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Health secretary’s move to force race sparks scramble on left of Labour for candidate to oppose him
Wes Streeting is preparing to launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer on Thursday if the health secretary can secure the support of enough MPs to trigger a contest.
Streeting’s move to force a race has sparked a frantic scramble on the left of Labour to find a candidate to oppose him, with Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner both possible contenders.
Continue reading...Emirates’ foreign ministry rejects claims that Netanyahu visited the country describing them as ‘baseless’
Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed he made a secret trip to the United Arab Emirates at the height of the Iran war to meet the president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said on Wednesday night.
Continue reading...Warsh will serve four-year term as chair, taking over amid rising inflation and pressure from Trump to lower rates
The US Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal Reserve, one of the most powerful roles in the federal government that holds enormous sway over the economy.
The 54-45 Senate vote on Wednesday was split along party lines, with the exception of Democratic senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, who joined the Republican majority. Warsh was confirmed for a four-year term as chair and a 14-year appointment on the Fed’s rate-setting board.
Continue reading...Health secretary’s lack of challenge had reassured Starmer and his allies – but then briefings for a speculative Thursday launch emerged
As the unofficial political truce of the king’s speech approached, with still no sign of a leadership challenge from Wes Streeting, some of his Labour colleagues assumed the health secretary’s chance to go for the top job might have passed for ever.
“There is a risk he becomes the David Miliband of this generation if he doesn’t do something,” one MP said, a reference to another longtime heir apparent who never made the final step.
Continue reading...
Harvard faculty are voting on a proposal (PDF) to curb grade inflation by limiting solid A grades to 20% of students in a class, plus four additional A's per course. Axios reports: Grade inflation is at a tipping point at Harvard. A move to make A grades harder to come by at one of the world's leading universities could influence grading debates at peer institutions. Solid A's account for nearly two-thirds of all undergraduate letter grades. That's up from roughly a quarter 20 years ago. More than 50 members of last year's class graduated with perfect GPAs.
[...] Faculty are voting on three separate provisions. Each requires a simple majority to pass. A cap to limit solid-A grades to 20% of enrolled students in a class, plus four additional A's per course. Changes to how internal honors are calculated, moving from traditional grade point average scoring to an average percentile rank. Allowing courses to use new "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" marks with a "satisfactory-plus" distinction.
A pre-vote faculty poll showed around 60% of the 205 respondents favored the 20-plus-four formula over an alternative. Supporters of the cap argue it's intentionally modest as it places no restrictions on A-minuses. The four-grade buffer is designed to protect small seminars where a higher proportion of students may succeed. [...] If passed, changes would take effect in fall 2027, followed by a mandatory three-year review.
[...] Faculty are voting on three separate provisions. Each requires a simple majority to pass. A cap to limit solid-A grades to 20% of enrolled students in a class, plus four additional A's per course. Changes to how internal honors are calculated, moving from traditional grade point average scoring to an average percentile rank. Allowing courses to use new "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" marks with a "satisfactory-plus" distinction.
A pre-vote faculty poll showed around 60% of the 205 respondents favored the 20-plus-four formula over an alternative. Supporters of the cap argue it's intentionally modest as it places no restrictions on A-minuses. The four-grade buffer is designed to protect small seminars where a higher proportion of students may succeed. [...] If passed, changes would take effect in fall 2027, followed by a mandatory three-year review.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
My country has been under occupation, dogged by corruption and war. Yet even I've been bewildered by the way the US seems to be fracturing
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a society long sceptical of government has had to build one in real time. The war revealed a hard truth: only a functioning state can survive such a massive assault. Only a professional military can repel one of the world's most powerful armies. Only a coordinated health system can care for the wounded under constant shelling. When bridges are destroyed, water cut off or power plants bombed, it is the state that must restore essential services. To keep the economy afloat, both public institutions and private banks have had to operate under extreme pressure. The same applies to energy systems, which have been frequently targeted by Russian missile strikes but often quickly restored by the national emergency service. That's why it was so shocking for us, as Ukrainians, to hear about private firefighting services in California, where protection is prioritised for those who can afford to pay for it. The war revealed to us what a state truly is. It's not just about law enforcement but about the services that hold a country together. For us, statehood now means trains running to frontline areas; a health care system capable of treating thousands of wounded; schools and universities continuing to teach – sometimes online, sometimes under occupation; and civil servants adapting services for millions of displaced people. These are not ideological constructs, they are lifelines. And they cannot be replaced by philanthropy or the private sector. Survival cannot be outsourced.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a society long sceptical of government has had to build one in real time. The war revealed a hard truth: only a functioning state can survive such a massive assault. Only a professional military can repel one of the world's most powerful armies. Only a coordinated health system can care for the wounded under constant shelling. When bridges are destroyed, water cut off or power plants bombed, it is the state that must restore essential services. To keep the economy afloat, both public institutions and private banks have had to operate under extreme pressure. The same applies to energy systems, which have been frequently targeted by Russian missile strikes but often quickly restored by the national emergency service. That's why it was so shocking for us, as Ukrainians, to hear about private firefighting services in California, where protection is prioritised for those who can afford to pay for it. The war revealed to us what a state truly is. It's not just about law enforcement but about the services that hold a country together. For us, statehood now means trains running to frontline areas; a health care system capable of treating thousands of wounded; schools and universities continuing to teach – sometimes online, sometimes under occupation; and civil servants adapting services for millions of displaced people. These are not ideological constructs, they are lifelines. And they cannot be replaced by philanthropy or the private sector. Survival cannot be outsourced.
m01229 has added a photo to the pool:
Tokyo, Japan - April 15, 2026: Sign for the Tsukiji Inner Fish Market in Japan
m01229 has added a photo to the pool:
Tokyo, Japan - April 15, 2026: Family Mart convenience store konbini in Japan