Turkey loses its chance to restore democracy

By Adam Roberts Digital editor As someone who has reported on lots of elections over the decades—from general ones in Zimbabwe and India, to presidential ones in France and America, with exotic spots in between—I’ve developed a rule of thumb that applies to most. We journalists, yearning for dramatic stories, lean towards seeing evidence change because that’s more exciting than continuity. As we seek out signs that an upset may be looming, we risk overestimating the chances of opposition figures, for example in authoritarian-leaning democracies. Take Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Turkey, who has been in power for two decades—and has just won another general election. Before the first round of voting, two weeks ago, it was common to read analysis (and polls) suggesting that he faced a real chance of losing power to an energised and united opposition. Today, voting is over and he has already declared victory, as our correspondent in the country has explained. He probably won on the back of those rural, less-educated voters far from Istanbul and Ankara.What to make of this? A few weeks ago we commented that a defeat for Mr Erdogan would send a message to strongmen rulers in other parts of the world. Sadly, a victory for Mr Erdogan also sends a message. Narendra Modi in India, for example, faces a third general election within the next year. My guess is that he is cheered by the news from Turkey. Similarly, the iron lady of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who has been in office longer than any other woman in power today, is expected to face an election early in 2024. (Read an article about our recent interview with her.) I suspect that both will remain in government after their respective elections, too.The other big news of the weekend concerns the debt-ceiling drama in the United States, where it appears Armageddon has been avoided, assuming Congress now acts quickly. As we note in a newly published piece that I also recommend, the miseries of the recent weeks are all too familiar: the country was made to stare “into the abyss of a government default” before the two sides struck a deal at the last minute. This is no way to run things, but at least compromise is still possible.Let me flag our latest “Economist reads” article, “The spy who read me”, which concerns writers who worked in democratic countries, while under surveillance from state agents. Ahead of some travels of my own (across the Atlantic), I’ll keep this newsletter short. Thanks for your feedback concerning Ron DeSantis and more (and do read our analysis of the Republican challengers from this week). Tom Theobald, in the US, writes that “someone resident in London”, meaning me, should not make political forecasts about America, as “there isn’t a chance in hell that Trump will be renominated”. We’ll see, Tom. My knowledge of hell is thankfully limited, but if he remains on Earth I’d expect to see Mr Trump remain well ahead of the rest of the Republican pack. Evelyne Webb likes the look of the governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, suggesting that he may be a dark-horse outsider ready to canter to the front. After all he is “tall and good-looking and has a mild but canny personality and he’s conservative in a purple state”. I agree that’s an intriguing prospect, Evelyne, though Mr Youngkin has so far only dropped hints that he would dare to enter the race. (Read our Lexington columnist’s assessment of the Virginia governor, from late 2022.)

Primavera Sound e Amazon Music in diretta da Barcellona e Madrid

Londra, UK. Amazon Music annuncia la prima line up di artisti che saranno trasmessi in live streaming dal Primavera Sound di Barcellona dall’1 al 3 giugno. La doppia edizione in Spagna sarà trasmessa in live streaming sul canale Amazon Music su Twitch L’edizione di Barcellona del Primavera Sound sarà inoltre disponibile per la visione in tutto il mondo su Prime Video I fan di tutto il mondo potranno godere di un’ampia varietà di esibizioni di alcuni dei più grandi nomi della musica, tra cui: Alex G, Arlo Parks, Beak >, Black Country, New Road, Blur, Christine and The Queens, Depeche Mode, Julia Jacklin, Los Hacheros, Maneskin, Mora, My Morning Jacket, New Order, Perfume, Sparks, St. Vincent, Surf Curse, The Comet Is Coming, The Moldy Peaches, The Voidz, The War on Drugs, TURNSTILE, e molti altri. Gli spettatori potranno anche sintonizzarsi su interviste e dietro le quinte, in diretta dal Parc del Forum (Barcellona).Sponsorizzato da Google Pixel, il livestream dell’edizione di Barcellona del Primavera Sound sarà disponibile per la visione sui canali Amazon Music su Twitch e su Prime Video, a partire dalle 19:30 CET ogni giorno. Questo è il primo evento in streaming del festival lungo un fine settimana da Amazon Music in Europa, che ha anche recentemente trasmesso il festival Dreamville da Raleigh, nella Carolina del Nord, e lo Stagecoach Festival in diretta da Indio, in California. In diretta da Barcellona, ​​gli spettatori avranno l’opportunità di scegliere tra due diversi canali che coprono un’ampia selezione di artisti del festival, consentendo a chi guarda da casa di sintonizzarsi su una varietà di spettacoli durante il fine settimana. Inoltre, il commento sarà disponibile in inglese, con sottotitoli in spagnolo, su entrambi i canali Twitch. Tutti i contenuti trasmessi dal Primavera Sound potranno essere guardati gratuitamente su Twitch e Prime Video. Gli appassionati di musica potranno godere di contenuti esclusivi disponibili solo sul live streaming di Amazon Music, che includerà esibizioni da diversi palchi del festival, interviste con alcuni degli artisti più in voga al Primavera Sound, nonché contenuti dietro le quinte. Durante gli spettacoli di Barcellona e Madrid, il Primavera Sound accoglierà di persona centinaia di migliaia di appassionati di musica sul terreno del festival, e quest’anno per la prima volta milioni di appassionati di musica in tutto il mondo potranno vivere l’evento da casa in tempo reale. Il live streaming di Amazon Music consentirà agli amanti della musica di avvicinarsi al festival come mai prima d’ora con un accesso senza precedenti a uno dei festival più amati al mondo sul canale Amazon Music su Twitch durante entrambi i fine settimana. Since 2001, Primavera Sound has built an unwavering commitment to live music. A work in the present continuous that never stops and that has long been multidisciplinary and enjoyable throughout the year, both at its epicentre in Barcelona and at its events in Porto, Latin America and Madrid, where the festival opens its second Spanish headquarters in 2023. A whole universe that revolves around the unmistakable personality of Primavera Sound Barcelona, a festival that celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2022 with a historic double edition after two years without due to the pandemic. Since its first steps as a one-day event in Poble Espanyol to its status today as an event with international repercussions that turns the Parc del Fòrum into the world’s music capital, it has been the musical narrator of its time and place with incomparable line-ups.

Conferenza dell’UE sui dispositivi medici “EU-MDR – How to Succeed?”

Brussels dal 6 al 7 luglio 2023 International Airport Sheraton Brussels Airport Hotel The official language of the Conference is English. Questa conferenza accoglierà i partecipanti che lavorano nei settori dei requisiti normativi, della valutazione clinica e della sorveglianza post-commercializzazione e che desiderano approfondire le proprie conoscenze esistenti in workshop pratici. Attendiamo con impazienza partecipanti che vanno dalle start-up alle aziende globali di dispositivi medici. La conferenza si concentrerà sulle seguenti aree chiave: • Requisiti legali e modifiche alla classificazione • Pianificazione della valutazione di conformità e compilazione della Documentazione Tecnica • Raccolta delle evidenze cliniche e compilazione del Rapporto di Valutazione Clinica • Pianificare e condurre le necessarie attività PMS e PMCF

Sisäpiiritieto: Fortaco Group ja MauserCABS yhdistävät voimansa

Fortaco Group Holdco Oyj:n kokonaan omistama konserniyhtiö on allekirjoittanut sopimuksen korkealuokkaisia turvaohjaamoja valmistavan ja kansainvälisillä markkinoilla toimivan Walter Mauser GmbH:n (”MauserCABS”) koko osakekannan ostamisesta. Yrityskaupan arvioidaan toteutuvan vuoden 2023 kolmannen vuosineljänneksen aikana edellyttäen, että tietyt tavanomaiset yrityskaupan täytäntöönpanon liittyvät ehdot täyttyvät, mukaan lukien rahoituksen hankinta sekä tarvittavien kilpailuviranomaisten hyväksyntä. MauserCABS raportoidaan osana Fortaco-konsernia kaupan toteutumisesta alkaen.MauserCABS on kansainvälisesti tunnustettu, innovatiivisten ja useisiin eri käyttökohteisiin soveltuvien ajoneuvo-ohjaamoratkaisujen valmistaja. Yhtiöllä on vuosien kokemus suunnittelusta, kokoonpanosta ja huollosta. MauserCABSin toiminta on aktiivista Euroopassa ja Yhdysvalloissa. MauserCABS hoitaa laajalti ohjaamovalmistuksen arvoketjun sisäisesti ja työllistää yli 300 henkilöä Breitenaussa, Itävallassa sijaitsevalla modernilla tehtaallaan. Perheyrityksellä on yli 60 vuoden kokemus turvaohjaamojen valmistamisesta ja sen liikevaihto oli 44 miljoonaa euroa vuonna 2022.Yrityskaupan myötä Fortaco laajentaa maantieteellistä asemaansa johtavana ohjaamoteknologian ja -valmistuksen kumppanina Euroopassa, Yhdysvalloissa ja Aasiassa. Sekä Fortacolla että MauserCABSilla on arvostettu, toisiaan täydentävä asiakasportfolio.Fortaco kasvatti ohjaamoliiketoimintaa vuonna 2022 ja tuli strategisen allianssin myötä Buisard Cabinsin vähemmistöosakkaaksi. Fortacon ohjaamoliiketoiminnan tuotantoyksiköt sijaitsevat tänään Slovakian Holicissa, Suomen Kurikassa, Ranskan Sablé-sur-Sarthessa, sekä Intian Punessa, jossa Fortaco on mukana joint venture yhteystyössä. Yrityskaupasta saatavat merkittävimmät hyödyt Fortacolle ovat kannattavan kasvun vauhdittaminen olemalla yksi johtavista ohjaamovalmistajista markkinoilla, sekä teknologia-, hankinta- että valmistussynergiat. By http://www.fortacogroup.com

Prof. Holger Hanselka elected as the new president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Prof. Holger Hanselka will be the 11th president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The senate of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft unanimously elected the current president of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) at its meeting in Dresden today. Hanselka succeeds Prof. Reimund Neugebauer, who resigned from his post by mutual agreement today after almost eleven years at the helm of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.The annual conference of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft was held in Dresden on Thursday and Friday (May 25/26) on the topic of “Political sovereignty through economic competitiveness.” At this time, the senate thanked Prof. Neugebauer for his commitment at the helm of Fraunhofer: “As the president of Fraunhofer, Reimund Neugebauer spent more than a decade contributing to Germany as a high-tech location and developing the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft into the world’s leading institution for applied research with more than 30,000 employees today,” said Hildegard Müller. New research fields such as energy technologies, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and smart farming have been established and expanded. Since Neugebauer took office office, the total budget of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft rose from roughly 1.9 billion euros to around 3 billion euros, and the number of institutes increased from 64 to now 76. “The senate and the entire Fraunhofer family would like to thank him for this achievement,” said Hildegard Müller, chair of the senate of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

La Turchia perde la possibilità di ripristinare la democrazia

By Adam Robert Editore digitale The Economist. Londra. Come qualcuno che ha riferito di molte elezioni nel corso dei decenni, da quelle generali in Zimbabwe e India, a quelle presidenziali in Francia e America, con punti esotici nel mezzo, ho sviluppato una regola empirica che si applica alla maggior parte. Noi giornalisti, desiderosi di storie drammatiche, tendiamo a vedere le prove cambiare perché è più eccitante della continuità. Mentre cerchiamo segni che possano incombere sconvolgimenti, rischiamo di sopravvalutare le possibilità delle figure dell’opposizione, ad esempio nelle democrazie di tendenza autoritaria. Prendi Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Turchia, che è al potere da due decenni e ha appena vinto un’altra elezione generale. Prima del primo turno di votazioni, due settimane fa, era comune leggere analisi (e sondaggi) che suggerivano che avesse di fronte una reale possibilità di perdere il potere a favore di un’opposizione energica e unita. Oggi le votazioni sono terminate e lui ha già dichiarato vittoria, come ha spiegato il nostro inviato nel Paese. Probabilmente ha vinto grazie a quegli elettori rurali e meno istruiti lontani da Istanbul e Ankara. Cosa ne facciamo di questo? Qualche settimana fa abbiamo commentato che una sconfitta di Erdogan manderebbe un messaggio ai governanti uomini forti in altre parti del mondo. Purtroppo, anche una vittoria di Erdogan invia un messaggio. Narendra Modi in India, ad esempio, dovrà affrontare una terza elezione generale entro il prossimo anno. La mia ipotesi è che sia rallegrato dalle notizie dalla Turchia. Allo stesso modo, la signora di ferro del Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, che è stata in carica più a lungo di qualsiasi altra donna al potere oggi, dovrebbe affrontare le elezioni all’inizio del 2024. Sospetto che entrambi rimarranno al governo anche dopo le rispettive elezioni. L’altra grande novità del fine settimana riguarda il dramma del tetto del debito negli Stati Uniti, dove sembra che l’Armageddon sia stato evitato, supponendo che il Congresso ora agisca rapidamente. Come notiamo in un pezzo appena pubblicato che raccomando anch’io, le miserie delle ultime settimane sono fin troppo familiari: il paese è stato costretto a fissare “nell’abisso di un default del governo” prima che le due parti raggiungessero un accordo all’ultimo minuto. Non è questo il modo di gestire le cose, ma almeno un compromesso è ancora possibile.

Progetto Climate Change “Anthropos e Kainos”

Roma 9 giugno alle ore 20.00 presso l’Ex Cartiera Latina del Parco Regionale Appia Antica di Roma, con la performance Templum III – Movimento sulla pietra nera. Aprirà l’evento l’artista Nora Lux. Con la performance Templum III, che aprirà l’evento curato da Maria Rita Bassano Ferretti e Carlo Marchetti e dedicato alla sensibilizzazione sulle tematiche ambientali attraverso l’arte, la Lux continua a porsi come interprete di un mondo arcaico con il quale, nell’era digitale, possiamo ancora confrontarci recuperando il valore del mito e il rispetto per la natura. Qui, infatti, la Terra diviene simbolo che attraversa il mito passando per il principio spirituale del fuoco. La Lux ripercorre attraverso il fiume Almone la storia antica della città, precisamente il culto della “Lavatio Matris Deum”, in cui la pietra nera simbolo di Cibele veniva immersa nelle sue acque. L’artista, stabilendo una correlazione con la roccia lavica dei Colli Albani, scompone e riunisce il mito. “Sento che il mio compito di artista – dichiara Nora Lux – sia di cercare una risposta laddove l’apparenza rimanda a un invisibile, inteso come mistero e come aspetto della vita soggettiva e sociale che non rientra nella ferrea logica di un capitalismo aggressivo e supertecnologico. Un sistema che, oltretutto, non si preoccupa del suo stesso pianeta, che con la crisi climatica sta portando cambiamenti devastanti. Il progetto TEMPLUM potrebbe, dunque, protrarsi all’infinito, traducendosi in un approccio totale. Sarebbe la conseguenza delle mie scelte artistiche, ma anche umane, filosofiche, intellettuali ed estetiche”.

You studied computer science but big tech no longer wants you. Now what?

By Jonathan Beckman Editor, 1843 magazine The Economist. Since I became editor of 1843 magazine in January, we have strived to complement The Economist’s analysis with our own take on the world’s most gripping stories. We write about people caught up in the headlines—from the residents of Kolkata toiling in a stifling heatwave to the computer-science students wondering where to work now that big tech no longer wants them. We’ve covered two elections (in Nigeria and Turkey), a Polish forest that has become a graveyard for migrants and the lifeboat crew on the frontline of Britain’s migrant crisis. 1843 also takes a longer view, spending months reporting features about some of the world’s most gripping stories, from the curious reason for the retreat of Morocco’s king from public life to the dirty secret behind getting a job at Oxford University. Many 1843 pieces do not go out of date. Our examination of the perfectionism trap is as relevant now as when we first published it two years ago.

Canons are bizarre

Rome 31/5/2023 H14:30-19:00 I Pomeriggi series via Liguria 20. In order to share knowledge, culture, science, tase, even words, we rely on common denominators, often ones, that have resulted from processes unclear to or unaligned with us. Why must our scientific and artistic output need such reference points or value-systems to emerge, find legitimacy, and survive? Next to their paradigmatic function, and quite possibly also because of it, canons can be exclusionary and often unnecessarily limiting, with significant consequences on diversity, creativity, and intellectual honesty. Productive quality control or discriminating gate-keeping? The event consists of two parts, an academic symposium and a poetry reading. Both parts will be linked by a 45 minute coffee break that includes an optional micro-workshop producing an acoustic canon to open the second part of the event using material gleaned in the first. The event is curated by Solmeng-Jonas Hirschi and Sophie Jung (Roma Calling 2022/2023), as part of I Pomeriggi series.

ACS: un altro sacerdote cattolico rapito in Nigeria

Don Jude Kingsley Maduka, parroco della parrocchia cattolica di Cristo Re, Ezinnachi-Ugwaku, Okigwe L.G.A., nello Stato di Imo, in Nigeria, è stato rapito il 19 maggio scorso. Il sequestro si aggiunge a una serie di rapimenti e omicidi ai danni di diversi sacerdoti cattolici verificatisi nello stesso Stato nigeriano. Il parroco sarebbe stato rapito nel villaggio di Ogii, Okigwe L.G.A., mentre si preparava alla celebrazione eucaristica. Aiuto alla Chiesa che Soffre manifesta forte preoccupazione per questi fenomeni criminali che, nonostante tutte le rassicurazioni delle Istituzioni, continuano a proliferare senza essere seriamente contrastati. ACS manifesta inoltre sentita vicinanza alla Chiesa e alle comunità dei fedeli locali ancora una volta barbaramente ferite.

Will politicians agree on America’s debt ceiling in time?

By Adam Roberts Digital editor The Economist. What will be the bigger news for Americans this week? Joe Biden cut short his planned Asia trip, following the G7 summit in Japan, to oversee talks on the debt ceiling. Negotiating teams have, reportedly, been hard at it this weekend. The time to strike a deal—ahead of the June 1st deadline—is getting desperately short, and whatever the White House can agree on with Republican negotiators would still need to be passed by Congress. Still, there’s reason to hope that the worst outcome—with parts of the federal government in effect having to shut—might be avoided. From afar, at least, it looks like a needless, self-inflicted wound. Many voters see their politicians generating great uncertainty about the functioning of government (and thus for the economy) for the sake of partisan posturing. I didn’t notice those same Republicans grumbling about extraordinary high levels of federal spending when their spendthrift man was in office. The other American news also concerns the White House. Ron DeSantis will, almost certainly, declare that he’s running to be the Republican nominee. That sets the scene for a feisty confrontation. No doubt Donald Trump is already rehearsing more nicknames for Florida’s governor. (By the way, if you’ve not read our recent column on why Mr Trump is more dangerous than ever, then I strongly recommend it.) Mr DeSantis is well behind in polls of primary voters, and he’s done a good job of hiding any charisma or charm that might win them over beyond his home state. My assumption is that we’ll see Mr Trump facing off against Mr Biden again.Back in Europe, we’ve got an eye on Russia’s army. It’s been dreadfully led in Ukraine (read our chart-led story on the subject), with Vladimir Putin chopping and changing among his generals, and he has suffered from infighting between the Wagner mercenary group and the army itself. But a new report sheds light on how the Russian army is improving battlefield tactics. This can be ruthless, such as sending out small, expendable, groups of ill-trained infantrymen to skirmish until they are killed. Following that first fight, more professional and numerous Russian soldiers then pile into battle. Read our full report on the topic.We also have a story on an industry that may determine the future of the planet. To limit the destructive effects of climate change, carbon emissions must fall dramatically. Yet countries want to keep burning coal. Could carbon capture and storage (meaning ways of sticking CO2 into the ground, usually) ever become efficient, or even profitable? For all of our sakes, I hope so.Later this week, Henry Kissinger marks his 100th birthday. If you haven’t read our articles, produced on the back of our lengthy conversations with him, then I strongly recommend our briefing and a short piece including highlights of the transcript. Whether you like or loathe him, he has thoughts on how to avoid a third world war that you might find helpful.Finally, for some lighter relief, look out for our piece on one unexpected consequence of the Hollywood writers’ strike. It seems that creative types in Britain may be benefiting from it.

The students abandoned by big tech

Armed with a stack of CVs still warm from the printer, Ayara (a pseudonym) plunged into the career fair. The room was already packed with job-seekers. The second-year student wasn’t expecting much. In past years, a computer-science student at the University of California, Berkeley, could hope to emerge from this campus ritual with an interesting summer internship, possibly at a “FAANG” company—the acronym for Facebook (now Meta), Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google. Ayara’s best friend had snagged an internship at Apple at a fair like this one. But none of the FAANG firms was here this time. Neither were Spotify, Salesforce, Uber or Microsoft. In any case most of those companies and almost 50 others—“all the famous ones”—had already rejected her internship applications a few months earlier. And that was before the latest round of job lay-offs. There were 120,000 tech lay-offs in January and February alone; Alphabet, Google’s parent company, accounted for 10% of those lost jobs. (Meta would announce another 10,000 lay-offs shortly after the fair.) By the time the fair came round in March, Ayara had scaled back her ambitions. “Any company that will hire me is good, at this point,” she told me later. She is just one in a cohort of computer-science students suddenly shut out from jobs and internships at some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley (abstract The Economist)

Yuval Noah Harari on AI’s threat to human existence

By Adam Roberts Digital editor The Economist. “Language is the stuff almost all human culture is made of,” writes Yuval Noah Harari, a historian and philosopher, in a recent By Invitation essay. Religion, human rights, money—these things are not inscribed in our DNA, and require language to make sense. In his essay, Mr Harari poses the question: “What would happen once a non-human intelligence becomes better than the average human at telling stories, composing melodies, drawing images, and writing laws and scriptures?” The answer, he believes, casts a dark cloud over the future of human civilisation. We have spent a lot of time thinking about the staggering potential of language-focused artificial-intelligence tools. We recently published a cover package that considers how to worry wisely about AI. We’ve written about how large, creative AI models will transform lives and labour markets; explained why it is too soon to fear an AI-induced jobs apocalypse; and considered how good China can get at generative AI. On balance we believe that, properly regulated, the new generation of AI tools can be a net positive for humans. But I will leave the last word to Mr Harari: “We should regulate AI before it regulates us.”

UN Member States commit to accelerate resilience building in face of spiralling disasters

NEW YORK – Representatives from UN Member States meeting in New York this week have agreed on greater political commitment to resilience building. It comes in a context of rapidly rising disaster risk which is projected to reach 560 a year – or 1.5 disasters a day – by 2030. As the meeting got underway, Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar and Bangladesh destroying hundreds of homes while heavy rains caused flooding in Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region. The two-day high-level meeting is part of the midterm review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction 2015-2030, an international agreement with seven targets to reduce global disaster losses. Agreed by Member States in 2015, the Sendai Framework has become more relevant than ever, as climate change causes more frequent, extreme, and unpredictable weather events, and geophysical hazards, such as earthquakes continue to take thousands of lives. The representatives agreed through a Political Declaration that increasing human and economic costs of disasters demanded a redoubling of efforts to reduce risks and build resilience.The value of disaster risk reduction was highlighted by Mr. Mustafa Kemal Kilinç, a student who survived the February earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria. The political declaration calls for countries to embed risk reduction in all investments and development decisions, and to bolster resilience, especially for the most vulnerable countries and groups.Leaders from Small Island Developing States reinforced the call. “The main challenge is the limited technical and financial resources available to invest in disaster risk reduction” said Prime Minister Mark Anthony Philips of Guyana.“Financing is driven by reactive investment post disaster, all of which hinder investment…We need more investment towards the underlying drivers of risk,” added Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi ‘Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni.There were urgent calls for countries to heed the calls to action in the Political Declaration:“This midterm review is our last chance before 2030 to collectively change course, starting today… I challenge you to account for risk in every decision that impacts how we live, consume, build, and invest,” said Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, President of the UN General Assembly, who chaired the high-level meeting.The midterm review found that eight years into its implementation, many disaster lessons have been ignored. As the official report released by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) states, “progress has stalled and, in some cases, reversed”.Bright spots in the review include that 125 countries now have national strategies for disaster risk reduction, but half of the countries still do not have multi-hazard early warning systems.It finds that mortality rates are lower during disasters than they were, thanks to improvements in early warnings in some countries, but the number of affected people is increasing. Without effective action, many more people will die or otherwise be affected.“As we look to accelerate risk-informed action to 2030 and a resilient future, I urge all States and stakeholders to take forward the calls to action to be adopted in the political declaration today,” said Ms. Mizutori. (abstract by UNDRR – United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction)

Joe Biden’s global vision is too timid

By Zanny Minton Beddoes Editor-in-chief The Economist. Henry Kissinger oversaw some of the most controversial and consequential foreign-policy decisions of the 20th century. Nobody alive has more experience of international affairs. Since stepping down as America’s national security adviser and secretary of state, 46 years ago, he has been a consultant and emissary to monarchs, presidents and prime ministers. When I, along with The Economist’s deputy editor, Ed Carr, visited Mr Kissinger in his office in New York recently, we spoke for more than eight hours across two days. This week’s cover package tackles the geopolitical themes that were at the core of our discussion with Mr Kissinger. We look at America’s foreign policy—and argue in a cover leader that Joe Biden’s global vision is too timid and pessimistic. We have also published a briefing that assesses Mr Kissinger’s views on how America and China must learn to live together, as well as an article summarising the highlights of our conversation. (If you are avid for detail, we’ve also published a lightly edited transcript of the interview, with a special podcast to follow this weekend.) On May 27th Mr Kissinger will turn 100. These days he is stooped and walks with difficulty, but his mind is needle-sharp. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rise of China mean that Mr Kissinger’s great-power theories are circling back into relevancy. Whether you like him or not, it is worth hearing what he has to say. (abstract by The Economist)

L’ONU chiede 3 miliardi di dollari per gli aiuti salvavita e la protezione delle persone colpite dalla crisi in Sudan

Mentre il conflitto in Sudan entra nel suo secondo mese, le Nazioni Unite e i suoi partner hanno fatto appello oggi per un finanziamento di 3 miliardi di dollari, allo scopo di aiutare milioni di persone nel paese e altre centinaia di migliaia in fuga verso i paesi vicini.Il Piano di Risposta Umanitaria per il Sudan è stato revisionato vista l’emergenza crescente scatenata dalla crisi attuale. Sono ora necessari 2, 56 miliardi di dollari, con un aumento di 800 milioni di dollari rispetto a pochi mesi fa, per garantire gli aiuti a 18 milioni di persone fino alla fine dell’anno; si tratta dell’appello più consistente mai lanciato per il Sudan. Il Piano Regionale di Risposta per i Rifugiati in Sudan chiede 470,4 milioni di dollari per sostenere i rifugiati, le persone che fanno ritorno nei paesi d’origine le comunità ospitanti di Repubblica Centrafricana, nel Ciad, Egitto, Etiopia e Sud Sudan. I fondi sono destinati all’assistenza di oltre 1 milione di persone, compresi rifugiati, persone che fanno rientro nei paesi d’origine e cittadini di paesi terzi.L’Alto Commissario delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati, Filippo Grandi, ha detto: “Dopo più di un mese di crisi, un numero incalcolabile di persone rimane in Sudan in preda al terrore, e chi è riuscito a fuggire oltre i confini del paese ha bisogno di aiuto e si trova spesso in luoghi estremamente difficili da raggiungere e in cui le risorse scarseggiano. Gli operatori umanitari fanno tutto il possibile ma dobbiamo ancora una volta fare appello ai Paesi e a quei soggetti che hanno i mezzi perché si facciano avanti e mettano a disposizione le risorse necessarie per aiutare chi ha perso tutto.” I combattimenti più recenti hanno già provocato più di 840.000 sfollati all’interno del Sudan. Oltre 220.000 rifugiati e persone che fanno ritorno nei paesi d’origine sono fuggiti dal paese; molti cittadini sudanesi sono fuggiti verso il Ciad e l’Egitto e i rifugiati del Sud Sudan hanno fatto ritorno verso il loro paese in condizioni avverse. Senza una risoluzione urgente, molte altre saranno le persone costrette alla fuga in cerca di sicurezza e assistenza. Il Piano Umanitario di Risposta rivisto si concentrerà sulla rapida distribuzione di cibo e acqua, sulle misure sanitarie e altri aiuti salvavita. Permetterà l’aumento dei servizi di protezione, compresa quella dei bambini e la prevenzione della violenza di genere. Il Piano, che mette insieme 92 partner, prevede l’espansione delle operazioni in zone dove il conflitto è più intenso, come la capitale Khartoum, insieme ad altre zone verso le quali molte persone sono fuggite per scampare alla violenza, tra cui il Darfur occidentale, meridionale e settentrionale. L’ampliamento degli aiuti richiederà che le agenzie umanitarie possano raggiungere in condizioni di sicurezza le persone che ne hanno più bisogno. Il Refugee Response Plan aiuterà i paesi ospitanti a coordinare la risposta con un approccio che prevede il coinvolgimento di tutta la società, a sostegno dei governi e delle comunità di questi Paesi. Il piano delinea la strategia multisettoriale e le richieste finanziarie di 140 partner per fornire protezione e assistenza umanitaria alle persone costrette alla fuga oltre i confini. Tra le necessità più urgenti e immediate ci sono l’acqua e le fognature, il cibo, l’alloggio, i servizi sanitari, l’assistenza in denaro e i beni non alimentari di prima necessità. In particolare nel Sud Sudan e nella Repubblica Centrafricana, lo spostamento delle persone dalle zone di confine è un’enorme sfida logistica e finanziaria. In molti paesi ospitanti è in arrivo la stagione delle piogge. Riguardo alla protezione, la priorità è sostenere le autorità locali con la registrazione e l’identificazione delle persone a maggior rischio, per poter fornire un aiuto specifico. La maggior parte dei nuovi arrivi è costituito da donne e bambini, molti dei quali non accompagnati o separati dalle famiglie. Sarà fondamentale lo sforzo per mitigare e rispondere alla violenza di genere, oltre che per prevenire i rischi della tratta di esseri umani, sfruttamento e abuso sessuale. Sarà dato anche sostegno ai servizi per l’istruzione e alla capacità di sostentamento, anche attraverso l’aiuto in denaro contante laddove sia fattibile. Fonte: https://reporting.unhcr.org/document/4837

Landmark re-discovery of the last known pair of portraits by Rembrandt

London – Christie’s is proud to announce a landmark re-discovery of the last known pair of portraits by Rembrandt to remain in private hands, which will be highlights in the Old Masters Part I Sale on 6 July, during Classic Week London (estimate: £5,000,000-8,000,000). Exceptionally rare, the portraits of Jan Willemsz. van der Pluym (circa 1565-1644) and Jaapgen Carels (1565-1640), signed and dated 1635, are intimate portrayals of relatives of the artist and provide a unique insight into Rembrandt’s activity as a painter within his inner circle. With a virtually unbroken line of provenance, these pictures were acquired at Christie’s by an ancestor of the present owners almost two centuries ago and have remained completely unknown to scholars ever since. They return to Christie’s now after an extensive scholarly investigation and scientific analysis undertaken at the Rijksmuseum. Small in scale and painted from life with Rembrandt’s characteristic virtuosity, these pictures offer a tender portrayal of a dignified, elderly couple who were related to the artist. The pictures will tour to New York, where they will be on public view from 10 to 14 June, and Amsterdam from 21 to 24 June, ahead of returning to London for the Classic Week pre-sale exhibition in London, on view from 1 to 6 July.The sitters, wealthy Leiden plumber Jan Willemsz. van der Pluym (1565-1640) and his wife Jaapgen Carels (1565-1644), were intimately connected with Rembrandt. The Van der Pluyms were a prominent family in Leiden, with their son Dominicus van der Pluym marrying Cornelia van Suytbroeck, the daughter of Rembrandt’s uncle on his mother’s side, Willem van Suytbroeck. Dominicus and Cornelia had one child, the artist Karel van der Pluym, who is thought to have trained with Rembrandt and included the artist’s only surviving heir, Titus, in his will. Karel’s uncle Willem Jansz van der Pluym also sat for Rembrandt’s most finished portrait drawing. In 1635, the year these portraits were painted, Jan Willemsz. van der Pluym and Jaapgen Carels acquired a garden next to that of Rembrandt’s mother in Leiden.The portraits have a remarkable, virtually unbroken line of provenance. They remained in the family of the sitters until 1760, when they were sold at auction in Amsterdam after the death of their great-great grandson Marten ten Hove (1683-1759). From there they passed to the collection of Count Vincent Potocki (c.1740-1825) in Warsaw, before briefly entering the collection of Baron d’Ivry in Paris in 1820 and then James Murray, 1st Baron Glenlyon (1782-1837), who put them up for sale at Christie’s on 18 June in 1824, lot 76, listed as: ‘Rembrandt – very spirited and finely coloured’, where they were acquired. For the last two centuries they have remained in the same private UK collection.

High blood pressure is the most deadly risk factor for women worldwide

Sophia Antipolis. All women should know their blood pressure to prevent heart disease and stroke, urged cardiologists from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) on World Hypertension Day. “Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women,” said ESC spokesperson Professor Angela Maas, emeritus director of the Women’s Cardiac Health Programme, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.1 “The risk for cardiovascular disease increases at a lower blood pressure level in women compared to men.2 My message to all women is to take your blood pressure seriously, know your values and convince your doctor that if it is too high then you need treatment. Don’t underestimate the long-term effects of high blood pressure.” “One of the most important consequences of hypertension in women is a type of heart failure in which the heart muscle is stiff,” she continued. “There are few treatments for that condition, so if you want to avoid symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue and fluid retention when you are over 70, you have to start treating high blood pressure in middle age. If you wait 20 years, it is too late.” It is a misconception that high blood pressure does not cause symptoms. In fact, symptoms are more pronounced in women but may be mistaken for menopause, anxiety or stress. Young and middle-aged women with high blood pressure often report palpitations, chest pain, pain between the shoulder blades, headaches, difficulty concentrating, shortness of breath, tiredness, fluid retention, poor sleep, hot flushes and a feeling that their bra is too tight.Hypertension in midlife is more harmful in women than in similarly aged men, and is a stronger risk factor for myocardial infarction, cognitive decline and dementia.2 The probability of stroke increases at a lower blood pressure level in women than in men, while high blood pressure raises the risk for heart failure in women by three-fold, compared to two-fold in men. Certain life events predispose women to developing hypertension such as having migraines from their teenage years, having two or more miscarriages, hypertension during pregnancy (which affects around one in seven pregnant women) and preeclampsia (a more severe form of hypertension during pregnancy). “Women have more of those specific life events than men,” said Professor Maas. “Physicians can use these clues to identify middle aged women at higher risk of hypertension and to signal that blood pressure monitoring needs to be taken more seriously.”When should you start measuring blood pressure and how often? Start yearly monitoring at age 40 if you have hypertension in your family or you had hypertension during pregnancy. Women with preeclampsia should check their blood pressure from that pregnancy onwards at least twice a year. Women with no issues during pregnancy and no family history should start yearly measurement at age 50 when they enter menopause.How high is too high? A diagnosis of hypertension is not established from one measurement. Women under 80 years of age should see their doctor for further investigation if their systolic blood pressure is 130 mmHg or higher, while for those 80 years or older a value of 150 mmHg should trigger a visit to the doctor. (abstract by escardio.org)

The G7 Should Spearhead a “NATO for Trade,” ITIF Urges

WASHINGTON—With G7 leaders reportedly planning to formally address China’s coercive economic and trade practices in a joint statement during their May 19–21 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from ITIF President Robert D. Atkinson: It is time for democratic, rule-of-law-nations to formally agree to come to each other’s aid when any one of them faces unfair economic aggression—like a NATO for trade.China is the world’s leading practitioner of economic coercion, routinely bludgeoning other nations when it is displeased. Among many other examples, China cut off imports from Lithuania as punishment for having relations with Taiwan; it threatened sanctions against Australia for questioning its handling of the pandemic; and it has strongarmed foreign industries by threatening to cut off their access to China’s domestic market in retaliation for little more than a tweet it found politically offensive.China’s pattern of economic coercion is more than just disruptive. It threatens to undermine the foundations of the global trading system—particularly in the strategically important advanced industries that China has explicitly planned to dominate. That is why the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has long advocated for establishing a defensive trade alliance, among other steps to push back.It’s a welcome development that G7 ministers are enumerating their concerns with China’s behavior and identifying tools to counter it. China will only back down if democratic nations stand together.

US Content Creator Companies Raised $4B in Total Funding

With more and more investors willing to cash in on companies working in the creator industry and helping content creators to grow and monetize their audience, the total funding amount in this market more than tripled in five years, rising from around $2bn to nearly $7bn. The US companies raised almost 60% of that value. According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, US content creator companies raised over $4bn in cumulative funding, or 60% more than their European and Asia peers combined. According to Crunchbase data, 5,065 content creator companies worldwide are now providing digital tools and services for content creators to operate and monetize their audience. Around 40% of them are based in the United States. Statistics show the number of US content creator companies hit 1,992 this year, with California as the leading hub. Europe is the second-largest market, with 1,468 companies working in the creator industry. Asia follows, with 828 companies operating in this market. Besides outnumbering their European and Asian peers, the US companies have also raised more fresh capital for their business. Statistics show the cumulative funding of the US content creator companies more than doubled in the past five years, rising from $1.2bn in 2018 to $4bn in Q2 2023. Most of that value, or around $1.4bn, was raised in 2022, the record year for content creators’ funding. European companies have raised seven times less than that, or around $542 million, as of Q2 2023. Although Asia has almost twice as few content creator companies as Europe, Asian companies have also raised much more money in funding rounds, or $1.9bn, so far. Although European content creator companies are far behind their US and Asian peers when looking at the cumulative funding amount, the investment activity in the European market increased in 2023, while the two other regions saw a slowdown.The Crunchbase data showed European companies raised around $137 million in five months of the year or 340% more than in the same period a year ago. US companies hit around $100 million in funding rounds between January and May, down from a massive $1.2bn raised in the year-ago period. The investment activity in the Asian market also significantly slowed down, with the cumulative funding amount remaining the same for the past five months, compared to the $200 million they raised between January and May last year.The full story and statistics can be found here: https://onlyaccounts.io/blog/us-content-creator-companies-raised-4b-in-total-funding-60-more-than-asian-and-european-companies-combined/