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有数十个国家国会议员参与的对中政策跨国议会联盟(IPAC)星期二(7月7日)组成代表团访问台湾。IPAC共同主席、荷兰众议员扬·帕特诺特(Ian Paternotte)在台北总统府告诉台湾总统赖清德，代表团部分成员此行可能须承受一定代价，但仍决定前来，“这才是重点。”

A new White House report accusing the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History of “extreme political activism,” and demanding the museum revise its exhibitions to elide the darker elements of the nation’s past, mirrors a troubling trend in Europe, where right-wing nationalist governments have spent the past decade forcing museums to minimize their countries’ roles... The post European leaders downplayed the Holocaust. Now Trump is using their tactics against the Smithsonian appeared first on The Forward.

စစ်တပ် ဗုံးကြဲသွားတဲ့ ရွှေမှော်ဧရိယာတဝိုက်မှာ တိုက်ပွဲဖြစ်ပွားနေတာမရှိဘူးလို့လည်း ဒေသခံတွေပြော။

The Trump administration has rolled back teen pregnancy prevention grants and repurposed a program designed to reduce unintended pregnancies so that it promotes childbearing. But several states, including Republican-led ones, have protected or expanded access to contraception in recent months. Georgia Republican state Rep. Beth Camp sponsored a bill to expand contraceptive access in her […]

La exmandataria, Michelle Bachelet, estuvo presente en el 1° Encuentro Nacional de Alcaldesas realizado en Chile. Según publicó Emol, la expresidenta señaló en la oportunidad que “para mí el tema de la mujer en la política, la mujer en general, pero en la política, es súper importante, porque creo que nosotras tenemos que estar en los […] Este artículo Michelle Bachelet sobre acoso a mujeres en política: “Se ha exacerbado a nivel digital, buscan castigar la exposición pública y silenciar voces” fue publicado originalmente en El Diario de Antofagasta.

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox.In his first six months in office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has issued a steady stream of announcements and policy initiatives in the three areas that powered his affordability-focused campaign: childcare for kids 5 and younger, transportation, and housing.But when it comes to K-12 public education — the largest operation under Mamdani’s control by both budget and headcount — the story has been quite different.Out of the hundreds of press releases Mamdani sent out since his term began, just 11 relate to K-12 education, according to a Chalkbeat analysis. Only one announced a new policy affecting what happens inside classrooms serving more than 800,000 elementary- to high school-age students. And even the new policy — expanding a reading and math curriculum overhaul launched under his predecessor Eric Adams — largely continued work already underway.Other press releases related to winter storms, street safety outside schools, and the opening of new schools that started under a previous administration.Mayoral press releases are an incomplete measure of Mamdani’s record and agenda on K-12 education, and schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels has introduced several initiatives of his own. But some longtime education watchers — including Mamdani supporters — said the dearth of attention to K-12 schools and absence of concrete policy proposals one-eighth of the way through Mamdani’s first term raises questions about how he will manage a core function of the city’s government.“He’s the first mayor that I’ve seen … to have so little apparent interest in our public schools from K-12,” said Leonie Haimson, the executive director of Class Size Matters and a longtime education advocate. She argued that Mamdani could use his “progressive values to really make a difference in our schools,” adding that overseeing public schools “is a very critical part of his responsibilities.”In many ways, the lack of focus on K-12 schools during Mamdani’s first months in office is not a surprise. Education didn’t figure prominently into his mayoral campaign, which focused on his key priorities and largely avoided political fights that could distract from those efforts. Some observers suggested that an aggressive push to make the K-12 system more equitable — a political minefield for progressive politicians — may feel too risky when Mamdani is still shoring up support for his core agenda.Keeping up his “laser focus” on expanding free childcare — a broadly popular policy — could pay political dividends by providing economic relief for families while also better preparing children for K-12 schools, said Shael Polakow-Suransky, president of Bank Street College of Education and a former deputy chancellor under Michael Bloomberg.“That is where the political capital on education will need to be spent over the next few years, if they’re going to deliver on that promise and actually get the educational benefits,” he said.Polakow-Suransky and others familiar with the Mamdani administration’s education plans said the quiet start on K-12 policy may be a deliberate effort by Mamdani and Samuels to gather input before making potentially disruptive changes.But other observers noted that while Mamdani still has time to make his mark on city schools, his current approach risks further entrenching a status quo marked by deep problems and inequities.“The absence of any identifiable priority is a worry,” said David Bloomfield, a professor emeritus of education leadership, law, and policy at Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center. The longterm benefits of an improved K-12 school system take years to materialize, Bloomfield noted, unlike the more immediate benefits of Mamdani’s policy priorities.“He seems to feel that what’s in place is good enough,” Bloomfield said.Jenna Lyle, a spokesperson for Mamdani, disputed the idea that he has focused less on K-12 education in his early months than predecessors.“Change isn’t measured by the number of press releases we send out. It’s measured by whether people’s lives are better because they were invited to shape the policies that affect them,” she said. The administration is preparing to “share our broader vision for public schools” by holding listening sessions and gathering community feedback, she added.What has Mamdani done so far, and how does it compare to past mayors?Mamdani offered few sweeping education promises on the campaign trail, but did stake out several positions that set him apart from his competitors, including ending mayoral control of city schools and removing kindergarten entry to the city’s gifted and talented program.Neither has come to pass.Mamdani reversed his position on mayoral control shortly before taking office. He also backed away from a campaign promise to quickly comply with the state’s class size law, instead asking for an extension to save money this fiscal year. He has not advanced proposals to change the gifted and talented program or offer prospective new teachers tuition assistance, as he pledged during the campaign. He has made some efforts to reduce the Education Department’s astronomical contracts budget, but those efforts have been complicated by scrutiny over allegations that Samuels violated contracting rules in a previous role. He also continued a pandemic-era policy launched under Bill de Blasio and continued by Adams to spare schools with declining enrollment from budget cuts.Most longtime education observers said Mamdani has focused noticeably less on K-12 education than his immediate predecessors, Adams, de Blasio, and Bloomberg — though several noted that those mayors’ education agendas didn’t fully come into focus during their first six months in office.Adams issued 21 press releases related to K-12 education during his first six months, including announcements expanding the gifted and talented program, introducing dyslexia screening, and rehiring district superintendents, a Chalkbeat analysis found. His most recognizable education policy, NYC Reads, was announced more than a year into his tenure.Bloomberg made controversial and sweeping reforms of the K-12 school system a centerpiece of his agenda. De Blasio, like Mamdani, initially emphasized childcare, but nine months into his tenure launched a major effort to flood struggling schools with additional resources.Matt Gonzales, a longtime school integration advocate who served on Mamdani’s education transition team, said preserving programs for vulnerable students in the recent budget agreement between Mamdani and the City Council was a significant early policy achievement. He also argued that introducing new policies in the middle of a school year could be disruptive.“I want all the big pronouncements and priorities laid out ASAP,” he said. But “there’s a real need to stabilize the system … and then move a vision for education in this new school year.”What does Mamdani’s quiet start on K-12 education mean for schools?While the Mamdani administration hasn’t offered a detailed public agenda for K-12 schools, officials have negotiated the budget and an extension of the state’s class size law deadline, said Aaron Pallas, a professor of sociology and education at Columbia University Teachers College. (The Education Department issued a press release with a quote from Mamdani detailing the new class size plan).He added that making meaningful change in a system as sprawling as New York City is difficult and that “on the ground level, a lot can continue in a positive way without high-level policy pronouncements.”But if outcomes such as test scores and graduation rates slip, Mamdani may face “pressure to do more,” he said.Some advocates hope Mamdani will focus on increasing racial and socioeconomic integration, and merging underenrolled schools — two longtime priorities for Samuels. Others want him to stake out a firm position against artificial intelligence in schools.Whatever the agenda looks like, some supporters hope Mamdani will bring the same public attention campaign he’s launched for childcare — including a jingle contest judged by Cardi B — to K-12 education.“I’m hopeful that we see more of that kind of skill around education, especially as they really get to take the reins of things this school year,” Gonzales said. “That’s going to really need the mayor’s messaging and savviness.”Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

En Guinée-Bissau, la junte au pouvoir a fixé le référendum constitutionnel au 30 août. Cette révision de la Constitution intervient à cinq mois du scrutin présidentiel fixé par les militaires et censé aboutir à une transition civile.

FWISD superintendent ousted in state takeover said the role at the education nonprofit allows her to keep serving Tarrant students.

Members of an informal network of food delivery drivers on the Northshore say that even after the end of Catahoula Crunch, some are still afraid to leave their homes, leading to increased food insecurity.

An Oregon court violated the constitutional rights of a woman whose husband died in a 2021 car crash in the Boring area when it limited the damages she received from $20 million to $500,000, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled.    The decision last week from an Oregon Court of Appeals panel hinged on the section […]

An unaffiliated candidate is collecting petition signatures to challenge Democratic nominee Melat Kiros in the November race to represent Colorado’s Denver-centered 1st Congressional District. The secretary of state’s office on Monday approved Shimon Blau’s petition for circulation. He has until Thursday to submit 1,500 signatures to qualify for the ballot.  Blau, a doctor, announced his […]

On a Tuesday evening, I watched from the sixth floor of my student housing in Belfast as a stream of black smoke rose above the rooftops and engulfed the green hills which surround the city. Below my window, teenagers dressed... The post Perspective | Northern Ireland taught tolerance but not democracy. Now it’s burning appeared first on EdNC.

Healey held a meeting Monday afternoon with leaders from Mass General Brigham and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, though no bargaining committee members attended.

ထောင်ဒဏ် ၆ နှစ် ချမှတ်ခံခဲ့ရပြီး ၂၀၂၅ ခုနှစ် ဩဂုတ်လ ၇ ရက်နေ့မှာ ပြန်လွတ်ခဲ့ပေမဲ့ ထောင်အပေါက်၀မှာပဲ ပြန်ဖမ်းခံခဲ့ရ။

Depuis le début de l’année 2026, les vrombissements de groupes électrogènes, de poclains et de dragues résonnent à longueur de journées autour de la rivière Oso, au bord du Parc national de la Maiko. Selon les cartes des permis miniers, il devrait y avoir uniquement de la recherche pour des minéraux critiques près de cette […] The post RDC : Deux sociétés minières sans permis d’exploitation, opèrant près du Parc de la Maiko, suspendues appeared first on Nouvelles de l'environnement.

Gov. Josh Stein signed the new $34.4 billion state budget into law on Tuesday, highlighting its investment in public education. Among other things, the budget features an 8% average pay raises for teachers and increased funding for literacy and math... The post Gov. Josh Stein signs budget into law, discusses investment in education appeared first on EdNC.

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter to get the latest.The U.S. Department of Justice has sent letters to election officials in several states warning that they could face criminal prosecution if they knowingly leave noncitizens on their voter rolls or allow noncitizens to receive, cast, or have ballots counted in federal elections.The letters are the latest example of the Trump administration exercising unusual scrutiny over the way states run elections. At the same time, they are unlikely to have an immediate practical effect, as every state already has rules and procedures to prevent noncitizen voting.A July 7 letter to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, obtained by Votebeat, says federal law requires state and local election officials to maintain election records and take steps to ensure that only eligible U.S. citizens vote in federal elections. Signed by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, the letter gives Michigan five days to explain how it will ensure compliance with federal law at both the state and local levels.“State election officers, including the chief election officer of the state, could be criminally prosecuted for aiding and abetting” violations of federal laws barring noncitizens from voting, the letter says. It adds that “knowingly retaining noncitizens” on Michigan’s statewide voter-registration list, sending them ballots, and counting those ballots would constitute the “procurement, casting, or tabulation” of ballots known to be false.At least 13 other states, including Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, received letters containing identical language. More states likely received the letter as well but may not have immediately realized it; in several states, the Justice Department sent the letter to the generic email addresses listed on agency websites for use by the public. “I had to go look for it,” said one state election official, who asked not to be named.The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.None of the state election officials contacted by Votebeat expressed concern over the letter.Robert Sinners, a spokesperson for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said the office “has led the nation in keeping American elections for American citizens only” through citizenship audits and securing improvements to the federal database to check citizenship implemented under Secretary Brad Raffensperger. Other states also defended their handling of voter eligibility checks.“Arizona election officials have always worked to ensure that only eligible citizens are registered to vote, and we will continue following Arizona law—not directions that come from political rhetoric or intimidation,” said Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in a statement.David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, said election officials are unlikely to be intimidated by the warnings, but responding to repeated federal demands is draining time and attention from their work.“It’s not a threat to the public servants who run elections, but it is exhausting,” he said.Letters follow failed attempts to advance Trump voting agenda in courtAccording to Becker, the letters look less like the beginning of a criminal investigation and more like an attempt to pressure election officials.“If you really thought they committed a crime, you wouldn’t be sending them a letter,” Becker said. “You’d be bringing criminal indictments.”Becker pointed to the Justice Department’s recent losses in voting-related cases as evidence that the department’s strategy has been more aggressive than successful. Key parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail voting were recently blocked in court, and the Justice Department has yet to win a single lawsuit it has brought seeking access to state voter rolls.Becker said that track record makes the letters look like “a last-ditch attempt” to intimidate election officials.“It’s just sad,” he said.Rick Hasen, an election law professor at UCLA, said the letters fit the administration’s pattern of sowing doubt in U.S. elections by raising the specter of noncitizen voting.“This is in line with the Trump administration’s efforts to push the myth of mass noncitizen voting and to threaten and intimidate state and local election officials,” Hasen said. “They will try every lever and threat to keep this issue in the news.”Justice Department says it wants to help states complyThe letter was accompanied by a four-page memo outlining election officials’ obligations under the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act, and Help America Vote Act, including requirements to preserve election records, maintain accurate voter rolls, and verify certain information on voter-registration applications.The memo, the letter says, is meant to outline “various responsibilities for state and local election officials under federal law and the potential criminal penalties for those who fail to carry out their duties.” Dhillon also frames the letter as an offer of help, writing that the Civil Rights Division “would like to assist” Michigan in complying with federal election laws.The warning is part of a broader Justice Department push to examine state voter rolls and root out noncitizen voting ahead of the 2026 elections. Research and election audits have found that noncitizen voting is rare, even as proof-of-citizenship voting proposals have gained traction at the federal and state levels.But the attached memo’s guidance also underscores a tension in the administration’s approach to election security. In a cybersecurity section, the Justice Department directs election officials to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s online Cybersecurity Toolkit and Resources to Protect Elections, telling them to follow “all applicable guidelines” to protect election systems from cyberthreats.One of the resources linked through that CISA toolkit is the Center for Internet Security’s election-security page. The page remains online, but CISA ended federal funding earlier this year for CIS-run programs that had provided no-cost cybersecurity support to election offices.Jessica Huseman is Votebeat’s editorial director and is based in Dallas. Contact Jessica at jhuseman@votebeat.org.

This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Sign up for Votebeat Arizona’s free newsletter here. One is a rule-following election administrator. The other is a bomb-throwing election attorney. That’s the choice voters face in Arizona’s Republican primary for secretary of state. The winner could […] The post Meet the Republicans who want to be Arizona’s top election official appeared first on AZ Luminaria.

A one-year freeze on funding to organizations that provide abortions and received more than $800K in annual reimbursements expired last week.

With testing grounds such as open mics and independent venues in flux, area singer-songwriters are facing dimmer spotlights.