Latest news with #Boys
Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Science
- Qatar Tribune
Qatar students win 11 gold medals at ITEX 2025 in Malaysia
DOHA: Students from Qatar have achieved remarkable success at the 36th International Invention, Innovation, and Technology Exhibition (ITEX 2025), held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over three days. These achievements reflect the significant progress in Qatar's education sector and the joint efforts of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) and its strategic partner, the Qatar Research, Development and Innovation (QRDI) Council, to raise educational standards and prepare a generation of innovators capable of contributing to a knowledge-based economy. Gold medals in the school's category were awarded to students from Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School for Boys, Qatar Technical Secondary School for Girls, Omar Bin Al Khattab Secondary School for Boys, Ibn Taymiyyah Secondary School for Boys, Al Bayan Preparatory School for Girls, Al Khor Primary School, Al Arqam Academy, Al Khansa Primary School for Girls, and Maymouna Primary School for Girls. Additionally, Al Daayen Primary and Preparatory School for Girls earned a silver medal, while Zaynab Preparatory School for Girls received a bronze medal in the same category. Qatar was represented by a delegation of 25 students, including five from the university level, 15 from the secondary and preparatory levels, and five from the primary level. The students competed as part of 11 school teams and two university teams. Their participation followed four months of intensive preparation jointly overseen by MoEHE and the QRDI Council, which established a dedicated project selection committee and coordinated with exhibition organisers to ensure a strong showing on the international stage. At the university level, students from the University of Doha for Science and Technology secured gold medals, supported by the QRDI Council through supervision and funding. In the Individual Category, Amna Issa Al Kuwari and Fatima Issa Al Kuwari also achieved first place and were awarded a gold medal for their innovative project. Several Qatari research projects received special awards in recognition of their creativity and ability to offer practical solutions to real-world challenges. Among them, students Ram Marwan Kalach and Rashid Mubarak Alkhayarin from Omar Bin Al Khattab Secondary School for Boys, along with their supervisor Ahmad Samaan, received the Thailand Award for the Best International Invention & Innovation from the National Research Council of Thailand for their project, 'Design of the Wristband Using Dry Laboratory Techniques to Reduce the Risk of High Blood Viscosity'. Students Abdulaziz Ali Rashid Al Muhairi Al Muhannadi and Hamza Musleh Saleem Al Shihab, supervised by Doaa Ibrahim Mohammed Al Ali from Al Khor Model School for Boys, earned third place at the primary school level for their engineering project titled 'Design of a Solar Dryer for Wastewater Treatment', which also won the Outstanding Achievement Award from Tuwaiq Academy (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and the Abdulmonem Alrashed Humanitarian Foundation. In a symbolic gesture of appreciation, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Malaysia HE Salah bin Mohammed Al Sorour, presented an honorary shield to the Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School team in celebration of their gold medal success.
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Indiana bans sugary drinks, candy from SNAP
Once a week, a single mother and her two young children sit around a table to play a board game. Between turns, the three of them bite into a candy bar and sip a can of soda. The mother, who is on SNAP, has a job, but has a limited income so she can't afford to take her children on vacation or to the movie theater, said her friend Stephanie Boys, an associate professor of social work and an adjunct professor of law at Indiana University. To that mother, Boys said game night with a little treat is how she makes memories with her children. 'They eat healthy the rest of the time, it's just that's their family time,' Boys said. 'She is on such a limited budget that she doesn't know if she'll be able to afford the weekly treat.' Her friend's son is autistic, Boys said, so he relies on structure and always looks forward to family game night, which includes their weekly sweet treat. Boys said her friend has been stressed further because her son only takes his medicine with a sip of ginger ale. 'Having that weekly night to look forward to is very important to him. It's going to be even more difficult than with a neurotypical kid to try to explain, 'we're still going to play our games, we just might not have our soda with it,'' Boys said. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently signed a waiver filed by Indiana officials to remove sugary soft drinks and candy from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. 'More taxpayer-funded SNAP dollars are spent on sugary drinks and candy than on fruits and vegetables. Indiana is proud to lead the way in the Make America Healthy Again agenda by making this common sense move to return the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to its intended purpose: nutrition,' said Indiana Mike Braun in a statement. Braun's statement claimed purchases of sugary drinks, desserts and candy exceed the combined sales of fruits and vegetables on SNAP, but data does not bear that out. A USDA study from 2016 showed soft drinks comprise around 5% of each dollar spent in SNAP and candy amounts to 2%. The vast majority — 80% — is spent on meat, fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, eggs, dairy and prepared foods. Children enrolled in SNAP consume 43% more sugary drinks than non-SNAP recipients with similar incomes, according to Braun's statement. Boys and Leslie Lenkowsky, professor emeritus in public affairs and philanthropic studies at Indiana University, said they haven't seen that statistic in SNAP reports and aren't sure where Braun received that information. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was in Indianapolis in April to roll out Braun's Make Indiana Healthy Again initiative and stated that every governor should follow Braun's lead. Lenkowsky said the U.S. has had various food stamp programs that have gone through many changes in eligibility rules and restrictions over the years. Indiana's ban on sugary drinks and candy will be hard to enforce, he said, because it will rely on merchants at stores telling customers they can't make those purchases using SNAP. What will likely happen, Lenkowsky said, is that people on SNAP will try to re-budget to see if they can afford soda and candy another way. If not, he said what could happen is people negotiate with their friends or neighbors that they will buy them a grocery item or two on their SNAP benefits if the other person buys them soda or candy. While the pendulum may shift on food benefits, Lenkowsky said the bottom line is that people in poverty need support. 'People may be poor and needy, but they deserve respect,' Lenkowsky said. Boys said she wasn't surprised that Indiana was approved to remove sugary soft drinks and candy from SNAP because some U.S. Congressmen and women have proposed similar actions. Arkansas filed a similar waiver to Indiana's by banning soft drinks and candy, Nebraska filed for a waiver to ban sugary drinks and energy drinks from SNAP, and Iowa filed a waiver to ban anything that's eligible for sales tax, which bans sugary snacks and drinks, from SNAP, Boys said. 'I think we're going to see more and more states asking for these waivers,' Boys said. But waivers like this don't address food deserts or access to healthy foods, Boys said. People who use SNAP typically live closer to a convenience store than a grocery store, so there's more access to snacks and processed foods, she said. While convenience stores do sell some healthy items, like apples and bananas, the cost of those foods is greatly marked up compared to a grocery store, Boys said. Government officials should work toward incentivizing healthier eating in another way, she said. Removing sugary drinks and candy from SNAP will put more of a stigma on children who live in poverty, Boys said. For example, Boys said at her children's school students are encouraged to bring candy on standardized test days to share with the class. Under this change, some students won't be able to participate. 'If their friends come to school with candy and they don't have that, it's hard for parents to explain why they can't buy that. Especially when you go to the grocery store and at check out there's all this candy right in front of you,' Boys said.
NZ Herald
27-05-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Stroke and road crash victims being treated in corridors, says ED doctor at Middlemore Hospital
'Predictably we will have more presentations this winter than last winter, but we've had no new resource put in,' she said. She said this means patients might not receive the care they deserve. 'You can't underestimate the soul-sucking nature of apologising to every patient you see for waiting eight to 10 hours, moving from one urgent case to another and squeezing past people who are on trolleys and suffering.' The Herald revealed on Monday serious concerns about patient safety and a lack of staff at Middlemore Hospital's ED last winter, which included more than 1500 patients being treated in corridors in the space of just 36 days. The information was detailed in a quality alert report written by clinicians and obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act. The report also said there were 43 patient harm incidents in the same time period – some of which could have involved death or severe loss of function because of delayed care or medical error. Boys said those ending up in corridors included patients suffering strokes and injuries from road traffic crashes. 'We have no space, and no capacity left in the ED. The wards are full; patients can't move up to the wards [from the ED]. We have more presentations that we can get to and there are inadequate staff to treat people in a timely manner.' Clinicians who raised the alarm about patient harm, lack of staff and ED overcrowding last winter sought $3.6 million in funding to increase staff numbers. Efforts to secure funding for a new 'fast-track model of care' were declined and Boys said nothing had changed ahead of this winter. It's not just Middlemore's ED that's under pressure. HNZ data provided to the Herald reveals several other EDs are seeing huge numbers of patients. The New Zealand chairwoman of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and ED physician, Dr Kate Allan, told the Herald it's a worrying trend. 'It is a significant concern, but it's not unique to Middlemore. This sort of thing is happening across the country at a lot of our emergency departments and our hospitals,' she said. Minister: 'Significant' pressure on system Clinicians wanted the quality alert report escalated up the chain to national clinical leaders at Health New Zealand (HNZ), so they were across the risks. However, HNZ admitted national bosses 'delayed' acknowledging the report when it came to them. It was also recommended Minister Brown be made aware of the issues. Brown told Herald NOW the first he knew of the report was when the Herald broke the story. He described it as 'internal clinical assessment' but acknowledged 'significant' pressure across New Zealand's health system. Brown said it was up to HNZ to make decisions on district health budgets. Asked whether he was aware Middlemore ED clinicians had requested funding to improve staffing and patient safety before this Budget, he said that was HNZ's role. 'This is where HNZ is responsible. I as the minister am responsible for the overall budget.' Advertisement Advertise with NZME. He would not say when or if the requested $3.6m would be made available. However, a HNZ spokeswoman said there were plans for additional staff at Middlemore in 'the current budgeting year'. She said in the last financial year 20 fulltime registered nurses, five senior nurses three senior registrars, one urgent care doctor and five security guards were recruited in the last financial year. It was not clear how many of those staff ended up being diverted to the overloaded ED. 'Health New Zealand is committed to growing and retaining its workforce,' the spokeswoman told the Herald. Brown reiterated the Government's commitment to fund 24-hour urgent care services in Counties Manukau, which he said would alleviate pressure on Middlemore's ED. He also said South Auckland needed another hospital and it's likely one would be built in Drury. Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald 's video team in July 2024. The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) says patients suffering from road crashes and strokes are being treated in corridors at Middlemore Hospital's emergency department due to a lack of capacity and staff. ASMS vice president Dr Sylvia Boys who's an emergency physician at Middlemore Hospital described last winter as 'brutal' for staff and patients and didn't think this winter would be any different. That's despite Health Minister Simeon Brown trumpeting 'record' investment for health in last week's budget. Boys told the Herald Now show the number of staff on duty does not match patient demand. 'Predictably we will have more presentations this winter than last winter, but we've had no new resource put in,' she said. She said this means patients might not receive the care they deserve. 'You can't underestimate the soul sucking nature of apologising to every patient you see for waiting 8 to 10 hours, moving from one urgent case to another and squeezing past people who are on trolleys and suffering.' The Herald revealed on Monday serious concerns about patient safety and a lack of staff at Middlemore Hospital's ED last winter, which included more than 1500 patients being treated in corridors in the space of just 36 days. The information was detailed in a quality alert report written by clinicians and obtained by the Herald under the Officials Information Act. The report also said there were 43 patient harm incidents in the same time period - some of which could have involved death or severe loss of function because of delayed care or medical error. Advertise with NZME. Boys said those ending up in corridors included patients suffering patients stokes and injuries from road traffic crashes. 'We have no space, and no capacity left in the ED. The wards are full; patients can't move up to the wards [from the ED]. We have more presentations that we can get to and there are inadequate staff to treat people in a timely manner.' Clinicians who raised the alarm about patient harm, lack of staff and ED overcrowding last winter sought $3.6m in funding to increase staff numbers ahead of this winter. Efforts to secure funding for a new 'fast track model of care' were declined and Boys said nothing had changed as they head into the winter months. Clinicians wanted the report escalated up the chain to national leaders at Health New Zealand (HNZ), so they were across the risks, however HNZ has acknowledged leaders 'delayed' acknowledging the report when it came to them. It was also recommended Minister Brown be made aware of the issues. Brown told the Herald Now the first he knew of the report was when he read the story on Monday in the Herald. He described it as 'internal clinical assessment' but acknowledged 'significant' pressure across the health system. Brown said HNZ makes decisions on district health budgets. Asked whether he was aware Middlemore ED clinicians had requested funding to improve staffing and patient safety ahead of this budget, he said that's HNZ's role. 'This is where HNZ is responsible. I as the Minister am responsible for the overall budget.' He would not say when or if the requested $3.6m would be made available. Brown reiterated the Government's commitment to fund 24-hour services in Counties Manukau which he said would alleviate pressure on Middlemore's ED.
RTÉ News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Republic of Ireland U17s group confirmed for November's World Cup
The Republic of Ireland have discovered their group opponents for the 2025 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Qatar. Colin O'Brien's young Boys in Green, have drawn Paraguay, Uzbekistan and Panama in Group J for the underage global competition. The squad will head to Qatar in November for what is Ireland's first appearance at an Under-17s World Cup and will begin the tournament by facing Panama. They will then take on Uzbekistan, then followed by Paraguay on match day three. It is the first time the tournament will have 48 teams. The top two teams in each group, along with the eight best third-placed sides, will qualify for the round of 32. From the round of 32 onwards, the tournament will be played in a knock-out format. CONFIRMED | Ireland MU17s' World Cup Group for the U17 World Cup in Qatar 🏆 Colin O'Brien's team have been drawn against Paraguay, Uzbekistan and Panama in Group J 🇵🇾🇺🇿🇵🇦🇮🇪 The Tournament begins November 3 #IRLU17 | #COYBIG — Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) May 25, 2025 Speaking after the draw, Ireland head coach Colin O'Brien said: "There are 48 teams represented at the draw and I'm proud to see Ireland among them. "It's exciting and very intriguing coming up against different countries from different confederations. We've Asian, South American and Central American opposition and it will be a superb experience for the players and the staff. "I always say that often people judge young international sides by their senior teams but you never know, a team could have a special group of players who we so happen to be coming up against. "The draw is done, so the hard work for the tournament begins tomorrow. We have our opening game date, we have our opponents and we'll be looking forward to the World Cup." Ireland qualified for the tournament after being the best runners-up in UEFA U-17 Euros qualification. While missing out on the Euros competition, their 5-0 win over Iceland secured their spot in Qatar. The Under-17s' first preparation games for the World Cup will begin next month when they head to Croatia for three friendlies against Norway, Türkiye and Croatia.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Boys & Girls Club leaders honored at annual 'Youth of the Year' awards dinner
HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – The annual Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the Year celebration dinner honored some of the region's brightest young leaders. Several young leaders from Boys & Girls Clubs across the region were in the spotlight Wednesday night, honored as the 'Youth of the Year.' From Springfield to the Berkshires, each honoree was chosen for their ability to lead, succeed, and inspire. 'Youth of the Year' awardee Jesus Morales Jr. told 22News, 'To be able to inspire these kids. There are days when it's rough—you feel like nobody cares about you. But at the end of the day, you know that you are always making an impact in each of their lives.' The Youth of the Year program is more than a title—it's a national initiative that showcases young leaders who overcome obstacles, demonstrate academic excellence, and give back to their communities. These youth leaders will have the chance to compete regionally and then nationally….Earning scholarships along the way. The national youth of the year could receive up to $50,000Including a special installation by the president of the United States. 'To me, it's fulfillment at the end of the day,' Morales adds. The evening was emceed by Mass Appeal's Patrick Berry, who has seen firsthand the power of Boys and Girls Club programming. ' 'You meet people, make life-long friendships, and you learn skills that you may not learn elsewhere—so your local boys and girls club is the glue of the community,' says Berry. These honorees will now move forward as ambassadors and potentially become the national youth of the year. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
