- The Guardian
- Issue #2154
China: Chinese scientists have fully constructed a Submicron-resolution Three-dimensional Atlas of the Mouse Brain (STAM Atlas), a major step forward in neurological research. As an adjustable visualisation of the entire mouse brain, the STAM Atlas consists of a dataset mapping and annotating 916 brain regions. STAM Atlas sets a new benchmark for precision in brain mapping, allowing researchers to locate brain regions and even neurons involved in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s. This precision enables more effective targeted therapies and interventions. The team has also aimed to democratise their research, developing a visualisation platform and cloud resources enabling researchers and the public to engage with the research results.
USA: The National Education Association (NEA), the USA’s largest union, has voted to cut all ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The decision, made by the NEA’s 7,000-member Representative Assembly, marks a continuation of the union’s opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The ADL has sought to utilise its reputation and its history of combatting antisemitism to launder Israel’s image and ruthlessly promote Israeli propaganda, using labels of antisemitism to smear any criticism of the Zionist project. In addition to numerous Jewish groups across the US, the ADL’s campaigns have also targeted teachers, resulting in doxxing and death threats as well as assaults on teachers’ labour rights. Part of the NEA’s resolution was a declaration that teachers “will not use, endorse, or publicise materials” published by the ADL, weakening one of the key strategies by which the ADL pushes for pro-Israel school curricula.
Cyprus: The Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) and its youth wing, the United Democratic Youth Organisation (EDON), have concluded hosting the 37th Pancyprian Youth and Students Festival. The annual event marks a celebration of Cyprian culture and its revolutionary spirit, as well as solidarity between progressive forces from all ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The event is built upon the work of EDON volunteers and is a cornerstone of EDON’s struggle. This year’s event saw an expansion of the festival due to rising attendance, as well as connections to international struggles. Banners for Palestine and the former Soviet Union joined those for AKEL and EDON. Representatives of youth organisations from fraternal communist and workers’ parties from countries including Portugal, Germany, Israel, and the USA were in attendance as part of the festival’s “International City.”
Cuba: Cuban officials and leaders from across Latin America have denounced new sanctions imposed upon Cuba by the US. The sanctions include travel bans on key Cuban officials, including President Miguel Díaz-Canel, as well as the proscription of eleven hotels as “prohibited accommodations”, meaning persons under US jurisdiction are not allowed to lodge or pay for lodging there. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla denounced the sanctions as part of the “criminal economic siege” waged by the US against Cuba. He asserted that the US “does not have the capacity to break the will of this people”, stating that the sanctions’ worsening of social hardships, family separations, and migration pressures will only strengthen the Cuban resolve to continue sovereign development.
Venezuela: The Venezuelan government has condemned new sanctions on Cuba as “hatred, sick obsession, and imperial arrogance” from the US and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as “an expression of deep contempt for the free peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.” President of Bolivia Luis Arce also condemned the sanctions, stating that “North American imperialism is trying to give lessons in justice without any morals,” constituting “an affront to all the countries of our America.”
