WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
A trailblazing figure in American politics has passed away, even though she never held an elected post.
On Nov. 19, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter passed away at age 96. Suffering from dementia, she had just entered hospice care along with her husband of 77 years Jimmy Carter, who is 99 as of this writing.
Born Eleanor Rosalynn Smith on Aug. 18, 1927, the woman who served as First Lady from Jan. 1977 to Jan. 1981 was not a bystander. Carter was the first FLOTUS to make the concept of the First Lady a full time job, even setting up an office in the White House. While it is not a paid position in the government, it certainly holds a lot of weight, as Carter used it to champion causes such as better treatment for the nation’s seniors and mental health. She was also the first woman in such a position to sit in on important cabinet meetings.
Condolences came from everywhere, including from the residence that Carter once called home.
“First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way,” said President Biden from the White House, a day before celebrating his 81st birthday.
“Throughout her incredible life as First Lady of Georgia and the First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn did so much to address many of society’s greatest needs. She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities.
“Above all, the deep love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership, and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism. She lived her life by her faith.
“Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship – through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss – we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter. She will always be in our hearts.
“On behalf of a grateful nation, we send our love to President Carter, the entire Carter family, and the countless people across our nation and the world whose lives are better, fuller, and brighter because of the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter.
“May God bless our dear friend. May God bless a great American.”
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 11-20-2023 at 12 p.m.
2023 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2023)
Total Mass Shootings: 689
Total Dead: 820
Total Wounded: 2769
Shootings Per Day: 2.13
Days Reached in Year 2023 as of Nov. 20: 324
WORLD
CONCERN GROWS OVER TWO AILMENTS
In recognition of World Diabetes Day, which was marked on November 14, the World Health Organization highlighted the need for equitable access to essential care for people affected by diabetes and tuberculosis (TB).
Equitable access to care is essential to ending TB, as highlighted in WHO’s End TB Strategy and reinforced in the political declarations of the United Nations high-level meetings on the fight against TB in 2018 and 2023.
According to the 2023 WHO Global TB Report, diabetes is one of the key determinants of TB, with just under 400,000 TB episodes attributable to diabetes worldwide. People with diabetes are at higher risk of developing TB and are more likely to experience poor TB treatment outcomes, including death. This emphasizes the need for ensuring access to comprehensive care for people affected by both diabetes and TB.
Providing comprehensive people-centered services for people with TB and diabetes often requires collaborative action across different health programs. To support this collaboration and to facilitate integrated care for people with TB and comorbidities, including diabetes, WHO published the Framework for Collaborative Action on TB and Comorbidities in 2022. The framework includes actions to improve collaboration across respective programs addressing TB and diabetes, and across sectors to deliver essential care for people with both conditions.
WHO’s Multisectoral Accountability Framework for TB reinforces the importance of collaboration across sectors to end the global TB epidemic. WHO is in the process of developing an operational handbook on TB and diabetes, to provide practical guidance on the implementation of current recommendations on TB and diabetes.
“Equitable access to essential care for people with TB and diabetes is something that we must strive for. Optimal management of both conditions has the potential to improve health outcomes, including TB treatment outcomes and health related quality of life,” said Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Program. “The political declaration of the UN high-level meeting on the fight against TB recognizes the fundamental importance of addressing the drivers of the TB epidemic, including diabetes, underlining that equitable access to screening, prevention, treatment and co-management is essential.”
Dr. Bente Mikkelsen, Director of WHO’s Department for Noncommunicable Diseases emphasized, “As we mark World Diabetes Day, WHO has been calling for equitable access to essential care for people with diabetes. Given that people with diabetes are at higher risk of developing TB, this is especially important and we call on all programs and partners to channel their efforts into making equitable access a reality for all.”
At the United Nations high level meeting on the fight against TB held in New York in September 2023, Member States committed to enabling universal access to quality TB services as well as actions to address all TB determinants and drivers, such as non-communicable diseases, including diabetes. They also committed to systematic screening, prevention, treatment and care of TB and for related health conditions, including diabetes, firmly reflecting the theme of this year’s World Diabetes Day “equitable access to essential care.”
The political declaration arising from the United Nations high level meeting on universal health coverage, also held in New York in September 2023, reinforces this message by advocating for strengthened efforts to address the health needs of all people, in the context of universal health coverage. Ambitious targets related to the diagnosis of at least 80% of people with diabetes and good control of glycaemia for 80% of those diagnosed, were also endorsed by Member States at the World Health Assembly in 2022. Given that diabetes one of the key determinants of TB, achievement of these targets will also contribute to ending TB.
EUROPE
NO, NOT THAT KIND OF HACKING
A pact to improve the connection of technology and defense was recently put on a grand stage.
Back in June 2023, Dstl and Google Cloud signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to accelerate the safe and responsible adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across the UK defense sector. As part of bringing this agreement to life, Dstl and Google Cloud delivered a Large Language Model (LLM) hackathon on behalf of the Ministry of Defense’s (MOD) Defense AI Centre (DAIC).
Taking place at Google Next, this world-leading event helped better understand the opportunities and risks of LLMs for UK defense and security.
The hackathon brought together over 200 people to apply Google Cloud’s cutting-edge generative AI tools to help strengthen UK defense, security and prosperity. 20 teams, stewarded by Google Cloud AI engineers, included Dstl scientists and representatives from the following:
Participants worked for two days with Google’s latest AI technologies to develop innovative, ethical and user-centered prototypes to add to the growing pipeline of AI innovation ideas created via the MOU.
Senior HM government leaders and Google’s technology leadership formed the judging panel. This included GCHQ’s Chief Data Scientist, Head of the DAIC, and Google Cloud’s Vice President of Engineering. They assessed the prototypes for six awards, including ‘best technical achievement’ and ‘most illuminating failure.’
A core criterion of every award was alignment to the MOD’s ethical principles for AI and Google AI Principles.
Winning prototypes ranged from LLM-scanning of cyber security threats to LLM-enabled image analysis supporting predictive maintenance, similar to what Google Cloud have deployed with the US Navy to manage corrosion of ships. These ideas have now been put forward for funding via the Ministry of Defense to further develop proofs of concept and accelerate usable readiness.
Andy Bell, Dstl CTO said: “Dstl and Google Cloud brought together a hugely diverse range of participants on behalf of the MOD’s newly established DAIC, to learn, experiment and solve real-world defense problems with innovative AI technologies. This hackathon has demonstrated how creative problem-solving can be harnessed to address pressing defense challenges, paving the way for breakthroughs in generative AI for defense applications.”
John Abel, Technical Director for Google Cloud said: “This hackathon is the first step in delivering on the recent MOU signed between Dstl and Google Cloud, building on clear synergies between the two organizations.
“The hackathon served as a powerful example of how collaboration can drive innovation and ultimately benefit the wider AI ecosystem. It also provided valuable educational and training opportunities, helping to foster the next generation of AI leaders in defense.”
