World
Melinda French Gates Will Provide $250 Million To Worldwide Women’s Health Organizations On An Open Call.
(VOR News) – Melinda French Gates will give $250 million to worldwide women’s health initiatives through a charity grant application call.
The announcement on Wednesday marks the start of Melinda French Gates’ new philanthropic phase after leaving the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation this year. The offer continues her $1 billion, two-year commitment to global women and families from May.
Haven Ley, Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures chief strategy officer, called the grant competition a “curtain raiser” for global women’s health financing. Before this, Pivotal largely sponsored US women’s empowerment groups.
According to Ley, Melinda French Gates has “expanded her definition of women’s power to include a precondition that women must have their health to be powerful” by prioritizing women’s health, particularly through the Gates Foundation, which has provided funding for global health initiatives for 20 years.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s charity arm, Lever for Change, manages the Action for Women’s Health award competition.
Melinda French Gates and MacKenzie Scott, a billionaire novelist and philanthropist, collaborated
It will provide $40 million to US women’s organizations in 2019. Scott held a similar open call in March and donated $640 million to local charities.
A minimum of 100 charities worldwide will receive $1 million to $5 million in unrestricted financing through this open request. There is no limit on group size, but it will favor those for whom the money will make a difference. The open call is open until December 3rd for nonprofits, and applications, reviews, and decisions will take place until 2025.
A panel of outside experts and peers assess applications during the lengthy process.
Lever for Change CEO Cecilia Conrad said, “Most philanthropy remains invitation-only decision making behind closed doors.” “And what we have created is a method for conducting an open call, a way to increase accessibility to charitable opportunities, and a procedure that is fair and compassionate.”
She said their first business plan needed donors to spend $10 million over five years to build a solution, but they now assist contributors to scale a field.
Pivotal carefully considers a wide range of Melinda French Gates women’s health interventions, including menopause and mental health, says Ley. According to her, they hope to help Pivotal design its new plan by identifying finance and resource gaps and opportunities.
Professor Sarah Baird of George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health studies how therapies affect teens, particularly girls, and what makes them and their children healthy over time.
She advises funders to go through established organizations and focus on multiple diseases. She mentioned the underfunding of gender-based violence, mental health services for men and women, and the economic benefits for women-if they can work—produce.
Ms. Gates stated, “We’re not going to get very far if we just focus on those things.”
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds Associated Press coverage of Africa, while Pivotal Ventures funds coverage of women in statehouses and the workforce.
French Gates announced her $1 billion contribution in May, coupled with $200 million in new support for women’s rights organizations to expand their power. She also vowed to openly request $250 million this fall and gave 12 people $20 million to use as they please.
She wrote in May’s New York Times opinion post, “I hope to lift up groups with personal connections to the issues they work on,” concerning the open call. I should be among those who provide frontline workers with time and money.
Historically, less than 2% of Melinda French Gates US charitable donations went to women’s and girls’ groups. On Tuesday, the Women & Girls Index reported that these groups received $10.2 billion in charity funding in 2021, the most recent year for which detailed giving data is available.
The number is a milestone in raw money, according to Indiana University’s Women’s Philanthropy Institute interim director Jacqueline Ackerman. Donating to women and girls has never climbed faster than overall giving in her ten years of tracking these gifts, she added.
“To exceed that entails increasing contributions from all individuals concerned about these issues, regardless of their income and wealth levels, not solely Melinda French Gates,” he asserted.
SOURCE: USN
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World
Do Microplastics in the Atmosphere Endanger Your Fertility?
(VOR News) – It is quite possible that the presence of small microplastic particles in the air may be a contributing factor to a wide variety of health problems, including malignancies of the lungs and colon.
This is something that needs additional research to be determined. There is one more item to take into consideration, and that is the potential that this is the exact circumstance.
A recent study found that tires and debris that are decomposing shed minute fragments of plastic that go airborne, so creating a form of air pollution that is not particularly widely known. This type of pollution is caused by the degradation of plastic. An example of this type of pollution is that which is discharged into the atmosphere.
The industry refers to microplastic as “air pollution.”
According to the findings of a researcher named Tracey Woodruff, who is a professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, “These microplastics are basically particulate matter from air pollution,” and it is common knowledge that this particular type of air pollution is particularly hazardous.
The researchers who supplied background notes stated that the size of microplastics is less than 5 millimetres, which is smaller than a grain of rice.
This information was provided, according to researchers. These details were supplied by the researchers who conducted the study. These particulars were provided by researchers who were responsible for carrying out the study.
The amount of plastic that is created on a yearly basis by enterprises all over the world is roughly 460 million tonnes, as indicated by the data that were provided by academics all over the world. The forecasts indicate that by the year 2050, this quantity is anticipated to have increased to 1.1 billion tonnes.
Driving is a substantial contributor to the amount of plastic that is floating around in the atmosphere, according to the conclusions of the experts who conducted the study about the phenomenon. When tires are worn down to the point where they scrape against the surface of the road, they allow microplastics to be released into the environment.
As a result of the tires wearing down, this occurs. This impact is brought about as a consequence of the inevitable amount of wear and tear that tires are subjected to.
A study that was published on December 18 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology was the result of researchers conducting an examination of data collected from over 3,000 previous investigations.
The paper was published as a consequence of this procedure. The review was constructed with the help of this analysis that was carried out.
Microplastic used this analysis to put together the review.
A number of diseases, such as cancer, lung problems, and infertility, may be influenced by the presence of microplastics in the air, according to the data, which led to the conclusion that this may be the case.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of the studies that were incorporated into the study were carried out on animals, the researchers claimed that it is very certainly plausible that the findings can also be applied to people. The fact that the majority of investigations were conducted on animals does not change the reality that this is the case.
“We urge regulatory agencies and policy leaders to consider the growing evidence of health harms from microplastics, including colon and lung cancer,” stated Nicholas Chartres, the principal investigator and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney.
The organisation reported this comment. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) issued a press release on behalf of the organisation that contained this statement. The news release was disseminated to the public. We are convinced that state officials will act quickly to make sure that no leaks of this kind occur, which is of the highest importance.
SOURCE: USN
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World
Russian Oil Ships In The Kerch Strait Are Undergoing Rescue Operations.
(VOR News) – Following Sunday’s powerful storm, a Russian oil tanker carrying hundreds of tonnes of oil products ultimately broke apart, causing an oil spill into the Kerch Strait below. Additionally, Russian officials reported that the damage was causing problems for another vessel.
Sunday, Russian authorities announced an emergency rescue operation.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, which claimed the Emergency Situations Ministry as its source, the Volgoneft-212 tanker, carrying fuel oil and carrying thirteen crew members, ran aground and suffered damage to its bow. A shipment of fuel oil was being transported by the tanker.
Authorities have told the public that the damage was brought on by the extreme weather conditions that are currently occurring.
A second tanker, the Volgoneft-239, was damaged during the storm and is currently stranded in the same area with 14 crew members on board, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The tanker was discovered abandoned and alone in the same spot.
Additional tankers also suffered damage. The 132-meter-long cruiser, which was constructed in 1973, hangs the Russian flag around its neck.
The footage posted by state media showed the 136-meter Volgoneft-212 tanker, which was cut in two with its bow underwater, and waves crashing over its deck. At least one person lost his life as a result of this tragedy. This led to the opening of two distinct criminal investigations by the Russian authorities to look into potential violations of certain safety regulations.
Having flown the Russian flag since 1969, the yacht was finished.
Rosmorrechflot, the Russian government agency in charge of water transportation, reported a petroleum product spill.
It is believed that the cargo capacity of each tanker is around 4,200 tonnes of oil products.
The magnitude of the leak and the cause of the substantial damage one of the tankers received were not specified in the official remarks. This is in accordance with the official remarks.
Several news sites cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin directed the formation of a working committee to handle the rescue effort and lessen the effects of the oil disaster.
Peskov recommended that the government appoint the working committee’s members. This comment was made public right after Putin met with the ministries responsible for ecology and disaster management.
The Russian government has said that it will be sending more than fifty individuals and pieces of equipment to the area in response to the current crisis. Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats are examples of these people and tools.
The news that experts are presently investigating the damage at the event site was announced by Svetlana Radionova, who is in charge of Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s natural resources regulating entity.
Kommersant reports that Volgoneft-212 used 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil.
The footage, which showed a partially submerged ship and murky water on rough seas, was posted to Telegram without the owner’s consent.
The warships were located in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from the Russian mainland, when the distress signals were sent out.
The Kerch Strait is a crucial international marine passage that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, allowing for easier traffic between the two bodies of water. It also acts as a border between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which is under Russian occupation. The Kerch Strait is located in the centre of the two nations.
The peninsula has remained a major source of contention between the two national governments ever since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in 2014. Russia was the one who seized the peninsula. Ukraine brought legal action against Russia before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016.
Specifically, the lawsuit claimed that Russia intended to illegally take over a location. The argument was supported by evidence pertaining to Russia’s conduct in the region. In 2021, the Russian Federation closed the strait for several consecutive months
SOURCE: VN
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World
Japan List Cannabis as Narcotic Criminalizes Recreational Use
TOKYO – Japan updated its cannabis and narcotics control legislation on Thursday, criminalizing cannabis (Marijuana) use and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), imposing a maximum seven-year prison sentence.
While the possession, transmission, and cultivation of cannabis and THC were already prohibited in Japan, the new rules will classify them as narcotics and criminalize their use as well, with a prison sentence of up to seven years for violations.
The amended regulations also legalize medical items containing cannabis-derived compounds that are beneficial and safe.
In 2019, 1.8 percent of the Japanese population had used cannabis at least once, making it the country’s second most popular illicit substance behind methamphetamine.
In 2023, a record 6,703 people were probed in cannabis-related criminal cases in Japan, topping methamphetamine cases for the first time, according to the Health, Labour, and Welfare Ministry. Seventy percent of instances involved people under the age of thirty.
A nationwide poll performed the same year by the ministry’s research group estimated that approximately 200,000 people had consumed marijuana within the previous year.
Japan previously did not penalize cannabis usage, apparently taking into account farmers who may have accidentally ingested the drug while producing cannabis plants for use in hemp products.
The amendments will also lift a restriction on cannabis-derived medicines, putting them under a licensing system similar to other drugs used for pain relief and other purposes.
Drugs derived from cannabis plants were only allowed in clinical studies in Japan, but patient groups have been advocating for access to cannabis-derived cannabidiol treatments already licensed in Europe and the United States for illnesses like severe epilepsy.
Cannabis cultivation dates back to the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory, roughly six to ten thousand years ago (source: Wikipedia).
Cannabis hemp, as one of Japan’s first cultivated plants, provided an essential supply of plant fibre for clothing, cordage, and Shinto ritual goods, among other uses.
For much of Japanese history, hemp was common for fabric and food before cotton emerged as the country’s dominant fibre crop during industrialization during the Meiji period.
Following the end of World War II and the occupation of Japan, the Cannabis Control Law prohibited cannabis possession and manufacturing.
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