#Renewable Energy Science Conference

[enerhy-meetings]

Discover innovative insights at the International Primary Healthcare Conference. Engage with global experts as we explore diverse perspectives on primary health care systems.

[darkmaga-returns]

Carbon dioxide (CO?) should be viewed not as a climate threat but as a valuable renewable resource. At two climate-related conferences, experts like Jacques Amouroux argued that captured CO? can be repurposed for energy storage, manufacturing plastics, and enhancing fossil fuel extraction. Amouroux emphasized that CO? is fundamental to life—supporting food production, materials like wood and cellulose, and industrial processes—and should be recycled rather than treated as waste. Beware of the climate cult, they want to wreck the planet with your money.

Science or a lack thereof? UK’s £3 million Ocean CO2 Removal Project draws skepticism and scrutiny

The UK government has invested £3 million in SeaCURE, a pilot project aiming to extract carbon dioxide (CO2) from seawater and bury it underground—a controversial approach to combating climate change. Backed by researchers from Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the University of Exeter, the initiative has sparked criticism for its negligible impact, questionable scalability, and potential ecological risks. Meanwhile, rising sea temperatures around the UK complicate the science behind the project, raising doubts about its feasibility and the broader priorities of climate funding.

SeaCURE’s system involves pumping seawater from the English Channel, stripping it of CO2, and returning it to the ocean to absorb more atmospheric carbon. The project claims it could eventually remove 14 billion tonnes of CO2 annually—if scaled to process 1% of the world’s surface seawater using renewable energy. However, critics point out that even at full capacity, this would offset emissions equivalent to fewer than 219 transatlantic flights per year—a drop in the bucket compared to global aviation’s daily output.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Stinkpump Linkdump

Next Tuesday (December 5), I'm at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC, with my new solarpunk novel The Lost Cause, which 350.org's Bill McKibben called "The first great YIMBY novel: perceptive, scientifically sound, and extraordinarily hopeful."b

Once again, I greet the weekend with more assorted links than I can fit into my nearly-daily newsletter, so it's time for another linkdump. This is my eleventh such assortment; here are the previous volumes:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

I've written a lot about Biden's excellent appointees, from his National Labor Relations Board general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau chair Rohit Chopra to FTC Chair Lina Khan to DoJ antitrust boss Jonathan Kanter:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/14/prop-22-never-again/#norms-code-laws-markets

But I've also written a bunch about how Biden's appointment strategy is an incoherent mess, with excellent appointees picked by progressives on the Unity Task Force being cancelled out by appointees given to the party's reactionary finance wing, producing a muddle that often cancels itself out:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/08/fiduciaries/#but-muh-freedumbs

It's not just that the finance wing of the Democrats chooses assholes (though they do!), it's that they choose comedic bunglers. The Dems haven't put anyone in government who's as much of an embarrassment as George Santos, but they keep trying. The latest self-inflicted Democratic Party injury is Prashant Bhardjwan, a serial liar and con-artist who is, incredibly, the Biden Administration's pick to oversee fintech for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC):

https://www.americanbanker.com/news/did-the-occ-hire-a-con-artist-to-oversee-fintech

When the 42 year old Bhardjwan was named Deputy Comptroller and Chief Financial Technology Officer for OCC, the announcement touted his "nearly 30 years of experience serving in a variety of roles across the financial sector." Apparently Bhardjwan joined the finance sector at the age of 12. He's the Doogie Houser of Wall Street:

https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2023/nr-occ-2023-31.html

That wasn't the only lie on Bhardjwan's CV. He falsely claimed to have served as CIO of Fifth Third Bank from 2006-2010. Fifth Third has never heard of him:

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-occ-crowned-its-first-chief-fintech-officer-his-work-history-was-a-web-of-lies

Bhardjwan told a whole slew of these easily caught lies, suggesting that OCC didn't do even a cursory background search on this guy before putting him in charge of fintech – that is, the radioactively scammy sector that gave us FTX and innumerable crypto scams, to say nothing of the ever-sleazier payday lending sector:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/01/usury/#tech-exceptionalism

When it comes to appointing corrupt officials, the Biden administration has lots of company. Lots of eyebrows went up when the UN announced that the next climate Conference of the Parties (COP) would be chaired by Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, who is also the chair of Dubai's national oil company. Then the other shoe dropped: leaks revealed that Al-Jaber had colluded with the Saudis to use COP28 to get poor Asian and African nations hooked on oil:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67508331

There's an obvious reason for this conspiracy: the rich world is weaning itself off of fossil fuels. Today, renewables are vastly cheaper than oil and there's no end in sight to the plummeting costs of solar, wind and geothermal. While global electrification faces powerful logistical and material challenges, these are surmountable. Electrification is a solvable problem:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/09/practical-visionary/#popular-engineering

And once we do solve that problem, we will forever transform our species' relationship to energy. As Deb Chachra explains in her brilliant new book How Infrastructure Works, we would only need to capture 0.4% of the solar radiation that reaches the Earth's surface to give every person on earth the energy budget of a Canadian (AKA, a "cold American"):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/17/care-work/#charismatic-megaprojects

If COP does its job, we will basically stop using oil, forever. This is an existential threat to the ruling cliques of petrostates from Canada to the UAE to Saudi. As Bill McKibben writes, this isn't the first time a monied rich-world industry that had corrupted its host governments faced a similar crisis:

https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/a-corrupted-cop

Big Tobacco spent decades fueling science denial, funneling money to sellout scientists who deliberately cast doubt on both sound science and the very idea that we could know anything. As Tim Harford describes in The Data Detective, Darrell Huff's 1954 classic How to Lie With Statistics was part of a tobacco-industry-funded project to undermine faith in statistics itself (the planned sequel was called How To Lie With Cancer Statistics):

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/04/how-to-truth/#harford

But anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. When the families of the people murdered by tobacco disinformation campaigns started winning eye-popping judgments against the tobacco industry, the companies shifted their marketing to the Global South, on the theory that they could murder poor brown people with impunity long after rich people in the north forced an end to their practice. Big Tobacco had a willing partner in Uncle Sam for this project: the US Trade Representative arm-twisted the world's poorest countries into accepting "Investor-State Dispute Settlements" as part of their treaties. These ISDS clauses allowed tobacco companies to sue governments that passed tobacco control legislation and force them to reverse their democratically enacted laws:

https://ash.org/what-is-isds-and-what-does-it-mean-for-tobacco-control/

As McKibben points out, the oil/climate-change playbook is just an update to the tobacco/cancer-denial conspiracy (indeed, the same think-tanks and PR agencies are behind both). The "Oil Development Sustainability Programme" – the Orwellian name the Saudis gave to their plan to push oil on poor countries – maps nearly perfectly onto Big Tobacco's attack on the Global South. Nearly perfectly: second-hand smoke in Indonesia won't give Americans cancer, but convincing Africa to go hard on fossil fuels will contribute to an uninhabitable planet for everyone, not just poor people.

This is an important wrinkle. Wealthy countries have repeatedly demonstrated a deep willingness to profit from death and privation in the poor world – but we're less tolerant when it's our own necks on the line.

What's more, it's far easier to put the far-off risks of emissions out of your mind than it is to ignore the present-day sleaze and hypocrisy of corporate crooks. When I quit smoking, 23 years ago, my doctor told me that if my only motivation was avoiding cancer 30 years from now, I'd find it hard to keep from yielding to temptation as withdrawal set in. Instead, my doctor counseled me to find an immediate reason to stay off the smokes. For me, that was the realization that every pack of cigarettes I bought was enriching the industry that invented the denial playbook that the climate wreckers were using to render our planet permanently unsuited for human habitation. Once I hit on that, resisting tobacco got much easier:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/03/i-quit/

Perhaps OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais is worried about that the increasing consensus that Big Oil cynically and knowingly created this crisis. That would explain his new flight of absurdity, claiming that the world is being racist to oil companies, "unjustly vilifying" the industry for its role in the climate emergency:

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/27/opec-says-oil-industry-unjustly-vilified-ahead-of-climate-talks-.html

Words aren't deeds, but words have power. The way we talk about things makes a difference to how we act on those things. When discussions of Israel-Palestine get hung up on words, it's easy to get frustrated. The labels we apply to the rain of death and the plight of hostages are so much less important than the death and the hostages themselves.

But how we name the thing will have an enormous impact on what happens next. Take the word "genocide," which Israel hawks insist must not be applied to the bombing campaign and siege in Gaza, nor to the attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. On this week's On The Media, Brooke Gladstone interviews Ernesto Verdeja, executive director of The Institute for the Study of Genocide:

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/genocide-powerful-word-so-why-its-definition-so-controversial-on-the-media

Verdeja lays out the history of the word "genocide" and connects it to the Israeli government and military's posture on Palestine and Palestinians, and concludes that the only real dispute among genocide scholars is whether the current campaign it itself an act of genocide, or a prelude to an act of genocide.

I'm not a genocide scholar, but I am a Jew who has always believed in Palestinian solidarity, and Verdeja's views do not strike me as outrageous, or (more importantly) antisemitic. The conflation of opposition to Israel's system of apartheid with opposition to Jews is a cheap trick, one that's belied by Israel itself, where there is a vast, longstanding political opposition to Israeli occupation, settlements, and military policing. Are all those Israeli Jews secret antisemites?

Jews are not united in support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians. The hardliners who insist that any criticism of Israel is antisemitic are peddling an antisemitic lie: that all Jews everywhere are loyal to Israel, and that we all take our political positions from the Knesset. Israel hawks only strengthen that lie when they accuse me and my fellow Jews of being "self-hating Jews."

This leads to the absurd circumstance in which gentiles police Jews' views on Israel. It's weird enough when white-nationalist affiliated evangelicals who support Israel in order to further the end-times prophesied in Revelations slam Jews for being antisemitic. But in Germany, it's even weirder. There, regional, non-Jewish officials charged with policing antisemitism have censured Jewish groups for adopting policies on Israel that mainstream Israeli political parties have in their platforms:

https://jewishcurrents.org/the-strange-logic-of-germanys-antisemitism-bureaucrats

Antisemitism is real. As Jesse Brown describes in his recent Canadaland editorial, there is a real and documented rise in racially motivated terror against Jews in Canada, including school shootings and a firebombing. Likewise, it's true that some people who support the Palestinian cause are antisemites:

https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/is-jesse-a-zionist-editorial/

But to stand in horror at Israel's military action and its vast civilian death-toll is not itself antisemitic. This is obvious – so obvious that the need to say it is a tribute to Israel hardliners – Jewish and gentile – and their ability to peddle the racist lie that Israel is Jews and Jews are Israel, and that every Jew is in support of, and responsible for, Israeli war-crimes and crimes against humanity.

One need not choose between opposition to Hamas and its terror and opposition to Israel and its bombings. There is no need for a hierarchy of culpability. As Naomi Klein says, we can "side with the child over the gun":

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/11/why-are-some-of-the-left-celebrating-the-killings-of-israeli-jews

Moral consistency is not moral equivalency. If you're a Jew like me who wants to work for an end to the occupation and peace in the region, you could join Jewish Voice For Peace (like me):

https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org

Now, for a jarring tone shift. In these weekend linkdumps, I put a lot of thought into how to transition from one subject to the next, but honestly, there's no good transition from Israel-Palestine to anything else (yet – though someday, perhaps). So let's just say, "word games can be important, but they can also be trivial, and here are a few of the latter."

Start with a goodie, from the always brilliant medievalist Eleanor Janeaga, who tackles the weirdos who haunt social media in order to dump on people with PhDs who call themselves "doctor":

https://going-medieval.com/2023/11/29/doctor-does-actually-mean-someone-with-a-phd-sorry/

Janega points out that the "doctor" honorific was applied to scholars for centuries before it came to mean "medical doctor." But beyond that, Janega delivers a characteristically brilliant history of the (characteristically) weird and fascinating tale of medieval scholarship. Bottom line, we call physicians "doctor" because they wanted to be associated with the brilliance of scholars, and thought that being addressed as "doctor" would add to their prestige. So yeah, if you've got a PhD, you can call yourself doctor.

It's not just doctors; the professions do love their wordplay. especially lawyers. This week on Lowering The Bar, I learned about "a completely ludicrous court fight that involved nine law firms that combined for 66 pages of briefing, declarations, and exhibits, all inflicted on a federal court":

https://www.loweringthebar.net/2023/11/federal-court-ends-double-spacing-fight.html

The dispute was over the definition of "double spaced." You see, the judge in the case told counsel they could each file briefs of up to 100 pages of double-spaced type. Yes, 100 pages! But apparently, some lawyer burn to write fat trilogies, not mere novellas. Defendants accused the plaintiffs in this case of spacing their lines a mere 24 points apart, which allowed them to sneak 27 lines of type onto each page, while defendants were confined to the traditional 23 lines.

But (the court found), the defendants were wrong. Plaintiffs had used Word's "double-spacing" feature, but had not ticked the "exact double spacing" box, and that's how they ended up with 27 lines per page. The court refused to rule on what constituted "double-spacing" under the Western District of Tennessee’s local rules, but it ruled that the plaintiffs briefs could fairly be described as "double-spaced." Whew.

That's your Saturday linkdump, jarring tone-shift and all. All that remains is to close out with a cat photo (any fule kno that Saturday is Caturday). Here's Peeve, whom I caught nesting most unhygienically in our fruit bowl last night. God, cats are gross:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/53370882459/

It's EFF's Power Up Your Donation Week: this week, donations to the Electronic Frontier Foundation are matched 1:1, meaning your money goes twice as far. I've worked with EFF for 22 years now and I have always been - and remain - a major donor, because I've seen firsthand how effective, responsible and brilliant this organization is. Please join me in helping EFF continue its work!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/02/melange/#defendants_motion_to_require_adherence_with_formatting_requirements_of_local_rule_7.1

Stinkpump Linkdump

[manekapiyumawali]

Why Sabaragamuwa University is a Great Choice.

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) is increasingly recognized for its technological advancement and innovation-driven environment, making it one of the leading universities in Sri Lanka in terms of technology. Here are the key reasons why SUSL stands out technologically.

Here’s why SUSL stands out as a technological powerhouse among Sri Lankan universities:

🔧1. Faculty of Technology

SUSL established a dedicated Faculty of Technology to meet the demand for tech-skilled graduates. It offers degree programs such as:

BTech in Information and Communication Technology

BTech in Engineering Technology

These programs combine practical experience in labs, workshops and real-world projects with a strong theoretical foundation.

🖥️2. Advanced IT Infrastructure

SUSL has modern computer labs, smart classrooms, and high-speed internet access across campus.

A robust Learning Management System (LMS) supports online learning and hybrid education models.

Students and lecturers use tools like Moodle, Zoom, and Google Classroom effectively.

🤖 3. Innovation & AI Research Support

SUSL promotes AI, Machine Learning, IoT, and Data Science in student research and final-year projects.

Competitions like Hackathons and Innovative Research Symposia encourage tech-driven solutions.

Students develop apps, smart systems, and automation tools (e.g., Ceylon Power Tracker project).

🌐 4. Industry Collaboration and Internships

SUSL connects students with the tech industry through:

Internships at leading tech firms

Workshops led by industry experts

Collaborative R&D projects with government and private sector entities

These connections help students gain hands-on experience in areas such as software engineering, networking, and data analytics that make them highly employable after graduation.

��� 5. Smart Campus Initiatives

SUSL is evolving into a Smart University, introducing systems that streamline academic life:

Digital student portals

Online registration and results systems

E-library and remote resource access

Campus Wi-Fi for academic use

These initiatives improve the student experience and create an efficient, technology-enabled environment.

🎓 6. Research in Emerging Technologies

The university is involved in pioneering research across emerging technological fields, including:

Agricultural tech (AgriTech)

Environmental monitoring using sensors

Renewable energy systems

Students and faculty publish research in international journals and participate in global tech events.

🏆 7. Recognition in National Competitions

SUSL students often reach fina rounds or win national competitions in coding, robotics, AI, and IoT innovation.

Faculty members are invited as tech advisors and conference speakers, reinforcing the university's expertise.

Sabaragamuwa University is actively shaping the future not only with technology, but by integrating technology into education, research and operations. This makes it a technological leader among Sri Lankan Universities. Visit the official university site here: Home | SUSL

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Power when the sun doesn’t shine

With batteries based on iron and air, Form Energy leverages MIT research to incorporate renewables into the grid.

In 2016, at the huge Houston energy conference CERAWeek, MIT materials scientist Yet-Ming Chiang found himself talking to a Tesla executive about a thorny problem: how to store the output of solar panels and wind turbines for long durations.         Chiang, the Kyocera Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Mateo Jaramillo, a vice president at Tesla, knew that utilities lacked a cost-effective way to store renewable energy to cover peak levels of demand and to bridge the gaps during windless and cloudy days. They also knew that the scarcity of raw materials used in conventional energy storage devices needed to be addressed if renewables were ever going to displace fossil fuels on the grid at scale.

Read more.

[dailybugle-blr]

For Immediate Release New York City, July 12

New York Celebrates Avengers' Environmental Initiative

NEW YORK CITY - In an unexpected but widely celebrated move, the Avengers have announced a groundbreaking initiative aimed at tackling climate change and promoting sustainability across the globe. Spearheaded by Tony Stark, the project seeks to leverage advanced technology and the Avengers' considerable resources to combat environmental degradation.

"This isn't just about fighting villains anymore," said Stark at a press conference held at Avengers Tower. "We're facing an existential threat, and it's time for us to step up and protect the planet we call home."

The initiative, dubbed "Green Horizon," focuses on several key areas: renewable energy development, ocean cleanup efforts, reforestation projects, and the reduction of carbon emissions. Stark Industries has committed to transitioning all its facilities to run on 100% renewable energy within the next five years.

Joining Stark in this ambitious endeavor are Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk, who will lend his expertise in scientific research, and Thor, who plans to utilize Asgardian technology to aid in environmental restoration efforts. Banner emphasized the importance of using science and innovation to address the crisis, stating, "We have the tools and the knowledge to make a significant impact. Now, it's about putting them to use for the greater good."

Public response to the Avengers' new mission has been overwhelmingly positive. Environmental groups have lauded the initiative as a major step forward, while citizens are inspired by their heroes' commitment to a sustainable future.

"This is exactly what we need," said Lorraine Simmons, a climate activist based in New York. "The Avengers have always protected us from threats. It's incredible to see them take on the fight against climate change."

However, not everyone is on board. Critics argue that the Avengers should stick to their traditional role of battling supervillains and leave environmental issues to established organizations. Despite this, Stark remains undeterred.

"Protecting the planet is the ultimate mission," Stark declared. "We're in this for the long haul."

As the Avengers embark on this new chapter, the world watches with hopeful eyes. Their efforts may not only save the planet but also inspire a global movement towards a more sustainable and resilient future.

Contact:

Mark Johnson Director of Public Relations Stark Industries (555) 987-6543 mark.johnson@si.com

*****

About Stark Industries: Stark Industries is a global leader in innovation and technology, specializing in aerospace, defense, and sustainable energy solutions. With a commitment to pushing the boundaries of what's possible, Stark Industries is dedicated to making the world a better place through innovation and ingenuity.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 1.26

Holidays

Aemilia Asteroid Day

Auschwitz Liberation Day (Netherlands)

Australia Day

Belarusian Science Day (Belarus)

Bessie Coleman Day

Day of Islam (Poland)

Dental Drill Appreciation Day

Duarte Day (Dominican Republic)

Dungeons & Dragons Day

Eddie Van Halen Day

Engineer’s and Architect’s Day (Panama)

General Douglas MacArthur Day (Arkansas)

Hydroplane Day

International Customs Day

International Day of Clean Energy

International Environmental Education Day

International Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day

Liberation Day (a.k.a. NRM Liberation Day; Uganda)

Lotus 1-2-3 Day

Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Napoleon Abueva Day (Philippines)

National Ellen Degeneres Day

National Heroes Day (Cayman Islands)

National Ranboo Day

National #24 Day

Renewable Energy Day (Indiana)

Rocky Mountain National Park Day

Rum Rebellion Day (Australia)

Sexual Relations Day

Spouse’s Day

State Audit Service Day (Ukraine)

Television Day

Tinder Polypore Day (French Republic)

Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement

World Day for the Abolition of Meat

World Day of the Fisherman

World Environmental Education Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Sous Vide Day

National Green Juice Day

National Irish Soda Bread Day

National Peanut Brittle Day

National Pistachio Day

Spike the Punch Day

Stingray IPA Day

Nature Celebrations

Bald Eagle Appreciation Day

Mimosa Day (Sensitive Heart; Korean Birth Flowers)

Independence, Flag & Related Days

Discovery Day (Brazil; 1500)

Foundation Day (Australia; 1788)

Hong Kong (Proclaimed British Sovereign Territory; 1841)

Louisiana (Seceded from the U.S.; 1861)

Michigan Statehood Day (#26; 1837)

NRM Liberation Day (Uganda)

Recognition of the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republikas Atzīšana; Latvia)

Republic Day (Declared; India; 1950)

Suttornland (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Virginia (Readmitted to the Union; 1870)

New Year’s Days

Chinese New Year Holiday, Day 2 (Taiwan)

4th & Last Sunday in January

Child Labor Day [4th Sunday]

Clean Out Your Email Inbox Week begins [Sunday of Last Full Week]

Dinagyang (Philippines) [4th Sunday]

Homeless Sunday (UK) [4th Sunday]

International Internet-Free Day [Last Sunday]

National Bible Sunday (Philippines) [Last Sunday]

National Holocaust Memorial Day (Ireland) [Sunday closest to 27th]

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday [Sunday closest to 22nd]

Septuagesina Sunday [4th Sunday]

Seven For Sunday [Every Sunday]

Soothing Sunday [4th Sunday of Each Month]

Spud Sunday [4th Sunday of Each Month]

Souper Sunday [Last Sunday of Each Month]

Sultry Sunday [Last Sunday of Each Month]

Sundae Sunday [Every Sunday]

Sunday Funday [Every Sunday]

World Leprosy Day [Sunday Nearest 1.30]

Weekly Holidays beginning January 26 (4th Week of January)

Catholic Schools Week (thru 2.2) [From Last Sunday]

Cheeseburger Week in Pasadena (Pasadena, California) [thru 2.1]

Global Crayola Creativity Week [Last Full Week]

International Hot Air Balloon Week (thru 2.1) [4th Full Week]

Kiss a Shark Week (thru 2.1) [4th Full Week]

National CRNA Week [Last Full Week]

National Meat Week (thru 2.2) [8 Days from 4th Sunday]

National School Choice Week [Last Full Week]

San Diego Restaurant Week (San Diego, California) [thru 2.2]

Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week [4th Full Week]

Festivals Beginning January 26, 2025

BRAFA Art Fair (Brussels, Belgium) [thru 2.2]

Critic’s Choice Awards (Santa Monica, California)

Dairy Forum (San Antonio, Texas) [thru 1.29]

Delhi Republic Day Parade (New Delhi, India)

Satellite Awards (Los Angeles, California)

WASGA Winter Seed Conference (Phoenix, Arizona) [thru 1.28]

Feast Days

Alberic (Christian; Saint)

Beat the January Blues Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Cernunnos’ Day (Celtic God of the Wild; Master of the Animals; Celtic Book of Days)

Conon (a.k.a. Conan of Man; Christian; Saint)

Dévote's Day (Monaco; Saint)

End of the Fifth Quarter of the Ninth Dozen of the Thirteenth Set (Shamanism)

Enki’s Day (Pagan)

Eystein (Christian; Saint)

Founders of Cîteaux (Alberic of Cîteaux, Robert of Molesme, Stephen Harding)

Gabriele Allegra (Christian; Blessed)

John the Baptist (Positivist; Saint)

Margaret of Hungary (Christian; Virgin)

Paula (Christian; Saint)

Pilar (Muppetism)

Polycarp (Christian; Martyr)

Powamu begins (a.k.a. Bean Dance Ceremony; Hopi) [8 Days; thru 2.3]

Rum Rebellion Day (Pastafarian)

Sailing of Anubis (Ancient Egypt)

Steve Jackson Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

St. John the Baptist (Positivist; Saint)

String Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Thordith of Barking (a.k.a. Theorigitha; Christian; Saint)

Timothy and Titus (Christian; Saints)

Titus (Christian; Saint)

Secular Saints Days

Louis Anquetin (Art)

Sal Buscema (Art)

François Coppée (Literature)

Angela Davis (Politics, Philosophy)

Philip José Farmer (Literature)

Jules Feiffer (Art)

Rupprecht Geiger (Art)

Scott Glenn (Entertainment)

Wayne Gretzky (Sports)

Susan Griffin (Literature)

Polycarp Kusch (Science)

Giovanni Lanfranco (Art)

Douglas MacArthur (Military)

Paul Newman (Entertainment)

Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (Art)

Paula Rego (Art)

Günther Reindorff (Art)

Huey ‘Piano’ Smith (Music)

David Strathaim (Entertainment)

Samuel C.C. Ting (Science)

Bob Uecker (Sports)

Roger Vadim (Entertainment)

Kees van Dongen (Art)

Eddie Van Halen (Music)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Chinese: Month 12 (Ding-Chou), Day 26 (Yi-Wei)

Day Pillar: Wood Sheep

12-Day Officers/12 Gods: Destruction Day (破 Po) [Inauspicious]

Holidays: Special Working Day (China) / Chinese New Year Holiday, Day 2 (Taiwan)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [4 of 53]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Tycho Brahe Lucky Day (Scandinavia) [1 of 4]

Premieres

The Bear and the Bees (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1922)

Bowling (Atari 2600 Video Game; 1979)

Bridge Over Troubled Waters, by Simon & Garfunkel (Album; 1970)

The Cat and the Swordfish (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1922)

Catch and Release (Film; 2017)

The Clock Watcher (Donald Duck Disney Cartoon; 1945)

College (Osewald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1931)

Così Fan Tutte, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Opera; 1790)

The Debut of Thomas Katt (Goldwyn-Bray Pictograph Cartoon; 1920)

Der Rosenkavalier, by Richard Staruss (Comic Opera; 1911)

The Dog and the Thief (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1922)

Dog-Gone Tough Luck (Mutt and Jeff Cartoon; 1919)

Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player (Album; 1973)

Don’t Stop Me Now, by Queen (Song; 1979)

Eddie the Eagle (Film; 2016)

Edgar Runs Again (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

The Dukes of Hazzard (TV Series; 1979)

The Farmer and the Ostrich (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1922)

The Fox and the Grapes (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1922)

Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake (Novel; 1950) [Gormenghast #2]

The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank, by Erma Bombeck (Novel; 1976)

Hello, I’m Johnny Cash, by Johnny Cash (Album; 1970)

How I Became Krazy (Goldwyn-Bray Pictograph Cartoon; 1921)

Instant Karma, recorded by John Lennon (Song; 1970)

Jimmy Kimmel Live! (TV Talk Show; 2003)

Masters of the Air (TV Mini-Series; 2024)

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (Film; 2018)

Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer (TV Series; 1984)

The Miller and His Donkey (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1922)

The Mouse Exterminator (Phantasies Cartoon; 1940)

Need You Now, by Lady Antebellum (Album; 2010)

Notes on a Scandal (Film; 2007)

Pastoral Symphony, a.k.a. Symphony No. 3, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (Symphony; 1922)

Peaceful Neighbors (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1939)

The Phantom of the Opera (Broadway Musical; 1988)

Philip José Farmer (Writerism)

Poker Face (TV Series; 2023)

Pop-Pie a la Mode (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1945)

Riverdale (TV Series; 2017)

Scrambled Aches (WB LT Cartoon; 1957)

Seal on the Loose (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1970)

Shōgun, by James Clavell (Novel; 1975)

Sinister Stuff (Aesop’s Sound Fable Cartoon; 1934)

The Spendthrift (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1922)

Sugar & Spice (Film; 2001)

The Three Bears (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1934)

The Tiger and the Donkey (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1922)

Twelve O’Clock High (Film; 1950)

Vacation with Play (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1951)

Volver (Film; 2007)

Walk Like a Man, by The Four Seasons (Song; 1963)

Way Back When a Triangle Had Its Points (Fleischer Stone Age Cartoon; 1940)

Today’s Name Days

Paula, Timotheus, Titus (Austria)

Bogoljub, Paula, Timotej, Tit, Tonka (Croatia)

Zora (Czech Republic)

Polycarpus (Denmark)

Ulve, Ulvi (Estonia)

Joonatan (Finland)

Paule, Pauline, Timothé (France)

Paula, Timotheus, Titus (Germany)

Xenofon (Greece)

Paula, Vanda (Hungary)

Paola, Timoteo, Tito (Italy)

Agnis, Ansis (Latvia)

Daugis, Eigilė, Justas, Rimantas (Lithuania)

Esten, Øystein (Norway)

Paula, Paulina, Polikarp, Skarbimir, Wanda (Poland)

Arcadie, Ioan, Iosif, Maria, Xenofont (Romania)

Tamara (Slovakia)

Paula, Timoteo, Tito (Spain)

Bodil, Boel (Sweden)

Arkad, Arkadiy, May, Maya (Ukraine)

Aubrey, Conan, Coner, Conner, Connor, Conor, Gonzalo, Paola, Paula, Paulette, Paulina, Pauline (USA)

Today’s National Name Days

National Diane Day

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 26 of 2025; 339 days remaining in the year

ISO Week: Day 7 of Week 4 of 2025

Celtic Tree Calendar: Luis (Rowan) [Day 6 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Ding-Chou), Day 27 (Yi-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Jia-Wu]

Coptic: 18 Tubah 1741

Druid Tree Calendar: Cypress (Jan 25-Feb 3) [Day 2 of 15]

Hebrew: 26 Teveth 5785

Islamic: 26 Rajab 1446

J Cal: 26 White; Fryday [26 of 30]

Julian: 13 January 2025

Moon: 9%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 26 Moses (1st Month) [St. John the Baptist]

Runic Half Month: Elhaz (Elk) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 37 of 90)

Week: 4th & Last Week of January

Zodiac:

Tropical (Typical) Zodiac: Aquarius (Day 7 of 30)

Sidereal Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 12 of 29)

Schmidt Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 1 of 27)

IAU Boundaries (Current) Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 7 of 28)

IAU Boundaries (1977) Zodiac: Capricornus (Day 8 of 28)

[takeoffphilippines]

Building sustainable communities: The future of cities

What makes a city thrive is a combination of how developers create opportunities for movement, synergy, and prosperity. It’s a combination of celebrating life to its fullest capacity with the community at its very heart.

“At SM Prime (SMPHI), we dream big for our shared future. True prosperity transcends financial success. Our commitment to developing sustainable integrated properties is matched by our efforts to foster vibrant, inclusive communities wherever we build legacy properties that weather the challenges of time and that last for generations,” said Ms. Jessica Bianca Sy, Lead Executive for Design, Innovation and Strategy for SMPHI and SM Development Corporation (SMDC).

The 7th Annual Association of Pacific Rim Universities – Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Conference and Student Symposium 2024 (APRU-SCL 2024) Conference on Advancing Sustainable Cities and Communities through Science, Technology, and Innovations is hosted and organized this year by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

(L-R): Dr. Jennifer Marie S. Amparo, Dean, CHE, Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr. Chancellor, UPLB, Dr. Thomas Schneider, Chief Executive, APRU, Makati Mayor Hon. Abigail Binay, Ms. Jessica Bianca Sy, SMPHI and SMDC Lead Executive for Design, Innovation and Strategy, Dr. Edgar M. Reyes, Jr., Conference Director, ICHSPD, Assoc. Professor, UPLB, and Dr. Yekang Ko, Director, APRU-SCL, Assoc. Professor, University of Oregon.  

Sy joins a list of esteemed local and international professors, climate specialists, and government officials at the 7th Annual Conference of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities – Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Conference and Student Symposium 2024 (APRU-SCL 2024).

The theme for this year’s three-day conference is Advancing Sustainable Cities and Communities through Science, Technology, and Innovation.

As one of Asia’s leading integrated property developers, SM Prime’s strong track record in sustainability and disaster resilience is central to the company’s projects. In a climate-vulnerable country like the Philippines, disaster preparedness and infrastructure resilience are priorities, with a goal to scale efforts to a city level.

The rapid city growth increases energy demand, necessitating innovative and efficient renewable energy solutions. SM Prime has partnered with franchise holders to systematically manage energy use and move towards net-zero emissions.

For future large-scale master planned developments, Sy shares that SM Prime is taking a systems approach to utility infrastructure down to embedding them in the urban design guidelines at the precinct or plot level developments.

“We are developing this living framework together with our knowledge partners. Currently the ambition is to combine our efforts and actionable items under six themes of – transport, energy, water, biodiversity, built form and materials,” she said.

Sy carries this clear vision to heart as an invaluable part of the path forward. “We believe this will be the future of cities in the Philippines and we are committed to delivering it to our future generations,” she said.

SM Prime remains committed to its role as a catalyst for economic growth, delivering innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities, thereby enriching the quality of life of millions of people. SM Prime is pursuing the next horizon on integrated property development and onward to building sustainable cities of the future.  The 7th APRU-SCL 2024 is hosted and organized this year by the University of the Philippines Los Baňos, at the SMX Aura Convention Center, from August 6-8, 2024. For more information, email: hspdconf@up.edu.ph or visit the website: dcerp.che.uplb.edu.ph/ichspd.

[climatecalling]

A global push to commit to phasing out fossil fuels is gathering new momentum before a crucial UN climate conference this autumn, despite stiff opposition from oil-producing countries. Campaigners are ramping up efforts to put an undertaking to stop burning not just coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, but also oil and gas on the UN agenda ahead of the Cop28 summit in Dubai in late November. ... The global stocktake – an assessment of whether countries are meeting the emissions pledges made under the 2015 Paris agreement – recommended “transformations across all sectors and contexts, including scaling up renewable energy while phasing out all unabated fossil fuels”. Experts said the inclusion of this call in a key UN document would have a galvanising effect on the talks. ... Bill Hare, chief executive of Climate Analytics, a Berlin-based climate science and policy institute, said: “This is an important step forward, and a strong message in the lead-up to Cop28. It’s a major pushback on the massive lobby from the oil and gas industry." ... Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, said leading oil-producing countries such as the US and Saudi Arabia would have to come clean on their plans. “The clear and unambiguous language on fossil fuels should make it more difficult for vested interests to block serious discussions about a phase out at Cop28." ...

[democracyunderground]

#NewMoon HELL YES. IT'S ABOUT TIME. THANK YOU #JohnKerry

"ENDINGS AND NEW BEGINNINGS"

UN Climate Change News, 13 December 2023 – The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed today with an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.

In a demonstration of global solidarity, negotiators from nearly 200 Parties came together in Dubai with a decision on the world’s first ‘global stocktake’ to ratchet up climate action before the end of the decade – with the overarching aim to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.

“Whilst we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in his closing speech. “Now all governments and businesses need to turn these pledges into real-economy outcomes, without delay.”

The global stocktake is considered the central outcome of COP28 – as it contains every element that was under negotiation and can now be used by countries to develop stronger climate action plans due by 2025.

The stocktake recognizes the science that indicates global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But it notes Parties are off track when it comes to meeting their Paris Agreement goals.

The stocktake calls on Parties to take actions towards achieving, at a global scale, a tripling of renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency improvements by 2030. The list also includes accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power, phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and other measures that drive the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, with developed countries continuing to take the lead.

In the short-term, Parties are encouraged to come forward with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with the 1.5°C limit in their next round of climate action plans (known as nationally determined contributions) by 2025.

Helping countries strengthen resilience to the effects of climate change

The two-week-long conference got underway with the World Climate Action Summit, which brought together 154 Heads of States and Government. Parties reached a historic agreement on the operationalization of the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements – the first time a substantive decision was adopted on the first day of the conference. Commitments to the fund started coming in moments after the decision was gaveled, totaling more than USD 700 million to date.

There was more progress on the loss and damage agenda with an agreement also reached that the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Office for Project Services will host the secretariat of the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage. This platform will catalyze technical assistance to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Parties agreed on targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its framework, which identify where the world needs to get to in order to be resilient to the impacts of a changing climate and to assess countries’ efforts. The GGA framework reflects a global consensus on adaptation targets and the need for finance, technology and capacity-building support to achieve them.

Increasing climate finance

Climate finance took center stage at the conference, with Stiell repeatedly calling it the “great enabler of climate action.”

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) received a boost to its second replenishment with six countries pledging new funding at COP28 with total pledges now standing at a record USD 12.8 billion from 31 countries, with further contributions expected.

Eight donor governments announced new commitments to the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund totaling more than USD 174 million to date, while new pledges, totaling nearly USD 188 million so far, were made to the Adaptation Fund at COP28.

However as highlighted in the global stocktake, these financial pledges are far short of the trillions eventually needed to support developing countries with clean energy transitions, implementing their national climate plans and adaptation efforts.

In order to deliver such funding, the global stocktake underscores the importance of reforming the multilateral financial architecture, and accelerating the ongoing establishment of new and innovative sources of finance.

At COP28, discussions continued on setting a ‘new collective quantified goal on climate finance’ in 2024, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries. The new goal, which will start from a baseline of USD 100 billion per year, will be a building block for the design and subsequent implementation of national climate plans that need to be delivered by 2025.

Looking ahead to the transitions to decarbonized economies and societies that lie ahead, there was agreement that the mitigation work programme, which was launched at COP27 last year, will continue until 2030, with at least two global dialogues held each year.

Event participation and inclusivity

World leaders at COP28 were joined by civil society, business, Indigenous Peoples, youth, philanthropy, and international organizations in a spirit of shared determination to close the gaps to 2030. Some 85,000 participants attended COP28 to share ideas, solutions, and build partnerships and coalitions.

The decisions taken here today also reemphasize the critical importance of empowering all stakeholders to engage in climate action; in particular through the action plan on Action for Climate Empowerment and the Gender Action Plan.

Strengthening collaboration between governments and key stakeholders

In parallel with the formal negotiations, the Global Climate Action space at COP28 provided a platform for governments, businesses and civil society to collaborate and showcase their real-world climate solutions.

The High-Level Champions, under the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, launched their implementation roadmap of 2030 Climate Solutions. These are a set of solutions, with insights from a wide range of non-Party stakeholders on effective measures that need to be scaled up and replicated to halve global emissions, address adaptation gaps and increase resilience by 2030.

The conference also saw several announcements to boost the resilience of food and public health systems, and to reduce emissions related to agriculture and methane.

Looking ahead

The negotiations on the ‘enhanced transparency framework’ at COP28 laid the ground for a new era of implementing the Paris Agreement. UN Climate Change is developing the transparency reporting and review tools for use by Parties, which were showcased and tested at COP28. The final versions of the reporting tools should be made available to Parties by June 2024.

COP28 also saw Parties agree to Azerbaijan as host of COP29 from 11-22 November 2024, and Brazil as COP30 host from 10-21 November 2025.

The next two years will be critical. At COP29, governments must establish a new climate finance goal, reflecting the scale and urgency of the climate challenge. And at COP30, they must come prepared with new nationally determined contributions that are economy-wide, cover all greenhouse gases and are fully aligned with the 1.5°C temperature limit.

“We must get on with the job of putting the Paris Agreement fully to work,” said Stiell. “In early 2025, countries must deliver new nationally determined contributions. Every single commitment – on finance, adaptation, and mitigation – must bring us in line with a 1.5-degree world.”

“My final message is to ordinary people everywhere raising their voices for change,” Stiell added. “Every one of you is making a real difference. In the crucial coming years your voices and determination will be more important than ever. I urge you never to relent. We are still in this race. We will be with you every single step of the way.”

“The world needed to find a new way. By following our North Star, we have found that path,” said COP28 President, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber during his closing speech. “We have worked very hard to secure a better future for our people and our planet. We should be proud of our historic achievement.”

[mariacallous]

Expect a diplomatic sandstorm when world leaders and their ministers meet in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in late November and early December for the next global climate summit. The gathering—known as the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28)—could prove the most contentious round of climate talks in almost a decade and also test the effectiveness of the 2015 Paris Agreement in tackling the biggest climate challenges.

The UAE, which will preside over the negotiations, has signaled its intention to use COP28 to craft major outcomes on at least two extremely challenging geopolitical climate issues: establishing new global goals for greening the energy economy and clarifying the financial assistance that rich nations should provide poorer nations to facilitate and incentivize climate action. Whether COP28 will be remembered for breakthroughs in these areas is difficult to predict.

As over 75 percent of global climate pollution comes from burning fossil fuels—which release carbon dioxide and methane, the two largest climate pollutants—one might expect that over the past three decades of global climate negotiations the international community would have reached some agreement on their future use. Not so. For decades, nations have disagreed vigorously about how and when to reduce fossil fuel emissions—and even whether ending reliance on coal, oil, and gas is necessary.

Entering COP28, the European Union, United States, several other developed nations, and many small island states (which are extremely vulnerable to severe storms and sea levels rising) are calling for a rapid transition to renewable energy. They want COP28 to establish nonbinding dates for ending the “unabated” use of fossil fuels—consumption of these fuels without simultaneously capturing, storing, and/or repurposing climate pollution. That’s a big deal, because today, virtually all emissions from oil, gas, and coal are unabated and abatement technologies are not yet affordable or globally scalable. Many of these nations are also now proposing that states pledge to end the construction of new coal plants immediately and establish a date for shuttering existing ones. Some developing nations, including African states, argue that new fossil fuel goals should not apply initially to the least-developed nations, who they maintain need access to all energy sources to escape poverty. Still other countries, including Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia, oppose setting specific dates for phasing out fossil fuels at this time, arguing that doing so would unfairly single out one source of climate pollution while ignoring others, and be contrary to the spirit of the Paris Agreement, which allows every nation to decide for itself what climate technologies and policies to pursue.

Although some nations have long called for ending fossil fuel use, ignoring the fossil fuel elephant in the room will be difficult at COP28. The Paris Agreement requires that the international community assess every five years, starting in 2023, the adequacy of global climate action. The results of this year’s assessment, known as the “global stocktake,” were a foregone conclusion—scientists agree that the world is not doing enough to avoid potentially unmanageable and catastrophic climate change. What remains unclear—and politically interesting—is what, if anything, world leaders and their ministers will do in response. Some argue that failing to come up with a meaningful plan to raise climate ambition at COP28 could raise questions about the effectiveness and legitimacy of the Paris Agreement. As phasing down global use of fossil fuels would do more than anything else to help close the gap between what science requires and what nations have done thus far, COP28 seems likely to provide the first real global debate about the future of fossil fuels.

Earlier this fall, Western nations failed to secure the support of the full G-20 for phasing out unabated fossil fuels, with Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia actively opposing. China—currently the world’s largest climate polluter—seems immovable on this point. When Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden met in San Francisco in mid-November, the bilateral statement their climate envoys produced had no new quantitative targets or deadlines on fossil fuel consumption. The United States and China did agree the world should triple global annual investments in renewable energy by 2030. While that is necessary, it will not be sufficient to decarbonize the energy economy. With China dug in, it’s safe to predict that COP28 probably will not produce a formal global consensus on dates for phasing down unabated fossil fuels in general or even coal specifically.

While a global consensus may prove elusive, COP28 could still deliver progress on this issue. The United States and EU appear more willing than ever to shine a spotlight on China’s failure to rein in its growing fossil fuel use, particularly its construction of roughly two new coal plants per week. At COP28, the Western allies are trying to rally a broad coalition of “high ambition” nations, made up of developed and developing nations willing to commit to blocking construction of new coal plants and retiring existing ones. It’s possible that the trans-Atlantic allies will recruit dozens or even one hundred nations to join the voluntary plurilateral fossil fuel pledge, particularly if accommodations are made for the least developed nations. Should this occur, China’s refusal to be part of the group will be noticed and covered by the global media. That’s significant, because until now China has managed to avoid taking the blame for the slow pace of global climate diplomacy.

The second storm in Dubai could be about money. Traditionally, developed nations have provided funds to developing nations to both help them adapt to climate change and mitigate increases in climate pollution. During COP28, nations are expected to argue over at least three issues relating to this international climate finance.

The first dispute will be over the adequacy of total climate funding. In 2009, donor countries agreed to mobilize by 2020 $100 billion a year to support climate action in the developing world. While international climate finance has more than doubled and some say tripled over this decade and a half, donor nations failed to reach the $100 billion mark until this year, although the official accounting for 2023 may not be known until 2025. Thanks to recent analysis by the International Energy Agency and others, we now know that greening the energy economy will require mobilizing an additional $2.7 trillion annually from public and private sources. It’s difficult to know what share of that total needs to come from public coffers, but most experts agree that $100 billion in public funding will not suffice to decarbonize the developing world; more than double that may be required over the next decade, although there’s no global consensus on the number at this time. Most likely, COP28 will kick the can down the road on a major new funding pledge, such as by agreeing that nations should agree on a new funding target in 2024 or 2025.

The second dispute over money will center on whether developed nations should do a better job of delivering climate aid to the least-developed nations, particularly for climate adaptation and resilience. Today, only a tiny fraction of international climate finance goes to the poorest nations—3.7 percent by some estimates. Rapidly developing emerging economies gobble up the lion’s share. Over the past decade, in addition, only 23 percent of international climate finance funds adaptation and resilience programs instead of emissions mitigation. This is because reducing climate pollution helps people in donor countries, too, whereas most adaptation funding primarily benefits local communities in poor nations. Plus, reducing emissions means less climate change and less need for adaptation. With climate change driving international migration from Africa and elsewhere, however, developed nations are starting to understand the need for more adaptation and resilience funding. But it’s not at all clear that nations are ready to agree at COP28 on how to rebalance climate aid and direct a larger share to the poorest nations.

The third international climate finance controversy at COP28 will relate to operationalizing the new “loss and damage” fund nations agreed in 2022 to create. Unlike traditional climate aid, the loss and damage fund is meant to provide financial assistance to developing nations that are already suffering from adverse climate impacts, such as more severe hurricanes, floods, droughts, and sea level rise. For the past several months, nations have argued over how much money should go into the fund, how the fund should be capitalized, who should decide how funds are spent, and where the funds should sit to protect against waste, fraud, and abuse. Earlier this month, a likely compromise emerged. If nations at COP28 accept the proposed deal, contributions to the new fund will be voluntary and the fund will be managed provisionally by the World Bank, but developing nations will have a major role in determining how funds are spent. Loss and damage negotiations at COP28, therefore, are likely to center on the biggest issue—whether donor nations should commit to capitalize the fund at a particular quantitative level. Developing nations want that clarity and accountability; developed countries would prefer to keep things vague.

The United States may prove to be the largest obstacle to reaching agreement on all three of these international climate finance issues. The Biden administration presumably would prefer to delay decisions on big new foreign aid programs until after the U.S. presidential election in November 2024, since Republicans would surely use any new pledges against the president in the general election. Climate aid, like all foreign aid, is unpopular with voters and was the reason Donald Trump gave for pulling the United States out of the Paris Agreement. In addition, at COP28, the Biden administration will likely worry about whether the United States could deliver on any new climate finance pledge. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is highly unlikely to increase climate aid. Unfortunately for the president and climate envoy John Kerry, the world is aware of this and increasingly frustrated with America’s perceived inability to lead on climate finance. Developing nations could stage a walkout during the talks. Many climate advocates will protest what they will describe as U.S. or Western obstruction.

Together, the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, account for 45 percent of global energy emissions. As the preceding analysis demonstrates, these nations play a major role in shaping the speed of global climate action and the outcomes at climate talks. At COP28, look for both nations to be somewhat on the defensive, despite the recent U.S.-China statement on enhancing climate cooperation.

China should be doing more to wean itself off of coal, and its failure to commit to doing so—assuming China stands firm—will erode its claim to global leadership. The United States is now the world’s leading producer of oil and gas, and lacks a broad societal consensus to wind down those industries, despite positions taken by president Biden and John Kerry. The United States, in addition, should be doing more to mobilize funds for climate action in the developed world. Growing global awareness that the United States lacks political will on climate finance is undermining confidence in U.S. leadership once more, despite Biden’s numerous domestic climate policy victories. Each country is playing for global hearts and minds. Whereas China paints itself as fighting for developing countries to secure additional climate finance from the United States and other donor nations, in the Biden administration the United States positions itself as leading the charge to create a coherent global response to the global stocktake, including by securing more action from China. This year’s climate summit may provide an indication of which power has the upper hand on climate geopolitics.

[dekhocampus11]

National Institute of Technology

Established in 1963 as a Regional Engineering College, NIT Kurukshetra was conferred the status of an Institute of National Importance in 2008. Located in the historic city of Kurukshetra, Haryana, approximately 160 km from Delhi, the institute offers a serene and conducive environment for academic and personal growth.

Academic Programs

NIT Kurukshetra offers a diverse range of undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs:

Undergraduate (B.Tech): Civil, Computer Science, Electrical, Electronics & Communication, Mechanical, Industrial Engineering & Management, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and Mathematics & Computing.

Postgraduate (M.Tech): Specializations in Structural Engineering, Power Systems, VLSI Design, Thermal Engineering, and more.

MBA: Specializations in Marketing, Finance, Human Resource Management, and Information Technology.

MCA: Master of Computer Applications.

Ph.D.: Offered in various disciplines across Engineering, Sciences, and Humanities.

Admissions

B.Tech: Admission is based on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main scores, followed by JoSAA counseling. Eligibility requires a minimum of 75% aggregate marks in Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, and mathematics.

M.Tech: Admission is through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) scores. Non-GATE candidates may be considered based on academic performance.

MBA: Admission is based on CAT or JMET scores, followed by Group Discussion and Personal Interview.

MCA: Admission is through the National Institute of Technology MCA Common Entrance Test (NIMCET).

Ph.D.: Admission is through an institute-specific entrance test and interview.

Campus and Infrastructure

NIT Kurukshetra's campus is organized into three functional sectors: instructional buildings, hostels, and residential areas for staff. The infrastructure includes:

Library: A spacious library with over 100,000 books, 6,028 back volumes, and 2,800+ online journals.

Centre of Computing and Networking (CCN): A centralized facility providing 24/7 internet access, email services, and online test infrastructure.

Senate Hall: A state-of-the-art conference-cum-canteen facility for seminars and workshops.

Sports Complex: Facilities for basketball, volleyball, lawn tennis, badminton, racquetball, cricket, football, and a 400m athletic track.

Hostels: 12 hostels (9 for boys and 3 for girls) equipped with modern amenities.

Health Centre: Provides OPD services, dental care, laboratory tests, pharmacy, and emergency services.

Placements

The Training and Placement Cell at NIT Kurukshetra facilitates internships and placements for students. In the 2024 placement session:

B.Tech: 590 students placed with an average package of ₹12.68 LPA and the highest package of ₹64.28 LPA.

M.Tech: 197 students placed with an average package of ₹11.19 LPA.

MBA: Offers placements with packages ranging from ₹3 LPA to ₹38.87 LPA.

Top recruiters include Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Google, Amazon, Flipkart, and others.

Research and Innovation

NIT Kurukshetra is actively involved in research projects funded by DST, MHRD, CSIR, AICTE, and UGC. The institute focuses on emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and sustainable development. Collaborations with industries and academic institutions enhance research output and innovation.

Rankings

As per the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024, NIT Kurukshetra is ranked 81st among engineering institutions in India.

Conclusion

National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra stands as a premier institution offering quality education, robust infrastructure, and excellent placement opportunities. With a focus on research, innovation, and industry collaboration, it prepares students to meet global challenges and contribute to technological advancements. The institute's commitment to excellence makes it a preferred choice for aspiring engineers and technologists.

[newstfionline]

Sunday, June 1, 2025

A Canadian prairie city virtually deserted as fires rage and thousands more evacuees expected (AP) The Canadian prairie city of Flin Flon was virtually deserted and more evacuees were expected, Manitoba’s premier said Friday, as wildfires raged in the province. Premier Wab Kinew told a news conference that the mayor, councilors, health-care staff and other officials have had to depart Flin Flon, a city of 5,000 people. “The only folks remaining on the ground are firefighters and folks in the office of the fire commissioner and RCMP, who are there to battle the blaze,” Kinew said. The evacuees are among 17,000 people reported so far to have left their homes due to a number of wildfires burning in remote regions from Manitoba’s northwest to the southeast. The resulting smoke has blanketed parts of seven U.S. states. Canada’s wildfire season runs from May through September.

Administration Knew Vast Majority of Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted of U.S. Crimes (ProPublica) The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data that has not been previously reported. President Donald Trump and his aides have branded the Venezuelans as “rapists,” “savages,” “monsters” and “the worst of the worst.” When multiple news organizations disputed those assertions with reporting that showed many of the deportees did not have criminal records, the administration doubled down. It said that its assessment of the deportees was based on a thorough vetting process that included looking at crimes committed both inside and outside the United States. But the government’s own data, which was obtained by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and a team of journalists from Venezuela, showed that officials knew that only 32 of the deportees had been convicted of U.S. crimes and that most were nonviolent offenses, such as retail theft or traffic violations. The data indicates that the government knew that only six of the immigrants were convicted of violent crimes.

Some facts on Chinese students in the U.S. (NYT) The administration says it wants fewer Chinese students in the United States. What will revoking many of their visas mean? Here are a few figures and facts to put the move into context: Of the 1.1 million international students in the U.S. during the 2023-24 academic year, some 277,000 were from China. (Only India sent more, 331,000. The number of Chinese had dropped 4 percent from the prior year, while the number from India surged 23 percent. The share of students from abroad at 193 U.S. colleges and universities has doubled since the start of the 21st century, to 15 percent from about 7 percent. Overall, international students contributed about $43 billion to the economy in 2023-24, mostly through tuition and housing fees, according to NAFSA, an education group. The most educated Chinese students stay in the U.S. after graduation. One study found that 90 percent of Chinese graduates of Ph.D. programs in science and tech fields from 2000 to 2015 were still in the country in 2017.

The Northwest’s energy problem (OPB) The Pacific Northwest has an energy problem. Oregon and Washington are pushing to increase renewable sources, but much of the sun and wind that would power the grid is in the eastern part of the states, hundreds of miles from the population centers on the coast. There isn’t enough transmission capacity, so electricity costs have skyrocketed, and officials are warning of rolling blackouts as they cope with an overloaded grid. Due to bureaucratic and financial snafus, the region has been slow to build transmission lines that the states need. The Bonneville Power Administration (the federal agency that owns most power lines in the area) built more than forty-eight hundred miles of high-voltage transmission lines from 1960 to 1990—but in the past five years, it has managed to put up just one mile.

The country that made smoking sexy is breaking up with cigarettes (AP) Brigitte Bardot lounged barefoot on a Saint-Tropez beach, drawing languorous puffs from her cigarette. Another actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo, swaggered down the Champs-Élysées with smoke curling from his defiant lips, capturing a generation’s restless rebellion. Yet beginning July 1, if Bardot and Belmondo’s iconic film scenes were repeated in real life, they would be subject to up to €135 ($153) in fines. After glamorizing tobacco for decades, France is preparing for its most sweeping smoking ban yet. The new restrictions, announced by Health Minister Catherine Vautrin, will outlaw smoking in virtually all outdoor public areas where children may gather, including beaches, parks, gardens, playgrounds, sports venues, school entrances and bus stops. “Tobacco must disappear where there are children,” Vautrin told French media. The freedom to smoke “stops where children’s right to breathe clean air starts.”

Trump spurs questions about safety of Germany's gold in New York (Reuters) The safety of Germany’s gold reserves held overseas and in New York in particular, until recently mainly a talking point for the country’s far-right party and gold bugs, is becoming a matter of public debate with Donald Trump back in the White House. The Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, has the world’s second largest stock of gold at 3,352 tons. One-third of it is stored at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for reasons dating back to the Cold War and the monetary system created in the wake of World War Two. Those holdings have occasionally attracted scrutiny in the past, but U.S. President Donald Trump’s confrontations with longstanding allies over trade and security, and his attacks on the Fed, have revived the issue in recent weeks. “Trump wants to control the Fed, which would also mean controlling the German gold reserves in the U.S.” Michael Jaeger, the Taxpayers Federation’s vice-president, told Reuters. “It’s our money, it should be brought back.” Markus Ferber, an influential member of the European Parliament for Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats, said the United States was “no longer the reliable partner it used to be.” “Trump is erratic and one cannot rule out that someday he will come up with creative ideas how to treat foreign gold reserves,” he told Reuters.

Poland’s presidential runoff (AP) Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election on Sunday between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner will succeed President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome will determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. The vote comes amid heightened regional tensions driven by Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine, security concerns across Europe and internal debates about the rule of law. It follows a first round on May 18, in which Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski won more than 31% of the vote and Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian, earned nearly 30%. Eleven other candidates were eliminated.

What It’s Like to Work Outdoors in India’s Brutal Heat (Bloomberg) It’s 7 a.m. as Nemi Chand loads concrete fencing poles onto the back of a rusty tractor in India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan. The temperature is already 31C (87.8F). During India’s brutal summers, which run from roughly March to June, farming anything in the arid state is difficult. So the 30-year-old laborer is filling the dead months running errands and carrying out maintenance work at the farm where he’s worked since he was 15. “Nothing will grow in this heat,” Chand says. “There’s still a lot of work that I want to finish before the sun’s on my head.” He adjusts the white cotton cloth that’s wrapped around his glistening forehead and pulls it across his face to guard against dust, before climbing onto the tractor and setting off across a stretch of empty fields. Chand knows he has only four hours before the rising temperature forces him indoors. Extreme heat is a growing health risk in many countries around the world, but it’s particularly lethal in India, where about 75% of workers—380 million people—toil in environments that have limited or no cooling, from construction sites to farms and factories. While this year hasn’t broken records, maximum temperatures in India have soared above 45C for nine consecutive years. Readings above 40C are commonplace in many parts of the country and once you add in humidity, the temperature can become intolerable. It’s a reality that’s forcing anyone working outdoors to adapt. As temperatures approach a threshold of what’s considered livable for humans, hundreds of millions of outdoor workers are at risk.

Syrian leader faces challenge of foreign militants who helped him win power (Washington Post) When Syrian insurgents rode victorious into Damascus late last year, their rebel leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was relying, in part, on thousands of foreign fighters to help overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship. Six months on, Sharaa is president, and the continued presence of those same Islamist militants, who came from as far afield as Europe and Central Asia to join the revolution, could now pose a profound challenge to his political survival. Sharaa has appointed some of them to top positions in the Defense Ministry and suggested that many in the rank and file might receive Syrian citizenship, but the Trump administration is demanding that all of these foreign fighters be kicked out as a condition for easing of U.S. sanctions that have crippled Syria’s economy. While Sharaa seems intent on keeping a contingent of foreign allies around him, some of these hardline Sunni Muslim militants are already making trouble for him. According to monitoring groups, some of the fighters who participated in a rampage two months ago through Syria’s coastal communities, killing hundreds of members of the Alawite religious minority, were foreign militants. These sectarian tensions threaten to destabilize Sharaa’s fragile transition.

In Emaciated Children, Gaza’s Hunger Is Laid Bare (NYT) The starvation of Gaza can be measured in the jutting ribs of a 6-year-old girl. In the twig-like thinness of her arms. In the pounds she and those around her have lost. In the two tomatoes, two green chili peppers and single cucumber a destitute child can buy to feed his family that day. Until last week, Israel had blocked all food, fuel and medicine from entering the Gaza Strip for 80 days, attempting to pressure Hamas into releasing the Israeli hostages it still holds as negotiations over a cease-fire remain deadlocked. With international alarm surging over its total blockade, Israel allowed in a drip of aid starting last week. That enabled some bakeries to reopen. But humanitarian officials said it did little to alleviate Gaza’s enormous needs and to stop the territory’s slide toward famine. Limited amounts of food began being distributed to residents on Tuesday under a much-criticized plan backed by Israel. In northern Gaza, cut off by Israeli troops from the rest of the territory, hundreds of thousands of people are reduced to waiting for hours for charity-kitchen food that runs out too soon and to digging boreholes for water to drink, unsanitary though it might be. There is never enough.

Floods kill at least 111 in northern Nigeria (AP) The deaths came after torrential rains and a dam collapse flooded Mokwa, a market town in central Nigeria, which serves as a key hub where southern traders buy food from northern farmers. Flooding routinely kills hundreds of people each year across the country, worsened by poor drainage, blocked waterways, and unregulated construction.

[kavidudinal]

Why Sabaragamuwa University is a Great Choice.

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) is increasingly recognized for its technological advancement and innovation-driven environment, making it one of the leading universities in Sri Lanka in terms of technology. Here are the key reasons why SUSL stands out technologically.

🔧 1. Faculty of Technology

SUSL established a dedicated Faculty of Technology to meet the demand for tech-skilled graduates.

It offers degree programs such as:

BTech in Information and Communication Technology

BTech in Engineering Technology

These programs blend theory with hands-on lab and project experience.

🖥️ 2. Advanced IT Infrastructure

SUSL has modern computer labs, smart classrooms, and high-speed internet access across campus.

A robust Learning Management System (LMS) supports online learning and hybrid education models.

Students and lecturers use tools like Moodle, Zoom, and Google Classroom effectively.

🤖 3. Support for Innovation and AI

SUSL promotes AI, Machine Learning, IoT, and Data Science in student research and final-year projects.

Competitions like Hackathons and Innovative Research Symposia encourage tech-driven solutions.

Students develop apps, smart systems, and automation tools (e.g., Ceylon Power Tracker project).

🌐 4. Industry Collaboration and Internships

The university partners with tech companies and government initiatives to provide:

Real-world internships

Tech workshops

Joint R&D projects

These experiences prepare students for careers in software engineering, networking, and data analytics.

💡 5. Smart Campus Initiatives

SUSL is working toward becoming a Smart University with:

Digital student portals

Online registration and results systems

E-library and remote resource access

Campus Wi-Fi for academic use

🎓 6. Research in Emerging Technologies

Ongoing research in:

Agricultural tech (AgriTech)

Environmental monitoring using sensors

Renewable energy systems

Students and faculty publish research in international journals and participate in global tech events.

🏆 7. Recognition in Tech-Based Competitions

SUSL students often reach fina rounds or win national competitions in coding, robotics, AI, and IoT innovation.

Faculty members are invited as tech advisors and conference speakers, reinforcing the university's expertise. Sabaragamuwa University is not just keeping up with technology it’s actively shaping the future by integrating technology into education, research, and operations. This makes it a technological leader among Sri Lankan universities.

Visit the official university site here: Home | SUSL

[bachelorofhotelmanagement]

Best PhD in Engineering College in Jaipur — Why SGVU Stands Out

Are you searching for the Best PhD in Engineering College in Jaipur? Look no further. In the heart of Rajasthan’s educational hub, Suresh Gyan Vihar University (SGVU) has emerged as a premier destination for doctoral studies in engineering. With world-class infrastructure, a robust research culture, and a student-centric approach, SGVU is the top choice for aspiring scholars aiming to contribute meaningfully to the field of engineering.

Why Pursue a PhD in Engineering?

A PhD in engineering opens doors to advanced research, teaching opportunities, and high-impact roles in industry and academia. It equips scholars with in-depth knowledge, problem-solving skills, and the ability to drive innovation in specialized domains such as computer science, civil, mechanical, electrical, and electronics engineering.

SGVU: The Best PhD in Engineering College in Jaipur

Suresh Gyan Vihar University has consistently proven its excellence through its commitment to quality education and research. Here’s why SGVU is widely regarded as the Best PhD in Engineering College in Jaipur:

1. NAAC ‘A’ Grade Accreditation

SGVU is one of the few private universities in Rajasthan to receive an ‘A’ grade from NAAC, reflecting its high academic standards and dedication to continuous improvement.

2. Experienced Faculty & Research Guides

The university boasts a team of highly qualified faculty members and research supervisors who are experts in their respective fields. They provide personalized mentorship and ensure scholars are guided effectively throughout their research journey.

3. Advanced Research Facilities

SGVU offers state-of-the-art laboratories, well-equipped research centers, and access to top journals and databases. This empowers scholars to conduct groundbreaking research across various branches of engineering.

4. Interdisciplinary Research Opportunities

The university promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, allowing PhD candidates to work on innovative projects that intersect with multiple domains like data science, AI, renewable energy, and smart infrastructure.

5. Flexible Learning & Supportive Environment

SGVU provides flexible timelines, structured coursework, and regular seminars to ensure a smooth PhD experience. The university’s focus on student well-being and academic support adds to its appeal.

6. Strong Industry Linkages

With tie-ups and collaborations with top industries and research institutions, SGVU offers opportunities for sponsored research, internships, and industry-based dissertations.

7. High Research Output

The university encourages publication in Scopus-indexed journals and international conferences, making it a hub for high-quality, globally recognized research.

Specializations Offered in PhD (Engineering) at SGVU

Computer Science Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Civil Engineering

Electronics & Communication Engineering

Electrical Engineeringand more…

Each program is designed to foster analytical thinking, innovation, and academic excellence.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right university for your doctoral studies is crucial, and SGVU provides the perfect ecosystem to nurture your research aspirations. With its exceptional faculty, top-tier facilities, and a track record of academic excellence, SGVU undoubtedly offers the Best PhD in Engineering College in Jaipur.

Whether you’re a working professional, a recent post-graduate, or someone with a passion for research, Suresh Gyan Vihar University offers a path to realize your potential and make a lasting impact in the field of engineering.