Category: Education

Minister of Foreign Affairs Constantinos Kombos and Commissioner for Gender Equality Josie Christodoulou discussed Friday 'Women in Diplomacy' with university students in an event organized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of International Day of Women in Diplomacy to be celebrated June 24.

In the context of the event, two women, one former and one active diplomat, Honorary Ambassador Rea Giordamli and Minister Plenipotentiary Koula Sofianou, presented their personal experiences as female diplomats and discussed with the students various aspects related to the gender dimension and the participation of women in diplomacy, at the presence of University professors, the Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Kyriakos Kouros and other diplomats.

In his address, the Foreign Minister expressed his belief that diplomatic activity of women contributes the most to the promotion of peace, dialogue and development, indicating at the same time that many steps have been achieved in Cyprus regarding participation of women in diplomacy. He reiterated at the same time that for the Cypriot MFA the promotion of regional and international cooperation in this important field, is a priority.

Foreign Minister noted that out of 166 Cypriot diplomats, only 55 are women, indicating though that "it's not a matter of numbers, but mostly of mentality."

A mentality that will lead, as he added, to steady and methodical steps, with the key being the attraction of more women to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Commissioner for Gender Equality, Josie Christodoulou, explained that policies and actions to be implemented must respond to different needs of women and men in the Diplomatic Service, in order to give them the space and voice to have even more impact on the foreign policy of the Republic of Cyprus, indicating that this is precisely the new role of her portfolio.

"We are moving forward, always in collaboration with all the Ministries and Deputy Ministries, to integrate actions and policies horizontally throughout the state, so that the state covers and includes the other 50% of its population' she said.

Both Honorary Ambassador Rea Giordamli and Minister Plenipotentiary Koula Sofianou shared with the participants their personal experiences and the various challenges they faced as women throughout their career in Diplomacy since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and later when assuming important posts as Heads of Missions. A common input of their presentations is that women can, with hard work and self-confidence succeed and contribute constructively to the promotion of the national interests of Cyprus.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The government has submitted to the Parliament a supplementary budget amounting to pound 361 million with an impact of 0.85% of GDP on the government coffers.

This is second supplementary budget submitted this year, with the Finance Ministry noting that the increased expenditure will not affect the fiscal balance, as pound 116 million will be covered by intra-governmental transactions.

The supplementary budget has been approved by cabinet last Wednesday.

In a note to the Parliament, the Finance Ministry said the additional spending is needed for the support the sectors of health, education, agriculture, sport and housing of displaced persons, due to the effects of the war in Ukraine and high inflation.

The largest expenditure concern pound 60 million to cover the increased Cost-of-Living-Allowance (CoLA) in the second half of this year following the renewed transitional agreement between the social partners, pound 60 million for the implementation of co-financed projects and schemes, pound 59 to cover the in cost of desalination, driven upwards due to high electricity prices and pound 56 million as a grant to facilitate the implementation of development projects (pound 46 million) and other operating expenditure (pound 16 million) of the University of Cyprus.

Furthermore, the budget also includes pound 25.4 million for the purchase of a building in Nicosia that will house the Ministry of Labour, pound 18.2 million to cover the cost for the extension of subsidising part of the increase in electricity bills due to high oil prices, pound 15.8 million for the state subsidy to the Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK) for construction of student halls, pound 15.6 million for the host of displaced persons from Ukraine and unescorted minors which are seekers of international protection, pound 15 million for the purchase of medicines and vaccines against COVID-19, pound 11.5 million for the hiring of temporary employees in education and pound 9.4 million as a grant to the Cyprus Sport Organisation for the construction and renovation of sport installations.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

On the verge of completing his PhD in Physics at Harvard University, a young Turkish man has made a groundbreaking discovery about the origin of life on Earth, generating significant excitement among scientists.

Furkan Ozturk and his team's research has been published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Science Advances. They have made progress in understanding the origin of biological handedness. They propose that magnetic minerals on early Earth may have influenced the selection of one mirror-image form of biomolecules over the other.

In 1848, French chemist Louis Pasteur introduced the concept of homochirality, which explains that specific molecules necessary for life exist in mirror-image forms, just like the left and right hands.

However, despite 175 years of research, the origin of this property remained one of biology's great mysteries.

Although more work is needed to unravel the mystery fully, scientists believe Ozturk's discovery is a crucial step in understanding the fundamental processes that initiated the formation of life.

'A real breakthrough'

The discovery, expected to provide insights into the origins of life on Earth and the possibility of extraterrestrial life, revolves around homochirality, which explains the preference for specific mirror-image forms of molecules in living organisms.

"It's a real breakthrough. Homochirality is essential to get biology started, and this is possible—and I would say very likely – solution," said Nobel laureate biochemist, Jack Szostak, according to the journal.

Ozturk, who earned a bachelor's in physics at Bilkent University in the Turkish capital Ankara, has researched the origins of life for approximately two-and-a-half years at Harvard.

"We were looking for a physical interaction that could break chiral or mirror symmetry. Our studies revealed that magnetic minerals, which are abundantly found in nature and can be considered natural magnets, can lead to the breaking of this symmetry. Our experiments show that magnetic surfaces interact strongly with chiral molecules and that magnetism may have contributed to homochirality," he said.

'We begin to see first traces of life on Earth'

"Approximately 4 billion years ago, roughly 500 million years after the formation of the solar system and our Earth, we begin to see the first traces of life on Earth," the 26-year-old physicist told Anadolu.

He added that his experimental studies aim to illuminate this mystery, which the Science journal recognised as one of the 125 most significant problems in the natural sciences.

He said about his discovery's impact: "Our discovery sheds light on the origin of life, a central mystery in nature. It's like solving a puzzle where we have limited evidence from 4 billion years ago. Our study contributes a significant piece to understanding life's origin.

"Although we're unsure how it all fits together, this discovery will help answer questions and provide clues about life's beginnings. It could also offer insights into life on other planets. Understanding Earth's life formation enhances our knowledge of conditions for life elsewhere. This knowledge guides the search for extraterrestrial life. Although certainty remains a challenge, it's possible," he added.

"The problem of the 'origin of life' is like a puzzle, and our results are a significant step towards solving a substantial part of this puzzle. We have opened a breach in the wall, and I believe more will come."

Ozturk stated that he has earned praise from academics at Harvard and many other universities and a documentary was recently made about his discovery, apart from his work being highlighted in the scientific world through channels like Nature, Science, and others.

He also stated that renowned molecular biologist Matthew Meselson, who discovered how DNA is replicated, has commented on his work: "I'm glad I lived until the age of 93. Finally, I have seen the solution to this problem."

Source: TRTworld.com

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Germany could “in principle” block access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot due to privacy concerns, a spokeswoman for the country’s data protection commissioner told the Handelsblatt newspaper on Monday.

“In principle, a similar procedure is also possible in Germany,” Federal Commissioner for Data Protection Ulrich Kelber’s spokeswoman told the paper, referring to the Italian ban.

Italy’s National Authority for Personal Data Protection ordered ChatGPT temporarily taken offline on Friday, as it investigates a suspected leak of user data by the application last month. The Italian regulator also criticized ChatGPT for not notifying users that it collects and stores their information, and for failing to install any filters to verify user age.

Kelber’s spokeswoman said that there are currently no plans to ban the chatbot in Germany, and that such a decision would fall under the jurisdiction of the country’s individual states.

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT uses OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 language model to answer users’ questions, solve mathematical problems, and write stories, poems, and even computer code. While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admits that his technology could “eliminate a lot of current jobs,” critics have warned of the more damaging possibility that the chatbot represents an early step toward artificial intelligence eclipsing human brainpower and escaping human control.

Over 1,100 AI researchers and prominent tech leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, signed an open letter last month demanding a six-month moratorium on “giant AI experiments.”

Source: Russia Today

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Tens of thousands of staff members across 150 universities in the UK started industrial action on Thursday over pay.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are staging a two-day strike across the country after members rejected the latest pay offer from employers.

Some 80% of members have voted in favor of the strike after the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) had offered 4-5% raises, which is below both the unions’ demand, as well as the inflation rate.

The UCU said that the National Union of Students (NUS) backed the strike decision expected to affect some 2.5 million students.

In a statement on Wednesday, the UCU said university bosses were “in hiding” and needed to engage properly in talks to prevent 15 more days of strikes from going ahead over the next two months.

UCU General Secretary Jo Grady said members were striking for 48 hours this week but are determined to take further action until they get a “fair deal.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Another Canada First Nation tribe said Tuesday that 171 unmarked “plausible graves” have been detected at the site of a former Indian Residential School.

Ground-penetrating radar was used in the cemetery area of St. Mary’s Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario, the Wauzhushk Onigum Nation said in a press release.

“With the exception of five grave markers, the remaining are unmarked by any grave or burial markers,” the release said.

The radar could have detected tree roots or large stones, so without further tests, it is not known if all the graves contain human remains.

The Wauzhushk Onigum Nation, which still has 50 survivors of the school who attended in the 1940s to 1960s, said more searches will be done at other sites “that have been identified through survivor testimony, archeological assessment and archival investigations that show burial rituals conducted by former residential school staff.”

The graves are likely those of children, since Canada’s National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation said at least 36 students died while attending St. Mary’s. The school was operated by the Catholic Church from 1897 to 1972.

It was one of 139 Indian Residential Schools set up and funded by the Canadian government and run by religious denominations beginning in the mid-1800s. The last one closed in 1996. Indigenous children were forced to attend and the original goal was to stamp out Indigenous culture and replace it with white culture.

About 150,000 children attended the schools and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Commission has estimated that at last 4,100 children died from disease and malnutrition while others suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

The children were often buried at the schools and their parents too often were never informed of their deaths. Close to 1,900 graves have been located in the last few years using ground-penetrating radar.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the residential schools and what was done to Indigenous peoples a “dark and shameful chapter of our country’s history.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Teachers in Portugal began an 18-day strike on Monday in Lisbon, demanding better working conditions from the Education Ministry.

The strike is set to continue on working days until Feb. 8, rotating to all the different Portuguese districts and ending in Porto. The strikes will be accompanied by protests in the main square of each district’s capital city.

Eight unions are behind the nationwide rotating strikes: Fenprof, ASPL, Pro-Ordem, SEPLEU, SINAPE, SINDEP, SIPE y SPLIU. On top of that, teachers belonging to the STOP union have been on strike since Dec. 9 and the SIPE teachers’ union has also called a partial walkout.

The eight unions, which originally ruled out a strike, said they are taking to the streets to pressure the Portuguese government to “abandon its eight extremely damaging and disruptive proposals” and find solutions to other problems “that have been dragging on for years and have made work in schools unbearable.”

Some specific complaints are related to professional instability, precarity and overloading teachers with unpaid overtime.

“I hope the education minister will realize that we’ve reached a point of no return,” a teacher who began striking on Monday told local media. “We can’t continue with these conditions. We don’t feel respected.”

On Saturday, police said 20,000 people marched on the streets of Lisbon, demanding better pay and working conditions for teachers and for the resignation of Education Minister Joao Costa. Organizers said more than 100,000 teachers and parents turned up.

The salary for an entry-level teacher in Portugal is just over €22,300 ($24,100) per year. The average for 14 western European nations is almost double that, according to the Spanish union UGT. After 15 years of teaching, the average salary in Portugal sits below €29,000.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Some 55,000 educational workers will return to work Tuesday after the Ontario government agreed to repeal its controversial Bill 28 that made a strike illegal, meaning hundreds of thousands of students will be back in class.

Faced with mounting pressure from a coalition of unions and criticism from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for enacting a clause that overrides a union’s right to strike, the government of Premier Doug Ford blinked first and offered to repeal Bill 28 if the members would return to the classroom. They walked off the job Friday in defiance of Bill 28.

The bill, passed Thursday, would have imposed a four-year contract on the members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and subjected members to fines up to CAN$4,000 a day (US$3,000). As a result of Monday’s promise from Ford, union members agreed to end their strike.

After union leaders said at a press conference they would return to classes, Education Minister Stephen Lecce released a statement.

“CUPE has agreed to withdraw their strike action and come back to the negotiating table,” Lecce said in the statement. “In return, at the earliest opportunity, we will revoke Bill 28 in its entirety and be at the table so that kids can return to the classroom… As we have always said and called for, kids need to be back in the classroom, where they belong.”

Mark Hancock, national president of CUPE, said Bill 28 was an attack on the right to strike which united various unions in the labor movement. And the unions won, he said Monday.

“They took on the Ford government, and the government blinked,” Hancock said. “We’ve shown that when under attack, our (labor) movement is strong and we will stand up for each other.”

Wages are the main issue, with the Ford government offering about two percent increase and the union demanding about 11% because of inflation and minor pay increases over the last decade.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The latest developments came after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned of a “challenging” winter ahead while noting that the army is on standby to fill roles if National Health Service (NHS) employees decide to walk off the job, Sky News reported.

In what is considered one of the biggest walkouts the country has ever seen, more than 70,000 employees from 150 universities gathered Wednesday at the King’s Cross railway station in London on the last day of a strike that started on Nov. 25 and marched to the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association.

Hundreds of thousands of workers across many sectors including nurses, rail workers and ambulance staff are also planning to go on strike in December and January.

The Royal College of Nursing has confirmed strikes on Dec. 15 and Dec. 20.

Ambulance staff are also planning to strike before Christmas.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU), which represents Royal Mail staff, said in a statement that its members will be in London next Friday for the “biggest strike demonstration this country has ever seen” and that strikes will continue throughout next month, including on Christmas Eve.

Royal Mail has warned that the postal strikes will “hold Christmas to ransom” for their customers.

According to local media, members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Network Rail and 14 train operators are preparing four 48-hour strikes in December and January.

Around 100,000 civil service members are also set to walk out in December and January.

More than 100 Eurostar staff are also planning a four-day strike in December.

According to Sky News, recent balloting showed huge support for industrial action.

“Members take strike action with great reluctance, but the effects of real-terms pay losses are simply too urgent for them to endure the situation any longer,” Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), was quoted by the broadcaster as saying.

“These cuts are driving an exodus from the profession.”

Source: Anadolu Agency