Oxfam

• Seven aid workers from the food aid charity World Central Kitchen were killed in Gaza on Monday night when their convoy was attacked in a confirmed Israeli drone strike.
• Humanitarian aid workers and people receiving aid should be protected and not targeted.
• Despite this, attacks on aid workers in conflict areas are becoming more frequent around the world.
• Aid workers have since pushed for improvements to the deconfliction system, including improved lines of communication and “command and control” within the Israeli military.

Suspended operations

• World Central Kitchen suspended its operations in Gaza after the attack.
• UN organisations, which provide around 80% of the aid in Gaza, have suspended night-time operations in response to the attack.
• Several humanitarian organisations have paused their operations altogether as conditions have become too dangerous for their staff.

• In March, a failed parachute resulted in a dropped pallet of aid killing five people in Gaza.
• In another incident, at least 12 people drowned trying to retrieve items that fell into the sea.
• Fights have broken out for the goods dropped in this way as there is no organised delivery on the ground.

Need for humanitarian access

• Safe and unhindered access for humanitarian goods and workers is vital for the survival of so many in Gaza.
• As UNRWA is the largest humanitarian agency with 13,000 staff in Gaza, this hinders relief operations significantly.
• Ultimately, a ceasefire is the only way to ensure aid can enter Gaza at scale and be distributed to those in need safely.
• UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said “it demonstrates yet again the urgent need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the expansion of humanitarian aid into Gaza”.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• To every generation a publishing phenomenon is born – and for Generation Z, it’s Heartstopper, which Oseman started writing aged 22 (she’s still just 29).
• The rise of Heartstopper reads like a history of the last ten years in publishing tools and platforms.
• Hachette Children’s Group picked up world rights for the series, publishing Volume One in 2019.

• Heartstopper follows the sweet friends-to-lovers arc of Charlie and Nick, whom we first meet in Year 10 and Year 11.
• It depicts the giddying highs and dizzying lows of being young, queer and in love.

Queer joy

Queer joy is defined by Oxfam as a positive feeling we get from encountering signs of progress in gender equality and gender diversity. In the Heartstopper series, the narrative engine runs on themes of love, identity, first times, self-discovery, friendship and allyship.

• He mentions past bullying and there are moments of homophobia, but largely Charlie is accepted at school.
• Charlie’s friend Elle has transitioned their gender and has been enrolled into the girls’ school across the road.
• The shadow side of the themes of love, connection and community includes mental ill-health, body dysmorphia, trauma, family conflict and bullying.
• Read more:
  Heartstopper depicts queer joy - here's why that can bring about complicated feelings for those in the LGBTIQ community

‘Felt gaps’: the magic of comics

• In 1953, in his book Seduction of the Innocent, Frederic Wertham argued comics inhibit literacy, and called them “death on reading”.
• Comics and graphic novels are, for some kids at least, the gateway to a passion for books.
• Some of the magic of comics occurs in the gutter: the space between panels.

• Because comics can show and tell two things at once, they are particularly good at representing the way identities are formed in relation to society and culture.
• An examination of Google trends from 2004 to 2023 highlights a steep rise in queries about sexuality, with such searches surging over 1,300%.

Heartstopper Volume 5

By Heartstopper Volume 5, Nick is out to family and friends and Charlie is home and in therapy, but generally well. Charlie and Nick are in an established relationship, thinking about taking things to the next level.

• (We’ll have to read Volume 6 to find out if he’s successful!)
• Heartstopper Volume 5 focuses a lot on Nick who, as a final-year student, needs to make a decision about university.
• The conversations demonstrate nuances of active consent and communication, and stand in stark contrast to Ben’s entitlement and aggression in Volume 1.

Normalising queer love

• In Heartstopper, the representations of mental illness, trans identities and queer love are destigmatising and normalising.
• Charlie’s queer and quirky friendship group reminds me of the young people who trail in and out of my house on a regular basis.
• (My oldest daughter ran the queer club at her school, my middle child is non-binary.)
• Oseman uses the comic form to alleviate the intensity, avoiding details about self-harm and restrictive eating, and never showing anything graphic.

• For me, though, this is the queer joy of reading Heartstopper.
• In its focus on the love and community that surrounds Charlie and Nick, the Heartstopper graphic novels create a space for the reader, who becomes an intimate confidante – another member of Charlie and Nick’s tight-knit friendship group.

Penni Russon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Are improvements to green technologies, like better batteries and more efficient solar panels, enough on their own to tackle climate change?
• In our recent article for Nature Climate Change, we explain why inequality remains one of the biggest barriers to the net zero transition.

1. The very rich are very big polluters

• According to their latest analysis, the richest 1% emit as much CO₂ as the poorest 66% combined.
• To limit warming to 1.5°C, each person has a yearly carbon budget of about 1 tonne.

2. Political solutions are limited

• The political power of the rich prevents measures that could otherwise distribute emissions and energy use more fairly.
• Billionaires who have made their fortunes through investments in the fossil fuel industry have donated to groups that campaign against policy solutions to climate change, obstructing and delaying efforts to decarbonise.

3. Carbon taxes could be more effective

No price attached to carbon emissions, in any country, accounts for their full damage to the Earth and to human health. This means that it is often cheaper for industries to pollute than switch to clean alternatives.

• Carbon taxes are supposed to increase the price of emitting greenhouse gases and pollution so that the greenest option is also the cheapest one.
• More equal societies, without extreme poverty or wealth, could introduce carbon taxes that enable everyone to decarbonise.

4. Green options aren’t in reach for all

• If you’re one of the many people on a low income then you may not be able to afford them.
• Ensuring that subsidy schemes specifically support those on lower incomes could allow everyone to make the changes necessary for reaching net zero.

5. People need free time to go green

• Beyond wealth and income, there are also inequalities in available time to consider.
• Some low-carbon options take longer or are less convenient than the polluting alternatives, such as travelling long distances by train instead of flying.

More equality in free time, such as a four-day working week, can help people make lifestyle changes that benefit the planet.

6. Public services cannot meet their potential

• Universally available amenities also meet basic standards of human wellbeing while using less energy overall.
• In the UK, London boasts the cheapest bus fares and the most comprehensive public transport network.

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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Tran joins another long-time public servant, John Porcari, on the STV Board.
• Tran joins another long-time public servant, John Porcari, on the STV Board.
• "We are thrilled to have an esteemed industry leader and talented changemaker like Lynda join our Board of Directors," said Greg Kelly, P.E., CEO at STV.
• in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in International Policy and Development from Georgetown University.