, low- to middle-income countries that have struggled to consolidate their democracies and have experienced oligarchic political influence. Both are candidate countries for EU membership, with Moldova a step ahead having been invited to start negotiations. 

For both countries these elections represent a fork in the road: either move unambiguously into the Western world, or step back from it and become more closely tied to Russia again and its way of governance. However, the second option has caused yet-to-be-resolved territorial conflicts in both countries – Transnistria for Moldova, and Abkhazia and South Ossetia for Georgia.

Some would say it should not be such a ‘zero sum’ choice. Why must a nation choose between Russia and the West? While that may be a fair statement for countries like India or South Africa, it does not work for Russia’s former colonies, which Moscow wishes to control. 

Moldova and Georgia’s final similarity is that they face Russian interference and attempts to manipulate votes in their elections. In Moldova this has been especially brazen with the uncovering in September of a $15 million vote-buying scheme, including instructions on who to vote for distributed to over 130,000 citizens. Russian interference in Georgia’s election is less overt but at the same time more endemic considering its government has in effect been captured by pro-Russia forces.

Diverging paths

But this is where the similarities end and the contrasts become clear.

Moldova has a young, pro-Western and equality-conscious government, and 44 of the 100 MPs in its parliament are women. In this election, Maia Sandu is seeking her second and final term as president. The election is combined with a referendum asking the people if they wish to embed Moldova’s EU aspirations into the country’s constitution. The results of both the presidential election and the EU referendum will be close, reflecting a genuine split in attitudes (and debate) in the country. 

Georgia’s EU aspirations, meanwhile, are already embedded in its constitution – but that has not prevented Tbilisi from pivoting away from the West. Polls show   that around 80 per cent of Georgia’s population desires EU (and NATO) membership – rising to 90 per cent among the under 30s – but its government seems determined to deny them that future. 

Its new ‘foreign agents’ law is seemingly copy-pasted from Russia – and incompatible with EU membership. The election can be seen as a de facto referendum on the EU too. Georgia’s accession is suspended until its political crisis is resolved. 

Georgia faces other challenges to its democracy. Due to the country’s limited presidential powers, Georgia is in effect run by the unelected Bidzina Ivanishvili – founder of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party – whose relationship with Russia is murky at best. Judging by his recent speeches, Ivanishvili now blames the Western world not just for igniting the war in Ukraine, but also for the war in Georgia 16 years ago which resulted in the loss of 20 per cent of its territory at the hands of Russia. This extraordinary position is both factually incorrect and out of step with the Georgian people.

Georgia’s election looks like it is going to be messy.

Both countries are now at a critical point. Whatever the outcome in Moldova, the election will pass off peacefully and competently. Its problems (Russia aside) are demographic and economic, and the country’s pro-Russian opposition is relatively weak.

Georgia’s election looks like it is going to be messy. Ivanishvili’s party will likely manipulate the election to a win. There is still a chance that Georgia’s pro-Western but also weak opposition will regain power and return the country to its European path. But if the manipulation by the incumbency is heavy, people will likely take to the streets in protest, as in April this year – and in the 2003 Rose Revolution.

Regime change via popular revolution shows political immaturity but the Georgian people may feel it is the only way they can have their views represented and their ambitions realised. 




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Egypt’s purchase of a Chinese fighter jet is a reminder Cold War tactics are back in the Middle East

Egypt’s purchase of a Chinese fighter jet is a reminder Cold War tactics are back in the Middle East Expert comment LJefferson

The Egyptian army is a formidable force lacking air superiority capabilities to match its size and ambitions. China understood this predicament and offered to help.

The reported agreement for Egypt to buy the Chinese Chengdu J-10C 4.5 generation fighter jets is part of a broader shift from focusing on modernizing ground troops to bolstering the air force. The details of the deal have not yet been published. Nonetheless, it reveals Egypt has two motivations beyond backing its arsenal with another fighter jet.

Elusive Western technology

The most important motivation for Egypt’s military diversification strategy (and the biggest source of frustration) is the perceived Western technology starvation.
   
A quick examination of the map around Egypt shows that the most significant perceived threats to its national security are located in remote places where Egypt doesn’t traditionally enjoy ground troops’ presence. These include Ethiopia, the Southern Red Sea, Libya and the vulnerability a potential Israel–Iran regional war would create. From the generals’ perspective in Cairo, this list is more than a catalyst to build a modern and capable long arm.

The race started in 2015 after the Obama administration paused an arms transfer to Cairo in 2013 that included four F-16C Block 52 fighter jets amid toppling the Muslim Brotherhood government. The psychological effect of Washington’s decision in Cairo increased Egypt’s risk tolerance towards challenging its military ties with the US by diversifying away from it. 

Egypt ordered the MiG-29M2 fighter jets from Russia and the French Rafales this same year. In 2018, Egypt negotiated a $2 billion deal with Russia to purchase the Su-35 fighter jet, seen in Washington as crossing a red line and triggering a warning to Egypt that it would impose sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). This caused the deal to collapse.

The main factor of the US military sales in the Middle East is the upholding of the Israel Military Qualitative Edge principle over its neighbours. This principle requires the US to ensure Israel is superior over other regional countries’ strategic military capabilities, especially in air power.

For Egypt, this has long been a strategic vulnerability. The US turned down multiple requests by Egypt to purchase the active radar long-range AIM-120 AMRAAM fire-and-forget missile that can be launched from the F-16 fighter jets, the main striking force in Egypt’s arsenal. 

Unlike the Gulf and other states (such as Jordan and Turkey), Egypt was only allowed the old AIM-7 Sparrow and the AIM-9 Sidewinders, which are shorter in range and technologically inferior. Israel also allegedly pressured the Trump administration to refuse Egypt’s request to buy the F-35 stealth fight jets in 2019.

The US and Israel reportedly pressured France to not sell to Egypt the MBDA’s Meteor 100 km air-to-air missile with the Rafale fighters. Instead, Egypt received the 80 km MICA missile as part of the deal to buy 30 Rafales in 2021. Acquiring this advanced radar system and long-range missiles was likely behind Cairo’s deal to purchase 24 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from Italy in 2022. However, it is unlikely that they will come with the full package.

Egypt thought the Chinese J-10C Vigorous Dragon fighter may solve this predicament. The Chinese fighter has a beyond-visual range AESA radar and can carry the PL-15 200 km air-to-air missile, similar to the Rafale’s Meteor. The J-10C’s price tag is attractive for Egypt at $40-50 million, much less than the F-16 and Rafales.

The Chinese fighters are also a hedge against Russia’s sanctioned fighter jets, traditionally a second choice for the Egyptian air force.

Risky manoeuvres 

This doesn’t mean Egypt is on a path to abandon its weapons purchases from its Western partners. Egyptian weapons procurement policy is not only motivated by technical considerations. It also serves political objectives. Egypt still receives $1.3 billion every year in military and economic aid from Washington. Regime security and backing are two objectives that will likely encourage Cairo to rely on Western weapons systems for decades. 

However, from Egypt’s military perspective, the time may have come to resort to the Cold War tactics of diversification and counterbalancing. Being forced to accept old technology during the significant modernization of its air force creates a technical and operational necessity to seek this technology elsewhere. 

Egyptian weapons procurement policy is not only motivated by technical considerations. It also serves political objectives.

The regional uncertainty since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel and the war that followed in Gaza, southern Lebanon, and Israel’s intermittent confrontations with Iran makes make it imperative for the Egyptian strategic planners to take risky manoeuvres while targeting specific capabilities they seem desperate to acquire. 

The threat to deploy CAATSA sanctions against Egypt in 2019 makes the J-10C deal with China an interesting case study for all Middle Eastern allies of the West. It shows an uptick in Egypt’s risk tolerance to overcome its technological dilemma. It allows other countries considering the Chinese fighters (mainly Saudi Arabia) to gauge Washington’s reaction and design their future approach accordingly.   

Another motivation is to pressure the US, UK, and their allies to reconsider their implicit embargo on certain advanced technology by showing that Cairo now has alternatives. This tactic seems to work. General Frank McKenzie, the former head of US Central Command, said during a congressional hearing in 2022 that Washington will finally provide Egypt with the F-15 heavy-weight air superiority fighter, a longstanding demand by Cairo.

Building favours

The J-10C fighter jet ticks all the boxes: It satisfies Cairo’s diversity strategy and technological needs. It is under the sanctions threshold since it is less technologically savvy than the most controversial J-20 5th generation fighters, the equivalent to Russia’s SU-35. And it takes Egypt’s military partnership with China to a new level.

A heavyweight military power like Egypt relying on Chinese fighters would almost certainly boost China’s share in the regional weapons market.

The rumour that the Chinese fighters are bought to replace the ageing versions of Egypt’s significant F-16 fleet is a source of pride for Beijing since its military technology started to be seen as a competitor to Western technology. A heavyweight military power like Egypt relying on Chinese fighters would almost certainly boost China’s share in the regional weapons market, just like Cairo’s purchase of the Rafale boosted its popularity globally.




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Addressing illegal gold mining: International policy priorities

Addressing illegal gold mining: International policy priorities 18 November 2024 — 11:30AM TO 1:00PM Anonymous (not verified) Chatham House and Online

Held in partnership with the World Gold Council, this panel of experts examines the global Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) landscape and propose policy priorities essential for fostering sector formalization.

In this panel discussion, held in partnership with the World Gold Council, experts will examine the global Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) landscape and propose policy priorities essential for fostering sector formalization.

An estimated twenty million people worldwide are involved in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) sector, which now accounts for around 20 percent of global gold output. However, 85 percent of this production occurs outside formal legal frameworks. While many in ASGM operate within informal economies or seek pathways to formalization, a significant portion is also vulnerable to criminal exploitation, involving organized crime and armed groups.

In Ethiopia, the sector’s informality is tied to the nation’s volatile security dynamics, with illicit gold mining proliferating as non-state actors compete for control in conflict-prone regions such as Tigray. Additionally, gold is increasingly trafficked through transnational illicit networks in the Sahel and Sudan fuelling instability. South America is also impacted, for example in Peru where the government’s response to illegal ASGM initially saw success in 2019 but has faced sustainability challenges, and environmental impact.

ASGM growth is driven by the rising value of gold, youth unemployment, weak law enforcement, climate impacts, and conflict. While formalization offers significant economic potential, robust international cooperation and industry commitment is required to address the human toll, environmental impact and support sustainable practices.

In this panel discussion, experts will focus on addressing the expansion of illicit control and exploitation within ASGM, highlighting the pathways for governments and large-scale mining companies to drive meaningful change.

This event is hosted in partnership with the World Gold Council. There will be a reception with light refreshments hosted at Chatham House following the event.

This event will be livestreamed via the Africa Programme Facebook page.

The institute occupies a position of respect and trust, and is committed to fostering inclusive dialogue at all events. Event attendees are expected to uphold this by adhering to our code of conduct.




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The break-up of Scholz’s coalition government signals the end of Germany’s old economic model

The break-up of Scholz’s coalition government signals the end of Germany’s old economic model Expert comment jon.wallace

The coalition could not agree how to fund new support for Ukraine and failed to fully implement the ‘Zeitenwende’. A new government must push through reform.

As Europeans were still processing Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential election, an acrimonious break up occurred 4000 miles east of Washington DC.

Reports had been circulating for weeks about the fragile state of Germany’s ‘traffic light’ coalition government led by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, consisting of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party, and liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).

The expectation had been that the coalition would hold on for a few more weeks and might even be given a new lease of life by Trump’s re-election. Instead, it collapsed on the day Trump’s win was confirmed. An unusually angry Scholtz announced in a live address that he had fired FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner, effectively breaking up the coalition.

At the heart of the dispute was the so-called ‘debt brake’ – a constitutional mechanism which restricts Germany’s annual public deficit to 0.35 per cent of GDP. Lindner proposed a set of reforms which were unpalatable to the SPD and the Greens. 

In response, Scholz suggested declaring an emergency, which would have suspended the debt brake. That in turn was unacceptable to Lindner, leading to his sacking by the Chancellor.

Practically, this means the SPD and the Greens are now in a minority coalition, without agreement on the 2025 budget or the votes in parliament to pass it. They also still face the challenge of the debt brake.

A vote of confidence will take place in December, with elections to be held before the end of February 2025 latest.

The end of Germany’s economic model

At the root of Germany’s political crisis is the country’s economic model. For decades, Germany relied on a system that depended on cheap Russian gas, cheap imports of consumer goods from China, high-value exports – particularly in the automotive sector – and the US security umbrella.

With Russian energy no longer viable, the global economic landscape shifting, and Donald Trump on his way back to the White House, that model is no longer workable. And Germany’s economy is expected to contract by 0.2 per cent in 2024 – a contraction for the second year running.

Germany has struggled to turn around its economic woes, with the car industry particularly affected.

The ‘Zeitenwende’, announced by Scholz in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, should have signalled a turnaround of both foreign and economic policy, given how much the two are interconnected. Yet on both fronts, too little changed.

Germany’s reliance on Russian gas did come to an abrupt end in 2022. And Germany is Ukraine’s second largest military aid donor after the US, while accepting the most Ukrainian refugees.

But the ‘Zeitenwende’ turnaround ended there. Scholz’s coalition government failed to prepare for long-term investment in defence at the levels required by creating an off-budget defence spending fund which would have run out in 2027. The draft budget for 2025 showed defence spending would have been cut, as would support for Ukraine.

Germany has also struggled to turn around its economic woes, with the car industry particularly affected. Cheap Chinese EVs and new energy technologies are competing with Germany’s most powerful companies. Volkswagen, the country’s largest car manufacturer, has announced plant closures and layoffs due to shrinking profit margins.  

To the west, Trump’s threat to impose 10 to 20 per cent tariffs on all EU imports meant share prices of Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedez-Benz and Porsche all dropped between 4 to 7 per cent following news of his re-election.

To the east, trade tensions between the EU and China are intensifying. Yet rather than choosing to diversify, German companies have doubled down on their bets in China, with German investment in the country rising from €6.5bn for the whole of 2023 to €7.3bn in the first half of 2024 alone – only exposing carmakers further.

Germany’s support for Ukraine

Like French President Emmanuel Macron, Scholz had already been weakened by the results of the European Parliamentary elections in June. With the collapse of his traffic light coalition, the EU’s Franco-German ‘engine’ is now well and truly stalled – until new leadership can be found. This weakness comes at a perilous moment when clear, united European leadership, and much increased funding, is needed to shore up support for Ukraine.




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Child Soldiers: Rethinking Reintegration




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Cell cholesterol efflux: integration of old and new observations provides new insights

George H. Rothblat
May 1, 1999; 40:781-796
Reviews





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Degenerate complex Monge-Ampère type equations on compact Hermitian manifolds and applications

Yinji Li, Zhiwei Wang and Xiangyu Zhou
Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 377 (), 5947-5992.
Abstract, references and article information






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Behold the Power... of CHEESE

ridureyu1 posted a photo:

CHEESE FOR ALL