Daily News Podcast 2025-07-28
Episode Description
Two Israeli human rights organizations, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, have released reports accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. They assert that Israel has intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians, causing widespread destruction and suffering. The organizations detail crimes such as mass killings, forced displacement, starvation, and the destruction of essential infrastructure. They argue that these actions, coupled with genocidal statements from Israeli leaders, demonstrate an intent to destroy the Palestinian population, at least in part. Both groups criticize Western allies for enabling this genocide by not taking stronger action and emphasize that halting the destruction of Gaza's health system is crucial to avoid continued fatalities.
--- ARTICLE TEXT ---
Topic: World
Title: Israel committing genocide in Gaza, say Israel-based human rights groups
Source: The Guardian
Full_article: Two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the country’s western allies have a legal and moral duty to stop it.
In reports published on Monday, the two groups said Israel had targeted civilians in Gaza only because of their identity as Palestinians over nearly two years of war, causing severe and in some cases irreparable damage to Palestinian society.
Multiple international and Palestinian groups have already described the war as genocidal, but reports from two of Israel-Palestine’s most respected human rights organisations, who have for decades documented systemic abuses, is likely to add to pressure for action.
The reports detailed crimes including the killing of tens of thousands of women, children and elderly people, mass forced displacement and starvation, and the destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure that have deprived Palestinians of healthcare, education and other basic rights.
“What we see is a clear, intentional attack on civilians in order to destroy a group,” said Yuli Novak, the director of B’Tselem, calling for urgent action. “I think every human being has to ask himself: what do you do in the face of genocide?”
It is vital to recognise that a genocide is under way even without a ruling in the case before the international court of justice, she said. “Genocide is not just a legal crime. It’s a social and political phenomenon.”
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) focuses in its report on a detailed chronological account of the assault on Gaza’s health system, with many details documented directly by the group’s own team, which worked regularly in Gaza before 7 October 2023.
View image in fullscreen Relatives of Palestinians who lost their lives during Israeli attacks mourn during a funeral ceremony at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
The destruction of the healthcare system alone makes the war genocidal under article 2c of the genocide convention, which prohibits deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy a group “in whole or part”, said its director, Guy Shalev.
“You don’t have to have all five articles of the genocide convention to be fulfilled in order for something to be genocide,” he said, although the report also details other genocidal aspects of Israel’s war.
Both B’Tselem and PHR said Israel’s western allies were enabling the genocidal campaign, and shared responsibility for suffering in Gaza. “It couldn’t happen without the support of the western world,” Novak said. “Any leader that is not doing whatever they can to stop it is part of this horror.”
The US and European countries have a legal responsibility to take stronger action than they have done so far, Shalev said. “Every tool in the toolbox should be used. This is not what we think, this is what the genocide convention calls for.”
Israel denies is it carrying out a genocide, and says the war in Gaza is one of self-defence after cross-border attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023 killed 1,200 people, the majority civilians. More than 250 others were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, where 50 remain held hostage, with 20 of them believed to still be alive.
A key element to the crime of genocide, as defined by the international convention, is showing intent by a state to destroy a target group in whole or part.
Genocidal statements from politicians and military leaders, and a chronology of well-documented impacts on civilians after nearly two years of war are proof of that intent, even without a paper trail of orders from the top, both PHR and B’Tselem say.
1:16 International court of justice orders Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza – video
The PHR report details how “genocidal intent may be inferred from the pattern of conduct”, citing legal precedent from the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda.
The extensive documentation, by medics, media and human rights organisations over a long period of time, meant Israel’s government could not claim it did not understand the impact of its actions, Shalev said. “There were enough times and enough opportunities for Israel to stop this gradual systematic attack.”
Incitement to genocide has been recorded since the start of the war. It is one of two issues on which the Israeli judge hearing the case at the international court of justice voted with the majority when ordering emergency measures for the protection of Palestinians from the plausible risk of genocide.
“We don’t need to guess what Israel is doing and what the Israeli army is doing, because from the first day of this attack, Israeli leaders, the highest leadership, political leadership, including the prime minister, the minister of defence, the president of Israel said exactly that,” Novak said.
“They talked about human animals. They talked about the fact that there are no civilians in Gaza or that there is an entire nation responsible for 7 October.”
View image in fullscreen Palestinians bring the bodies of victims of Israeli attacks to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis on Monday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
“If the leadership of Israel, whether the army leadership and the political leadership, knows about the consequences of this policy and keep going, it is very clear that is intentional.”
The destruction of health infrastructure, two years without medical care and the killing of medical workers also meant the toll from the genocide would continue to mount even after any ceasefire halts fighting, Shalev said.
“For example, there have been no MRI machines in Gaza for months now, so what about all the illnesses and diseases that were not diagnosed all that time. There are all the malnutrition and chronic diseases that went untreated, we’re going to see the effects of that for months and years to come.”
While medication can be brought in within days, there is no easy way to replace medical workers who have been killed, including specialists who took decades to train, he said.
“Looking at the conditions of life opens this kind of temporal scale that is frightening if we want to believe in a future where … the people of Gaza somehow get to live their lives safely and in good health. It’s very hard to see that.”
The death toll in Gaza from the war is approaching 60,000, or more than 2.5% of the prewar population. Some of those who defend Israel’s war argue that is too low for the campaign to be considered genocide.
View image in fullscreen Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen in Gaza City. Photograph: Khamis Al-Rifi/Reuters
That is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the crime of genocide, which the convention defines as targeting a group “in whole or in part”, Novak said. “It doesn’t mean that you need to kill each and every person.”
A genocide targeting Palestinians as a group was possible only because Israel for decades dehumanised Palestinians and denied their rights, Novak said. Collective trauma was exploited by far-right politicians to accelerate an agenda they had been pursuing for years.
“[7 October ] was a shocking moment and a turning point for Israelis because it instilled a real sincere feeling of existential threat. That was the moment that pushed a whole system and how it operates in Gaza from a policy of control and oppression into one of destruction and extermination.”
Now Israel had launched a genocidal campaign in Gaza, there was an urgent risk that it could spread to target other Palestinians, the B’Tselem report warned.
“The Israeli regime now has a new tool that they didn’t use before – genocide. And the fact that that this tool or this policy used in Gaza is not yet [deployed] in other areas is not something that we can count on for long,” Novak said.
The West Bank is a particular concern, with almost 1,000 Palestinians killed and more than 40,000 displaced from communities including Jenin and Tulkarem, in a campaign of escalating attacks and ethnic cleansing since 7 October 2023.
“What we see is basically the same regime with the same logic, the same army, usually the same commanders and even the same soldiers who just fought in Gaza. They are now in the West Bank where violence is on the rise,” Novak said.
“What we worry about and want to warn about is the fact that any small trigger might make the genocide spill over from Gaza into the West Bank.”
--- END ARTICLE TEXT ---
Source: Argus Media
Vivergo, a UK bioethanol producer, is considering closing its Saltend plant due to a US-UK trade deal allowing duty-free US ethanol imports. Vivergo is seeking government support to cover losses of £3mn/month. The company emphasizes the need for government intervention to address issues like the eligibility of Uldur for double counting under the UK's renewable transport fuel obligation, and proposes increasing the ethanol mandate in road fuel. They are also close to having carbon capture facilities which could meet a third of the UK's CO2 demand. The closure would impact the agricultural sector.
--- ARTICLE TEXT ---
Topic: Business
Title: Australia's HAMR plans to build methanol-jet SAF plant
Source: Argus Media
Full_article: News
Vivergo outlines hopes for UK bioethanol plant rescue
London, 21 July (Argus) — UK bioethanol producer Vivergo is proceeding with plans to close its 416mn litres/yr Saltend plant in eastern England, but has outlined ways the government could prevent this. Vivergo has said deliveries of wheat will cease at the end of July, and redundancies will begin in August, ahead of closure in September . It already said it had stopped buying wheat in June . The decision to close was made by Vivergo's parent company, food and ingredients group Associated British Foods (ABF), after a US-UK trade deal agreed in May that allowed duty-free imports of up to 1.4bn l/yr of US ethanol. ABF confirmed at the end of June that it was in talks with the government, but no timeline has been put on the process. The first stage of the talks was for UK producers, like Vivergo and Ensus, operator of the 400mn l/yr Wilton bioethanol refinery in northeast England, to submit their strategic business cases. Ensus has said it could close Wilton. Covering costs Vivergo told Argus it wants the government to cover losses of £3mn/month, or £35mn/yr, which it said have been incurred as a result of government decisions. Previously, ABF proposed a support package of £75mn/yr , for up to two years, for the entire UK sector. In the longer-term, Vivergo said there is appetite from private investors to finance future projects. It pointed to a recent initial agreement to supply ethanol for a prospective alcohol-to-jet sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant planned by hydrogen developer Meld Energy at Saltend. Meld told Argus that while the project will be "underpinned by government support mechanisms", the "longer term plan is to eventually eliminate reliance on subsidy through reducing cost of production which will likely be through scale, efficiency and technology advancement". Meld chief executive Chris Smith also told Argus that sourcing bioethanol directly from Vivergo helped "risk management". He said locally-produced bioethanol brings "greater certainty of supply" and "reduces local infrastructure requirements." Vivergo said failure to support the bioethanol sector would be "shortsighted", because in order to meet projected increases in UK SAF demand by 2035 the country would need "seven more Vivergos", or a more than 3.5 times increase in domestic bioethanol production. Regulation frustration Vivergo said another key way for the government to help is to tackle the eligibility of unrefined liquid dextrose ultrafiltration retentate (Uldur) for double counting under the UK's renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO). Uldur, which is classfied in the UK as a waste ethanol feedstock, makes up a significant share of the total import pool from the US. Biofuels made from certain raw materials classed as "wastes" and "residues" under the RTFO receive double the amount of renewable transport fuel certificates (RTFCs) for every litre of fuel produced. RTFCs are tradeable credits primarily generated by the sale of biofuel-blended fuels and are used to help obligated parties meet the RTFO mandate. Vivergo says Uldur-derived ethanol is a co-product of the wet milling process rather than waste, and its eligibility for double counting is inconsistent with the RTFO's decarbonisation aims. It said producers using Uldur are able to make double-counting bioethanol using a more carbon-intensive production process than the fermentation of wheat, yet crop-based ethanol produced by Vivergo is ineligible for double counting. Vivergo said producers of double counting product get an additional certificate worth around £260/t, meaning it is unable compete with the low prices of Uldur-based bioethanol importers from the US. And these will now be able to enter the UK duty free under the new US-UK trade deal. The UK government is consulting on whether to continue classing Uldur as eligible for double counting. Other changes proposed by Vivergo include increasing the ethanol mandate in road fuel, from E10 to E15 or E20. Vivergo previously said an E15 mandate could boost demand in the UK by 660mn l/yr. It also highlighted the potential for increased bioethanol use in marine and aviation sectors. Capturing the moment Another key point in the talks with the government is the capture of CO2, a by-product of bioethanol production, Vivergo said. The company said it is 6-9 months away from having carbon capture facilities ready, at which point it would be capable of meeting around a third of the UK's 600,000 t/yr CO2 demand. Ensus captures 250,000 t/yr of CO2 at its 400mn l/yr bioethanol refinery in Wilton, northeast England. Vivergo said losing this would mean increased CO2 imports, and noted its output of high-protein animal feed as a co-product of wheat-to-ethanol production, which agricultural firms would otherwise have to import at a higher environmental cost. The National Farmers Union has previously said that losing the UK bioethanol industry would be a "huge blow", as it currently has the "capacity to purchase around 2mn t of wheat each year", so without it "farmers would lose a reliable market for their feed wheat." By Toby Shay Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
--- END ARTICLE TEXT ---
Source: India Today
The Vivo X Fold 5 is a durable and functional foldable phone, unlike many delicate competitors. It's slim, lightweight, and boasts IP58 and IP59 ratings for toughness. The hinge can withstand 600,000 folds. It features bright 8.03-inch inner and 6.53-inch cover AMOLED displays, both at 120Hz and 4,500 nits. Camera setup includes three 50MP cameras co-engineered with Zeiss. It runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. A 6,000mAh battery provides a day and a half of use with fast charging. Price is Rs 1,49,999.
--- ARTICLE TEXT ---
Topic: Technology
Title: Gadgets: Foldable, unforgettable
Source: India Today
Full_article: (NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today Spice issue dated July 2025)
Most foldable phones are either all show and no substance or so delicate you’re afraid to sneeze near them. Enter the Vivo X Fold 5, a device that not only dares you to fold, unfold, and occasionally even drop it by mistake, but even survives to tell the tale. Skipping a ‘Fold 4’ entirely, Vivo’s new foldable feels like that friend who missed a party but turns up next time with better stories.
advertisement
Read More
BUILT FOR REAL LIFE, NOT THE MUSEUM
Forget the dainty prototypes of yesteryear. The Vivo X Fold 5 is slim (9.2mm folded, 4.3mm unfolded), featherlight (217g), and so tough it boasts IP58 and IP59 ratings, yes, you read that right. The hinge claims it can survive 6,00,000 folds; our accidental drop confirmed it’s not just a claim. Vivo throws in a premium leather case for good measure, but we do wish the glossy edges had been matte for better grip and fewer fingerprints.
BRIGHT ENOUGH TO ANNOY THE SUN
With an 8.03-inch inner and 6.53-inch cover AMOLED, both at 120Hz and 4,500 nits, you won’t squint, no matter where you are. Colours pop, blacks go deep, and LTPO tech keeps things smooth yet power efficient. Some apps still wrestle with the foldable format (looking at you, Instagram), but that’s an industry-wide growing pain, not a Vivo blunder.
advertisement
ZEISS KNOWS BEST (MOST OF THE TIME)
Three 50MP cameras co-engineered with Zeiss deliver crisp detail and punchy colours in daylight. The Zeiss filter tries to keep things natural but sometimes over-brightens the scene. Portraits? Great detail, but skin tones can get a tad too rosy. Low-light shots are solid, though Samsung’s Z Fold 7 has a slight edge. For videos, 4K at 60fps is the sweet spot—stable and sharp, ready for your next viral moment.
NOT THE FASTEST, BUT DEFINITELY THE SMARTEST
Vivo sticks with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (last year’s champ), and while spec-heads may scoff, real-world performance is smooth. With 16GB RAM and 512GB storage (plus LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0), multitasking is a breeze, and gaming is respectably smooth. Just don’t expect console-level graphics. Software’s covered by FunTouch OS 15 and the surprisingly useful Origin Workbench, letting you run five apps at once for full-on productivity chaos. Four years of Android updates and five years of security is decent, though the competition stretches it tad further.
OUR FINAL TAKE
A huge 6,000mAh battery (biggest in a foldable yet) delivers a day and a half of solid use, charging fast at 80W (and wirelessly at 40W). Even after hours of video and gaming, you’ll rarely be left hunting for a charger. The Vivo X Fold 5 delivers on design, durability, display, and who want less fragility and more function, it’s the real deal.
advertisement
Price: Rs 1,49,999
Subscribe to India Today Magazine
- Ends
--- END ARTICLE TEXT ---
Source: TrekMovie.com
Paramount+ released the first trailer for the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series, which is set to debut in early 2026. The trailer showcases the San Francisco campus and the USS Athena. Holly Hunter will play Nahla Ake, the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy and Captain of the USS Athena. The series will feature a diverse group of cadets: Caleb Mir, Jay-Den Kraag, Sam, Darem Reymi, and Genesis Lythe. Robert Picardo, Tig Notaro, and Oded Fehr are reprising their roles. Production for the first season wrapped, and work on the second season has begun.
--- ARTICLE TEXT ---
Topic: Entertainment
Title: Watch: First Trailer Welcomes You To ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’… And The U.S.S. Athena - TrekMovie.com
Source: TrekMovie
Full_article: Following up yesterday’s first look images, today Paramount+ showed off the first trailer for the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series. More details about the show were also revealed at Comic-Con.
Starfleet Academy
The final segment of the Star Trek Universe panel on Saturday was dedicated to Starfleet Academy. Things kicked off with the first teaser trailer, announcing the series will arrive in early 2026. It also revealed the San Francisco campus and new starship, the USS Athena.
Check it out…
More details about the characters
We got a more detail than we’ve had before. Holly Hunter plays Nahla Ake, the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy and Captain of the U.S.S. Athena, who also happens to be a long-lived half-Lanthanite (like Strange New Worlds‘ Pelia).
As for the cadets:
Sandro Rosta is Caleb Mir, an orphan with a troubled past–and unlikely Starfleet cadet.
Karim Diané is Jay-Den Kraag, a Klingon cadet who dreams of becoming a medical officer.
Kerrice Brooks is Series Acclimation Mil, a.k.a. Sam, the first of her kind to ever attend Starfleet Academy.
George Hawkins is Darem Reymi, an aspiring captain from a wealthy home world.
Bella Shepard is Genesis Lythe, an admiral’s daughter determined to make her own name in Starfleet.
Plus we have descriptions for some non-cadet characters:
Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal, a Betazoid and daughter of the president of Betazed.
Robert Picardo, reprising his iconic role as The Doctor.
Tig Notaro, reprising her role as Jett Reno.
Oded Fehr, reprising his role as Admiral Vance.
Recurring guest star Gina Yashere as Commander Lura Thok, a Klingon/Jem’Hadar hybrid who is the chancellor’s First Officer and Cadet Master.
Recurring guest star and Academy Award nominee, Paul Giamatti, as part Klingon/part Tellarite Nus Braka, the season’s villain with an ominous past connected to one of our cadets.
Also revealed at the panel, individual images for the main cadets.
The first season of Starfleet Academy wrapped production earlier this year and will debut in early 2026. Work on the second season has already started with production expected to begin by the end of the year.
The Starfleet Academy portion of the panel featured actors Holly Hunter, Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins, and Bella Shepard along with executive producers and co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau. The STU panel was moderated by Robert Picardo, who is reprising his Voyager (and Prodigy) role of the Holographic Doctor on Academy.
We will have more about what they had to say later on.
Embed from Getty Images
ICYMI: First look images (sorted)
Paramount also provided us with the same images from yesterday’s EW exclusive, but we can now sort them by episode with nine of the images coming from the first five episodes of the ten-episode season. The other three are posed publicity shots.
Episode images:
Publicity images:
More Star Trek SDCC 2025 to come
We will have more coverage from San Diego this weekend. And check out our previous updates from the panel:
Watch: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 Teaser Goes To The Felt Frontier
‘Star Trek: Khan’ Audio Series To Feature George Takei As Sulu And Tim Russ As Tuvok – Watch First Teaser
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
--- END ARTICLE TEXT ---
Source: Olympics.com
Gretchen Walsh won the women’s 100m butterfly gold at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships with a championship-record time of 54.73 seconds, the second-fastest time in history after her own world record. Despite battling a stomach virus that forced her to withdraw from a relay, the American swimmer dominated the race. Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium took silver, and Alexandria Perkins secured the bronze. Walsh, a two-time Olympic champion, previously won 4×100m medley gold at 2023 Fukuoka. She is scheduled to compete in three more individual events this week.
--- ARTICLE TEXT ---
Topic: Sports
Title: Gretchen Walsh off to winning start with huge women’s 100m butterfly victory
Source: Olympics.com
Full_article: Gretchen Walsh defied a stomach virus to clinch the first individual long course swimming world title of her career.
"It took a lot of guts," the American admitted after storming to women’s 100m butterfly gold at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships on Monday, 28 July.
Walsh posted a championship-record time of 54.73 seconds, which also goes down as the second-fastest 100m butterfly time in history - after her own world record set in May.
The 22-year-old is among the Team USA swimmers battling a stomach illness, making her victory all the more remarkable given she withdrew from the 4x100m freestyle relay less than 24 hours ago.
“I just wanted to go out here and do it for my team, represent the flag," she added.
"That race, it came out of somewhere, I don’t know what. I’m really, really happy.”
Walsh walked away with a remarkable seven golds at last year’s short course world championships in Budapest, and the two-time Olympic champion got off to a flier in Singapore.
Having previously won 4×100m medley gold at 2023 Fukuoka, she raced to individual long course glory for the first time in supreme style, finishing more than a second clear of Belgium's promising 20-year-old Roos Vanotterdijk, who was competing in her first final.
Alexandria Perkins took home the bronze in a final that firmly belonged to Walsh, who took a commanding lead at the halfway stage and never looked back.
Walsh had broken the world record twice in this event in Fort Lauderdale back in May, and this victory underlines her emergence as the dominant force in the 100m butterfly a year after winning silver at Paris 2024.
“I’m so happy. To be under 55 again means everything,” Walsh said afterwards. “It was not easy and I’m just really proud of myself for that time, and giving myself grace throughout this whole process.”
Walsh is set to race in three more individual events - 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly - later this week, with her full relay schedule yet to be finalised.
.
--- END ARTICLE TEXT ---
Source: Winnipeg Free Press
Jon Fenton, a two-time cancer survivor, plans to swim across Lake Winnipeg from Victoria Beach to Gimli to raise $75,000 for cancer research. He will donate $25,000 each to the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, Health Sciences Centre Foundation, and the Alberta Cancer Foundation. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1999 and again in 2020, Fenton underwent successful treatment, including a stem-cell transplant. Inspired by Diana Nyad's Cuba-to-Florida swim, Fenton hopes his 26-kilometre swim will give hope to other cancer patients. He has been training since January 2024 and plans to attempt the swim between August 2 and 12, depending on weather and environmental conditions.
--- ARTICLE TEXT ---
Topic: Science
Title: Two-time cancer survivor plans fundraising swim from Victoria Beach to Gimli
Source: Winnipeg Free Press
Full_article: Jon Fenton remembers being at Victoria Beach as a child, thinking it would be impossible to swim from one side of Lake Winnipeg to the other.
Decades later, the 61-year-old will attempt to prove he was wrong by tackling the waves to raise money for medical research.
Fenton successfully battled cancer twice and now wants to use the 26-kilometre swim across the lake to give patients hope.
SUPPLIED Jon Fenton, 61, hopes to raise $75,000 and donate $25,000 apiece to the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, Health Sciences Centre Foundation and the Alberta Cancer Foundation, by swimming across Lake Winnipeg from Victoria Beach to Gimli in August.
“If they see an old geezer getting into the water to attempt to cross a lake, maybe they’ll think, ‘If he can go through it twice, maybe I’ll be all right,’” he told the Free Press Thursday.
Fenton hopes to raise $75,000 and donate $25,000 apiece to the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, Health Sciences Centre Foundation and the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
While living in Japan with his wife Laura and three children in 1999, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma a type of cancer that targets white blood cells and the body’s immune system. The family decided to return to Manitoba, where he was treated at Health Sciences Centre.
After undergoing treatment, he was cancer-free for 20 years, but it returned in 2020 when he was living in Diamond Valley, 40 kilometres south of Calgary.
“I thought ‘Well, I’ve had a nice 20-year run, but definitely this has got to be game over,’” he said.
But he qualified for a stem-cell transplant in Calgary that eliminated all signs of the disease.
When he celebrated his fifth-year anniversary last year for kicking his second bout, he wanted to do something to give back so research can continue discovering new treatments.
“We’re far from done. Let’s keep it going. Let’s get the next big breakthrough, and the next one, and the next one. We can’t really give up,” he said.
Fenton got the idea for the fundraiser when he and his wife watched a 2023 film Nyad, which told the story of Diana Nyad’s multiple attempts — the fifth, in 2013 at the age of 64, taking 53 hours was ultimately successful — to swim from Cuba to Florida.
While he’s previously competed in triathlons and swam up to four kilometres in races, getting across Lake Winnipeg from Victoria Beach to Gimli will be a far bigger challenge, he said, adding he started training for the swim in January 2024 and has since racked up 176 kilometres in total.
He said there are parallels to be drawn between the challenge to come and the health journeys he’s travelled: when someone begins cancer treatment, it’s difficult to stay positive because of the toll it takes both physically and mentally.
SUPPLIED Jon Fenton in hospital with wife Laura on January 10, 2020, the day of his stem cell transplant. The bag in his hand are his stem cells.
Taking the process week by week has helped him — then and now; if he tried to think about the treatment or the 26-kilometre swim in their entirety, he couldn’t “wrap his mind around it,” he said.
“It’s easy to say, hard to do, but it helps. Just bite off little chunks and then you’re through your cancer treatment, and hopefully I’m on the other side of the lake,” he said. “It’s a long game, hang tough and take it week by week.”
Fenton is hoping to jump in the lake between Aug. 2 and 12, but it will depend on how much wildfire smoke is lingering in the air, weather conditions on the lake and the severity of blue-green algae blooms, which have caused significant environmental damage and produce toxins that pose severe health risks.
Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter Jen Zoratti | Next Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.
If conditions don’t allow him to attempt the feat, he said he’ll take another crack next year.
“I don’t want to be a new verse in an Alanis Morissette song: ‘isn’t it ironic/don’t you think?/a two-time cancer survivor/expires in the drink,’” Fenton sang with a laugh.
“I don’t want that verse coming out.”
Others have successfully made it across Lake Winnipeg. Friends Jacques Marcoux and Patrick Peacock were the last to successfully try it, completing a 31-kilometre swim from Victoria Beach to Gimli in about 14 hours in August 2011. In August 1955, 20-year-old Kathie McIntosh became the first to swim across, making her way from Grand Marais to Winnipeg Beach in a little more than 16 1/2 hours.
--- END ARTICLE TEXT ---
Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal
Pharmacy professionals are increasingly vital in tackling healthcare inequalities, leveraging their accessibility to identify and address inequities. The NHS 'Core20PLUS5' framework aligns with this, urging pharmacists to engage in inclusive service design and equitable prescribing. A pharmaceutical public health vision calls for embedding health equity as a core priority. Studies reveal pharmacists' role in mental health, constrained by public misconceptions and limited training, highlighting a need for enhanced training and public engagement. Pharmacy-led initiatives also contribute to early cancer diagnosis and cardiovascular health. A multidisciplinary approach to deprescribing antihypertensive medication in frail older adults shows clinical relevance.
--- ARTICLE TEXT ---
Topic: Health
Title: Pharmacy at the frontline of tackling healthcare inequalities
Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal
Full_article: Tackling entrenched health inequalities is no longer the sole remit of public health teams or policymakers. Pharmacy professionals and their teams, as one of the most accessible healthcare professions, are increasingly recognised as critical partners in this mission. Whether embedded in communities, general practice, secondary care or system-level medicines optimisation teams, they are uniquely positioned to identify, mitigate and address healthcare inequities and can make important contributions to wider actions to tackle structural and social determinants of poor health outcomes.
In 2024, Todd and Ashiru-Oredope called for an updated vision for pharmaceutical public health, first defined in 20001,2; recommending that pharmacy’s action to tackle health inequalities is embedded as a core priority. This reflects the urgent need for the pharmacy profession to actively contribute to improving equity in access, experience and outcomes of care.
This call to action aligns directly with the NHS ‘Core20PLUS5’ ambition and requires pharmacy professionals to engage in more inclusive service design, equitable prescribing, data-informed outreach and culturally competent care.
Pharmaceutical Public Health is the application of pharmaceutical knowledge, skills and resources to the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, promoting, protecting, improving health and reducing health inequalities for all through organised efforts of society. Walker 2000; Todd and Ashiru-Oredope 2024
The NHS Core20PLUS5 framework sets out the national approach to inform action to reduce healthcare inequalities at both the national and system level. The approach defines a target population – the ‘Core20PLUS’ — and identifies five focus clinical areas requiring accelerated improvement with a dedicated framework for adults, as well as children and young people.
The framework focuses on the most deprived 20% of the population (Core20), highlights five key clinical areas — maternity, severe mental illness, chronic respiratory disease, cancer diagnosis and cardiovascular disease (for adults); and asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, oral health and mental health (for children). The framework also highlights inclusion health groups (PLUS) — people facing severe social exclusion, including those experiencing homelessness, drug and alcohol dependence, vulnerable migrants, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, sex workers, people in contact with the justice system, victims of modern slavery and other socially excluded groups (NHS England, 2021).
In this blog, I focus on reviewing recent papers published in the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice that reveal how pharmacy practice can support the mission to tackle healthcare inequalities related to clinical conditions. These studies offer vital insights into how pharmacists and pharmacy teams are already addressing inequity, and offering some insight into where further action is needed to support the aims of Core20PLUS5.
Mental health: the unmet potential of pharmacy
Pharmacists are increasingly involved in mental health care, yet their capacity to contribute meaningfully is constrained by public misconceptions, limited training and structural barriers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacists in team-based primary care settings reported increased involvement in mental health care (including medication education and management, non-pharmacologic approaches and supportive conversations and identification of resources, including referrals, wellness checks and consulting with physicians) but noted role ambiguity, insufficient support and difficulty engaging patients who lacked digital access or trust in the system3.
Simultaneously, a study on consumer perceptions conducted through 15 community pharmacies found that while some of the respondents to the survey recognised the role of community pharmacists in promoting mental health, a significant proportion were unaware of available services or the pharmacist’s training4. Themes identified from responses provided by members of the public on what role community pharmacists could play in supporting individuals living with mental illness were: ‘someone to talk to’, ‘medication supply and counselling’, ‘triage’, ‘education’. A few participants felt mental health was outside pharmacists’ expertise and that there was no expanded mental health role for