Latest news with #QueensCollege
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Somerset cricketer coaches pupils at school in Taunton
A former professional cricketer has been helping to coach young players at a school in Taunton. Arul Suppiah, who played for Somerset County Cricket Club and was the youngest player to represent Malaysia in senior international cricket, has been working with students at Queen's College throughout the summer term. In addition to his cricketing background, Arul works with the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) supporting mental health and wellbeing in the sport. A spokesman for the school said: "This mix of elite cricket expertise and pastoral care makes him a brilliant fit for our independent school cricket offering." Arul has led group training sessions and one-to-one coaching, supporting everyone from the first XI squad to beginners. Alfie, captain of the first XI, said: "Having Arul with us has been amazing. "His advice has really helped the team understand how to handle different match situations, and he's been so supportive to each of us individually too." Arul said: "I've thoroughly enjoyed working with the students at Queen's College. "It's fantastic to see how keen they are to learn and improve, whether they're experienced players or completely new to cricket. "The school's commitment to developing the game and supporting young people on and off the field is truly inspiring." Caroline Foster, head of cricket at the school, said: "We're absolutely thrilled to have Arul working with us. "His background in professional cricket and his approachable style have such a positive impact, whether he's helping our top players fine-tune their skills or inspiring younger pupils to fall in love with the sport." Arul's coaching is part of broader cricket developments at Queen's College. The school recently announced a partnership with PaceLab, a leading fast bowling development programme, which will make the school the South West hub for elite cricket training from summer 2025. Queen's College was also named in the Cricketer Schools Guide 2025 as one of the top 100 senior schools for cricket in England. Recent success stories include former student JT Langridge signing a professional contract with Somerset, and nine current pupils being selected for county age-group pathways.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US markets are acting like a developing nation: Mohamed El-Erian
Mohamed El-Erian, the president of Queens' College, Cambridge, argues that the US markets are starting to behave like those of developing countries, with common correlations starting to break down. Hear more of what he has to say in the video above. Be sure to check out the full interview with Mohamed El-Erian. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. And I thought the other thing that that was very interesting that you wrote in your piece is that the US is almost behaving like a developing nation rather than it sort of um global dominant status. What do you mean by that and what are the implications of that? So we're seeing core market correlations that normally are more common to developing countries than the US. For example, the currency weakens even though yields are going up. That shouldn't happen. Um the negative correlations between bonds and equities has broken down. So you're starting to see things and you're starting to hear narratives that are more common in developing countries than in the US. And I think that that's partially because the US is trying to remake its domestic system. There's a real question mark as to whether this is a Reagan moment in which the US changes things with a view to a better outcome or is this a Jimmy Carter moment in which the US ends up in stagflation and ultimately recession? Which do you think it is, Muhammad, or if you if we don't yet know, how will we start to know? So first, let me tell you the market is all over the place on this. We started the year with an 80% probability that this was a Reagan moment. By the beginning of April, we were below 50% and now we're somewhere around 70%. So we have fluctuated a lot. And that is unusual for the US with its mature institutions and big diversified economy. I think it's a 50/50. I don't think we know. I think it will depend on how other countries react as well. So it's a 50/50, but the marketplace right now seems more comfortable than I would be with where we're going. Sign in to access your portfolio
Time of India
11-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Nagari Pracharini foundation day events from July 16
Varanasi: Nagari Pracharini Sabha, the oldest Hindi institution in Kashi, will hold its foundation day celebrations from July 16 to 18. General secretary of Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Vyomesh Shukla, said that 132 years ago, on July 16, 1893, three students from Queens College—Babu Shyamsundar Das, Pandit Ramnarayan Mishra, and Thakur Shivkumar Singh, founded this timeless institution. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "This year, we will hold celebrations for three days ," he said. The three-day event will feature lectures by eminent thinkers, performances by leading musicians, a book exhibition, and an open mic session. All the programmes will be held at the Aryabhasha Library of Nagari Pracharini Sabha, located in front of the Head Post Office, Vishweshwarganj, and the open mic session will be on the Sabha's open-air stage, said Shukla. The programme will commence on July 16 with a lecture by the renowned critic and literary historian prof Purushottam Agrawal, the former head of the Indian Language Center at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and a member of the Union Public Service Commission. He is internationally recognised as an expert on medieval Nirgun literature, especially Kabir and Jayasi. A joint book exhibition organised by Nagari Pracharini Sabha and Rajkamal Publications Group will be held for three days.
National Observer
23-06-2025
- Health
- National Observer
Climate disasters can alter kids' brains before they're even born
This story was originally published by Grist and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration When Superstorm Sandy made a beeline for New York City in October 2012, it flooded huge swaths of downtown Manhattan, leaving 2 million people without electricity and heat and damaging tens of thousands of homes. The storm followed a sweltering summer with a procession of heat waves nearing 100 degrees. For those who were pregnant at the time, enduring these extreme conditions wasn't just uncomfortable — it may have left a lasting imprint on their children's brains. That's according to a new study published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One. Using MRI scans, researchers at Queens College, City University of New York, found that children whose mothers lived through Superstorm Sandy had distinct brain differences that could hinder their emotional development. The effects were even more dramatic when people were exposed to extreme heat during their pregnancy, in addition to the tropical storm, the researchers found. 'It's not just one climate stressor or one isolated event, but rather a combination of everything,' said Donato DeIngeniis, the lead author of the study and a doctoral student in neuropsychology at the CUNY Graduate Center. DeIngeniis' study is the first of its kind to examine the joint effects of natural disasters and extreme heat — events that often coincide. A few years ago, scientists dubbed summer 'danger season' since it's a time of colliding risks, including heat, hurricanes, wildfires, and toxic smoke. And summertime temperatures keep climbing to new heights. The study analyzed brain imaging data from a group of 34 children, approximately 8 years old, whose mothers were pregnant during Superstorm Sandy — some of whom were pregnant at the time that Sandy made landfall, and some of whom were exposed to heat 95 degrees F or higher during their pregnancy. While the researchers didn't find that heat alone had much of an impact, living through Superstorm Sandy led to an increase in the basal ganglia's volume, a part of the brain that deals with regulating emotions. While that larger size could be a compensation in response to stress, changes in the basal ganglia have been linked to behavioral challenges for children, such as depression and autism, DeIngeniis said. 'What we are seeing is compelling evidence that the climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, it is potentially a neurological one with consequence for future generations who will inherit our planet,' said Duke Shereen, a co-author of the study and the director of the MRI facility at CUNY Graduate Center, in a press release. Global warming made Superstorm Sandy more damaging as a result of rising sea levels and higher ocean temperatures that might have amped up its rainfall. Yoko Nomura, a co-author of the study and a psychology professor at the Queens College, CUNY, said that the time before birth is 'very, very sensitive' for development because the fetus' body is changing so drastically. The human brain grows the most rapidly in the womb, reaching more than a third of its full adult volume before birth, according to the study. Any added stress at that time, even if small, 'can have a much bigger impact,' Nomura said. But that extra-sensitive period also presents a window of opportunity. 'Developmental science, including the science in this paper, is exciting because it not only tells us what we can do to protect children from the effects of climate change, but it also tells us when we can step in to protect children to make the greatest difference,' Lindsey Burghardt, chief science officer at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, said in an email. Although there's a lot of evidence that prenatal stress generally can affect child brain development, according to DeIngeniis, research on climate-related stress specifically is lacking. 'It is still a field that has potential for explosive growth,' said Jennifer Barkin, a professor at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia, who is studying the effects of last year's Hurricane Helene on maternal health. DeIngeniis' study offers concrete evidence of how climate-charged events can affect the brain, Barkin said. 'People have a hard time sometimes with mental health, because it's not like you can take an X-ray and see a broken bone.' But it's easier to understand imaging showing a difference in brain volume based on exposure to environmental stress, she said. Barkin, who developed an index for measuring maternal health after childbirth, says that people are beginning to pay more attention to mothers and their mental health — not just in terms of delivering a healthy baby, but over the long term. 'We tend to focus things on the child's outcome, which is important, but to keep the child healthy, the mother has to be healthy, too,' she said. 'Because when Mom's struggling, the family's going to struggle.'
CNN
18-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
These preppers have ‘go bags,' guns and a fear of global disaster. They're also left-wing
The day after President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Eric Shonkwiler looked at his hiking bag to figure out what supplies he had. 'I began to look at that as a resource for escape, should that need to happen,' he said. He didn't have the terminology for it at the time, but this backpack was his 'bug-out bag' — essential supplies for short-term survival. It marked the start of his journey into prepping. In his Ohio home, which he shares with his wife and a Pomeranian dog, Rosemary, he now has a six-month supply of food and water, a couple of firearms and a brood of chickens. 'Resources to bridge the gap across a disaster,' he said. Margaret Killjoy's entry point was a bleak warning in 2016 from a scientist friend, who told her climate change was pushing the global food system closer than ever to collapse. Killjoy started collecting food, water and generators. She bought a gun and learned how to use it. She started a prepping podcast, Live Like the World is Dying, and grew a community. Prepping has long been dominated by those on the political right. The classic stereotype, albeit not always accurate, is of the lone wolf with a basement full of Spam, a wall full of guns, and a mind full of conspiracy theories. Shonkwiler and Killjoy belong to a much smaller part of the subculture: They are left-wing preppers. This group is also preparing for a doom-filled future, and many also have guns, but they say their prepping emphasizes community and mutual aid over bunkers and isolationism. In an era of barreling crises — from wars to climate change — some say prepping is becoming increasingly appealing to those on the left. Bees buzz around a hive in Inshirah Overton's garden in New Jersey. The roots of modern-day prepping in the United States go back to the 1950s, when fears of nuclear war reached a fever pitch. The 1970s saw the emergence of the survivalist movement, which dwindled in the 1990s as it became increasingly associated with an extreme-right subculture steeped in racist ideology. A third wave followed in the early 2000s, when the term 'prepper' began to be adopted more widely, said Michael Mills, a social scientist at Anglia Ruskin University, who specializes in survivalism and doomsday prepping cultures. Numbers swelled following big disasters such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2008 financial crisis. A watershed moment for right-wing preppers was the election of Barack Obama in 2008, Mills said. For those on the left, it was Trump's 2016 election. Preppers of all political stripes are usually motivated by a 'foggy cloud of fear' rather than a belief in one specific doomsday scenario playing out, Mills said. Broad anxieties tend to swirl around the possibility of economic crises, pandemics, natural disasters, war and terrorism. 'We've hit every one of those' since the start of this century, said Anna Maria Bounds, a sociology professor at Queens College, who has written a book about New York's prepper subculture. These events have solidified many preppers' fears that, in times of crisis, the government would be 'overwhelmed, under-prepared and unwilling to help,' she said. This fear is where Marlon Smith's interest in preparedness began. Growing up in Trinidad, he lived through an attempted coup in 1990 that sparked his concern the government would not be there in times of disaster. This only deepened after he moved to New York City and watched the aftermath of 9/11 and then Hurricane Katrina. 'You see the inability of the government to truly help their citizens,' he said. Smith, who now lives in New Jersey, runs a fashion company by day and spends his weekends teaching survival skills — including how to survive nuclear fallout. 'People find it funny that I work in women's evening wear and yet I do this hardcore prepping and survivalism in the woods,' he said. It's hard to pin down the exact number of preppers in the US. Mills says 5 million is a reasonable estimate; others would saymuch higher. Chris Ellis, a military officer and academic who researches disaster preparedness, puts the figure at around 20 to 23 million using data from FEMA household surveys. Figuring out the proportion of preppers on the left is perhaps even trickier. Mills, who has surveyed 2,500 preppers over the past decade, has consistently found about 80% identify as conservatives, libertarians or another right-wing ideology. He doesn't see any dramatic upswing in left-wing preppers. Anecdotal evidence, however, points to increased interest from this side of the political spectrum. Several left-wing preppers told CNN about the burgeoning popularity of their newsletters, social media channels and prepping courses. Shonkwiler says subscriber numbers to his newsletter When/If increase exponentially whenever right-wing views make headlines, especially elections. He saw a huge uptick when Trump was reelected. Smith has noticed more liberals among his growing client roster for prepping courses. He has an upcoming session teaching a group in the Hamptons — 'all Democrats,' he said. Smith is at pains to keep politics out of prepping, however, and makes his clients sign a waiver agreeing not to talk about it. 'You leave your politics and your religion at the door. … You come here to learn; I'll teach you,' he said. In some ways, there aren't huge differences in how preppers on the left and right prepare, Mills said. Both focus on long-term supplies of food and water, gathering equipment needed to 'bug in,' when they shelter in their homes, and 'bug out,' when they need to leave in a hurry. Many left-wing preppers also have guns. Killjoy is open about the fact she owns firearms but calls it one of the least important aspects of her prepping. She lives in rural Appalachia and, as a transgender woman, says the way she's treated has changed dramatically since Trump's first election. For those on the left, guns are 'for community and self-defense,' she said. Left-wing preppers consistently say the biggest difference between them and their right-wing peers is the rejection of 'bunker mentality' — the idea of filling a bunker with beans, rice, guns and ammo and expecting to be able to survive the apocalypse alone. Shonkwiler gives an example of a right-wing guy with a rifle on his back, who falls down the stairs and breaks a leg. If he doesn't have medical training and a community to help, 'he's going to die before he gets to enjoy all his freeze-dried food.' 'People are our greatest asset,' Killjoy said. When Hurricane Helene carved a path of destruction through Asheville, North Carolina in 2024, Killjoy, who used to live in the city, loaded her truck with food and generators and drove there to help. Inshirah Overton also subscribes to the idea of community. The attorney, who came to prepping after enduring Hurricane Irene in 2011, owns a half-acre plot of land in New Jersey where she grows food and has beehives. She stores fruit, vegetables and honey but also gives them to friends and neighbors. 'My plan is to create a community of people who have a vested interest in this garden,' she said. At one point, Overton toyed with the idea of buying a 'bug-out' property in Vermont, somewhere to escape to, but desire for community for her and her two daughters stopped her. In Vermont, 'no one knows me and I'm just a random Black lady, and they'll be like: 'Oh, OK, right, sure. You live here? Sure. Here's the barrel of my shotgun. Turn around.'' This focus on community may stem in part from left-wing preppers' growing fears around the climate crisis, predicted to usher in far-reaching ecological, social and economic breakdown. It cannot be escaped by retreating to a bunker for a few weeks. As Trump guts weather agencies, pledges to unwind the Federal Emergency Management Administration and slashes climate funding — all while promising to unleash the fossil fuel industry — climate concerns are only coming into sharper focus. They're top of mind for Brekke Wagoner, the creator and host of the Sustainable Prepping YouTube channel, who lives in North Carolina with her four children. She fears increasingly deadly summer heat and the 'once-in-a-lifetime' storms that keep coming. Climate change 'is just undeniable,' she said. Her prepping journey started during Trump's first term. She was living in California and filled with fear that in the event of a big natural disaster, the federal government would simply not be there. Her house now contains a week's worth of water, long-term food supplies, flashlights, backup batteries and a solar generator. 'My goal is for our family to have all of our needs cared for,' she said, so in an emergency, whatever help is available can go to others. 'You can have a preparedness plan that doesn't involve a bunker and giving up on civilization,' she said. A bow and a quiver of arrows hang on a rack at Shonkwiler's home. Despite prepping's reputation as a form of doomerism, many left-wing preppers say they are not devoid of hope. Shonkwiler believes there will be an opportunity to create something new in the aftermath of a crisis. 'It begins with preparedness and it ends with a better world,' he said. Some also say there's less tension between left- and right-wing preppers than people might expect. Bounds, the sociology professor, said very conservative preppers she met during her research contacted her during the Covid-19 pandemic to offer help. There is a natural human solidarity that emerges amid disaster, Killjoy said. She recalls a cashier giving her a deep discount on supplies she was buying to take to Asheville post-Helene. 'I have every reason to believe that that man is right-wing, and I do think that there is a transcending of political differences that happens in times of crisis,' she said. As terrifying events pile up, from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to deadly extreme weather, it's hard to escape the sense we live in a time of rolling existential crises — often a hair's breadth from global disaster. People are increasingly beginning to wonder whether their views on preppers have been misconceived, Mills said. 'There is a bigger question floating in the air, which is: Are preppers crazy, or is everyone else?' Shonkwiler displays a cabinet of supplies he keeps in his basement. Killjoy has seen a huge change over the last five years in people's openness to prepping. Those who used to make fun of her for her 'go bag' are now asking for advice. It's not necessarily the start of a prepping boom, she said. 'I think it is about more and more people adopting preparedness and prepper things into a normal life.' Evidence already points this way. Americans stockpiled goods in advance of Trump's tariffs and online sales of contraceptives skyrocketed in the wake of his election, amid concerns he would reduce access. Shows like 'The Walking Dead,' meanwhile, have thrust the idea of prepping into popular culture and big box stores now sell prepping equipment and meal kits. People are hungry to learn about preparedness, said Shonkwiler. 'They have the understanding that the world as we knew it, and counted on it, is beginning to cease to be. … What we need to be doing now is figuring out how we can survive in the world that we've created.'
