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At this darkest, coldest time of the year, it seems a kind of midwinter madness to take a canoe on to a Highland loch in the deep of night. But we came here for the summer solstice, so it feels right to return. We are the Swallow, set for adventure. The moon is full, but muted by a thick mist. As we cut across the loch, the black water fades without seam into grey cloud, all the familiar landmarks on the shore dissolving. The silence is broken only by the slap of paddles and the creak of boat until unseen geese are startled. Their rising hullabaloo erupts into a storm of wingbeats and splashing till they circle above and settle again, squawks fading.

We make for the dark island, feeling like the Dawn Treader on the brink of nightmares, then judder across a skirt of ice that cracks and splinters beneath us. Now we are the Endurance at the ends of the earth. Our vessel stowed on the frosted shore, we head for a clearing at the foot of giant beeches, sweep away leaves and dig out a circle of turf for a fire. Flasks appear, bowls of warm custard on cake, mugs of hot chocolate.

We make our beds in bivvy bags and I spend the hours trussing myself in ever more layers of fleece, down and discomfort, my body stiffening into cold. On this longest winter night, the moon has suffused the fog with a strange half-light, and I am as wakeful as when midsummer will not surrender the sky.

At last it is morning and time to move. Clearing camp, we discover hair ice pluming from a fallen branch like candy floss, shiny white and soft to touch. An owl makes a wild, demonic shriek from deep in the trees, and we depart the forbidden isle.

At first the canoe scrapes across the newly frozen ice ring before breaking through into water the colour of mercury. Beside us, the reed beds are furred with hoar frost, crackling as we brush past. Cloud holds sway all around, hiding horizons, smudging forest and land, blurring edges. Quietly, we slip back to civilisation, fugitives from another world.

Country Diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary

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Country diary: A tiny island on a loch perfect for a solstice overnight camp - The Guardian

Could Russia launch an air assault raid over Ukraine to seize strategic airfields, ambush high-value command centers, or clear an arrival path for advancing armored vehicles?

Such an effort may or not be entirely feasible, depending upon the state of Ukrainian weapons,air defenses,or ability to counter approaching Russian helicopters from the. Nonetheless, Russia seeks to be prepared for the contingency, which is why it hasplannedlarge-scale paratrooper air assault drills over Crimea in the coming weeks, according to Russias TASSNews Agency.

Quoting Russias Defence Ministry,TASS saidexercises will include live-firings by air assault and artillery units, mine-clearing missions, and shielding personnel from attacks by aircraft and drones.

During the drills, the paratroopers will also practice air assault operations aboard helicopters to seal off a captured area and provide for a quick advance of the main forces, which will be carried out with the fire support of army aviation (Mi-35 gunships), the paper says.

Advancing helicopters, planes, and gunships filled with paratroopers may or may not be realistic for Russian forces potentially seeking to establish a point of entry for attacking forces.

Despite its status as a major global military power in possession of fifth-generation aircraft and a large, trained land force, Russia could likely encounter some difficulty should it seek to invade Ukraine with an air assault. Ukraine is by no means a majorworldpowerbut does have a substantial force capable of causing serious problems for attacking Russian forces. A look atGlobal Firepowersays Ukraine operates as many as 2,430 tanks and as many as 11,000 armored vehicles and 2,000 pieces of towed artillery.

When it comes to establishing air superiority, Russia would likely have the advantage. That'sunless Ukraine were to be defended by NATO and U.S. F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets. Ukraine is reported to only operate about twenty-fivefighter jets and likely does not have any fifth-generation fighters capable of challenging stealthy Russian Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets.

Ukrainian ground forces, however, might at least have some initial success in fending off aRussian armored attackgiven that they have a sizeable fleet of armored vehicles and several thousand tanks. Russia could invade with reportedly superior T-14 Armata tanks, yet it is not clear how many of these tanks Russia operates, so the bulk of anattack forcewould likely consist of upgraded T-90 and T-72 tanks. Without Close Air Support or established air supremacy, Russian tanks and armored forces might have trouble breaking through Ukrainian defenses.

Kris Osborn is the defense editor for theNational Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the ArmyAcquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a masters degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

Image: Flickr/NATO

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When It Comes to Air Assault, Ukraine Could Give Russia a Run for Its Money - The National Interest

The Saints are expected to start rookie quarterback Ian Book on Monday vs. the Dolphins. Quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday, clearing the way for Book, a Notre Dame product who has not yet played a snap in the NFL.

On Thursday, the team placed tackle Jordan Mills, defensive tackle Christian Ringo, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, defensive end Jalyn Holmes, safety Jeff Heath, linebacker Kaden Elliss and guard James Carpenter on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Friday, tackle Ryan Ramczyk, linebacker Demario Davis, running back Dwayne Washington, safety J.T. Gray, assistant defensive backs coach Cory Robinson, assistant offensive line coach Zach Strief and coaching intern Sterling Moore all were added to the list.

Saints head coach Sean Payton is in the leagues COVID-19 protocols after testing positive for the virus last week. He missed New Orleans 9-0 shutout victory over the Buccaneers Sunday night. Saints tight ends Adam Trautman and Juwan Johnson also were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier this week.

New Orleans is 7-7 with three games remaining: the Dolphins, Panthers and Falcons round out the schedule.

(Photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)

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Saints expected to start QB Ian Book vs. Dolphins as Taysom Hill, Trevor Siemian land on reserve/COVID-19 list - The Athletic

Cropland-mapping extent and time intervals

The global boundaries for the cropland mapping were informed by the US Geological Survey (USGS) Global Food Security-Support Analysis Data at 30m (GFSAD)11. The cropland mapping extent was defined using the geographic 11 grid. We included every 11 grid cell that contains cropland area according to the GFSAD. Small islands were excluded due to the absence of Landsat geometrically corrected data (Supplementary Fig. 1).

The cropland mapping was performed at 4-year intervals (20002003, 20042007, 20082011, 20122015 and 20162019). Use of a long interval (rather than a single year) increased the number of clear-sky satellite observations in the time-series, which improves representation of land-surface phenology and the accuracy of cropland detection. For each 4-year interval, we mapped an area as cropland if a growing crop was detected during any of these years. In this way, we implemented the criterion of the maximum fallow length: if an area was not used as cropland for >4 years, it was not included in the cropland map for the corresponding time interval.

We employed the global 16-day normalized surface reflectance Landsat Analysis Ready Data (Landsat ARD19) as input data for cropland mapping. The Landsat ARD were generated from the entire Landsat archive from 1997 to 2019. The Landsat top-of-atmosphere reflectance was normalized using globally consistent MODIS surface reflectance as a normalization target. Individual Landsat images were aggregated into 16-day composites by prioritizing clear-sky observations.

For each 4-year interval, we created a single annualized gap-free 16-day observation time-series. For each 16-day interval, we selected the observation with the highest near-infrared reflectance value (to prioritize observations with the highest vegetation cover) from 4years of Landsat data. Observations contaminated by haze, clouds and cloud shadows, as indicated by the Landsat ARD quality layer, were removed from the analysis. If no clear-sky data were available for a 16-day interval, we filled the missing reflectance values using linear interpolation.

The annualized, 16-day time-series within each 4-year interval were transformed into a set of multitemporal metrics that provide consistent land-surface phenology inputs for global cropland mapping. Metrics include selected ranks, inter-rank averages and amplitudes of surface reflectance and vegetation index values, and surface reflectance averages for selected land-surface phenology stages defined by vegetation indices (that is, surface reflectance for the maximum and minimum greenness periods). The multitemporal metrics methodology is provided in detail19,38. The Landsat metrics were augmented with elevation data39. In this way, we created spatially consistent inputs for each of the 4-year intervals. The complete list of input metrics is presented in Supplementary Table 1.

Global cropland mapping included three stages that enabled extrapolation of visually delineated cropland training data to a temporally consistent, global cropland map time-series using machine learning. At all three stages, we employed bagged decision tree ensembles40 as a supervised classification algorithm that used class presence and absence data as the dependent variables, and a set of multitemporal metrics as independent variables at a Landsat ARD pixel scale. The bagged decision tree results in a per-pixel cropland probability layer, which has a threshold of 0.5 to obtain a cropland map.

The first stage consisted of performing individual cropland classifications for a set of 924 Landsat ARD 11 tiles for the 20162019 interval (Supplementary Fig. 1). The tiles were chosen to represent diverse global agriculture landscapes. Classification training data (cropland class presence and absence) were manually selected through visual interpretation of Landsat metric composites and high-resolution data from Google Earth. An individual supervised classification model (bagged decision trees) was calibrated and applied to each tile.

At the second stage, we used the 924 tiles that had been classified as cropland/other land and the 20162019 metric set to train a series of regional cropland mapping models. The classification was iterated by adding training tiles and assessing the results until the resulting map was satisfactory. We then applied the regional models to each of the preceding 4-year intervals, thus creating a preliminary time-series of global cropland maps.

At the third stage, we used the preliminary global cropland maps as training data to generate temporally consistent global cropland data. As the regional models applied at the second stage were calibrated using 20162019 data alone, classification errors may arise due to Landsat data inconsistencies before 2016. The goal of this third stage was to create a robust spatiotemporally consistent set of locally calibrated cropland detection models. For each 11 Landsat ARD tile (13,451 tiles total), we collected training data for each 4-year interval from the preliminary cropland extent maps within a 3 radius of the target tile, with preference to select stable cropland and non-cropland pixels as training. Training data from all intervals were used to calibrate a single decision tree ensemble for each ARD tile. The per-tile models were then applied to each time interval, and the results were post-processed to remove single cropland class detections and omissions within time-series and eliminate cropland patches <0.5ha. Manual masks to remove map artefacts (for example, cropland overestimation over temperate wetlands and flooded grasslands) were applied in some regions to improve the map quality. The final global cropland map time-series are available at https://glad.umd.edu/dataset/croplands.

The sample analysis had two objectives: to estimate cropland area and its associated uncertainty and to assess cropland map accuracy. Sample interpretation and sample-based analysis were done only for the start (2003) and the end (2019) of the cropland-mapping interval. Accuracies of intermediate cropland maps (2007, 2011 and 2015) were not assessed, but were considered to be similar to those of the 2003 and 2019 maps due to implementation of the same classification model and consistently processed Landsat data41. The analysis was performed separately for each of the seven regions outlined in Extended Data Fig. 1, as well as globally. The regional boundaries were aligned with national boundaries to enable comparison with national data. Only land pixels were considered; pixels labelled as permanent water and snow/ice in the Landsat ARD data quality layer were excluded. In each region, we selected five strata based on the map time-series corresponding to stable croplands, cropland gain and loss, possible cropland omission area and other lands (Supplementary Tables 2 and 3). The possible cropland omission stratum (stratum 4) includes areas where omission errors are probable, specifically pixels that were not mapped as cropland and either (1) were identified as crops by the GFSAD11 or (2) had the decision tree-based cropland probability between 0.1 and 0.5. We randomly selected 100 sample units (Landsat data pixels) from each stratum (500 samples pixels per region, 3,500 in total).

Sample interpretation was performed visually using available remotely sensed data time-series, including Landsat ARD 16-day data, composites of selected multitemporal metrics and high-resolution images provided by Google Earth (Supplementary Fig. 2). Each sample pixel was interpreted by two experts independently and the disagreements were discussed and resolved by the research team. The interpretation legend includes the 20032019 cropland dynamics categories and land-use transition types. The sample reference data and interpretation results are available at https://glad.umd.edu/dataset/croplands.

The sample-based area estimation was performed following previously published methods42,43. The 2003 and 2019 total cropland area, stable crops, gross cropland loss and gain, and net change were estimated within each region separately, and for the entire world using equation (1). The area and the total number of Landsat pixels for each region and each stratum are provided in Supplementary Table 3. For each of the 100 sample pixels sampled in each stratum, pu was defined by class presence, for example, for 2003 cropland, pu=0 (2003 cropland absence) or pu=1 (2003 cropland presence). The pu was defined similarly for the 2019 cropland, stable crop, gross cropland loss and gain classes. For the net cropland area change, pu had values of 1 (cropland gain), 1 (cropland loss) and 0 (no change).

$$hat A = mathop {sum}nolimits_{h = 1}^H {A_hbar p_h}$$

(1)

where (hat A) is the estimated cropland/cropland change area,

Ah the area of stratum h,

H the number of sampling strata,

(bar p_h = frac{{mathop {sum }nolimits_{u in h} p_u}}{{n_h}})the mean cropland/cropland change proportion of samples in stratum h; and

nh the sample size (number of sample pixels) in stratum h.

The s.e.m. of the area was estimated from the variances of cropland (or cropland dynamics category) class values of pu for sample pixels in each stratum using equation (2). The 95% CI was obtained by multiplying s.e.m. by 1.96:

$${mathrm{s.e.}}left( {hat A} right) = sqrt {mathop {sum }limits_{h = 1}^H A_h^2left( {1 - frac{{n_h}}{{N_h}}} right)frac{{s_{ph}^2}}{{n_h}}}$$

(2)

where ({mathrm{s.e.}}left( {hat A} right)) is the s.e.m. of cropland/cropland change class area and

(s_{ph}^2 = frac{{mathop {sum }nolimits_{u in h} left( {p_u - bar p_h} right)^2}}{{n_h - 1}}) the sample variance for stratum h.

We analysed the land-use trajectories of cropland loss and gain using reference sample data within cropland gain and loss strata only. Inclusion of sample pixels from other strata where cropland change was detected would have inflated the area of land-use trajectories that these pixels represent (that is, if a sample pixel from a stable cropland stratum was interpreted as cropland gain due to forest clearing, including the proportion of forest clearing from this large stratum, it will dominate the total regional estimate). The proportion of each land-use trajectory (within cropland gain and loss separately) was estimated from the sample and reported as the percentage of the total gain or loss along with its s.e.m. (Table 2). A combined ratio estimator for stratified random sampling43 was employed to estimate the percentages (equation (3)).

$$hat R = frac{{mathop {sum }nolimits_{h = 1}^H A_hbar y_h}}{{mathop {sum }nolimits_{h = 1}^H A_hbar x_h}} times 100$$

(3)

where: (hat R) is the estimated class proportion expressed as a percentage;

H the number of sampling strata;

Ah the area of stratum h;

(bar y_h = frac{{mathop {sum}nolimits_{u in h} {y_u} }}{{n_h}}) the sample mean of the yu values in stratum h, where yu=1 if pixel u is classified as belonging to a specific transition in the reference sample interpretation, and yu=0 otherwise; and

(bar x_h = frac{{mathop {sum}nolimits_{u in h} {x_u} }}{{n_h}}) the sample mean of the xu values in stratum h, where xu=1 if pixel u is classified as any cropland loss/gain in the reference sample interpretation, and xu=0 otherwise.

The s.e.m. of the estimated ratio of class proportion expressed as percentage was calculated using equation (4):

$${mathrm{s.e.}}left( {hat R} right) = sqrt {frac{1}{{hat X^2}}mathop {sum }limits_{h = 1}^H A_h^2left( {1 - frac{{n_h}}{{N_h}}} right)left( {s_{yh}^2 + hat R^2s_{xh}^2 - 2hat Rs_{xyh}} right)/n_h} times 100$$

(4)

where: ({mathrm{s.e.}}left( {hat R} right)) is the s.e.m. of the estimated proportion expressed as a percentage;

Nh the total number of pixels in stratum h;

nh number of sample pixels in stratum h;

(hat X = mathop {sum }limits_{h = 1}^H A_hbar x_h) the estimated total area of cropland loss/gain expressed in area units; and

(s_{yh}^2) and (s_{xh}^2) the sample variances in stratum h; and sxyh the sample covariance in stratum h estimated as follows:

$$s_{yh}^2 = mathop {sum}nolimits_{u in } {left( {y_u - bar y_h} right)^2/left( {n_h - 1} right)}$$

$$s_{xh}^2 = mathop {sum}nolimits_{u in h} {left( {x_u - bar x_h} right)^2/left( {n_h - 1} right)}$$

$$s_{xyh} = mathop {sum}nolimits_{u in h} {left( {y_u - bar y_h} right)} left( {x_u - bar x_h} right)/left( {n_h - 1} right).$$

The map accuracy metrics include overall accuracy (the proportion of correctly mapped sample pixels), users accuracy of the cropland class (which reflects the cropland class commission) and producers accuracy of the cropland class (which reflects the cropland class omission)42. All accuracy metrics and respective s.e.m.s are presented as percentages (Table 3).

To estimate overall accuracy, we defined yu=1 if pixel u is classified correctly and yu=0 if pixel u is classified incorrectly. The estimator for overall accuracy is then expressed by equation (5), and s.e.m. for overall accuracy is computed using equation (6).

$$hat O = frac{{mathop {sum }nolimits_{h = 1}^H N_hbar y_h}}{N} times 100$$

(5)

where: (hat O) is the estimated overall accuracy, expressed as a percentage; H the number of sampling strata; Nh the total number of pixels in stratum h; N the total number of pixels in the reporting region; and (bar y_h = mathop {sum }limits_{u in h} y_u/n_h) the sample mean of the yu values in stratum h.

$${mathrm{s.e.}}left( {hat O} right) = sqrt {frac{1}{{N^2}}mathop {sum}nolimits_{h = 1}^H {N_h^2left( {1 - n_h/N_h} right)s_{yh}^2/n_h} } times 100$$

(6)

where ({mathrm{s.e.}}left( {hat O} right)) is the s.e.m. of the overall accuracy, expressed as percentage; nh the number of sample pixels in stratum h; and (s_{yh}^2) the sample variance: (s_{yh}^2 = mathop {sum }limits_{u in h} left( {y_u - bar y_h} right)^2/(n_h - 1).) For estimating users accuracy of the croplands class, we defined yu=1 if sample pixel u is correctly mapped as cropland, otherwise yu=0, and xu=1 if sample pixel u is mapped cropland, otherwise xu=0. For the producers accuracy, we defined yu=1 if sample pixel u is correctly mapped as cropland, otherwise yu=0, and xu=1 if sample pixel u is interpreted as cropland, otherwise xu=0. The estimator of the users accuracy and producers accuracy was then expressed as a ratio estimator (equation (7)) and their s.e.m. calculated using equation (8), which are similar to equations (3) and (4), except that the strata were weighted by their total number of pixels (Nh) rather than the areas (Ah) for the purposes of map accuracy assessment (with pixel being the primary mapping unit):

$$hat R = frac{{mathop {sum }nolimits_{h = 1}^H N_hbar y_h}}{{mathop {sum }nolimits_{h = 1}^H N_hbar x_h}} times 100$$

(7)

where (hat R) is the estimated users/producers accuracy, expressed as a percentage.

$${mathrm{s.e.}}left( {hat R} right) = sqrt {frac{1}{{hat X^2}}mathop {sum }limits_{h = 1}^H N_h^2left( {1 - frac{{n_h}}{{N_h}}} right)left( {s_{yh}^2 + hat R^2s_{xh}^2 - 2hat Rs_{xyh}} right)/n_h} times 100$$

(8)

where ({mathrm{s.e.}}left( {hat R} right)) is the s.e.m. of the estimated users/producers accuracy, expressed as a percentage.

(hat X = mathop {sum }limits_{h = 1}^H N_hbar x_h.)

The cropland NPP was evaluated using the globally consistent Collection 6 MODIS-based, annual year-end gap-filled NPP product (MOD17A3HGF20). The product provides the sum of total daily NPP through the year at a 500-m spatial resolution (kgCm2year1). The annual NPP data were resampled to our Landsat ARD data grid and were overlaid with the corresponding 4-year cropland maps to calculate total and per-unit area NPP for each region and each year. We used average annual NPP for each 4-year interval, except for the 20002003 interval, where a 3-year average was used instead to avoid using the year 2000 when MODIS data were incomplete. The s.d. of the annual estimates is provided as an uncertainty metric.

For the national cropland area analysis, we used public geographic information systems (GIS) country boundaries from GADM (https://gadm.org).

We employed the 2019 Revision of World Population Prospects21 to calculate global, regional and national population for years 2003 and 2019. As the boundaries of analysis regions (Extended Data Fig. 1) are aligned with country boundaries, we were able to summarize the regional population totals from national data. The population data were related to our sample-based (for global and regional estimates) and map-based (for national estimates) cropland area to estimate per-capita cropland area and change. Similarly, we related regional cropland NPP to population data to estimate per-capita cropland NPP for 2003 and 2019.

Further information on research design is available in the Nature Research Reporting Summary linked to this article.

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Global maps of cropland extent and change show accelerated cropland expansion in the twenty-first century - Nature.com

From Gulf countries lifting the Qatar blockade to the bombing of Gaza and a coup in Sudan, these were some of the moments that shaped the Middle East.

Since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, tensions escalated across the Middle East not only between pro-democracy citizens and autocratic governments but also between states like Iran and the Saudi-UAE bloc.

This year, tensions have not significantly deescalated in the turbulent region, but at the same time, some positive trends have taken place in the Gulf where the Saudi-UAE bloc ended their blockade against Qatar.

Normalisation between Qatar and other Gulf powers also helped promote diplomacy between Tehran and Riyadh whose interests clash across the region from Yemen to Iraq and Lebanon.

Increasing diplomacy also led to other normalisation efforts between Turkiye and Egypt as the two countries beganan official rapprochement process in May. In November, Ankara and Abu Dhabi also decidedto normalise relations after ties worsened following the failed July 15 coup against the Erdogan government in 2016.

But in Palestine, nothing improved as Israel continued to increase its aggression against Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem to Gaza, launching a brutal aerial campaign against the Hamas-led enclave.

Here is an overview of what happened across the region in 2021.

Gulf normalisation

On January 5, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, the UAE and Bahrain alongside Egypt, signed an agreement with Qatar in Al Ula, normalising relations with Doha.

The normalising effort seemed to have been pushed by the former Trump administration, which was also instrumental in enacting the Abraham Accords between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel in late 2020.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a full blockade over Qatar, due to the countrys close ties with Iran and its support for the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement. Both Iran and the MB are forces the Saudi-UAE alliance see as threats to their rule and they demanded Qatar to distance itself from both.

The blockade ensured no tangible benefits for the quartet as Qatar continued to receive support from its allies like Turkiye and the US.

Sheikh Jarrah protests & Israeli war on Gaza

Israeli expulsions of Palestinian residents from Sheikh Jarrah a neighbourhood which has existed for more than nine centuries in occupied East Jerusalem was the trigger for another round of tensions.

In May, based on an Israeli court decision, Israeli authorities raided Palestinian homes and faced fierce resistance from both native residents and their supporters. The confrontation led to months of protests across Palestine from Jerusalem to the West Bank and finally Gaza.

This time around, though, Palestinians were not alone. Many people across the globe from the US to Western Europe rose to oppose the Israeli expulsions in Sheikh Jarrah, supporting the Palestinian cause.

The Sheikh Jarrah standoff also spread to Gaza, which has long been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade. The Hamas-led enclave launched hundreds of rockets to Israeli cities as far as Tel Aviv leading the Israelis to respond with heavy bombardment from both land and air, leading to hundreds of casualties.

At least 256 Palestinians including 66 children were killed due to Israels military campaign as tens of thousands were displaced to other regions. More than 1,900 Palestinians were injured. 13 Israelis killed and 200 Israelis were injured according to Tel Aviv.

After 15 days of fighting, Israel with itsobvious military superiority, halted its attacks under enormous international pressure.

Iranian hardliners won

This year also witnessed a lot of soul-searching in Iran.

Under reformist leadership over the last decade, Tehran reached an agreement with the US and other major powers on its nuclear programme in 2015. But in 2018, the Trump administration withdrew from the deal, leaving the fate of the nuclear deal in the lurch.

The US pull-out weakened Iranian reformists giving a boost to hardliners who long thought that the deal was an unnecessary appeasement to the West.

In June, Irans hardliners claimed a landslide victory in presidential elections thanks to both the US withdrawal from the deal and the election committees disqualification of many reformist candidates.

Even under hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, Iran returned to nuclear deal negotiations in Vienna after the new Biden administration expressed its willingness to restore the landmark agreement. But things are not exactly going smoothly in the Austrian capital so far.

Netanyahu is gone

In 2021, another crucial development happened in Israeli politics: Israels longest-serving Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, exited from his post after unprecedented four back-to-back inconclusive elections.

Netanyahu, a hardliner, faces various corruption charges, even seeing an indictment in early 2020 - but never showed the willingness to quit his job.

After the latest elections in March, Naftali Bennett, Netanyahus former ally, who is also another hardliner, was ableto bring together different forcesfrom far-left to far-right to form an unlikely coalition, ousting the Likud leader.

While he is gone, many still believe that his hardliner views continue to control the Israeli state.

Sudan coup

In October, another coup ousted Sudans interim government, which was in place after the countrys 2019 revolution, which brought an end to Omar al Bashirs longtime dictatorial rule.

Abdel Fattah al Burhan, the countrys top general, who also happens to be a protege of the jailed Bashir,launched a coup against Abdalla Hamdoks civilian government, established after a deal between military leaders and protesting forces in August 2019.

But generals have faced fierce opposition on the streets. Burhan, who was under strong international pressure, approached Hamdok, the man he ousted with his coup, to bring him back to power.

After the initial refusal, Hamdok, who is strongly backed by the Western alliance, decided to accept Burhans offer, signing an agreement with him, laying out a kind of unclear path from military rule to democracy. The deal appeared to favour the militarys positions, but it also promised to release all political prisoners jailed after the October coup.

After the initial refusal, Hamdok, who is strongly backed by the Western alliance, decided to accept Burhans offer, signing an agreement with him, laying out a kind of unclear path from military rule to democracy. The deal appeared to favour the militarys positions, but it also promised to release all political prisoners jailed after the October coup.

But Sudans anti-military civilian leadership opposed the Hamdok-Burhan deal, continuing to protest across streets, showing an unseen resilience to move the country toward a democratic rule. Most recently, Hamdok has signalled that he may step down.

Turkiye-UAE normalisation

Toward the end of the year, a surprising development took place between Turkiye and the UAE. Prior to the July 15 coup attempt, relations between the two states were warm, but after the coup attempt, whose perpetrators appeared to have links with Abu Dhabi, ties hit rock bottom. But thats not where the tensions end - Turkiye and the UAE have been on opposing sides in Libya and Ankara also backed Qatar against the Saudi-UAE-led blockade.

Despite continuing tensions on various issues, the two states decided to findcommon ground to normalise relations last month after seeing de-escalation across the Gulf after the end of the blockade. Turkiye and Egypt, a UAE ally, also launched a process to normalise relations, apparently boosting the rapprochement between Ankara and Abu Dhabi.

In November, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, leading to the announcement of a $10 billion fund for investments in Turkey including several agreements to boost cooperation across sectors like energy and health.

Delayed Libya elections

The latest major development from the region came when Libya's election commission decided to delay the countrys long-awaited elections due to the inadequate preparation for holding polls.

The elections were delayed for at least a month, but there is no official announcement clearing its schedule yet. The polls are aimed at addressing the countrys brutal civil war and leadership disagreements through a free and fair vote. But continuing tensions suggest that it will be an uphill task.

After years of fierce fighting between the UN-backed Tripoli government and warlord Khalifa Haftars forces, both sides agreed in March to establish a unity government, which will theoretically oversee the elections and transition to a democratic rule.

Source: TRT World

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The moments that defined the Middle East in 2021 - TRT World

TYLER, Texas (KETK) The cost of building materials is going up again at the beginning of the new year.Two East Texas roofing companies say theyve been told by their suppliers they will be seeing an increase of anywhere between 5% to 25%.

COVID caused a lot of suppliers to close to keep theiremployeessafe, but it caused a lot of companies to get behind on stock. Now, with cargo ships stuck at ports, we are seeing a decrease in important materials needed to repair your home.

You have the availability issue and now we have the continued price increase, supply and demand. We all know whensuppliesare low and demand is high, the price goes up and thatsfor a number ofreasons, said Jacob Law, Chief Operations Officer and Co-owner of Stonewater Roofing. Theyhave tocontinue to run a business over there and theyre turning out as much as they can, but pricing increases are coming.

The changes go down the chain until they reach local companies. Most homeowners wont see a big difference in repair costs if they haveinsurance, butpaying with cash could empty your pockets.

In the roofing industry I dont see any price decreases likely within the next 12 months to two years. I think its just going to continue to rise. So, specificallyhome ownersthat are looking to get a good deal, you probably want to do this sooner than later, said Phil Goodwin, Regional Sales Manager of Good Choice Roofing.

The housing market in East Texas is booming. A lot of people are selling their houses and many want to move. New houses are constantly going up, but withlackof materials, so are the prices fora home.

The builders are able topricetheir homes to really meet their need for building, said Melissa Thornburg, Realtor with Quality Choice Solutions.

Items likeappliances, windows andcabinetsare facing delays of anywhere from a few months to more than a year.

Yourelooking at delays. If you are wanting to remodel your bathroom you probably cant get someone tomorrow likeyou could of a year ago. SAYS THORNBURG.

Even with wait times and supply chain issues, roofing companies and realtors will do anything theycan tomake sure you are happy with your home.

Read the rest here:
East Texas roofing companies and housing market affected by price increase of building materials - KETK | FOX51 | EastTexasMatters.com

We all need a helping hand every now and then, but sometimes we need even more than thatwe need a Guardian angel with a well-polished Halo!

Buying a first home should be a joyous event and that joy should carry on into the future as you and yours build memories and grow together. Thats what Luke and Sarah Lenihan were expecting when they took the plunge and bought their starter home for their family of five.

A dream, a nightmare and a miracle

With three children, daughter Remi (6), son Ryker (4), and newborn son Reuben, they were excited to begin renovations to make the home their own but the dream soon took a nasty turn.

They had done everything right, making sure they got a professional inspection and signed the papers in good faith but their joy was short lived. A poorly done building inspection meant that the attic-playroom project that should have been straight forward was suddenly a massive problem.

Mold and rot in the roof, floor and around the windows meant that the potential cost to do the renovation sky-rocketedeven experts said it was too difficult to fix and refused to touch it. They tried several paths to recover their losses or at least find some compensation, but nothing worked. Their dream home was not so dreamy but help was on the way.

Angels come in all shapes and sizes

Every year, Guardian Roofing helps a family in the community that needs a hand through the Halo Project.

Its a simple idea: community members can nominate a family that needs some help with a roofing project. Sarahs mother took a chance and posted about Guardian Roofings Halo Project on Facebook. Pretty soon, the Lenihans had over 105 nominations and before they knew it, Guardian Roofing was letting them know that they had won.

The work was completed and the impossible, according to other roofing companies, became a reality. Miracles really do come true with the right know how, determination and a generous dollop of kindness! Luke Lenihan notes that, It was really amazing to hear that a company was willing to help a family in need and Guardian has just been amazing every step of the way.

Find out more about Guardian Roofing and the Halo Project here. Follow them on Facebook or give them a call at 877-926-9966.

Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@courierherald.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.courierherald.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (Well only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 500 words or less.

See the article here:
Auburn roofing company spreads its wings and spreads the love - Enumclaw Courier-Herald

Impact Roofing and Construction is a leading roofing and construction company. The agency highlighted the benefits of hiring professional roofers in a recent update.

Evans, GA December 25, 2021 Impact Roofing and Construction, in a website update, has outlined the advantages of hiring a professionalEvans roofing contractor.

Professional roofers have a thorough knowledge of the construction and installation of roofs, and that is their job. Therefore, they will not make silly mistakes as they know better what to do and how to do it right. Another benefit of hiring professional roof toppers is using quality materials to construct modern homes.

ProfessionalEvans roofingexperts often have employment contracts, insurance, and other measures that protect clients or homeowners, giving them peace of mind. In addition, in case something goes wrong during the job, most times, these professionals will be able to fix it free of charge.

Roofers Evansspecialists who know what to do will quickly understand the project requirements, ensuring that the job is done according to homeowner or company specifications. In addition, they will offer an accurate estimate for the projects cost ahead of time, and they do an excellent job by focusing on the task at hand.

About Impact Roofing and Construction

Impact Roofing and Construction is family owned and operated roofing, gutter, and construction company serving Evans, GA, Augusta, GA, and the greater CSRA. They are a fully-licensed general contractor specializing in roofing and gutter installation. Not only that, but they also deliver professional, quality results on various residential and commercial construction projects. As a fully-licensed general contractor, they are experienced in providing professional quality results on different interior and exterior construction projects. These include garage additions, interior/exterior remodels, renovations/alterations, and siding, windows, and doors.

Media ContactCompany Name: Impact Roofing & ConstructionContact Person: Will NeuhausEmail: Send EmailPhone: (706) 833-6775Address:453 Columbia Industrial Blvd Suite #5 City: EvansState: GA 30809Country: United StatesWebsite: https://www.impactroofingconstruction.com/

See the original post:
Impact Roofing and Construction Highlights the Benefits of Hiring Professional Roofers - Digital Journal

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Generational Equity, a leading mergers and acquisitions advisor for privately held businesses, is pleased to announce the sale of its client Highland Roofing Company & Coastal Fabrication, Inc. to Private Investors. The acquisition closed December 10, 2021.

Located in Wilmington, North Carolina, Highland Roofing Company & Coastal Fabrication (Highland) is an award-winning commercial roofing contractor. Coastal Fabrication, Inc. is a related company providing sheet metal fabrication products and services. Highland is a well-established contractor serving Southeastern and Central North Carolina from two locations in Wilmington and Raleigh and is focused on growth through service and maintenance. Highland primarily markets itself via continuous personal networking and relationship-based marketing with key customer accounts. The Company maintains two informative corporate websites: http://www.highlandroofingcompany.com and http://www.coastalfabricationinc.com.

Generational Equity Executive Managing Director, M&A-Technology Practice Leader, David Fergusson, and his team led by Managing Director, M&A, Alex Mironov, successfully closed the deal.

The most important factor for my client was finding a group that would treat their employees like family. Happy to say that our acquirer will do just that, and we could not have asked for a better culture fit, said Mironov.

About Generational Equity

Generational Equity, Generational Capital Markets (member FINRA/SIPC), Generational Wealth Advisors, Generational Consulting Group, and DealForce are part of the Generational Group, which is headquartered in Dallas and is one of the leading M&A advisory firms in North America.

With more than 250 professionals located throughout 16 offices in North America, the companies help business owners release the wealth of their business by providing growth consulting, merger, acquisition, and wealth management services. Their six-step approach features strategic and tactical growth consulting, exit planning education, business valuation, value enhancement strategies, M&A transactional services, and wealth management.

The M&A Advisor named the company the 2017 and 2018 Investment Banking Firm of the Year and 2020 Valuation Firm of the Year. For more information, visit https://www.genequityco.com/ or the Generational Equity press room.

Read the original:
Generational Equity Advises Highland Roofing Company & Coastal Fabrication in its Sale to Private Investors - Business Wire

reviving the ancient city with a new art museum and public square

ACRC, the architectural design & research institute of zhejiang university, has completed the xu wei art museum and green vine square within the shaoxing ancient city in china. robust granite walls, extended glazing and herrington slope roofs complete the cultural ensemble which emerges as a new public landmark for the city. we try to establish a kind of new spatial expression, with a view to connecting the surrounding built environment mainly based on the small scale of traditional dwellings, meeting the demands of contemporary art exhibitions for large space, and meanwhile discussing the topic of modernity in historical context, the architects share.

overlooking xu wei art museum, you can clearly perceive architectural texture of the surrounding small-scale traditional dwellings

images by lei tantan, jia fang, zhang chenfan, and jiang lanlan

drawing inspiration from the large space combination of the old shaoxing machine tool plant, and adopting the construction logic of longitudinal five-entry, and horizontal three-fold unequal herringbone slope modeling, the team at ACRC completed the distinctive volumetry of the xu wei art museum. the two five-entry floors on the east and west sides serve as the main exhibition space; the middle floor spans two floors, opening up the longitudinal five-entry pattern; and the ground floor is a foyer running through the north and south, while the shared hall and small temporary lecture hall are located on the second floor. the shared space on the upper and lower floors also serves as a transfer hub between exhibition halls on both sides. in addition, an internal courtyard was set up in different flat floors on the east and west sides, which reasonably separates the space volume of the exhibition hall and enhances the indoor permeability.

two herringbone slopes, one big and one small, are lifted up on the east and west sides of the square

besides spatial treatment, the contemporary expression of shaoxings traditional style is also reflected in the fine selection of materials: the black metal texture unfolds from the roof along with the herringbone slope house to the end of the second floor on the east and west sides, and the white granite solid walls are selected for above the second floor in the north-south direction; the first floor is concave on four sides for repeated pavement of the unitized texture of transverse herringbone slope, the curtain wall is treated locally according to function and unified modulus, and the gray granite and curtain wall materials are unified. the building presents typical black, white, and gray tones as a whole, while local blank space and three-fold herringbone slope contour lines reveal the contemporary landscape intention of the architects.

horizontal three-fold unequal herringbone slope modeling alleviates the alienation of large-scale space itself

located on the south side of the venue, green vine square connects the art museum on the north side with green vine study on the south side, paving the way for the frontcourt atmosphere, and meanwhile serves as the visitor center to carry the crowd distribution function. the square continues the construction logic of the art museum, and lifts up two herringbone slopes on the east and west sides respectively: the west side is slightly raised to enclose the square, while the east side is slightly higher.

with the help of local sinking, the volume of the visitor center is skillfully hidden under the herringbone slopes. the square as a whole is paved with dark stone, and the west side creates a flowing water scene with the help of a slope. meanwhile, an original xu wei statue stands on the southwest side of the art museum and the northeast side of the slope, making it the visual focus of the square and the prospect of the art museum. the step-like setting at the beginning of the east slope serves as an auditorium to provide an appropriate place for distribution and gathering.

xu wei statue stands on the southwest side of the art museum

xu wei art museum is gradually integrating into local community life

in the opposite view of the old wall and the residential buildings, you can see the sunken qingteng square (the visitor center)

the visitor center hides under the herringbone slope view

water landscape on qingteng square

the west-facing main courtyard on the first floor is mainly for viewing

the atrium on the second floor provides multiple use scenarios such as rest, assembly, viewing, and photographing

the north-south curtain wall design of the second floor connects the texture of the ancient city, making the changing city appearance a new exhibition content

project info:

name:xu wei art museum and green vine squarearchitectural firm: ACRC, the architectural design & research institute of zhejiang university

principal architect: hu huifeng

project team: hu huifeng, jiang lanlan, zhang chenfan, han lifan, zhu jinyun, and li pengfei

structure: zhang jie, chen xu, lv junfeng, ding ziwen, shen zeping, and chen xiaodong

water: yi jiasong, and shao yuran

HVAC: pan dahong, and li yongmei

electrical: zhang wei, yu liang, and du zhizhi weak

current: lin hua, ye minjie, and yang guozhong

landscape: wu weiling, wang jietao, wu di, zhu jing, ao dandan, he ying, and lin teng

indoor: chu ran, liu wanlin, wang junzheng, and mei wenbin

exhibition: zhao tongqing, liang shuang, chen wei, huang shizhen, and sun xiaotong

lighting: wang xiaodong, zhao yanqiu, fu dongming, feng baile, and wu xuhui

curtain wall: shi jiongjiong, wang jieneng, duan yuzhuang, and zhang jie

foundation pit enclosure: xu quanbiao, and zeng kai

bim design: zhang shunjin, ren wei, yan yitao, and wang qibo

EPC: fang chaojun, wang qing, miao sai, bei sijia, li yanqi, and li chen

client: shaoxing cultural tourism group

constructor: zhejiang qinye construction engineering group co., ltd.

location: 33 houguan lane, yuecheng district, shaoxing, zhejiang province

land area (square meter): 9854.17

building area (square meter): 8504.14

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom

Link:
ACRC's art museum with sloping roofs and extended glazing revives ancient city in china - Designboom