Disciplinary action against individuals criticised in the Makin report is to be considered by a panel including a lawyer known for his work prosecuting Rochdale grooming gangs, it was announced on Thursday.

The lawyer Nazir Afzal will sit as one of the three decision-makers on a panel also comprising the Church of England’s National Director of Safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje, and a former Director of People at Croydon Council, Barbara Peacock.

Mr Afzal is also chair of the C of E’s National Safeguarding Panel (NSP), which offers independent scrutiny and guidance to the Church’s National Safeguarding Team, led by Mr Kubeyinje (News, 13 September).

The announcement from Church House on Thursday says that Mr Afzal’s work on the new panel “is separate [from] and independent” of his position with the NSP.

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Disciplinary action against individuals criticised in the Makin report is to be considered by a panel including a lawyer known for his work prosecuting Rochdale grooming gangs, it was announced on Thursday https://t.co/qwJzYxSbsy

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) January 22, 2025

Q1: What is the status of global agrobiodiversity?

A1: Today, biodiversity is being lost faster than at any time on record. Since the turn of the twentieth century, the average abundance of terrestrial native species has declined by at least 20 percent across most ecosystems around the world, while the number of crop varieties grown on farms has fallen by more than 90 percent over the last 100 years. Paradoxically, it is the agrifood system itself that is the primary driver of the ecological disruption and degradation imperiling agrobiodiversity around the world.

The environmental impacts of modern food production are myriad. About half of all habitable land on Earth is used for agriculture, while agricultural practices and other human activities have degraded up to 40 percent of the world’s land. Some industrial agriculture has led to the overexploitation of resources that drives habitat loss, the decline in the number of crop species and erosion of crop genetic diversity, and the introduction of invasive species and pollutants—all of which disrupt fragile ecosystems.

In this context, agriculture faces the opposing challenges of increasing food production to meet the needs of a growing global population, while reducing its ecological footprint to ensure that natural resources required for productive agriculture are sustained. In the absence of policies that safeguard agrobiodiversity, efforts to meet food demands threaten to erode the foundation of food production itself.

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Agriculture is increasingly strained by growing food demand, global conflict, and the loss of its most foundational resource, agrobiodiversity. This loss threatens not just food security, but global security writ large.

Learn more from @CSISFoodWater: https://t.co/HVUCReVKDW

— CSIS (@CSIS) January 22, 2025

Humanity is “on the verge” of having AI agents that can complete tasks in the real world, OpenAI product chief Kevin Weil told Axios’ Ina Fried in Davos Tuesday.

Why it matters: Weil’s prediction comes days after Axios reported that a major AI company was close to announcing a breakthrough regarding the creation of Ph.D.-level AI super-agents capable of completing complex tasks.

What he’s saying: “I think 2025 is the year that we go from ChatGPT being this super smart thing that can answer any question you ask to ChatGPT doing things in the real world for you,” Weil told Axios.

• The advanced reasoning skills of new AI models, and improved ability to be multimodal and engage with humans, will be key to this ability, Weil said.
• He predicted that likely as soon as this year, AI agents will be able to do tasks like filling out forms or making restaurant reservations.

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OpenAI product chief says

world is "on the verge" of AI agents https://t.co/PwXP5TX9Vp @ivanas26 @axios pic.twitter.com/VgwPqAg1s6

— Spiros Margaris (@SpirosMargaris) January 22, 2025

Almighty God, whose deacon Vincent, upheld by thee, was not terrified by threats nor overcome by torments: Strengthen us, we beseech thee, to endure all adversity with invincible and steadfast faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today's the feast of St Vincent, a 3rd Century Spanish deacon martyr, shown being tortured on a grid iron in 13th Century French glass now in the Stained Glass Museum, Ely. His legend is similar to that of St Lawrence, another Spanish deacon martyr of roughly the same date. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/kVyqEzec1o

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) January 22, 2025

O Blessed Lord, who in the days of thy earthly childhood didst earnestly desire to be about thy Father’s business: Give us the grace of thy Holy Spirit early to seek thee and evermore to follow thee; that being continuously aided by thy grace, we may be exercised in thy service; who livest and reignest with the Holy Spirit, world without end.

Such an uncommon sight, snow, early this morning in @summervillesc #southcarolina #WinterStorm #lowcountrylife #chswx #scwx #photos #weather @EdPiotrowski pic.twitter.com/ymj3yAx1Eu

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 22, 2025

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
    whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
    and ungird the loins of kings,
to open doors before him
    that gates may not be closed:
 “I will go before you
    and level the mountains,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut asunder the bars of iron,
 I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
    and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
    I surname you, though you do not know me.
 I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    I gird you, though you do not know me,
 that men may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is none besides me;
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
 I form light and create darkness,
    I make weal and create woe,
    I am the Lord, who do all these things.

–Isaiah 45:1-7

Guten Morgen ☀️🍀💫 pic.twitter.com/GmJosmgNyt

— LeaRotenbach (@LeaRotenbach) January 22, 2025