Blessed Lord, who putteth down the mighty from their seat and exaltest those of low degree: Save us, we beseech thee, from pride and vainglory, from self-seeking and false ambition.  Give us a humble and contrite spirit, that we may think less of ourselves, more of others, and most of all of thee, who art our mighty God and Saviour; to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit we ascribe all praise and glory, now and for evermore.

"Fall Color Down by the Riverside"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/358RwzXvT1

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) September 25, 2024

While Apol′los was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve of them in all.

And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God; but when some were stubborn and disbelieved, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the hall of Tyran′nus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

–Acts 19:1-10

Autumn In the Cotswold countryside. England. NMP. pic.twitter.com/k5yb0M643s

— Tracy Hogan (@HoganSOG) September 25, 2024

Reconciliation is not an event; it is a process taking generations. In 1945, Europe was a hopeless and bankrupt slaughterhouse of hatred and cruelty. Today, there are huge struggles, but the only place we ever truly express rivalry and hunger for victory is on the football field. And France is remarkably successful.

Reconciliation requires human participation. It happens through the brilliance of leadership, de Gasperi, Adenauer, Monnet, Schumann, de Gaulle, Churchill, General Marshall. Defying the bloodshed of the past, it beats swords into ploughshares. Reconciliation means history that is true. It means healing past hurts and admitting wrongs.

Reconciliation is not only agreement, although agreement is necessary; reconciliation is the transformation of destructive conflict into creative rivalry underpinned by mutual acceptance and love. It is a cycle of peace, justice, and mercy, building up a structure shining in the love of God. A moment of peace opens the way to truth telling. Truth telling sows the seeds of relationships. They allow a gram more of peace. In this thin soil of peace, justice can be sown. Amidst justice a fragile confidence appears. From confidence the next and better circle can begin.

But the foundation of it all is prayer, for in prayer we commit ourselves to partnership with God.

Read it all.

In a world of conflict, we must imagine peace – and that begins by partnering with God in prayer.

It was a great privilege to address the #SantEgidio International Meeting for Peace in Paris today.

You can read my address here: https://t.co/wker09gmcy #PeaceIsPossible pic.twitter.com/9MBNzjGmb7

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) September 22, 2024

North Korea this month lifted the veil on one of its most closely guarded nuclear secrets, releasing the first public photos of centrifuges it uses to make bomb-grade uranium. The revelatory images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un touring a vast centrifuge hall, along with the recent startup of a reactor that may be producing plutonium and tritium for atomic weapons, heighten concerns over the rogue nation’s growing arsenal. They also help bring its nuclear program into sharper focus.

Kim’s nuclear whistle stop, which also included images of a smaller centrifuge hall, follows a speech in which he reiterated a 2023 vow to “exponentially” increase his nuclear stockpile. He has suggested the effort will include large numbers of tactical nuclear weapons, lower yield devices designed for short- or medium-range missiles. “North Korea is deadly serious about deploying large numbers of tactical nuclear weapons,” says Jeffrey Lewis, a North Korea expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Tactical nukes would pose an especially grave threat to neighboring South Korea.

Read it all.

Photos open rare window into North Korea’s nuclear weapons program | Science | AAAS https://t.co/qnBMibdPIh

— Amb Antonio Garza (@aogarza) September 24, 2024

Some 13.8 billion years ago, the universe began in a big bang – or, at least, that is what we think happened. Astrophysicist Jo Dunkley is at the forefront of efforts to work out exactly what took place in the immediate aftermath of that moment of cosmic creation. And a new telescope might just help her answer this question once and for all.

The issue with the big bang is that we can’t see it directly. The best we can do is look at the cosmic microwave background (CMB), often called the afterglow of the big bang. Faintly daubed across the whole sky, this radiation is all that is left of the first light that could travel in the universe. Subtle patterns in this light fit with the well-established idea that the big bang was followed by a period known as inflation, when the universe expanded at a rip-roaring pace. But it has never been proven.

Dunkley, who is based at Princeton University, thinks that observing the CMB in finer detail than ever before will clinch the deal, specifically by helping us see patterns imprinted by gravitational waves from the dawn of time. To glimpse these, she plans to use the Simons Observatory, a purpose-built telescope in Chile that is on the cusp of switching on.

Read it all.

Through @simonsobs, #PrincetonU's @j_dunkley hopes to find out just what happened in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang. https://t.co/sCvIfJuRIq

— Princeton University (@Princeton) September 23, 2024

Allison Jumper’s family was a picture of healthy living. Active kids. Wholesome meals. A freezer stocked with organic beef from her in-laws’ farm in Maine.

Then in late 2020, she got a devastating call from her brother-in-law. High levels of harmful “forever chemicals” had been detected on their farm and in their cows’ milk, and they were getting shut down.

At first, Mrs. Jumper worried only about her in-laws’ livelihoods. But soon, her mind went somewhere else: to her own children’s mysterious health issues, including startlingly high cholesterol levels.

“Then it hit me,” she said at her home in Durham, N.H. “Could it be the beef?”

Read it all.

Her family’s farm was hiding dangerous chemicals in their food https://t.co/6aYN9OtCNW

— Judith Enck (@enckj) September 23, 2024

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst pray for thy disciples that they might be one, even as thou art one with the Father: Draw us to thyself, that in common love and obedience to thee we may be united to one another, in the fellowship of the one Spirit, that the world may believe that thou art Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace; and when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she found favor in his sight and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come this day to a dinner that I have prepared for the king.” Then said the king, “Bring Haman quickly, that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the dinner that Esther had prepared. And as they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” But Esther said, “My petition and my request is: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and fulfil my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the dinner which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”

….he believes that there are good reasons to challenge simplistic accounts of Christianity’s rise and fall. For a start, it is enjoying significant numerical growth globally and, closer to home, the crises engulfing organised religion do not necessarily translate into an equivalent embrace of atheism or wholesale rejection of Christian beliefs and values. The contribution made by Christian agencies to aid and development work around the world is immense even if seldom acknowledged. He robustly challenges secularisation theories prevalent among sociologists since the 1960s. He maintains that we are “metaphysical animals . . . unlikely to abandon age-old quests for a fundamental and inclusive context of meaning”.

Nevertheless, “mainstream European culture is hurtling forward largely without the fuel that Christianity has historically supplied”. This has disturbing consequences acknowledged even by avowed atheists. But the question remains whether Christianity’s credal credentials can enable it to fuel a sustainable culture into a future threatened by complex existential crises facing humanity and the environment.

Shortt responds to such a challenge, first, with an exposition of just how shallow and insipid so much atheist polemic has been of late. He eloquently defends both the meaning and the mystery of Christian beliefs founded upon scripture and tradition as objectively credible even if, as the biblical critics and liberal theologians for whom he has little affection attest, it is ultimately unfathomable. Shortt entitled one of his books The Hardest Problem and tackled head-on the problem of evil with appropriate humility. while confident that it does not hole Christianity below the water line — a case that he succinctly summarises here.

Read it all (subscription or registration).

"He believes that there are good reasons to challenge simplistic accounts of Christianity’s rise and fall."

John Saxbee reviews The Eclipse of Christianity: And why it matters by Rupert Shortt https://t.co/oRYQTpKpas

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 21, 2024

“Ecclesiology has really become the driving doctrine,” said Holy Joys board member David Fry, who is also senior pastor of Frankfort Bible Holiness Church in Frankfort, Indiana. “We want to write theology for the church and developing healthier churches.”

Chris Lohrstorfer, associate professor of Wesleyan theology at WBS, said Wesleyan ecclesiology offers a vision of the church as a community. Many people, in recent years, have craved a community-oriented Christian life, he said, and that has only increased in response to what some experts have called an “epidemic of loneliness.”

“The Wesleyan understanding of church and Christianity is … what our society is looking for,” Lohrstorfer said.

Read it all.

Nearly 20 years after the rise of New Calvinism, a movement among today's young people is turning to Methodist tradition and Wesleyan theology. @CTmagazine reports: https://t.co/pKBkr936ce

— kate shellnutt (@kateshellnutt) September 17, 2024

Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world Who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips. One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men’s toes and stealing other men’s money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured

He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history. Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is “humble and meek” and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings.

—Mere Christianity, Book II.3

Sunday Food for Thought from #CS Lewis 'In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms”
–Mere Christianity (chapter 4) #theology #churchhistory #anthropology pic.twitter.com/nBRtjewUtO

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 3, 2021

You may

sense that governments are not as competent as they once were. Upon entering the White House in 2021, President Joe Biden promised to revitalise American infrastructure. In fact, spending on things like roads and rail has fallen. A flagship plan to expand access to fast broadband for rural Americans has so far helped precisely no one. Britain’s National Health Service soaks up ever more money, and provides ever worse care. Germany mothballed its last three nuclear plants last year, despite uncertain energy supplies. The country’s trains, once a source of national pride, are now always late.

You may also have noticed that governments are bigger than they once were. Whereas in 1960 state spending across the rich world was equal to 30% of GDP, now it is above 40%. In some countries growth in the state’s economic power has been still more dramatic. Since the mid-1990s Britain’s government spending has risen by six percentage points of gdp, while South Korea’s has risen by ten points. All of which raises a paradox: if governments are so big, why are they so ineffective?

The answer is that they have turned into what can be called “Lumbering Leviathans”. In recent decades governments have overseen an enormous expansion in spending on entitlements. Because there has not been a commensurate increase in taxes, redistribution is crowding out spending on other functions of government, which, in turn, is damaging the quality of public services and bureaucracies. The phenomenon may help explain why people across the rich world have such little faith in politicians. It may also help explain why economic growth across the rich world is weak by historical standards.

Read it all.

Governments are bigger than ever. They are also more useless https://t.co/kt5sIZ1OqF

— Igor Wortel (@itwortel) September 23, 2024

Climate optimism is fading. Higher costs, pushback from businesses and consumers, and the slow rollout of technology are delaying the transition from fossil fuels.

Renewable energy is growing faster than expected. But surging demand for power is sucking up much of that additional capacity and forcing utilities to burn fossil fuels, including coal, for longer than expected.

With greenhouse-gas emissions continuing at record levels, scientists expect floods and heat waves to get worse. This year is on track to be the hottest on record.

“The pace of our response is obviously totally insufficient,” said Sonia Seneviratne, a climate scientist at Swiss university ETH Zurich. On this trajectory, “it will become increasingly impossible to face the changing climate we are going to experience,” she said.

Read it all.

Climate optimism is fading as high costs and new priorities like AI push the energy transition down the priority list for businesses and investors. Climate week story taking stock of the setbacks w/ @edmballard:https://t.co/7tZDL7w0Sd

— Amrith Ramkumar (@AmrithRamkumar) September 23, 2024

O Lord, you have taught us that without love, all our deeds are worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you; grant this for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

And they told Mor’decai what Esther had said. Then Mor’decai told them to return answer to Esther, “Think not that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

–Esther 4:12-14

The Righteous Queen Esther pic.twitter.com/5jkKX3MmTS

— Cardinal Cathboy, Knight of Guadaloupe🇻🇦🐙❤️‍🔥 (@CardinalCathboy) September 17, 2024

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Grand Rising.
Good Sunday lovely people in my phone.#weekendsunshine #sundayvibes #sunrise #Autumn #ThePhotoHour #GoodVibesOnly #StormHour #jefinuist #outerhebrides #Scotland pic.twitter.com/gZ5dWcKlQJ

— DaliMach (@frenchscotjeff) September 22, 2024

Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.

If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is vain. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

–James 1:19-27

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher with a crab , just a common bird around the ghats
.#IndiAves #ThePhotoHour #birds #birdwatching #birdphotography #birding #NaturePhotography #BBCWildlifePOTD #BirdTwitter #Kingfisher #rainbow #colorbomb pic.twitter.com/34wYTaB0gV

— Vishal Jadhav (@vishalvjadhav99) September 22, 2024

Enlarge Thy kingdom, O God, and deliver the world from the tyranny of Satan.  Hasten the time, which Thy Spirit hath foretold, when all nations whom Thou hast made shall worship Thee and glorify Thy Name.  Bless the good endeavours of those who strive to propagate the truth, and prepare the hearts of all men to receive it; to the honour of Thy Name.     

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Morning everyone hope you are well. Blue skies and perfectly still conditions, then head over to Blea Tarn for the best reflections. Have a great day. #LakeDistrict @keswickbootco pic.twitter.com/9iEeXXG2SN

— Rod Hutchinson (@lakesrhino) September 21, 2024

And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And he who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me.”

–John 12:44-50

There's such a hush and stillness about these early autumn mornings, the air heavy with mists, the trees turning to gold so gently. All was peaceful in my little corner of the world as I listened to the water bubble and watched the day begin. #peakdistrict pic.twitter.com/4BZrOSPeA5

— peaklass (@peaklass1) September 21, 2024

Proposals to reform the CNC should have included its current members, and imputations about the unfairness of the process were off the mark, some observers of Wednesday’s House of Bishops meeting said (News, 18 September).

On Thursday, the longest-serving central member of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), Christina Baron, criticised the bishops for not consulting CNC members before drawing up proposals.

“The way in which these proposals came forward without any consultation, without even any notice, has made all the elected members of the CNC very angry,” Ms Baron said.

The message to CNC members seemed to be, she said, that their work “is not respected, is not valued, that we are not taken seriously”.

Read it all.

Proposals to reform the CNC should have included its current members, and imputations about the unfairness of the process were off the mark, some observers of Wednesday’s House of Bishops meeting saidhttps://t.co/iUbX4Efinp

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 20, 2024

The start of a Fed rate-cutting cycle is a huge moment for the international financial system. Central banks in emerging markets can loosen a little without fearing a run on their currencies. Indonesia’s central bank has stopped defending the rupiah and dared to cut rates. India’s Sensex stock index hit an all-time high on Thursday as markets anticipate a new world of abundant liquidity and surging inflows of foreign funds.

The Fed’s jumbo half-point cut is transmitted instantly to the 40-odd countries and currency boards linked to the US dollar in one way or another. These regions were forced to import the most aggressive tightening cycle in 40 years through their exchange rates, whether or not their local economies were synchronised with the US cycle….

But there is a large caveat to this rosy global picture. It all depends on whether the Fed is ahead of the curve and delivers a soft landing; or whether it is behind the curve, has misjudged the delayed effects of past tightening, and has already let recessionary dynamics take hold.

These binary outcomes can have drastically different consequences for the world.

Mislav Matejka, equity strategist at JP Morgan, says there have been four soft landings and eight recessions in the last 12 Fed cycles. The “softs” delivered stock market gains of 20pc or so over the following year. The “hards” led to months of sell-offs, snowballing into wipeout crashes in 2001 and 2008. This time the starting point is stretched after a 26pc rise in Wall Street’s S&P 500 index over the last year.

Read it all.

Enjoy the torrid Fed rally, but the world is not out of the woods yet https://t.co/of6TpXposG

— Felix Randal (@felixrandal) September 20, 2024

On July 21st Matt Roan, chair of the Cumberland County Democratic Committee, hosted a meeting with volunteers. The event took a turn when Mr Roan stopped to read a statement from Joe Biden announcing his departure from the presidential race. “There was this sort of sense of sadness—and then immediate hope,” Mr Roan recalls in his office, which overlooks the Pennsylvania state capitol. The activist speaks highly of Mr Biden but acknowledged that “things were not looking good” at the time. The rise of Kamala Harris attracted a surge of volunteers to a county that favoured Donald Trump by around 18 points in 2016 but only 11 points in 2020. If such improvements hold there and in other areas like it, Ms Harris would probably win the state and the presidency.

Both campaigns see Pennsylvania as a fulcrum of the 2024 election, and for good reason. The Economist’s forecast model suggests that the state—with its 19 electoral-college votes, the most of any swing state—is the tipping-point in 27% of the model’s updated simulations, meaning it decides the election more often than any other state. Mr Trump wins only 7% of the time when he loses the Keystone State. Indeed, he narrowly won Pennsylvania in 2016, and then he lost by 80,000 votes out of nearly 7m cast in his unsuccessful re-election bid four years later.

No state has drawn more money. Of the $839.5m that the Harris campaign and allied organisations already have spent or committed to advertising, $164.1m has gone to this state of 13m people. The less well-heeled Trump operation has directed $135.7m of $458.8m to Pennsylvania. Turn on the television, watch a YouTube video or listen to the radio inside Pennsylvania and it won’t be long before spots for Ms Harris or Mr Trump begin to play.

Read it all.

The battle for Pennsylvania is on.

For all the money both presidential candidates are pouring into the swing state, the race remains extremely close https://t.co/Su2xduW2Pr 👇

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) September 20, 2024

Almighty God, who didst call thy faithful servants John Coleridge Patteson and his companions to be witnesses and martyrs in the islands of Melanesia, and by their labors and sufferings didst raise up a people for thine own possession: Pour forth thy Holy Spirit upon thy Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many, thy holy Name may be glorified and thy kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

20 September 1871: death of the Rt Revd John Coleridge 'Coley' Patteson, aged 44. The first Bishop of Melanesia (consecrated 1861), he was killed on the island of Nukapu in what is now the Solomon Islands. #anglican #153years Biography: https://t.co/chTCB7hAHx pic.twitter.com/nuvCGtGzcL

— AustralianAnglican (@AustAnglican) September 19, 2024

Almighty God, Who hast enabled Thy faithful soldiers and servants to play the man, to endure hardness, to love mercy, to fight the good fight of faith, and to refuse no service in the Name of Christ: grant unto us whom Thou hast called to serve under our Saviour’s banner a single heart to spend and to be spent for Thee and for those whom He has loved even unto death; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Happy Friday 🌿🌺🌿 #FlowereOnFriday pic.twitter.com/AL9fRptqoe

— Margaret O'Connell🌻 (@MargaretOC6) September 20, 2024

Now when they had passed through Amphip’olis and Apollo’nia, they came to Thessaloni’ca, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and for three weeks he argued with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

–Acts 17:1-4

Another lovely morning. This was 06:30. pic.twitter.com/FmcXhFZbdr

— Steve Carter (@HighlandRampage) September 20, 2024

Further tens of millions of pounds are to be pumped into efforts to drastically reduce the Church of England’s carbon emissions over the next six years, the first impact report on its net-zero programme says.

The report summarises progress on the General Synod’s ambition to achieve net zero by 2030, which was set in 2020 (News, 12 February 2020). The Synod approved a “route map” to this goal two years later (News, 15 July 2022).

In real terms, the target is to decrease the Church’s emissions — mainly from its buildings — by 90 per cent against the current baseline: 415,000 tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent (415,000T CO2e). The remaining ten per cent is to be offset by carbon-cancelling schemes, such as tree-planting and installing solar panels.

Read it all.

Further tens of millions of pounds are to be pumped into efforts to drastically reduce the Church of England’s carbon emissions over the next six years, the first impact report on its net-zero programme says https://t.co/GlXOa0tBpM pic.twitter.com/NAkFHUtMIL

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 19, 2024

US military aid packages for Ukraine have been smaller in recent months, as the stockpiles of weapons and equipment that the Pentagon is willing to send Kyiv from its own inventory have dwindled. The shift comes amid concerns about US military readiness being impacted as US arms manufacturers play catchup to the huge demand created by the war against Russia.

The shortage means the Biden administration still has $6 billion in funds available to arm and equip Ukraine, but the Pentagon lacks the inventory it is willing to deliver more than two years into the war, two US officials told CNN.

“It’s about the stockpiles we have on our shelves, what [the Ukrainians] are asking for, and whether we can meet those requests with what we currently have” without impacting readiness, one of the officials said.

The Pentagon has asked Congress for more time to spend that money before it expires at the end of September, according to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. It’s a stark reversal from last winter, when the administration was pleading with lawmakers for additional funding to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

Read it all.

New: US military aid packages for Ukraine have been smaller as stockpiles of weapons DoD is willing to send from its own inventory have dwindled. It's resulted in a new problem for the admin: Too much money for Ukraine and not enough time to spend it. https://t.co/Fpxse6f4yq

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) September 17, 2024