Driven by a desire to express his emotions and share his story with the world, the younger brother turned to sculpture as a form of catharsis. The creation of the sculpture depicting the man with the bottle of milk tainted with blood was his way of immortalizing that fateful moment and the profound impact it had on his life.BC SPCA recovers adult cats and kittens from Kamloops propertyPop-up swingers club up for rent as ‘studio flat’ after locals axed opening
The 7-day annualized yield of money market funds dropping below 1.3%: Tianhong Yu'ebao hits a historic low
Dr. Manmohan Singh: India's visionary leader who transformed the nation’s economyIt has a population of just under 3.5 million inhabitants, produces nearly 550,000 tons of beef per year, and boasts a glorious soccer reputation with two World Cups in its history and a present full of world-class stars. Uruguay, the country of writer Mario Benedetti and soccer player Luis Suárez, has achieved what many countries have pledged for decades: 98% of its grid runs on green energy. Luis Prats, 62, is a Uruguayan journalist and contributor to the Montevideo newspaper El País . He remembers that during his childhood, blackouts were common in Uruguay because there were major problems with energy generation. “At that time, more than 50 years ago, electricity came from two small dams and from generation in a thermal plant,” Prats explained in Spanish by telephone. “If there was a drought in the Negro River basin, where those dams are, there were already cuts and sometimes restrictions on the use of electrical energy.” Just 17 years ago, Uruguay used fossil fuels for a third of its energy generation, according to the World Resources Institute . | Today, only 2% of the electricity consumed in Uruguay is generated from fossil sources. The country’s thermal power plants rarely need to be activated, except when natural resources are insufficient. Half of Uruguay’s electricity is generated in the country’s dams, and 10% percent comes from agricultural and industrial waste and the sun. But wind, at 38%, is the main protagonist of the revolution in the electrical grid. But how did the country achieve it? Who were the architects of this energy transition? Energy revolution In 2008, Uruguay faced a problem that many developing countries face. The economy was growing, but it did not have enough electrical energy to fuel all that growth. Energy rationing had to be implemented, and electricity bills continued to rise. “It was difficult for us to cope,” Ramón Méndez Galain, a professor at the University of the Republic in Montevideo, Uruguay, said in an interview with NPR . He is one of the architects of the energy revolution in that country. “It was difficult to get electricity. For a while, we began to have power outages, but the crisis also represents an opportunity.” In 2008, President Tabaré Vázquez appointed Méndez Galain as national director of energy. Although the blackouts posed an immediate threat to the economy, the country’s continued dependence on oil undermined its autonomy. A primary question guided Méndez Galain’s work: What strategies could lead the country toward long-term energy independence? The physicist developed a detailed plan to move Uruguay toward almost exclusive dependence on renewable energy. Méndez Galain’s plan was based on two simple facts about his country. First, although there was no domestic supply of fossil fuels such as coal or oil, there was a large amount of wind. Second, that wind was blowing over a country that was largely made up of uninhabited agricultural land. His vision for Uruguay’s energy future was to cover those empty lands with hundreds of wind turbines. Pablo Capurro, agronomist and livestock engineer, shared with Deutsche Welle his concern at the time about the possible impact of wind turbines on the life of his farm. Capurro and other farmers in the region sought advice from a team of engineers and took a trip to Brazil to visit wind farms in that country. After the trip, they were convinced that the implementation of the wind turbines would not affect the production system. Capurro’s cows seem not to be affected by the presence of the windmills: “I feel very satisfied for having introduced a wind energy park on a livestock farm.” In 2010, Uruguay reached a multiparty agreement and adopted the energy transition to indigenous and renewable sources as a state policy, guaranteeing its execution and continuity, Walter Verri, Uruguay’s undersecretary of industry, energy, and mining, explained by telephone in Spanish: “This policy included a long-term perspective and also incorporated the social, ethical, and cultural dimensions in addition to the classic technical-economic analysis of the energy issue.” The state energy company, UTE, pays rent every year to the owners of the land where the wind farms operate. Don Quixote, Ivy, and the windmills In the vision of the ingenious gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, windmills stood like defiant giants, reflecting his boundless imagination and idealistic perspective on the world. This mythical interpretation of the windmills resonates with the contemporary perception of wind towers in Uruguay, where they are seen as symbols of a clean and renewable energy source. Today, Mendez Galain directs the nongovernmental organization Ivy , which means “land without evil” in Guaraní. Guaraní is the native language of the inhabitants of that area and is one of the two official languages of Paraguay. Just as Don Quixote faced the windmills as a challenge that he had to overcome to fulfill his duty as a knight-errant, the installation and maintenance of wind farms in Uruguay also involved facing significant obstacles. From technical challenges to financial and regulatory barriers, the transition to clean energy sources needed a concerted effort to overcome these difficulties and move toward a more sustainable future. How to pay for all those turbines? Méndez Galain, winner of the 2023 Carnot Prize , which recognizes distinguished contributions to energy policy, conceived a variation of an approach used by some electric companies in Brazil. These companies operated through public-private partnerships, where the companies were responsible for energy generation, while private entities managed distribution and customer service. Méndez Galain’s innovation lay in reversing that dynamic: Private companies would be responsible for installing and maintaining the wind turbines that would supply Uruguay’s grid, while the public company would continue to distribute the energy to consumers. This approach had the inherent advantage of transferring the costly initial outlay for the construction of wind turbines to private companies. The state company agreed to acquire all the energy produced by said turbines at a preestablished rate for 20 years. “Investors need assurance that their investment will be repaid,” Méndez Galain explained during the interview with NPR, “and for that, they need a specific time horizon.” There was political will for this approach: All parties in Uruguay agreed with the transition. In 2009, Uruguay began auctions in which wind companies from around the world competed to offer the cheapest renewable energy to the country. In 2011, a specific auction aimed to secure an additional 150 megawatts of wind energy, which would represent approximately 5% of the country’s total power generation capacity. After receiving offers from more than 20 international companies, the professor and his team decided to drastically accelerate the country’s energy transition. Ultimately, they accepted many more offers than initially planned, signing contracts that expanded Uruguay’s capacity to generate electricity not by 5%, but by more than 40%. Uruguay’s energy grid became powered almost exclusively by domestic renewable sources, and consumer prices, adjusted for inflation, fell. “Electricity bill prices dropped substantially,” said Alda Novell, a resident of Montevideo, by telephone. Today, Uruguay has more than 700 wind turbines distributed throughout its territory. “At first glance, the change is seen in many areas of the country: You go down the road and see the modern windmills in rural areas,” Prats said. “Starting in 2010, with the variety of energy sources, and also renewable ones, blackouts became very rare. It was a relief for state coffers not to have to spend on fossil fuels for energy generation.” For Walter Verri, undersecretary of industry, energy, and mines, the development of renewable energy in Uruguay has been possible thanks to the collaboration of various actors, including the entire political sector and public and private companies. This energy transformation created new careers, job opportunities, and training pathways in Uruguay, Verri added. Countries around the world have spent the last decade announcing ambitious goals to reduce the emissions that cause climate change. Few are on track to achieve that goal. Uruguay is a good example that the green transition is still possible. This article was translated by Climate Cardinals . This article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. — Johani Carolina Ponce
A month has passed since the conclusion of the labor strike that halted production at Boeing's 737 MAX assembly line. The strike, which stemmed from disagreements over wages and working conditions, came to an end after both parties reached a consensus through intensive negotiations. Now, with the picket lines dismantled and production facilities back up and running, Boeing has officially restarted the manufacturing of its troubled 737 MAX aircraft.
SINGAPORE: Three mass casualty incidents that played out in just nine days - the recent spate of what seems to be “revenge on society” attacks in China are raising concerns about underlying societal issues and cannot be dismissed as isolated acts of troubled individuals, analysts told CNA. A brutal car attack in the southern city of Zhuhai on Nov 11 killed 35 people exercising at a sports stadium . Days later, a stabbing incident at a vocational college in eastern China’s Yixing city killed eight and badly injured 17 and on Tuesday (Nov 19), an SUV ploughed into students and pedestrians outside a primary school in Hunan’s Changde, where scores of children were seen fleeing in fear . While the attacker’s motives and the exact injury toll of the latest incident are still unknown, the attacks in Zhuhai and Yixing were “triggered by the dissatisfaction with the division of property following a divorce” and the “failure to obtain a diploma due to poor exam results” respectively, based on police statements. According to official statistics, violent crime in China is lower than global averages. The country’s murder rate in 2023 was 0.46 cases per 100,000 people as compared to 5.7 in the US. But the recent attacks are still raising alarm among many. In addition to the incidents in November, others have been reported in recent months, including a mass stabbing at a supermarket in Shanghai in September and a stabbing at a top school in Beijing the following month in October. ‘THE WORLD IS CRAZY’ Before posts and comments were swiftly taken down , Chinese social media users expressed anger and shock about the recent killings, asking if it was a sign of underlying issues facing society today. “They (the perpetrators) are seeking revenge on society,” remarked a user on the Sina Weibo microblogging site in a comment on a state media post about the Zhuhai car attack, which was later removed. “Why are such incidents happening every day,” asked a user on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok especially popular among young users. Another said bluntly: “The world is crazy.” Dr Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore (NUS), told CNA that while it was challenging to establish a link between the rampage incidents “due to limited publicly available information”, there was a common thread – “their nature of acts as ‘social revenge’ (in which) perpetrators act on personal grievances by attacking strangers”. “Victims were often random and unrelated to the perpetrators, which highlighted the unpredictability and indiscriminate targeting involved,” he said, adding that the incidents “amplified public concern about whether the pattern reflected deeper underlying issues”. A police report shows that the 62-year-old perpetrator in Zhuhai took “social revenge” after anger over his divorce settlement. He later attempted suicide and is now in a coma. The 21-year-old suspect in the Yixing stabbing rampage vented his frustration and “attacked others after failing an exam and not receiving his graduation certificate”, according to a statement issued by the Yixing Public Security Bureau. He had also been deeply unhappy over his low internship pay, the statement added. “The complex web of personal traumas and grievances... led them to this fatalistic moment,” said Mr Barclay Bram, a Fellow on Chinese Society at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, who has also researched mental health and psychological counselling in China. He told CNA that the “inability to find other means of resolving issues, access to weapons, and the social contagion effect of other acts of mass violence” could also be contributing factors. Dr Zhao said the attacks highlighted structural issues such as socioeconomic disparities, weakened social norms as well as gaps in psychological support. “Individual mental health challenges are often shaped by broader societal stressors. For instance, work pressures, unemployment, strained relationships, or economic disputes can escalate stress levels,” he added. “It’s critical to ask how and why individuals transition from normalcy to extremity – and what environmental or systemic conditions might be facilitating this shift.” A “sustainable approach” would require tackling the root causes of social discontent, Dr Zhao said. “Policies promoting equitable economic development, robust social safety nets, accessible mental health services and fair dispute resolution mechanisms can reduce the pressures that drive individuals to extreme actions,” he added. THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS China’s economy is facing a number of challenges – a property crisis, steep public debt as well as rising youth unemployment rates, all of which have taken a toll on both economic and mental health. Mental health remains a growing issue in the country – with reports of people feeling stressed, burnt out , anxious and depressed . Experts have also cited issues like rising costs of living, high unemployment rates and the lack of state support amid a turbulent economy still in post-pandemic recovery. “Chinese society is under significant stress due to a slowing economy, uncertain future and an unstable global climate,” said Mr Bram, who also stressed that it was “hard to generalise across a population as large as that of China”. The long tail of the COVID-19 pandemic and public mistrust caused by the government’s harsh lockdowns “contributed to a sense of hopelessness amongst many in society”, he added. The Blue Book of National Depression, published by the Chinese Academy of Science in 2022, found that for every one million people in China, only 20 had proper access to mental health services – as compared to 1,000 Americans (per million) who enjoyed those benefits and support in the US. Experts like Dr Zhao suggested more proactive approaches to promote mental health awareness and encourage empathy. “The role of social support systems is crucial,” he said. “When individuals lack effective avenues to cope with stress or resolve disputes, their frustrations may accumulate to a breaking point.” But there was also still strong social stigma around treatment and seeking help. “Stigma often prevents individuals from seeking help, leading many to suffer in silence or keep their struggles within the family,” said Dr Jared Ng, a psychiatrist and also the Medical Director of Connections MindHealth, a clinic in Singapore which provides mental health services to a diverse clientele, including Chinese students studying abroad. Limited access to care is another challenge, Dr Ng added. “Psychological support services are concentrated in urban centres like major cities but rural areas have far fewer resources,” he said, adding that early detection and intervention was also crucial in preventing violent episodes. “Socio-economic stressors can push individuals to their breaking point and when combined with substances like drugs or alcohol, these pressures can escalate into extreme actions including harm to themselves or others.” Psychological support alone cannot solve the deep rooted issues, other experts said. “Would increased psychological support be a good thing in this case? Of course,” said Mr Bram. “(But) would it have prevented these instances of social violence altogether? Possibly not, as the dynamics involved are both specific and complex.” ADDRESSING SOCIAL DISCONTENT The violent episodes have also raised questions about the ability of the Chinese government to deal with grievances in society. Following the car attack in Zhuhai, authorities pledged to solve the root of the problem, by better handling issues such as family and property-related disputes. Though not all are buying it. “This is what happens when a government prioritises money and economic growth over the welfare of people,” read a highly rated comment on Weibo before it was deleted. “For those in power, achieving wealth and status is more important than people’s lives,” said another user. Conundrums have existed and persisted over the past decade, said Associate Professor Alfred Wu from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP). “Beijing has traditionally relied on a top-down approach to governance to manage security,” Assoc Prof Wu said. “But in reality, the central government can’t actually handle so many things.” “A more effective way would be a rethink on fostering a healthy society and managing that well – including by allowing more grassroots-level initiatives,” he said. In the aftermath of recent incidents, the more immediate response from authorities was to censor information and discourse on the internet. Graphic images showing the extent of the crime scene in Zhuhai – blood and bodies lying in the street, were scrubbed off sites like Weibo and comments critical of efforts by the authorities removed. This level of censorship can be expected, experts previously told CNA, especially in the aftermath of a serious tragedy to “try and control the narrative”. A post sharing details of the most recent incident in Changde on an official procuratorate’s Douyin channel initially garnered over 4,000 comments. However, the number of comments dropped to less than 80 by the next day. Checks by CNA also found that comment sections had been disabled on Weibo a day after the incident. “Such responses (by the Chinese authorities) are largely reactive,” said Dr Zhao, adding that censorship efforts focused more on “containment after incidents occur rather than addressing root causes.” Assoc Prof Wu said that the Chinese government’s current approach has “not been to solve the problem but rather the people who voice out” – and was aimed more at “blocking” and controlling rather than “easing” the situation at hand. But some netizens also caution against oversharing and reporting news about violent incidents, out of concern that they might inspire copycat attacks. “(With a population) of 1.4 billion, there are definitely extremists,” said a user on Xiaohongshu who went by the name Yang Lm, who referenced both car attacks in Changde and Zhuhai. “This is why we shouldn’t report such incidents, there are too many copycat criminals.” There are some merits to restricting and filtering content on social media, said Dr Ng, who also agreed that it could inadvertently lead to “copycat behaviour”. “It is crucial that the content being shared does not glorify the incident,” he said. “Social media platforms have a responsibility to balance raising awareness with protecting the mental well-being of their users,” he added. While efforts by authorities like “risk mapping and enhanced surveillance” may mitigate immediate threats, they are “far from sufficient” as long-term solutions, said Dr Zhao. “The unpredictable nature of attacks makes it nearly impossible to identify all potential perpetrators in advance. Moreover, these measures risk alienating communities if perceived as overly intrusive,” he said. “Policies promoting equitable economic development, robust social safety nets and accessible mental health services can reduce the pressures that drive individuals to extreme actions.” “Building a society where people feel secure, supported and hopeful is key to preventing such tragedies.”WASHINGTON (AP) — Working-class voters helped Republicans make steady election gains this year and expanded a coalition that increasingly includes rank-and-file union members, a political shift spotlighting one of President-elect Donald Trump’s latest Cabinet picks: a GOP congresswoman, who has drawn labor support, to be his labor secretary. Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her bid for a second term this month, despite strong backing from union members, a key part of the Democratic base but gravitating in the Trump era toward a Republican Party traditionally allied with business interests. 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‘Piano to Zanskar’ Conducts a Musical Journey Across the Himalayas on Documentary ShowcaseThe decision to lay off 5000 employees is a difficult one, but company executives believe it is necessary in order to streamline operations and reduce costs. The restructuring plan also includes efforts to modernize infrastructure, optimize supply chain processes, and enhance customer service initiatives. By making these changes, the company hopes to become more competitive and better positioned to meet the evolving needs of its customers.Despite the uphill battle that they face against Arsenal, Sampdoria-Bene are well-prepared and confident in their abilities. The team has been training hard and focusing on their tactics and strategy to ensure that they are ready for the tough challenge ahead. Their coach has instilled a winning mentality in the players, encouraging them to give their all on the field and never give up, no matter the odds.
Despite the official clarification from local authorities, the tragic death of the single woman has highlighted the vulnerabilities faced by individuals living alone, particularly in rental accommodations. Many single women, especially those living independently, may not have regular contact with friends or family members, making it crucial for neighbors and community members to remain vigilant and offer support when needed.
Even with access to blockbuster obesity drugs, some people don't lose weight
President-Elect Donald Trump announced Saturday his appointment of Dr. Sebastian Gorka, former senior Trump administration official and host of the America First podcast, to the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Counterterrorism. “Since 2015, Dr. Gorka has been a tireless advocate for the America First Agenda and the MAGA Movement, serving previously as Strategist to the president in the first Trump Administration,” Trump said in his announcement. He added: Dr. Gorka is a legal immigrant to the United States, with more than 30 years of National Security experience. In 2015, he was one of my Advisors for the GOP Primary Debates on National Security. At the time, he held the Major General Matthew C. Horner Chair of Military Theory at the Marine University Foundation, and was a Guest Instructor at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg. Prior to that, he was Associate Dean for Congressional Affairs and Relations to the Special Operations Community at National Defense University, and Kokkalis Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is a Recipient of the DoD Joint Civilian Service Commendation awarded by USSOCOM for his work in Counterterrorism. In addition, Gorka was the national security editor at Breitbart News. Gorka said in a post on X, “ Honored beyond words to serve President @realDonaldTrump once again, in what will be the greatest Administration of the modern age.” #MakingAmericaGreatAgain Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on ”X” , Truth Social , or on Facebook .Hopeful hearts and other startup news
Furthermore, the department has stepped up monitoring and early warning systems to preemptively address potential risks. By closely monitoring weather forecasts and road conditions, transportation authorities can quickly respond to changing circumstances and take necessary actions to maintain the smooth flow of traffic. Real-time updates and alerts will be disseminated to drivers and the public to keep them informed and safe.