SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " civ " 951 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Debate stays civil: disagreement over war, health care, affordability
Health care and the war with Iran separated the two candidates running for Iowa's 4th Congressional District during a debate Wednesday night that featured extended civility between the two candidates.
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation announces Sports, Democracy, and Civic Health Initiative
The Reimagining Democracy Program at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation has announced an expanded initiative examining how professional sports and fandom can strengthen civic health and democratic life in the United States. Led by Tova Wang, Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice at the Ash Center, the Sports, Democracy and Civic Health program brings together scholars, election officials, democracy advocates, professional sports organizations, leagues, athletes, and civic organizations. The initiative will explore how the shared identity and sense of belonging fostered by sports can build trust, reduce polarization, encourage civic participation, and strengthen connections across differences.
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation announces Sports, Democracy, and Civic Health Initiative
The Reimagining Democracy Program at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation has announced an expanded initiative examining how professional sports and fandom can strengthen civic health and democratic life in the United States. Led by Tova Wang, Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice at the Ash Center, the Sports, Democracy and Civic Health program brings together scholars, election officials, democracy advocates, professional sports organizations, leagues, athletes, and civic organizations. The initiative will explore how the shared identity and sense of belonging fostered by sports can build trust, reduce polarization, encourage civic participation, and strengthen connections across differences.
Candidates keep Iowa’s 4th District debate civil despite policy differences
Republican Chris McGowan and Democrat Dave Dawson disagreed on several issues but also found common ground during their first major debate of the election cycle, hosted by KTIV in Sioux City.
UN Decade of Healthy Ageing midpoint report finds progress, calls for greater investment
New evidence in the Secretary-General's report to the 81st UN General Assembly, prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in coordination with the UN system, finds more countries acting on healthy ageing than ever before – but longer lives will not become healthy, dignified ones without faster, more sustained investment at country level.(NEW YORK, 28 September 2026) The Secretary-General transmitted to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly the mid-term progress report on the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), marking the midpoint of the ten-year global effort to improve the lives of older people. The report was prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in coordination with the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing and with inputs from thirteen UN entities, the World Bank Group and civil society partners. It finds real progress in countries – and persistent gaps that must close before 2030.The number of people aged 60 and over passed 1 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050, with the fastest growth in low- and middle-income countries. Longer lives are not automatically healthy ones: globally, the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at age 60 widened between 2000 and 2023, and an estimated 71% of excess deaths from COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023 were among people aged 60 and over. “Longer lives are one of humanity’s great achievements, but we cannot congratulate ourselves while leaving millions without health and support,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director, Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO. “The first half of the Decade has shown what is possible. The second half must be about scaling and financing the progress to meet the needs and rights of older persons.”Real progress, unevenly sharedThe report finds that more countries than ever now have legislation against age-based discrimination – up from 44.5% in 2018 to 57.7% today – and over half now have national long-term care policies, up from 49% in 2023 to 56.7%, dedicated programmes to build age-friendly environments (54.6%), and comprehensive health and social assessments of older people (54.6%). New WHO guidance on services for long-term care and for Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) delivered in communities is enabling systemic change as an increasing number of countries incorporate these services within national universal health care benefit packages. A host of UN agencies and other partners support training, increasing health workforce competencies and use of digital health tools.“This report shows the Decade of Healthy Ageing is working,” said Dr Ritu Sadana, Head of the WHO Secretariat for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. “More countries are legislating against ageism, providing integrated care, strengthening long-term care systems, and creating age-friendly environments than ever before, in all regions and income levels. But progress is uneven and in one area, regressive: fewer countries report active multi-stakeholder forums on ageing, down from 53.1% in 2020 to 43.3% today. The second half of this Decade must turn commitments into results, in every country.”The financing gap: this Decade's binding constraintFinancing remains the binding constraint: more than a third of reporting countries (33.8%) have very little or no dedicated resources to develop long-term care, with similar shortfalls across the Decade’s other priority areas. Less than half of countries (45.4%) have legislation providing access to assistive devices (including hearing aids, spectacles or rollators), which are key to enabling older people to maintain productive, independent and dignified lives. Only 22.7% of countries can track older people’s health over time – the largest gap across the Decade’s core progress indicators. Nationally representative information is needed in each country, as policies and interventions cannot be designed as if all older adults of a given age share similar needs and capacities. The report calls for sustained investment through national budgets, country-owned plans, development cooperation and innovative financing mechanisms to fully close these gaps by 2030.“The Decade was designed as a whole-of-UN effort, and this report shows it in action,” said Amal Abou Rafeh, Chief of the Programme on Ageing Section at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and Permanent Co-Chair of the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing. “Thirteen UN entities, the World Bank group and civil society organizations contributed to this report, with WHO as the lead technical and implementing agency. That is the model of coordination the second half of the Decade will need to scale, with countries leading legislation, funding and implementation, engaging older people.”“Investing in healthy ageing is not simply a cost; it is one of the highest-return investments a government can make,” said Fiona Stewart, Global Lead for Ageing and Pensions at the World Bank Group. “Countries that invest early in integrated and long-term care see savings that outweigh the upfront cost many times over. The evidence in this report makes the economic case; what is now needed is predictable financing at country level to act on it, along with efforts to support older entrepreneurs and the silver economy.”Older people's own voicesThe report also draws on the direct experience of older people themselves, including a multilingual global survey conducted by the International Federation on Ageing that reached more than 1000 older people across 58 countries. WHO and UN partners called on Member States to use the second half of the Decade to accelerate implementation, strengthen data systems, and secure the financing needed so that the gains of longer lives reach older people everywhere. About the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030)Proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 2020, the Decade is a global collaboration bringing together governments, UN agencies, civil society, the private sector, academia and older people themselves to improve the lives of older people, their families and communities. It is coordinated by the World Health Organization together with the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing. The Decade's mid-term progress report was transmitted to the General Assembly by the Secretary-General, prepared by WHO, and is available in 6 languages.Full Report available: A/81/366 Implementation of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030): Note by Secretary-General [ العربية | 中文 | English | Français | Pусский | Español
Student voters say they feel disconnected from politics, candidates, political campaigns
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the 2026 election will fill more than 577 positions, ranging from the U.S. Senate – Ohio to county officers like Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge. Students at the University of Dayton are split on whether they plan to vote, with some citing it as their civic duty and others feeling...
Civility in politics is in short supply. Former Georgia leaders say it still matters
Civility in politics can feel lost right now. But for some former Georgia elected officials, disagreeing while still finding common ground remains essential to governing and to maintaining public trust […]
Reintroducing ‘By The Horns,’ a Column for the Local Government Nerd in You
INDY’s Justin Laidlaw is here to help readers get a grip on politics and civic life in Durham.
The Color Purple
Temple Civic Theatre will present "The Color Purple" starting Thursday. For information and tickets visit templecivictheatre.com.
State hopes to prevent suicides through new and expanded partnerships
Wisconsin is increasing efforts to prevent suicide by training more mental health professionals and healthcare workers.
Hegseth directs military service academies to immediately stop giving tenure to civilian professors
Military academies won\'t give tenure to civilian faculty, Hegseth says
The Defense Department has decided to stop appointing civilians as tenured faculty at U.S. military academies. Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo Tuesday outlining the change, saying he wanted to
The CEO Center Calls on Business Leaders to Support Trusted Elections and Civic Participation Ahead of 2026 Midterms
/PRNewswire/ -- As the 2026 midterm elections approach, The CEO Center of The Conference Board is calling on business leaders to help strengthen confidence in...
The smuggled resource funding Sudan's civil war
Sudan has historically been the top producer of gum arabic. Experts say smuggled gum arabic is funding the civil war.
Dunwoody College of Technology to Launch Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
/PRNewswire/ -- As demand for civil engineers continues to grow nationwide, Dunwoody College of Technology today announced the expansion of its School of...
Michigan got $173M to transform rural health. Where is it going?
Some rural healthcare leaders say the first round of funds allocated from the Rural Health Transformation Program don’t go far enough to stabilize their industry amid federal cuts.
Hegseth says NSA, military cyber forces will guard election systems in midterms
But the defense secretary's announcement comes after Trump gutted the civilian agency specifically created to safeguard election infrastructure
Hegseth says NSA, military cyber forces will guard election systems in midterms
But the defense secretary's announcement comes after Trump gutted the civilian agency specifically created to safeguard election infrastructure
Hegseth says NSA, military cyber forces will guard election systems in midterms
But the defense secretary's announcement comes after Trump gutted the civilian agency specifically created to safeguard election infrastructure
New exhibit chronicles Tom Golisano’s business and philanthropic legacy
The Golisano Institute in Buffalo unveiled a permanent exhibit honoring founder Tom Golisano’s business, philanthropy and civic leadership legacy.
Ukraine’s Academy of Sciences warns against Russian cooperation after attack
The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has urged the international scientific community not to “restore or legitimise institutional cooperation with Russian state scientific and educational structures,” after a Russian drone hit its Presidium building in central Kyiv, killing at least two people and injuring several others. The drone strike took place in the early afternoon on September 28 while staff were working.The academy called the strike, one of several Russian attacks on Ukraine’s capital using jet-powered drones in recent days, an act of terrorism. “It is a strike [. . .] on the very idea that knowledge, research, and the search for truth should serve life, not its destruction,” it said in a statement.The academy thanked the global scientific community for its solidarity following the attack and warned against any temptation to normalise scientific relations with Russia.“Science cannot exist outside of moral responsibility. There can be no ‘ordinary scientific cooperation’ with a state that kills people and destroys scientific institutions of another country,” it said.“We urge not to create opportunities for Russian state institutions to return to the international scientific community as if nothing happened. There can be no ‘science beyond politics’ when science is attacked with weapons.”After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Europe almost entirely cut institutional ties and joint programmes with Russian science, although personal academic contacts are still ongoing.Related articlesRussia widens targeting of European research centresHow geopolitical rifts cut scientific collaborationThe European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA), for instance, continues to exclude the Russian Academy of Sciences from its network.ALLEA condemned the latest attack as a “barbaric act” and part of a broader “systematic targeting of Ukraine’s scientific and cultural infrastructure.” This is a “deliberate attempt to erase the conditions under which free inquiry, knowledge, and democratic life are possible,” it said in a statement.Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, more than 4,650 educational institutions across Ukraine have been damaged, and a further 423 have been destroyed, according to ALLEA.National academies across Europe joined ALLEA in condemning the attack. “Science is about the pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of humanity, so this is an attack on civilisation itself,” said Paul Nurse, president of the UK’s Royal Society.Attacks on scientific, university and cultural institutions “are attacks on the foundations of society and constitute a clear violation of international law,” wrote the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.The presidents of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine also released a joint statement condemning the attack and pledging to continue to support the Ukrainian research community.The targeting of the Ukrainian academy prompted outcry from European leaders. “Today, science became a target for Russia,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on social media.“These strikes are the latest illustration of the Russian regime’s hostile contempt for science and truth,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
Protect College Sports Act gains Senate approval in bipartisan vote
The Protect College Sports Act took its next step forward on Monday, with the Senate voting overwhelmingly 77-22 in favor of the proposed federal legislation reforming college athletics.
Europe Condemns Russian Strikes on Kyiv Science Academy and Medical Center
European leaders condemned Russian attacks on Kyiv that hit the National Academy of Sciences, a medical center and other civilian sites.
Former Ukrop’s CEO Jim Ukrop dies at 89
Jim Ukrop, former Ukrop’s Super Markets CEO and Chairman, dies at 89 after decades of business and civic leadership in Richmond, Virginia.
Bobby Kotick’s lawyers sent me a bad email (and later apologized)
The message I had received was unsettling—for a moment. Then it was just really confusing. Back on January 20 of this year, at 5:15pm ET, I received an email with the subject line “Legal Correspondence re Bobby Kotick.” It was from the law firm Clare Locke, a firm I’d heard had been emailing reporters in recent years about their coverage of Kotick, the former, longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard. The letter was threatening. A lawyer from the firm introduced themselves as “defamation counsel to Bobby Kotick.” They issued a “demand” that I “correct” a Game File article I’d published a week prior. The article that had irked them had been a scoop of sorts. I’d written about a a 2022 lawsuit brought by a Swedish pension fund, AP7, over Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The suit wasn’t news, but I was first to review and report about Kotick’s extensive pushback to the fund’s claims. The pension fund’s core contention was that the sale had been rushed by Kotick to avoid the consequences of sexual misconduct scandals swirling around the company in 2021. (He’d not been accused of misconduct himself in those suits, to be clear.) As I wrote at the time, Kotick had denied the allegations of the rushed sale. Beyond that, Kotick used a December 2025 reply to the Swedish fund’s lawsuit to assign blame for those workplace scandals, the bad press and even for the AP7 lawsuit. I’d found Kotick’s arguments novel and newsworthy. Across nearly 3,000 words, I explained Kotick’s take: that a Swedish gaming company was behind the Swedish fund’s lawsuit (the Embracer group; they denied it); that the Microsoft-Activision deal was not rushed and was secured at what Kotick felt history had proven to be an optimal price for shareholders; that he believed a conspiracy of people at unions government agencies, PR firms and the media had spun up claims of widespread workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard in 2021. The article gave context for all of this, letting readers assess the claims and weigh their credibility. As I’d later write to Kotick’s lawyers: I would be surprised if you could point to any news article about Bobby Kotick in the last five years that has spent more of its wordcount articulating his point of view. He is welcome to do an interview with Game File any time. Nonetheless, there they were in my inbox that Tuesday evening: Clare Locke, the law firm that secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News over false statements about voting machines. They were emailing me, threatening that failure to comply with their demand could support a claim of “actual malice,” a legal standard for libel. Unless… Unless, they said, I added a key paragraph to my article. This was a paragraph that I already knew Kotick’s lawyers had been emailing reporters about for at least a year, and it was a paragraph that was already in my article. The paragraph they wanted is from a 2023 settlement that California’s Civil Rights Department struck with Activision Blizzard. The settlement had closed a two-year-old lawsuit over alleged sexual discrimination at the game maker. The paragraph basically said that claims of systemic or widespread sexual harassment—or of execs like Kotick tolerating such behavior—had never been proven. I’d already seen proof that Kotick’s lawyers had pushed for the settlement’s language to be added to reports about 2021 sexual discrimination and misconduct lawsuits brought against Activision Blizzard by California and, separately, by the U.S. federal government (both suits were since settled). I knew that Kotick and his lawyers felt that the California settlement language should be mentioned in the same breath as references to an article he hated and denied, a November 2021 Wall Street Journal article claiming Kotick knew “for years” of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard. So, in the Game File article that Clare Locke emailed me about, in the interest of ensuring I was being fair and balanced regarding the person I was covering, I had already included the following excerpt from the California settlement [emphasis added in bold]: (Kotick has repeatedly pushed back against that November article in the Wall Street Journal, citing among other things, language from a court-approved consent decree as part of Activision’s 2023 $54 million settlement over the California suit. It states: “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard [or] that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic harassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”) On the evening of January 20, I was incredulous. How do you write a four page legal threat about a week-old article and miss this? While scrambling to also make my kids dinner, I wrote a lengthy reply to Clare Locke’s lawyers, basically asking them to cool it with the threats and to start making sense. In part, I wrote: I hope you can understand why I am having trouble understanding what you’re asking for, when the statement you’re demanding to see in Game File’s article already appears in Game File’s article. Actual malice, as you know, refers to a reckless disregard for the truth. I’m not sure what your argument is when my article already states your client’s position. Here is where I should remind you, the reader, that I am an independent journalist. I publish on Substack, and have availed myself of the Substack Defender program that provides writers on the platform with legal support. But I’m no Wall Street Journal or New York Times, nor even IGN or GameSpot when it comes to such things as, well, having a legal department. There are more fun things for me to do as an independent journalist than writing back to a powerful law firm representing a very rich person. On the evening of January 20th, I was just trying to cook some pasta, broccoli and chicken nuggets for hungry twins. Nevertheless, I wrote back to them. Two hours later, I got a reply. Summarizing: A lawyer for Clare Locke said they’d “reviewed an incomplete version” of my article and they “apologize for the confusion.” (My guess: Someone didn’t read past the piece’s paywall, even though they’d had a full week to scrounge up the funds to do so. What I’d published above the paywall was balanced, as was what came after.)1 That was almost that, but something about the situation bothered me. The letter had been marked “confidential.” I hadn’t agreed to that, and I disliked the idea that powerful people on the beat that I cover would act like they could unilaterally control what I might tell my readers about. On the morning of the 21st, having already gotten the powerful law firm to back off, I oh-so-wisely re-approached them with just one more thing. I thanked them for clearing things up the night before but noted that I’d never agreed to keep their letter confidential. I’m all for agreeing with a source to keep things off the record, but that’s the thing. We have to agree. You can’t just declare it. I’m not bound by that. I wrote to Clare Locke’s lawyer and said, in part: I trust the matter is resolved. It was disappointing to have to spend less time with my kids last night in order to address your legal letter. Family time’s precious. I will add, for clarity’s sake, that, while your letter stipulated that it was confidential, I did not agree to those terms. In the future, should you wish to communicate with me confidentially, I am happy to agree to classifying our communication as “off the record” prior to the actual communication—as is standard with any professional journalist. The firm’s lawyer replied, not directly addressing the confidentiality issue but asserting that the matter was resolved. Why I didn’t write about this until now In May, I told this story on an episode of Simon Parkin’s podcast My Perfect Console, but I held off on sharing it directly with Game File readers. I held off to avoid stepping on the toes of another reporter, the journalist Mikhail Klimentov. He’d interviewed me in the spring of 2025 about an investigation he was working on regarding Bobby Kotick lawyers pressing the media to add the California settlement language to stories referencing the 2021 lawsuits. And about how some outlets had changed their stories and how some simply deleted them. Initially, I was a third-party source for Klimentov’s reporting, providing on-the-record context about the state of the games media. I’d heard about the letters but hadn’t put the time into pursuing the story. I thought it was interesting, and I was glad he was covering it. When the outlet that Klimentov was going to run his reporting in dropped the story, I began talking to him about potentially publishing his reporting on Game File. This was tentative. Then, in January, when I got my own Clare Locke letter, I told Klimentov that I didn’t think it would make sense for me to publish him, not with me now being part of the story. I had my own version of this situation to tell. But I wished him well and said I’d refrain from telling my tale until he could get his reporting out there. Last Friday, Klimentov finally ran his investigation, in a nearly 48-minute video report for People Make Games. It covers various Clare Locke letters, how media outlets reacted to them and what to make of all this. His video weighs the merits of Kotick’s request and looks at some of the articles that were changed (one of which had a glaring error). I highly recommend watching it: (Note, I did some editorial consulting for a People Make Games video last year but nothing to do with this report.) While many outlets haven’t left any public evidence that they updated their Kotick coverage at Kotick’s counsel’s request, at least one has. Back in October 2025, the mainstream outlet Reuters applied the most transparent article update I’ve seen. On the 3rd of the month, they published an article about the state of the Swedish pension fund’s lawsuit. Days later, they added this: In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick’s defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit” to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. I’ve never added a statement to my article on Game File, because none was needed. Not for fairness’ sake, nor to meet any demands of Kotick’s lawyers. I’ve nevertheless wanted to be transparent with Game File readers. If someone powerful is questioning my reporting, is threatening a lawsuit over it… if that threat is part of a pattern involving other games media outlets and if, in my case, the whole thing ran into a ridiculous ditch, I want you to know about it. I also share this as a real example of how I handle threats to Game File. I stand up for my own reporting, even when it’s not comfortable to do so. (In that same category of standing up for the work I do, I’ll point to an incident in late August. Asocial media post I published to X/Twitter regarding reporting I did about Take Two and GTA VI was hit by bogus copyright claim by a firm working for the publisher. I pushed back and got it reversed; even while a bigger games media outlet let themselves be censored. This is the other reason I’m sharing this story: To emphasize that dealing with threats from powerful people is one of the costs of covering the video game industry independently and as fearlessly as possible. This is where you come in. Your support, through free and paid subscriptions (sign up here!), can help me keep doing that. It can ensure that I’ve got the back-up I need. And it can help make fiascoes like this even less of a worry, so I can spend my evenings dealing with more important things, such as making sure I steam the kids’ broccoli just right. 1 That pension fund lawsuit I wrote about in January has all but gone away. In May, the fund and Activision Blizzard owner Microsoft agreed to settle. Lawyers for the fund brokered a $250 million settlement for former Activision Blizzard shareholders. In the settlement, the fund’s lawyers changed their rhetoric. Where once they’d questioned the meaning of the California settlement language, they adopted a version of it for themselves. Several weeks ago, while seeking to get a court to sign off on the terms of the settlement, they proposed their fee for their work in the case: $60 million.
Commentary: Civic preparedness has never been more critical
Comprehensive civic education is necessary to navigate our digital democracy and excel in postsecondary pursuits.
How a UTC professor is helping first-year chemical engineering students explore career paths
What does a chemical engineer do? How can a student prepare for medical or pharmacy school? Where can students find people and resources to help answer those questions? Dr. Bradley Harris, head of UTC’s Department of Civil and Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), is helping students begin those conversations through A Moc’s First Year, a campuswide program designed to help incoming first-time, full-time undergraduates make connections to UTC, Chattanooga and one another.
Honolulu Zoo Elephants Are Healthy, Active And Loved
Mari and Vaigai have also developed strong bonds with the people who care for them.
Neal Milner: Cowardice Isn’t Limited To Trump Sycophants
A new book details the spineless power players in the Trump world. But Hawaiʻi has its own cowardly behavior, rooted in a culture of avoidance.
Civil Rights photographer sees echoes of past in South Carolina debates
Civil Rights photographer Cecil Williams says South Carolina has made progress, but new debates over race and representation remain.
Civil Rights photographer sees echoes of past in South Carolina debates
Civil Rights photographer Cecil Williams says South Carolina has made progress, but new debates over race and representation remain.
Iran Condemns Attacks on Yemen’s Civilian Targets
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned military attacks on various parts of Yemen that have killed and wounded scores of civilians and caused extensive damage to the country’s infrastructure, particularly deadly airstrikes on a market in Taiz.
Officials praise Jim Ukrop, local business legend, who died Friday at 89
Perhaps best known for helping grow his family’s Ukrop’s Supermarkets grocery store chain into a beloved Richmond institution, Ukrop also made his mark in philanthropy, banking, venture capital and as a civic booster.
See the brilliance: Dunn artist creates and sells glass artwork that shines brightly
Cindy Akers-Gilford creates stained glass, fused glass, mosaics, handmade glass jewelry, pendants, suncatchers and other original glass artwork in her studio in Dunn, N.C. Photos provided by Cimply Broken.Self-made Artist and Founder of Cimply Broken, Cindy Akers-Gilford is helping people “see the brilliance” in all things with her glass artwork. Akers-Gilford started her business right after she retired from 20+ years as a civilian contractor at Fort Bragg. The official opening date for Cimply Broken was Nov. 8, 2021.“It’s been quite the adventure ever since. Not only did I have to learn how to manage a small business, but I’ve never taken a class in stained glass or anything I currently do,” shared Akers-Gilford. Her work includes stained glass, fused glass, mosaics, handmade glass jewelry, pendants, suncatchers and other original glass artwork.“I chose glass art just by happenstance. I saw a video on YouTube with a gentleman using plates and resin to make beautiful windows. I used that idea and created a simple picture frame-sized piece for myself. It was beautiful. I put it up in my window and pretty much forgot about it for a few days. Well, one beautiful sunny morning I went up to my studio, and the sun was rising and the light was shining beautifully through that piece. It was absolutely stunning. I thought that it was the perfect reflection of how God’s light shines through each of us. It was broken glass, so it changed ever so slightly as the sun continued to rise in the sky. I thought it poignant – like each of us – we all shine bright and differently in God’s glorious light, and we are all simply broken as well. We are all made beautiful in his light,” explained Akers-Gilford.The name of the business was inspired by the artist’s name and her faith-driven mission. “Simply became ‘Cimply’ as a play on my name and ‘simply’… and ‘Broken’ because we are all Cimply Broken – but each of us is beautiful,” added Akers-Gilford.Akers-Gilford sells her glass art at the Dunn Farmers Market when the weather is bearable, but mostly from her website at www.cimplybroken.com. “I enjoy getting lost in the creative process. I work out of my home, and I often compare my studio to Walmart returns after Christmas time. It’s hectic, busy and there are always at least 10 things being created simultaneously- it is fun!” shared Akers-Gilford. Her goal for the business is to continue to watch customers as they spot a piece of work from a distance and walk up to it in awe. “That is my biggest joy! I don’t speak to them until they speak – that is their moment to ‘See The Brilliance,’ which is my moniker,” shared Akers-Gilford. She also shared she would love to someday become part of an artist collective in Dunn.
WHO recognizes healthy, innovative cities across the Western Pacific Region
Nine Healthy City champions from across the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region received special recognition at an awarding ceremony during the 11th Global Conference of the Alliance for Healthy Cities in Sydney, Australia.The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has presented the Healthy Cities Recognition Awards every two years since 2004 to celebrate innovative and impactful city-led initiatives that improve the health and well-being of urban populations.Eight cities received awards for their best practices, and one National Forum received the WHO Regional Director’s Special Award in recognition of its long-standing leadership in advancing the Healthy Cities movement.Awardees were selected through a rigorous evaluation process and recognized for demonstrating measurable, innovative and sustainable approaches to health challenges faced by cities.Remarking on the significance of the awards, Dr Huong Tran, Director of the Division of Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Control at the Regional Office, said that, “There is no single blueprint for a healthy city. What works in one context may need to be adapted to another. But by sharing our experiences, including what worked, what was challenging, and what we learnt along the way, we can help one another move faster and further.”Award-winning cities and initiativesThis year's awards recognize outstanding city-led initiatives that have demonstrated measurable impact, innovation and sustainability in advancing health initiatives for urban populations.Baguio City (Philippines) – Data for equity: informing action, improving healthDr Donnabel Tubera-Panes, City Epidemiologist – Medical Officer IV of the Health Services Office accepted the award on behalf of Baguio City. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisBaguio City was recognized for developing a pioneering Livability Index that provides village-level data across all 128 barangays (villages), enabling evidence-based planning and more equitable allocation of resources. By integrating community participation and institutionalizing the index within city planning and budgeting processes, the city has demonstrated how data can drive action to reduce health and social inequities.Eunpyeong-gu (Seoul, Republic of Korea) – Communities living in vulnerable situations: advancing health equity through community engagementVice Mayor Honourable Ahn Hyoung Jun accepted the award on behalf of Eunpyeong-gu. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisEunpyeong-gu was recognized for its inclusive health equity programme supporting vulnerable populations, including isolated older adults and LGBTQI+ communities. Through peer-led community networks, social cooperatives and inclusive service design, the district has strengthened access to care, promoted social inclusion and advanced community ownership of health initiatives.Madiun City (Indonesia) – Adapting and mitigating climate-related crises: building heat resilience and preventing flood-related health risksMs Yuni Dwi Purwani, Secretary General of the National Forum for Indonesian Healthy Cities/Regencies, accepted the award on behalf of Madiun City. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisMadiun City was recognized for its SUPERMIE (Sustainable Public Environmental Management Initiative) – a community-based environmental governance model that addresses urban flooding, climate resilience and environmental sustainability. The initiative contributed to reductions in flood-prone areas, greenhouse gas emissions, diarrhoeal disease and dengue fever, while at the same time improving food security through neighbourhood food gardens. The programme has already been replicated in 15 cities and regencies across Indonesia.Macao Special Administrative Region (China) – Protecting communities from tobacco and alcohol-related harms: tackling commercial drivers of riskDr LO Iek Long, Director of the Health Bureau, Macao SAR, China accepted the award on behalf of Macao. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisMacao SAR was recognized for implementing a comprehensive and integrated approach to tobacco and alcohol control. Through legislation, monitoring systems, enforcement, public awareness campaigns and multisectoral partnerships, the programme has strengthened protection against major risk factors for noncommunicable diseases and established a model that is highly transferable to other urban settings.Phnom Penh Capital City (Cambodia) – Safe, active and health-enabling transport: advancing health and reducing inequities in urban mobilityH.E. Khoung Sreng, Governor of Phnom Penh Capital City accepted the award on behalf of Phnom Penh Capital City. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisPhnom Penh received the award for its Safe School Zone Project, which combines infrastructure improvements, speed management, enforcement, education and stakeholder engagement to protect children and communities. The initiative has demonstrated measurable reductions in crashes and vehicle speeds while providing a scalable model for safer urban mobility across the country.Quezon City (Philippines) – Transforming food environments: addressing policy, market and urban design drivers of health and nutritionMs Jirah Asa M. Sideco, Chief of the Nutrition Section of the Quezon City Health Department accepted the award on behalf of Quezon City. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisQuezon City was recognized for its public food procurement policy that promotes healthier diets through government-run institutions and feeding programmes. Supported by strong policy frameworks and monitoring systems, the initiative improves access to nutritious food for vulnerable populations while serving as a benchmark for other local governments.Samarinda City (Indonesia) – Preventing violence and promoting gender equality: transforming urban systems, norms and spaces Mrs Rinda Wahyuni, Chairperson of Samarinda Healthy City Forum accepted the award on behalf of Samarinda City. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisSamarinda City was recognized for its multisectoral approach to preventing violence and advancing gender equality. Responding to local evidence on violence against women and children, the city has positioned violence prevention as a public health priority, bringing together health services, schools, social welfare institutions, law enforcement, civil society and community leaders to strengthen prevention, reporting, survivor-centred support and legal protection. Through inclusive policies, community engagement and sustainable city financing, Samarinda has developed a locally owned and scalable model for creating safer, more equitable and inclusive urban communities.Singapore – Age-friendly cities: transforming systems to bridge generations for a healthier tomorrowDr Tan Weng Mooi, Director, Integrated Health Promotion, accepted the award on behalf of Singapore. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisSingapore received recognition for its Healthy Precinct Framework, which translates national healthy ageing priorities into neighbourhood-level action. The initiative integrates preventive care, social support, service coordination and age-friendly environments while actively engaging older persons, caregivers and community organizations. Its expansion across multiple precincts demonstrates its scalability and long-term sustainability.WHO Regional Director’s Special AwardNational Forum for Indonesian Healthy Cities/Regencies (Indonesia)Ms Yuni Dwi Purwani, Secretary General of the National Forum for Indonesian Healthy Cities/Regencies, accepted the award on behalf of the National Forum. Photo credit: Maria BoyadgisThe WHO Regional Director's Special Award was presented to the National Forum for Indonesian Healthy Cities/Regencies (FKKSI) in recognition of its long-standing leadership in advancing the Healthy Cities movement across Indonesia. As a national platform bringing together local governments, communities, academia and civil society, FKKSI has played a critical role in promoting collaboration, capacity-building, knowledge exchange and advocacy. Its efforts have strengthened and institutionalized healthy urban development nationwide and established a model for multisectoral engagement in the Region. Healthy Cities for allThe 2026 Healthy Cities Recognition Awards highlight how cities can lead transformative action on health by addressing climate change, inequity, ageing, nutrition, mobility, social inclusion, violence prevention and the commercial determinants of health. The recognized initiatives demonstrate that local governments, communities and partners can work together to create healthier, safer and more resilient urban environments for everyone. As urban populations continue to grow across the Western Pacific Region, WHO remains committed to supporting cities in advancing health, equity and sustainable development through the Healthy Cities approach and the Alliance for Healthy Cities. ###Note to editorsSince 2004, the WHO Healthy Cities Recognition Awards have provided a platform for cities to share innovative and effective approaches to improving health and well-being. The awards recognize achievements in areas including climate resilience, healthy ageing, health equity, gender equality, tobacco and alcohol control, urban mobility, nutrition and data-driven governance. In 2026, more than 150 submissions were received from cities and local governments across the Western Pacific Region. The titles and affiliations of awardees are presented as they were at the time the photo was taken.______________For more information, or to arrange media interviews, contact: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific: wprocom@who.int
VOICE OF BUSINESS: Dayton area businesses have a big stake in election
Dayton area businesses invest capital, time, talent, reputation, and passion in building companies and creating jobs that employ our families, neighbors, and friends. The decisions made by elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels can shape the environment in which our businesses operate, grow and compete. For business leaders, civic engagement is an important part of protecting those investments and helping shape the future of the Dayton region.
Metallurgy Enters a New Era as AI-Designed Alloys Redefine the Science of Metals
Metallurgy, the science that has underpinned human civilisation for more than six and a half thousand years, is undergoing a transformation so profound that researchers are calling it a new era for the field. From the first hammered copper tools of antiquity to the superalloys
“A true business and civic leader,” Jim Ukrop, former CEO of Ukrop’s Markets, dead at 89
For the next 25 years, the 500-square-foot market grew to over 10,000 square feet.
In science fiction thriller, civil engineer focuses on our vulnerabilities in the age of AI
J. Luke Bennecke's book, "Blackout" blends science fiction with real U.S. infrastructure vulnerabilities.
Why joining local groups in Kansas is key to fixing politics
Civic health depends on joining groups. Here is why rebuilding social capital is vital for our democracy.
Saudi Arabia Open to Possibly Developing Nuclear Weapons
An intelligence assessment examined Saudi Arabia’s military ambitions as Congress reviews a new civilian nuclear deal between the U.S. and the kingdom.
Disney star Dove Cameron marries Italian rock star Damiano David
On Thursday, 30-year-old Dove Cameron married 27-year-old Damiano David in a civil ceremony at the town hall in Montalcino, Italy.
Tennessee-based company CoreCivic names new CEO, leadership steps down for health reasons
Leadership is changing at CoreCivic after the company announced Friday Patrick D. Swindle, previous president and CEO, is stepping down for health reasons.
Muslim Americans push back as Republican politicians stoke anti-Sharia rhetoric ahead of election
Muslim American civic leaders and scholars — in Texas and other states — are responding forcefully to this latest surge in anti-Sharia rhetoric that dates back more than 15 years.
Angie Nixon’s campaign runs through the labor, Civil Rights movements
Nixon’s rise comes as Democrats, Black activists and legal scholars say the gains of the Civil Rights Movement are under attack.
Look Upstream: AI, Federal Data, and the Politics of What Gets Counted
The US federal government is expanding AI use in high-stakes decisions that affect people’s civil rights, privacy, health and safety, access to education,
Emory launches Center for Civic Reasoning to foster constructive dialogue
Emory University’s new Center for Civic Reasoning will prepare students for democratic citizenship through courses that study how to engage in constructive disagreements around issues related to politics and daily life.
Voting Is a Minnesota Business Issue
In a challenging election environment, supporting employees’ ability to vote is more than a civic gesture.
High school student starts Brazoria Civic Watch to make politics more accessible
Local high school student in Clute
Is metascience being co-opted?
In July, the White House released a report that argued academia is deeply dysfunctional and in need of radical reform.Science: A New Golden Age sets out a litany of problems many academics will recognise: interminable waits for grants; short-term funding rather than support for longer, more ambitious projects; ballooning administrative requirements; pressure to publish, and many more. “The scientific machine is getting bogged down,” it says. At least on the face of it, Science: A New Golden Age is a triumph for the metascience movement, a loose-knit, global group of academics, philanthropists and think tankers that want far more testing and experimentation in how we fund public research and innovation. The report tells US research funders to set up internal metascience units to do just this. But it has also set alarm bells ringing that metascience is being conveniently deployed to help justify the defunding of US universities, which US vice president JD Vance has openly labelled “the enemy.” “Just because you have an issue with your plumbing in your house doesn't mean you light the entire house on fire and burn it to the ground,” said Colette Delawalla, chief executive of Stand Up for Science, a group campaigning against what it says are attacks on scientists by the Trump administration. No one is arguing that academia doesn’t need reform, but there’s debate over how far and how fast the system should be shaken up. Does public R&D need slow and steady evidence-based adjustment, or radical new experiments?One of the key arguments in Science: A New Golden Age is that there’s not enough funding for what it calls “mid-level” science: engineering-heavy projects that require tens of millions of dollars, involve ten to a hundred people, and last around five years. Such a project might develop a brain-computer interface for people with Alzheimer's disease, for example. As such, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has already announced $1.5 billion to set up so-called X-Labs, effectively new research organisations to pursue breakthroughs in areas such as quantum sensing and new scientific instruments. Funding divertedBut there’s a catch: this money has squeezed NSF budgets for more traditional, fundamental research grants, Science reported in June, likely meaning less cash for university-based scientists. Science: A New Golden Age also makes various swipes at universities, accusing them of extracting overheads from scientists to fund administrative bloat. “We have become dependent on a narrow set of legacy institutions,” it says. The report doesn’t mention it, but the US government is simultaneously seeking greater powers over federal funding, which would allow political appointees at funding agencies to screen or cancel research grants mid-project. The White House is also seeking to slash the NSF’s budget by more than half in 2027, although similar cuts proposed for 2026 were blocked by Congress. Convenient hookThis has worried some that the metascience agenda could be misused as a kind of smokescreen to further weaken universities. James Wilsdon, executive director of the Research on Research Institute at University College London, said that the report contains lots of “interesting ideas” and agrees that in places, academia is a “pretty broken system.” But the risk is that metascience is being deployed as a “convenient hook” to support cuts and a “political land grab” to transfer grant power from scientists to political appointees in US funding agencies.So far, the metascience agenda hasn’t been seized on by radical right parties in Europe. But Wilsdon worries it will cross the Atlantic, politicising research reform efforts and making them more difficult to carry out. The report is already making some in Europe sceptical of the entire idea. “The system is not without flaws, but the metascience discussion is not likely to improve the system but rather to generate munition to undermine it,” said Claes de Vreese, a professor of AI and society at the University of Amsterdam. Peter Thiel protégéOfficially, Science: A New Golden Age has just one named author: Michael Kratsios, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and a former chief of staff to Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel. He also served as chief financial officer of Thiel’s Clarium Capital Management. Since the 1990s, Thiel has criticised US universities for moving away from teaching what he views as the classic works of western civilisation, and drifting towards “anti-Western zealotry.” And since 2011, he has offered two-year fellowships of $250,000 to young people to skip or drop out of university, and instead start companies or pursue scientific research. “College can be good for learning about what’s been done before, but it can also discourage you from doing something new,” according to the Thiel Fellowships website. In other areas, the Trump administration has promoted academics with a longstanding interest in metascience. For example, the head of the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya, in 2020 co-authored a study arguing the funder backs overly conservative proposals, although he achieved wider prominence as a critic of pandemic lockdowns. Careless talk costs fundingEven before the Trump administration embraced the metascience agenda, some metascientists privately wondered whether they should be careful not to overstate dysfunctions in academia, in case this gets used as ammunition against universities. But others think being cautious with criticism is pointless. After all, last year, the Trump administration sought to cut funding from US universities on an entirely different premise: supposed antisemitism on campus. “I don't think these governments need a technical metascientific excuse to attack the universities, they will want to do so anyway,” said Will Stone, a researcher at Science Works, a new think tank advocating for a “metascience revolution” in the UK. “I think researchers should report what they find, even when the findings may be used to advance policies they disagree with,” echoed Russell Funk, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, who in 2023 co-authored a highly influential paper that argued scientific papers were becoming less disruptive over time. No justificationThat said, Funk thinks that metascientific research certainly doesn’t justify a weakening of universities. Instead, scientists need “time, resources and stability to pursue unfamiliar ideas,” he said. “Taking away those conditions works against the very goal the reforms are supposed to achieve.”The Institute for Progress, a Washington DC-based innovation policy think tank that has championed X-Labs and metascience units, also says that reforms should complement, not supplant, universities. “Unpredictable, unreliable, and reduced federal funding to researchers is destabilising to the very foundations of research and development and is bad,” said Jenn Gustetic, the institute’s director of metascience and R&D policy.Evolution or revolution?This points to a much bigger divide in the metascience community: how far and how fast should public R&D be shaken up? Does it need evolution or revolution? For example, Science: A New Golden Age says the science system relies too heavily on traditional “workhorse” project grants, the type that pay out around $250,000 a year to fund “hypothesis-driven science by small teams on tractable questions.” However, in criticising project grants, the report “decisively picks one side of a debate that is far from settled,” David Hilmer Rex, a metascientist based in Denmark, has written. In June, Pierre Azoulay, a metascientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, defended project grants, saying that the alternative of X-Labs “merits scepticism.”A-B testingOne challenge in metascience is that it’s easier to generate evidence for some types of change than others. Most straightforwardly, research funders can run A-B tests on different ways of awarding money. For example, Germany’s Volkswagen Foundation recently trialled distributed peer review, where applicants rate each other’s proposals, and measured its results against traditional review panels. Distributed peer review made quicker decisions, although awarded money to largely different ideas. However, much of the focus of the metascience movement has been on founding fast-moving and free-acting new research organisations and funders, in contrast to the alleged stodginess of mainstream academia or public innovation grants. A culture of speed and freedom are the animating principles behind Germany’s Sprind or the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria).Related articlesViewpoint: it's time to experiment with how Europe funds science European researchers sound the alarm that Trump rule changes will hit cooperationHowever, while it’s possible to closely study previously successful bodies, such as the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), for historical clues to their secret sauce, it’s impossible to guarantee in advance that the likes of Sprind or Aria will actually work as hoped. But advocates of new organisations say this inherent uncertainly shouldn’t stop us trying. “If we wait for definitive proof that something will work before we try it, I don't know where your proof is coming from,” said Stone. Trade-offsUp until now, experiments in metascience haven’t generally come with hard trade-offs over money. In the US, new ideas such as focused research organisations have often been funded by billionaire philanthropists. In Europe, new innovation agencies such as Sprind and Aria, or the Netherland’s new National Agency for Disruptive Innovation, haven’t needed explicit cuts elsewhere in the research system. But with the $1.5 billion establishment of X-Labs by the NSF, the trade-offs are becoming clearer. Some metascientists privately wonder whether a smaller pilot would have been more appropriate, given that the idea is untested. The Institute for Progress counters that the $1.5 billion X-Labs budget is spread out over a decade, so will account for less than 2% of the NSF’s annual budget. “It’s important to remember that [Darpa] was once an institutional experiment as well. Now it’s one of the most cited innovative funding models in the world,” said Gustetic.As for Europe?The US isn’t the only country placing metascience at the heart of its research strategy. Science: A New Golden Age looks admiringly at the UK, which in 2024 set up a Metascience Unit to scrutinise how it funds research. In Brussels, it’s more of a mixed picture. In 2018, the EU set up the European Innovation Council to funnel grants and equity to start-ups, although it’s sometimes criticised for awarding money too slowly. Recently, the council has started experimenting with challenges, where teams of inventors compete to overcome a technological challenge. The European Commission also wants to experiment with partially randomising grant winners, to cut down on bureaucracy. However, the Commission’s own advisers have said the EU’s own research schemes are too conventional. They want the Commission to establish a new dedicated unit to scrutinise and experiment with funding. But there’s no sign of a such unit emerging in Brussels’ plans for the next Horizon Europe programme, which from 2028 is set to distribute more than €160 billion over seven years. Sam Bogerd, director of breakthrough innovation at the Brussels-based Arq Foundation, an AI-focused think tank that also looks at metascience, says that Europe might have the opposite problem to the US: universities and basic research funding are still reasonably well supported, but there’s not enough experimentation. “We're not taking a close enough look at where this money can achieve the most, and I am worried that the good ideas around metascience will be tainted politically by their association with the Trump administration,” he said. He’s still lobbying for the Commission to set up an experimental unit. But in the meantime, the Arq Foundation plans to do its own research, and is currently hiring two metascience researchers to run the rule over how Brussels spends research funding.
Civic Committee sounds alarm on city finances ahead of budget
As Johnson and the City Council get ready for what promises to be another chaotic budget process, the Civic Committee weighs in with some friendly but stern advice.
Civic Committee sounds alarm on city finances ahead of budget
As Johnson and the City Council get ready for what promises to be another chaotic budget process, the Civic Committee weighs in with some friendly but stern advice.
Calling all current and future scientists: Kiel is the place to be this week
This week, Kiel has become a meeting place for science in Europe. Researchers, school pupils, young scientists and members of the public are coming together through a series of major events led or co-organised by Kiel University.At the centre of it all are around 150 of Europe’s most talented young researchers, aged 14 to 20, who have travelled to Kiel from nearly 40 countries for the 37th European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS). Running from 22 to 27 September, the European Union’s flagship competition for young scientists brings together winners of national science competitions to present around 100 original research projects across fields ranging from engineering and computer science to medicine, environmental research and the social sciences. The winners will be announced at the Award Ceremony on Saturday.For Kiel University, hosting EUCYS is both an honour and a natural extension of a much longer story. Germany’s northernmost comprehensive university has invested for many years in supporting young scientific talent and bringing research into dialogue with society. The Kiel Science Factory gives school pupils opportunities to experience research first-hand, while programmes such as Rent-a-Scientist send researchers directly into local classrooms. Major annual public events including Kiel Week and the European Researchers’ Night take science beyond the campus through talks, exhibitions and hands-on activities.That long-standing commitment has increasingly taken on a European dimension – and this week, many of those efforts are coming together.One of the foundations for this success is the European Researchers’ Night (ERN), which celebrates its tenth edition in the Kiel region this year. The initiative is funded through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, with Kiel University developing the successful EU proposals and securing the funding, while regional partner KielRegion coordinates the many activities on the ground. Together with research institutions, schools, companies, local authorities and civil society, they have built ERN into a major platform for public engagement.Over the years, Kiel’s ERN programme has grown far beyond a single evening into a whole “Science Summer”, beginning with “Science Shopping” in spring and culminating tomorrow, 25 September, in Science Day.“We have developed a wide range of public engagement formats, often together with the other research institutions in the region, the city and regional authorities, schools, companies and civil society,” says Eckhard Quandt, Kiel University’s vice president for research, academic infrastructure and transfer. “Over the past decade, we have increasingly taken this commitment to the European level.”That combination of European funding expertise and strong regional partnerships also helped Kiel University take the next step. Drawing on its experience with ERN and its European networks, including the SEA-EU University Alliance, the university brought together Brest in France and Split in Croatia for a successful bid to the EU’s new Science Comes to Town initiative. Throughout 2026, the three cities are serving as Europe’s first Science Ambassadors, with more than one thousand activities bringing science into schools, public spaces, cultural venues and everyday life.EUCYS is perhaps the clearest example of how Kiel University is using Science Comes to Town to create new connections between major European initiatives. From the outset, the university deliberately planned the contest for the week of European Researchers’ Night and opened the EUCYS exhibition to the wider Science Day audience. Tomorrow, that means thousands of visitors can encounter the next generation of scientific talent first-hand, while the young researchers themselves gain a much bigger public stage.“Because we opened EUCYS up for European Researchers’ Night, there will be a lot of people actually visiting the exhibition,” says organiser Stefanie Altemark of Kiel University.“We wanted Europe’s most talented young scientists not only to compete with one another, but also to become visible to the wider public. At the same time, people in Kiel will have the opportunity to see what the next generation of scientists are already capable of,” says Quandt.“We’ve shown over the last years that science is a big part of Kiel, and it’s always been the goal to not only show that to people in Germany, but also to show it to people all over Europe. Thanks to Kiel University’s expertise in European funding programmes, we have been able to turn that ambition into reality,” says Sünje Fock, who is coordinating the Science Summer at KielRegion.The model is characteristic of Kiel University’s approach: combining European funding expertise and international networks with strong regional partnerships to give major initiatives greater reach and visibility.This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, giving Kiel University the special opportunity to welcome Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, Head of Department for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions at the European Research Executive Agency, to Kiel tomorrow. Her visit brings together two priorities that have shaped Kiel University’s work over the past decade: supporting researchers and bringing science closer to society. Debiais-Sainton emphasises how closely the two are connected: "For thirty years, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) have given more than 150,000 researchers the chance to pursue their dreams and open up new fields. Doctoral Networks and Postdoctoral Fellowships give them the freedom to move, to connect, to train and to follow their curiosity across borders, sectors and disciplines. But excellence cannot live only in laboratories. Researchers’ Night takes science out of the lab and into the city, to the families, the schoolchildren and the curious minds who will become the next generation. Kiel shows what that looks like at its best. That is the MSCA promise: open science, open borders, open doors."For Kiel University, these activities are not separate endeavours. They are part of a broader understanding of academic excellence in which outstanding research, talent development, international cooperation, knowledge transfer and engagement with society strengthen one another.“For me, one of the most important lessons from the past decade is that scientific excellence, knowledge transfer, talent development and engagement with society cannot be treated as separate tasks,” stresses vice president Quandt. “They reinforce one another.”That philosophy is also reflected in Kiel University’s current bid for Germany’s Excellence University status. The designation is part of Germany’s national Excellence Strategy, which provides substantial long-term funding to selected universities to strengthen internationally competitive research and their overall institutional development. A successful outcome would provide new opportunities to build on what has already been created: deepening international cooperation, creating more opportunities for knowledge exchange and public engagement, and extending the university’s reach across the region and beyond. “If we are successful, it would allow us to take what we have built in Kiel considerably further – including expanding our networks and transfer activities beyond the region and increasingly across the Baltic area,” says Quandt.This week’s events offer a glimpse of what that could mean in practice: a university using its research strength, European expertise and regional partnerships to create opportunities for scientists at every stage of their careers while making science more visible, accessible and exciting to the wider public.
UNC Charlotte launches NC Economic Impact Center
UNC Charlotte has launched a N.C. Economic Impact Center that university officials envision as a place businesses and others will come when they need reliable information fast. “We are going to be a center and a repository for local data, constantly updating data, so that business leaders and civic leaders can come to us for […]
This trippy new 'Star Trek' comic series may be perfect for the franchise's next feature film
Buckle up for Seven of Nine exploring a remote cluster of uncanny exoplanets, strange alien artifacts, long lost civilizations, and trippy paranormal anomalies.
Comic books politics: A case study on Ethan Van Sciver
Views Staff Writer Logan Walters examines why we should separate art from artists, using comic book artist Ethan Van Sciver as an example.
At Rutgers, Talking Across Difference Aims for Civil Dialogue in a Divisive Political Climate
An initiative at Rutgers University-New Brunswick is helping students develop the skills and confidence to engage in meaningful conversations during an era marked by political polarization, social division and declining trust in democratic institutions. Through Talking Across Difference, a program developed within the Rutgers Democracy Lab at the Eagleton Institute of Politics during the 2024-2025 academic year, students, faculty and staff are learning how to engage in productive conversations
Quality Behavioral Health named in $18.8M federal case alleging Medicaid fraud, forced labor
The federal government is seeking to seize nearly $18.8 million in cash, bank funds, and precious metals as part of a civil forfeiture case alleging a Detroit-area behavioral health provider defrauded Medicaid and used forced labor involving people receiving treatment.
Personnel note: Abigail MacIver, Genevieve Collins join Ace Political
The additions bring together three Americans for Prosperity veterans as the firm expands its work in Florida and Texas.
Harry Smith, Harlem Quartet featured in Des Moines Symphony season debut
The Des Moines Symphony will open its 89th season Saturday and Sunday with “Unity – American Mosaic & West Side Story” at the Des Moines Civic Center. The concerts will feature journalist Harry Smith narrating Peter Boyer’s multimedia work “American Mosaic,” as well as performances by the Harlem Quartet. “American Mosaic is a work of…
Voters, scientists say candidates should dig into environmental issues
Extreme weather events cost taxpayers and impact recreation and health, experts say.
Lunch Break Lecture: Keith Hebert to discuss the history of sports entertainment
BY ANN CIPPERLYFOR THE OBSERVER OPELIKA— Keith Hebert, the Draughon Professor of Southern History at Auburn University, will speak at the Lunch Break Lecture Series at noon on Sept. 30 at the Museum of East Alabama.He has published several award-winning books on the history of the Civil War, including “Cornerstone of the Confederacy,” which won […]
Urbandale to host Civility Dialogues event today
A community conversation focused on how people can disagree without losing the ability to work together and finding common ground will take place today at the Urbandale High School Performing Arts Center. The free Civility Dialogues event will feature Tom Vilsack, CEO of the World Food Prize Foundation and former Iowa governor and U.S. secretary…
The Club That Connects Hawai‘i
For 175 years, The Pacific Club has helped shape the Islands by bringing together generations of business, civic and community leaders
Perception Gaps: Why Misjudging Our Political Opponents Is Damaging American Democracy
Perception gaps — misunderstandings about our fellow Americans across the political spectrum — are damaging the fabric of our country. Correcting these gaps is essential to preserving the kind of democracy that respects free speech, individual dignity, and civic responsibility.At their core, percept...
Science provided advance information about the end of civilization What will happen on November 13, 2026?
Scientists have predicted that the end of the world is approaching, with the end of civilization projected before the end of 2026.
Opinion: A historic bridge still has to be a bridge
The landmark Cortland Street Bridge has been closed to cars for a year. A civil engineer argues preservation shouldn’t come at the expense of function.
City of Brooklyn Park, MN
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the third session of our Civic Engagement Education Series: Health & Well-being! We’re grateful to all of our dedicated staff, guest speakers, youth from...
As The Deadline Nears, Civil Society Urges Spain To Nominate María Neira As WHO Chief
With Thursday’s 24 September deadline looming, international scientific societies and civil society leaders are pushing Spain to sponsor a last-minute WHO Director-General nomination for Dr María Neira. Endorsed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Dr Carlos Ferreyra of Climate, Life and Health International, the petition urges Spanish ministers to register her candidacy before entries close.
Iran YouTube Stories: How Rash Decisions Have Plagued Iranian Politics
In an interview with Sobhan Yahyaei on the Panorama website, Morad Saghafi, a political science researcher and civic activist, argued th ...
Political Scholar Morad Saghafi Advocates Dialogue Over Rash Political Transitions
In an interview with Sobhan Yahyaei on the Panorama website, Morad Saghafi, a political science researcher and civic activist, argued th ...
Fine-Tuning — for the Universe or for Life?
Teetering on the brink of science fiction is the supposition that advanced civilizations would utilize black holes for energy sources.
Scientists Found 15,000-Year-Old Fingerprints from a Lost Civilization
A cache of 142 clay beads from Natufian sites in Israel preserved 50 fingerprints—many belonging to children—pushing the origins of ornament-making back thousands of years.
Whether you like it or not, celebrities have an impact on politics
The global groundswell of support for Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian advocacy serves to remind us that maybe celebrity activism really is that deep after all, writes Cheek’s Varsha Yajman. Subscribe In the last week, publications, podcasts, and influencers that have either rarely or never spoken about Israel’s genocide in Palestine have flooded my social feed. And it was all because singer Ed Sheeran and his team dropped Macklemore as his opener for saying “Free Palestine” on stage. Millions raised, millions speaking up in support of Palestine - all of this confirming my view that, whether I like it or not, celebrities do have an impact on political outcomes. And this is interesting when much of the time celebrity activism can induce an eye roll - I love to see Charli XCX pointing out a Palestinian flag in the crowd, but it’s hardly the bold symbol of allyship that some fans would make it out to be. But there’s a line between healthy scepticism and outright dismissal - and I’d argue that the latter lets the rich and powerful off far too easily. For instance, actress Jennifer Lawrence, once outspoken about her political views, last year told The Times she no longer believes celebrities have a role to play: “Celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for. So then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart.” While it’s a narrative she might find comfort in, it simply is not true. Grassroots movements often garner worldwide attention when celebrities and other high-profile spokespeople bring a mainstream platform to their causes. And this frustrates me. We have had three years of a live-streamed genocide. Macklemore himself has been calling for a Free Palestine long before he booked the Sheeran concert. Yet it’s the high-profile fallout of the last week that finally seems to have made saying “Free Palestine” socially acceptable in the mainstream. It feels like the collective mood has shifted, where calling out censorship is now the obvious response - not just the business of ‘radical’ activists. To recap, Sheeran’s decision followed an ultimatum from billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium, one of the venues Sheeran was scheduled to perform at: either drop Macklemore as your opener after only two of the eight scheduled shows, or you do not play at any stadiums. Sheeran’s disappointing decision to stand on the side of billionaire-led censorship has ultimately seen a surge in support for Free Palestine. It began when all his openers and his backing band pulled out of Sheeran’s tour, in solidarity with Macklemore and with the Palestinian cause. It was met with an uproar of support from those who had never or barely touched politics before: influencers lip-syncing to Macklemore’s music, singers like Jack Antonoff singing “Free Palestine,” and publications and podcasts standing with Macklemore. And finally, we saw material support: Macklemore donated $1 million in profits from his two nights opening for Sheeran’s tour to several Palestinian aid groups and called for Sheeran and Kraft to match it, which they have since promised to do. We’ve also seen children’s entertainer Ms Rachel follow suit with a $1 million donation to Palestinian aid, and publication PopBase has donated $10,000. Anera, a humanitarian aid group working in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan, said donations since Macklemore’s announcement were more than triple this month’s daily average. The group’s Instagram page has also gained 8,000 followers. Macklemore far from the first celebrity to speak and participate in politics in the Western World. In 1924, singer Al Jolson supported Republican candidate Warren G. Harding for president, and decades later, celebrities such as Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, and Aretha Franklin voiced their public support for the Civil Rights movement. More recently, in the lead-up to the 2024 US election, ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah partnered with the organisation Power the Polls to recruit poll workers to address shortages- a problem disproportionately affecting voters of colour. The campaign saw 170,000 new sign-ups - 35,000 of which came directly through the TV show’s link - resulting in the recruitment of 713,000 total poll workers that year, an almost three-fold increase on the organisation’s goal. Alongside recruiting workers, celebrities in the US (where voting in elections is not compulsory) have made a huge difference by calling for people to register to vote. Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris in 2024 saw over 400,000 visitors on the voter registration site within 24 hours of her Instagram post. In 2023, Swift had urged her fans to register, resulting in 35,000 new voter registrations. Similarly, Ariana Grande promoted voter registration in 2019 by setting up booths at concerts on the American leg of her tour, resulting in over 33,000 voters registering. And the same thing is happening closer to home. This year, musician Jack River successfully called for government action to ensure creatives in Australia do not have their work scraped by generative AI companies. Celebrity as the mediator between the punter and the politician Celebrity activism isn’t just a feel-good news story - research tells us it actually makes a difference. By directing attention to issues affecting the average person, like voting inaccessibility or a lack of action on a genocide, researchers Alfred Archer and Amanda Cawston state that “celebrities can play a useful bridging role between political elites and the people they represent”. Alternatively, in a world where talking about politics is “not cool,” or where people lack exposure or knowledge to engage with politics, celebrities can act as an educational resource or an entry point into the political world - when they speak up about an issue, their audience gets exposed to it. Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival is a perfect example. Rodrigo partnered with twelve organisations focused on women’s issues, such as reproductive rights. These organisations had stalls at the festival for people to meet them and were also featured heavily on social media, giving their issues global attention and raising $20 million for the organisations. We have also seen celebrities at award shows such as the Emmys wearing F*CK ICE pins, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s treatment and detainment of people - generally people of colour. When celebrities speak up about political issues in public forums, they put the issue at the forefront of mainstream media, rally their supporters, and make it clear that, however much they disagree, the government cannot simply ignore it. Our over-reliance on celebrities versus our politicians As much as I love seeing my favourite celebrity use their platform for a good cause, there is an important question to ask: not whether celebrity activism is good or bad, but whether we should have to rely on celebrities. And the answer would, in an ideal world, be no. In an ideal world, or merely a just world, action on Palestine would’ve happened decades ago, climate change would be taken seriously, and most importantly, people would understand their democratic rights. However, that is not our reality. Only around 28 per cent of Australian Year 10 students reach proficiency in civics and citizenship. In the US, almost two-thirds of people under 30 say high school civics education didn’t prepare them to understand voting deadlines, how to research candidates, or how to vote by mail. When civics education is weak, our trust in these institutions and our understanding of change-making processes also decline. This is where celebrity steps in and becomes our main source of reliance. As Mary R. Connelly notes in _The Tartan, “_Celebrities will always be involved in campaigns in one form or another, but their presence is not what causes people to vote blindly. The lack of political engagement and literacy is what allows celebrities to wield their influence on the political sphere so impactfully.” About the author Varsha Yajman is the Digital Content Producer at Cheek Media. She is a youth advocate and lawyer with a background in climate litigation and is passionate about looking at the intersection between race, climate justice, and mental health. Thanks for reading Cheek Media Co. ! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share
Israeli settler shot dead in West Bank before Yom Kippur
Israeli civilian shot dead in West Bank as tensions rise; Iran's foreign minister heads to UN via Qatar, and CIA chief visits Egypt.
PoliChic Texas Bravery Brunch honors women who advance civic engagement and political progress
The event recognized the women for their work in voter education and advocacy.
Holy Cross fosters civil discourse over contentious topics
The college's “Dialogue Dinners” invite students to engage in constructive discourse, led by a student facilitator, that begins with an acknowledgement that the conversation should start from a point of curiosity, not critique.
Chugiak student takes advocacy of darkness-related health issues to National Civics Bee
Elara Bradley, 13, won the state civics bee finals in June, punching her ticket to the National Civics Bee in Washington, D.C., next month.
California tightens disclosure rules for influencers who post political ads
A new law will allow authorities to impose administrative, criminal and civil penalties on social media users who don’t make clear when they’re paid to post.
Editorial: Our mayor uses ‘corporate’ as a slur. But Chicago’s business community opts for constructive engagement.
One of Chicago’s most important strengths for about as long as it’s existed has been a tight-knit business community with an uncommon commitment to civic duty and a willingness to donate time and trea...
What Could Save Civilisation From Collapse? Scientists Simulate 1,000 Years
A new 1,000-year computer simulation explores how technological civilisations could survive disasters and recover from collapse.
Campaign to combine health care advocacy with civic engagement and voting comes to Philadelphia’s Point Breeze neighborhood
Young people face health care decisions shaped by policy. Vot-ER is working to connect health care experiences with civic engagement and voting.
Ask a Professor turns difficult topics into opportunities for dialogue
MSU Denver faculty host a series of student discussions designed to put the ‘civil’ back in civil discourse
SF's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to host a professional sports team in 2027
"It really ticks all the boxes."
California health clinics accuse influential union and its leader of racketeering in civil lawsuit
The California Primary Care Assn. filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday accusing SEIU United Healthcare Workers West and its president, Dave Regan, of advancing and then offering to call off a punitive ballot measure in exchange for unionizing 25,000 industry workers.
In Sudan, attacks on hospitals force patients to make dangerous journeys
Amid a civil war in Sudan, it’s now difficult for people with cancer and other long-term illnesses to receive treatment that was once readily available
Philadelphia health officials report a measles exposure at CHOP
Health officials said the potential exposure took place in a NICU and other locations on Sept. 11 at the hospital at 3401 Civic Center Blvd.
Hidden Megacities Discovered Beneath Amazon Jungle: Scientists Stunned by Scale - Futura-Sciences
Millennia-Old Urban Networks Revealed by Modern Science It turns out, the Amazon wasn’t always the wild jungle we picture today. Between around 600 BCE and 850 CE, a civilization known as the Aquiry dramatically transformed large parts of the southwestern Amazon Basin. These people dug colossal ditches and geometric earthworks,...
MAD Security Meets Cyber Challenges In Defending Businesses From Evil
On Wednesday, MAD Security cut the ribbon on its operations center, revealing its mission to visiting civic officials and customers.
Moment of Science: The enduring history and science of salt
For thousands of years, few minerals have shaped human civilization, diet, and trade quite like common salt.
California wants to ban child marriage. Why are these civil rights groups trying to stop it?
Anyone under the age of 18 can get married in California. While lawmakers seek to restrict the practices, these liberal groups tried to block it.
Civic Committee lays out a growth agenda for Chicago — starting with 3 million residents
The Civic Committee lays out a 10-year plan to grow Chicago’s population to 3 million, accelerate its economy and strengthen its tax base.
What Will Trump Pick Mean For World Food Programme And Humanitarians?
Is the World Food Programme getting Luke Lindberg, “America First” Trump appointee, or Luke Lindberg, rookie international civil servant and impartial
Denver board faces ongoing governance and civility issues
It’s mostly impossible to herd cats. So imagine how hard it is to herd a pride of snarling lions. That’s the task of Xóchitl Gaytán, president of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education. She was re-elected in 2025 along with three new board members: Monica Hunter, Dr. D.J. Torres and Anne Klein Molk. Unexpectedly, […]
Constitution Day reminder: Our democracy is not for sale to the highest bidder
The best way to mark Constitution Day, this Thursday, is to fight the influence of money and foreign influence in our politics through active active civic participation, writes Mike Pellittiere, who particularly calls on fellow veterans to step up.
No matter how deranged and delusional your podcast is, Liz Truss can go further
In the Trusster’s latest appearance, she says Blair and Brown had a plot to dismantle civilisation and the Tories were part of the woke establishment
Savannah State University establishes John Lewis School of Public Policy and Social Sciences
Savannah State University announced Wednesday the establishment of a new academic school honoring the life and legacy of civil rights icon and longtime Georgia Congressman John Lewis.