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Rural Water and Sanitation GoalsPhoto from Yunnan University of Finance and Economics shows Chinese and British scientists discussing issues in a tea garden in Fengqing County, southwest China’s Yunnan Province on Nov 10, 2024. – Xinhua photo KUNMING (Nov 22): Li Shaojuan, a female meteorologist, has been regularly visiting muddy tea plantations in China’s southwestern mountainous region over the past decade, in her bid to help local farmers cope with climate challenges. Li, a professor at Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, visits the plantations in Fengqing and Baoshan counties, Yunnan Province, four to five times a year to do field studies aimed at better climate forecasting and service solutions. As one of the core origins of tea trees in the world, Fengqing was part of the ancient Tea Horse Road, a trade route dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and features tea gardens that are harvested three times a year – in spring, summer and autumn. Climate change is becoming a growing concern in terms of both the quality and yield of its tea crops. “Especially in spring, the likes of cold snaps, hail and drought make the most precious spring tea period unproductive,” said Zhang Guoqin, who runs a local tea company, adding that in summer, excessive rainfall fosters wet diseases, while higher temperatures and humidity fuel the spread of pests. “We interviewed local tea farmers, and distributed questionnaires to them, hoping to understand their specific needs in detail,” Li said. The scope of the interviews also included consumers, tea processing factories, refining factories, dealers, trade companies and more. Li is among a group of Chinese and British atmospheric scientists who aim to use their expertise to provide tea farmers with more accurate weather forecasting services – and help them better adapt to frequent meteorological disasters. These scientists have developed mathematical models based on data revealing meteorological factors that affect tea tree growth and tea production. “We need to understand how these factors influence tea cultivation and production before determining what type of weather forecasting to provide,” Li explained. Annual predictions of both tea yield and quality can guide farmers in purchasing agricultural insurance to protect their income and ensure a stable market supply. Subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasts can help farmers determine the optimal timing and strategies for activities such as harvesting fresh leaves, initial processing, fertilisation, and pest and disease management, she said. “We hope our predictions will give farmers insights into climate trends and anomalies, helping them plan production and field management to ensure consistent tea harvests,” Li added. However, this process is far from straightforward. Li revealed that inconsistencies between their initial research and real-world conditions often require them to revisit their models or conduct additional field studies. “We’re not just studying data – we’re studying living tea trees,” Li said. “It’s a challenging process, but also one full of joy, because scientific research is about the constant pursuit of truth.” Li’s work is part of a larger collaboration between China and the UK. The Climate Science for Service Partnership China (CSSP China) project, launched in 2014 by the UK Met Office, the China Meteorological Administration, and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aims to build climate-resilient services for economic and social development. With more countries facing extreme climate events, there is an urgent need to improve international collaboration and build services to enhance society’s resilience in the face of the impacts of climate change, Rowan Sutton, director of the UK Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Science and Services, said at the CSSP China annual workshop held early this month. So far, this initiative has developed several climate service prototypes, including seasonal rainfall forecasts for the Yangtze River Basin, the maize yield in northeastern China, and the tea industry in Yunnan Province. Photo from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences shows tea trees at a tea garden in Fengqing County, southwest China’s Yunnan Province on Aug 7, 2024. – Xinhua photo Li’s research in Yunnan Province is being complemented by similar studies in the UK. “We’re conducting case studies in Devon and Scotland, and we hope to complement our research by doing comparative studies between the two countries, where tea trees are grown in different environments,” said Stacey New, an expert from the UK Met Office. The team has found that the impacts of climate change on the tea industry vary widely depending on location, elevation and farming practices. “Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for climate change adaptation in the tea sector, and climate services need to be tailored and customised to the specific circumstances and needs of the stakeholders,” said New. The team’s research results have been detailed in a paper recently published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. “The CSSP China project is a good example of Sino-British cooperation to jointly address climate change,” said Zhou Tianjun, deputy director of the IAP, adding that the experience gained could be expanded to other tea-growing regions and may even apply to other crops like coffee and sugarcane. In addition to weather forecasting, Li has also been looking into ancient farming practices in her quest for answers. She recently discovered an ancient tea plantation in southwest China, where the tea trees are hundreds of years old but still produce harvestable leaves of good quality. What sets this plantation apart is its natural and biodiverse ecosystem, which has made it more resilient to climate extremes. For example, among the diverse tree species in the ancient plantation, the alder tree plays a key role as a nitrogen-fixing plant, enhancing soil fertility. Additionally, the ground beneath tea trees there is typically covered with grass and a thick layer of humus, which helps retain moisture and regulate temperature, enhancing tea trees’ resilience to adverse weather conditions, she said. Li believes this ancient approach could hold valuable insights for modern tea farmers. “The ancient tea garden is an ecosystem that resists climate change,” she said. “I hope to integrate this wisdom into today’s tea cultivation practices to help more farmers adapt to climate challenges.” In Chinese character glyphs, the word for tea depicts a person between a blade of grass and a tree, symbolising the harmony between humans and nature. “Perhaps the answers to many of our scientific questions are hidden in these ancient practices and the wisdom of the ecosystem,” Li speculated. “A closer integration with nature could be the key to addressing climate change in the future,” she added. – XinhuaInside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use
( MENAFN - Nam News Network) SEOUL, Dec 30 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea's joint investigation unit, said today that, it sought a warrant to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, over his martial law imposition. The investigation unit, consisting of corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, National Office of Investigation and the defence ministry's investigation headquarters, said in a short notice that, it requested the arrest warrant for Yoon at midnight, to the Seoul Western District Court. It marked the first time in the country's modern history, that an arrest warrant has been filed against an incumbent president. The unit asked Yoon to appear for questioning three times on Dec 18, Dec 25 and Dec 29, but Yoon's side refused to receive summons, while having yet to submit documents for the appointment of his defence counsel. Yoon was named by investigative agencies as a suspected ringleader on insurrection charge.– NNN-YONHAP MENAFN30122024000200011047ID1109040398 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
In promising to shake up Washington, Trump is in a class of his own
PINE RIVER — Happy Dancing Turtle and Pine River-Backus Community Education will host the 19th Annual Back to Basics sustainable living event Feb. 15 at Pine River-Backus School. Workshops, vendors, exhibitors, lunch, door prizes and a keynote speaker are planned for the event which runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attend the morning keynote address and the all-day vendor/exhibitor fair for free. Register to participate in a full day of workshops, choosing from over 50 offerings on topics such as food, DIY, gardening, health & wellness, and environmental sustainability. ADVERTISEMENT Benjamin Winchester, a rural sociologist with the University of Minnesota Extension’s Department of Community Development, will present the keynote, “Rewriting the Rural Narrative.” “Benjamin Winchester brings a fresh framing of opportunities and challenges of rural living, with a big emphasis on the opportunities. His enthusiasm is just contagious,” said Happy Dancing Turtle Executive Director Quinn Swanson in a news release. Running concurrently throughout the day will be the free Back to Basics vendor/exhibitor fair which requires no registration and is open from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Visit more than 50 booths of sustainably themed vendors and chat with knowledgeable people while stocking up on handmade and locally sourced foods, house goods, handmade herbal products and jewelry, clothing and more. “With new workshop presenters and topics like cheese making, small batch fiber processing, cooking Ayurvedically, biometeorology, carbon credit cash plus the variety of new and returning vendors/exhibitors, this will be an outstanding event,” Michelle Hoefs, one of the primary event coordinators, said. “The synergy of so many people sharing ideas, products, and information on sustainable living make for an inspiring day.” Happy Dancing Turtle is looking for helpers to contribute their time and energy for the event. In exchange for four hours of help, volunteers receive lunch, an event T-shirt, and will have the opportunity to attend workshops. Email b2b@happydancingturtle. org if you would like to volunteer or call 218-587-2303. Full-day registration for workshops is $40, with discounts for senior citizens and students. Á la carte options are also available. Participant registration opens Jan. 3; register online at www.happydancingturtle.org/back-to-basics-workshops . Walk-in registration is available the day of the event, although some workshops may have filled. It is recommended to register early to reserve the workshops you wish to attend. ADVERTISEMENTPresident-elect Donald Trump criticized former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for previously pushing to extend the debt ceiling until January 2025, adding that it was “one of the dumbest political decisions made in years.” In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that there had been “no reason” to extend the debt ceiling, adding that “nothing was gained.” Trump’s post comes after President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act in June 2023, according to the New York Times . The outlet noted that “House Republicans,” led by McCarthy at the time, “had demanded deep spending cuts in Mr. Biden’s priorities in exchange for agreeing to raise the debt ceiling”: House Republicans, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, had demanded deep spending cuts in Mr. Biden’s priorities in exchange for agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. The president initially balked at negotiating, insisting that Republicans raise the debt ceiling without conditions, as members of both parties had done in the past. WATCH — HISTORIC: House Votes to Remove Kevin McCarthy from Speakership: Trump added that it was Biden’s “problem” and not the Republicans. “Now it becomes ours,” Trump added. “I call it ‘1929’ because the Democrats don’t care what our Country may be forced into. In fact, they would prefer ‘Depression’ as long as it hurt the Republican Party. The Democrats must be forced to take a vote on this treacherous issue NOW, during the Biden Administration, and not in June. They should be blamed for this potential disaster, not the Republicans!” As Breitbart News previously reported , under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the debt limit was increased “through January 2025 while implementing Republicans’ desired spending caps and other provisions.” United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in May 2023 that the government could run out of funds by June 5, 2023, if the White House and Congress did not reach an “agreement to raise or suspend” the debt limit by that date.
Evans 1-7 1-2 3, Diakhate 2-6 0-0 4, Avinger 2-7 1-3 5, Flournoy 3-13 0-0 8, Makolo 2-7 0-0 4, Verse 1-3 2-4 4, Summer Davis 2-5 0-0 4, Indya Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Turner 6-16 0-0 15, Totals 19-64 4-9 47 Hall 2-7 0-0 4, Merkle 6-11 0-0 12, Campbell 7-11 0-0 14, Murray 8-16 1-1 24, Oden 1-6 1-2 3, Johnson 1-4 1-1 3, Elliott 3-8 1-1 7, Jekot 0-0 0-0 0, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 28-63 4-5 67 3-Point Goals_Georgia 5-18 (Avinger 0-2, Flournoy 2-6, Makolo 0-1, S.Davis 0-2, Turner 3-7), Penn St. 7-17 (Murray 7-14, Oden 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Elliott 0-1). Assists_Georgia 11 (Avinger 5), Penn St. 20 (Campbell 7). Fouled Out_Georgia Turner. Rebounds_Georgia 38 (Verse 9), Penn St. 45 (Merkle 11). Total Fouls_Georgia 17, Penn St. 13. Technical Fouls_Georgia Turner 1, Verse 1, Penn St. Johnson 1, Oden 1. A_735.Union HM Amit Shah reviews implementation of three new criminal laws in Uttarakhand
Albany scores 24 4th-quarter points to overtake Hampton 41-34Former President Jimmy Carter, the God-fearing Georgia peanut farmer who survived a disastrous one-term White House stay to launch a second career as a Nobel Prize-winning advocate for global human rights, died Sunday at 100. Carter went into hospice care at home on Feb. 18 after a short series of hospital stays, the Carter Center charity organization said at the time. The ex-commander-in-chief opted to spend his final days with family rather than seek any additional medical intervention. His son Chip confirmed his death, at his home in Plains , to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His wife of 74 years, Rosalynn Carter, preceded him in death on Nov. 19, 2023. The 39th president was in attendance at her memorial service Nov. 28, where, seated in a wheelchair with a blanket over his lap, he appeared frail and was unable to speak, according to family. His daughter Amy delivered remarks on his behalf at the service. Carter, a Democrat, lived longer than any other U.S. president, earning that distinction in 2019 when he reached 94 years and 172 days old. Relegated to the historical sidelines after a four-year presidency mired in malaise, Carter rebounded to write 32 books, build houses for the poor, stand up to tyranny abroad and capture the coveted Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Carter took office in 1977. With his victory over incumbent Gerald Ford, he aimed to restore faith in America and its government after the nightmare of Watergate forced President Nixon to resign in disgrace. But his own term was plagued by rampant inflation, long gas lines, wars in Afghanistan and Nicaragua, and a 444-day hostage crisis in Iran — the latter low-lighted by an embarrassingly failed rescue attempt. Carter’s bid for reelection was crushed by Republican Ronald Reagan, sending the former commander in chief back to Georgia a beaten man, deeply unpopular and seemingly destined for obscurity. Carter instead grabbed a hammer, climbed a ladder and built houses for the poor with Habitat for Humanity. He boarded planes to monitor elections abroad and broker peace deals. And he returned to his church in Plains, Ga., to teach Sunday school. “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something,” Carter told his biographer, Jim Wooten, in 1995. “My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have, to try to make a difference. “Most of the time, believe it or not, I enjoy myself.” James Earl Carter, Jr. was the first American president born in a hospital — Wise Sanitarium in tiny Plains, Ga., where his mother worked as a nurse. He was raised without electricity or plumbing on his family’s nearby peanut farm. The backwoods town of 600 residents would remain Carter’s beloved and modest home for the rest of his life. His father Earl was an enthusiastic segregationist. But his mother, known to all as Miss Lillian, made a point of caring for poor Black women while cheering on Black boxer Joe Louis and baseball’s color-line defying Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Carter joined the Navy in 1943 to see the world and did so well at Annapolis that he earned a place in the new, elite nuclear submarine program. Nine years later, Carter helped build the reactor for the first nuclear sub and did graduate work in nuclear physics at Union College. The following year, he went home to save the ailing family farm, and with new bride Rosalynn, welcomed three sons and a daughter. He became a deacon at Plains Baptist Church, served on civic boards and in the Georgia state senate. Carter won the Georgia governorship in 1970, at least in part by cozying up to segregationists, who were then furious when he declared the time for racial discrimination was over. Carter soon began outlining the remarkable national campaign that propelled “Jimmy Who?” past a half-dozen high-profile Democrats to the party’s presidential nomination. He stressed his honesty, sincerity, Christianity and outsider status — the perfect panacea for voters in the aftermath of Watergate and Vietnam. Despite some gaffes — he nearly blew a 30-point lead after infamously confessing to Playboy that he had “lusted in my heart” after other women — Carter vanquished Ford in the bicentennial year of 1976. He tried from the start to return humility to the White House. Carter walked the inaugural parade route rather than ride in a limo, banned the playing of “Hail to the Chief,” carried his own luggage and personally kept the schedule for the White House tennis court. But his outsider status didn’t play well on Capitol Hill, where Democratic party leaders regarded him as sanctimonious and balked at his agenda. His younger brother, Billy, who hawked Billy Beer and got drunk in public, didn’t help when he cozied up to Libyan officials and collected $220,000 from the nation’s government. A bizarre attack by a rabid swimming rabbit during a fishing trip added to Carter’s hapless image. His big foreign policy achievement — personally brokering the 1978 Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt — failed to save him. Though he never actually said the word, a malaise settled over his White House. In 1980, voters overwhelmingly chose Reagan’s sunny optimism over Carter’s gloomy warnings about cutting back and conserving. He lost 44 states in the general election. The undaunted political has-been went on to found The Carter Center, which pioneered election monitoring and sent watchdogs to 81 elections in 33 countries. Carter personally traveled on peace missions to Haiti, Bosnia, Ethiopia, North Korea, Sudan, Nepal and Colombia. Though criticized for talking to despots, dictators and tyrants, his rebuttal was always simple: “I’ll talk with anybody who wants to talk about peace.” Carter insisted his presidency was more successful than people remember, noting recently that the United States military never launched a missile or dropped a bomb under his watch. Carter announced in August 2015 that he had cancer after having surgery to remove a small mass from his liver. Though the cancer spread to his liver and brain, the battled-toughened old politician pulled through. He was survived by his three sons, Jack, Chip and Jeff; a daughter, Amy; and 11 grandchildren, including one who captured grandfather’s old seat in the Georgia state senate. ©2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)Nikola Tesla's mother encouraged him to look beyond his humble beginnings to the world stageThe suspect in the high-profile killing of a health insurance CEO that has gripped the United States graduated from an Ivy League university, reportedly hails from a wealthy family, and wrote social media posts brimming with cerebral musings. Luigi Mangione, 26, was thrust into the spotlight Monday after police revealed his identity as their person of interest, crediting his arrest to a tip from a McDonald’s worker. He has been connected by police to the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week in broad daylight, in a case that has laid bare deep frustrations and anger with the nation’s privatized medical system. News of his capture triggered an explosion of online activity, with Mangione quickly amassing new followers on social media as citizen sleuths and US media try to understand who he is. While some lauded him as a hero and lamented his arrest, others analyzed his intellectual takes in search of ideological clues. A photo on one of his social media accounts includes an X-ray of an apparently injured spine, though no explicit political affiliation has emerged. Meanwhile, memes and jokes proliferated, many riffing on his first name and comparing him to the “Mario Bros.” character Luigi, sometimes depicted in AI-altered images wielding a gun or holding a Big Mac. “Godspeed. Please know that we all hear you,” wrote one user on Facebook. “I want to donate to your defense fund,” added another. According to Mangione’s LinkedIn profile, he is employed as a data engineer at TrueCar, a California-based online auto marketplace. A company spokesperson told AFP Mangione “has not been an employee of our company since 2023.” Although he had been living in Hawaii ahead of the killing, he originally hails from Towson, Maryland, near Baltimore. He comes from a prominent and wealthy Italian-American family, according to the Baltimore Banner. The family owns local businesses, including the Hayfields Country Club, per the club’s website. – Standout student – A standout student, Mangione graduated at the top of his high school class in 2016. In an interview with his local paper at the time, he praised his teachers for fostering a passion for learning beyond grades and encouraging intellectual curiosity. He went on to attend the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, where he completed both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science by 2020, according to a university spokesperson. While at Penn, Mangione co-led a group of 60 undergraduates who collaborated on video game projects, as noted in a now-deleted university webpage, archived on the Wayback Machine. On Instagram, where his following has skyrocketed from hundreds to tens of thousands, Mangione shared snapshots of his travels in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. He also posted shirtless photos flaunting a six-pack and appeared in celebratory posts with fellow members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. However, it is on X (formerly Twitter) that users have scoured Mangione’s posts for potential motives. His header photo — an X-ray of a spine with bolts — remains cryptic, with no public explanation. Finding a coherent political ideology has also proved elusive. Mangione has linked approvingly to posts criticizing secularism as a harmful consequence of Christianity’s decline. In April, he wrote, “Horror vacui (nature abhors a vacuum).” The following month, he posted an essay he wrote in high school titled “How Christianity Prospered by Appealing to the Lower Classes of Ancient Rome.” In another post from April, he speculated that Japan’s low birthrate stems from societal disconnection, adding that “fleshlights” and other vaginal-replica sex toys should be banned. With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
