#Wales News

[aeolianblues]

THERE ARE NO TORIES LEFT IN WALES

[briery]

An endangered Greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) runs happy and free in the feral predator-proof fenced area in Pilliga National Park, northern New South Wales, Australia. (Larger 1, 2).

[maureen2musings]

warrenkeelan

[aestum]

(by Caleb Smith)

[reasonsforhope]

"In an open-air courtroom set up in a nature reserve in Western NSW, a four-nation clan has secured one of the largest native title claims in the region's history. 

Far from the four walls and formalities of a federal courtroom, Justice Melissa Perry delivered her determination at Newey Reserve in Cobar on Wednesday, recognising the native title rights of the Ngemba, Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan and Wayilwan peoples.

The decision marks the successful end of a 12-year legal battle that began in 2012.

The claim covers more than 95,000 square kilometres of land and water from the Barwon River in the north, to the Lachlan River in the south, the Castlereagh River in the east and Ivanhoe to the west. 

It recognises native title rights including the right to hunt, fish and gather resources, the right to access and camp on land and right to protect places of cultural and spiritual importance.

A legacy for future custodians 

Aunty Elaine Ohlsen, a Ngiyampaa Elder from Cobar and one of the original applicants, said the decision brought her "mixed emotions".

"I just persevered," she said.

"We've been through a lot of trials and tribulations to get here, but I'm someone who won't give up fighting for our people."

"These sorts of things need to happen all the time, because we need to know who we are and where we come from and where we are in this country."

Aunty Elaine hopes the determination will inspire future generations to continue their ancestors' legacy.

"Hopefully, this will encourage them to stay connected to their country, heritage, and culture, and to carry on the hard work we've done," she said.

Vision for the future

Wangaaypuwan man and claim applicant John Shipp recently camped on country with four generations of his family.

He said the recognition of native title meant they could continue to do so without fear of being moved on.

"It's just those little things that give us our connection back to our land, our heritage, our culture," he said.

The native title holders have now formed the Ngemba, Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan Wayilwan Aboriginal Corporation (NNWW Corporation) to manage their rights.

As a director of the NNWW Corporation, Mr Shipp sees the determination as the beginning of a new chapter...

As for Mr Shipp's message to other Indigenous groups fighting for recognition?

"Keep going — it's getting better, it's getting shorter, it's happening, just keep going," he said."

-via ABC News Australia, August 14, 2024

[unteriors]

Tindale Street, Muswellbrook, New South Wales.

[shirmirart]

"It's 2024, and nobody knows they're engaged"

Happy New Year!! ✨🎆💫

[lionofchaeronea]

Sadder than a single star that sets at twilight in a land of reeds, Sydney Long, 1899

[mysharona1987]

[catherinetheprincessofwales]

The Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis with Michael and Carole Middleton playing cards. The Princess of Wales has released a video message announcing that she has completed her chemotherapy and is now in remission. 9 September 2024.

[gachakoi]

So pumped for egghead dude

[hetalianhistorian]

This week's illustration features England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland for Gangsta!!

Source link: https://shonenjumpplus.com/episode/17106567255038008710

No new chapter this week! However, a full illustration featuring Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland for their designs has been released!

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Ghost Mushrooms

A group of ghost mushrooms, Omphalotus nidiformis, which grow and then disappear quickly, on warm nights after a few rainy days in coastal forests, Gerroa, NSW, Australia.

Photograph: Ashley Sykes

2023 Nature Conservancy photo contest

[fritzmonorail]

The doctor really spent the entirety of season 10 trying to get to the worst planet ever just so he could show Jo a really cool rock. And when he managed to drag himself back in one piece Jo was just like “oh yeah cool, goodnight.”

[allthegeopolitics]

Students at Swansea University in Wales have won a commitment from the university administration to divest from Barclays Bank, which is alleged to be complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported. The decision came after a 28-day campus protest against Barclays, which is said to provide billions in loans to companies that provide weapons to Israel. It is one of the most significant concessions won by pro-Palestinian protesters yet. The university administration has also committed to ensuring that all of its investments follow an ethical investment policy. Moreover, it says that it will change the scholarship policy so that Palestinian students can access the process, and will not suppress any political speech on campus. According to the website of Britain’s Socialist Workers Party, the chancellor of the university has put these commitments in writing through an email to the students. The move was welcomed by the Palestine Society at Swansea University, which described it as an “important victory” as a result of their just demands. The society suggested that the university should also call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which is one of the student protesters’ demands.

Continue Reading.

[reasonsforhope]

Double dose of articles about how crime is actually plummeting

From the UK:

"Seventy-eight per cent of people in England and Wales think that crime has gone up in the last few years, according to the latest survey. But the data on actual crime shows the exact opposite.

As of 2024, violence, burglary and car crime have been declining for 30 years and by close to 90%, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) – our best indicator of true crime levels. Unlike police data, the CSEW is not subject to variations in reporting and recording.

The drop in violence includes domestic violence and other violence against women. Anti-social behaviour has similarly declined. While increased fraud and computer misuse now make up half of crime, this mainly reflects how far the rates of other crimes have fallen.

All high-income countries have experienced similar trends, and there is scientific consensus that the decline in crime is a real phenomenon.

The perception gap

So why is there such a gulf between public perception and the reality of crime trends? A regular YouGov poll asks respondents for their top three concerns from a broad set of issues. Concern about crime went from a low in 2016 (when people were more concerned with Brexit), quadrupled by 2019 and plummeted during the pandemic when people had other worries. But in the last year, the public’s concern about crime has risen again.

There are many possible explanations for this, of which the first is poor information. A study published in 1998 found that “people who watch a lot of television or who read a lot of newspapers will be exposed to a steady diet of crime stories” that does not reflect official statistics.

The old news media adage “if it bleeds, it leads” reflects how violent news stories, including crime increases and serious crimes, capture public attention. Knife crime grabs headlines in the UK, but our shock at individual incidents is testament to their rarity and our relative success in controlling violence – many gun crimes do not make the news in the US.

Most recent terrorist attacks in the UK have featured knives (plus a thwarted Liverpool bomber), but there is little discussion of how this indicates that measures to restrict guns and bomb-making resources are effective."

-via The Conversation, May 13, 2024

And the United States:

"[The United States experienced a spike in crime rates in 2020, during the pandemic.] But in 2023, crime in America looked very different.

"At some point in 2022 — at the end of 2022 or through 2023 — there was just a tipping point where violence started to fall and it just continued to fall," said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst and co-founder of AH Datalytics.

In cities big and small, from both coasts, violence has dropped.

"The national picture shows that murder is falling. We have data from over 200 cities showing a 12.2% decline ... in 2023 relative to 2022," Asher said, citing his own analysis of public data. He found instances of rape, robbery and aggravated assault were all down too.

Yet when you ask people about crime in the country, the perception is it's getting a lot worse.

A Gallup poll released in November found 77% of Americans believed there was more crime in the country than the year before. And 63% felt there was either a "very" or "extremely" serious crime problem — the highest in the poll's history going back to 2000.

So what's going on?

What the cities are seeing

What you see depends a lot on what you're looking at, according to Asher.

"There's never been a news story that said, 'There were no robberies yesterday, nobody really shoplifted at Walgreens,'" he said.

"Especially with murder, there's no doubt that it is falling at [a] really fast pace right now. And the only way that I find to discuss it with people is to talk about what the data says." ...

For cities like San Francisco, Baltimore and Minneapolis, there may be different factors at play [in crime declining]. And in some instances, it comes as the number of police officers declines too.

Baltimore police are chronically short of their recruitment goal, and as of last September had more than 750 vacant positions, according to a state audit report...

In Minneapolis, police staffing has plummeted. According to the Star Tribune, there are about 560 active officers — down from nearly 900 in 2019. Mannix said the 2020 police killing of George Floyd resulted in an unprecedented exodus from the department...

In Minneapolis, the city is putting more financial resources into nontraditional policing initiatives. The Department of Neighborhood Safety, which addresses violence through a public health lens, received $22 million in the 2024 budget."

-via NPR, February 12, 2024