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In their first-ever competition,UTWind a team of undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Torontos Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering has taken the top prize in an international challenge to design and build a small-scale wind turbine.

While we always strived to be a competitive team from the beginning and knew that we had a strong design, we definitely didnt expect to win first place, saysDavid Petriw, a third-year materials science and engineering student who isa member of UTWind.

The morale of the team is at an all-time high, and we are going to celebrate this win in a big way.

TheInternational Small Wind Turbine Contest (ISWTC)is hosted annually by Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, Netherlands. To clinch first place, UTWind edged out teams from Denmark, Germany, Poland and Egypt.

The goal of ISWTC is to build and demonstrate a wind turbine designed for rural regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, saysAndrew Ilersich, aPhD candidate at the U of T Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) andaerodynamics lead for UTWind.

Every aspect of our design had to be tailored to, or at least compatible with, the region it would be sold and operated in. We also had to show that our design was sustainable, being made from recyclable, low-cost, and locally available materials.

Unlike the large turbines used in commercial wind farms, which can rise to over 100 metres and generate megawatts of power each, small wind turbines (SWTs) are designed for generation on scales from a few hundred watts to a few kilowatts.

To win the contest, teams must demonstrate top-of-class performance across a number of criteria, including power generation, cut-in speed, estimated annual energy production and coefficient of power, which is a measure of the turbines efficiency.

Performance was measured at the Open Jet Facility wind tunnel at Delft University of Technology. After that, the teams headed to theScience of Making Torque Conferencein Delft, to present their business case.

The process of creating the prototype took more than a year from start to finish.

We began the design phase in the beginning of 2021 and the whole assembly was built in winter semester 2022, saysAshley Best, a third-year student in materials science and engineering who ismedia team lead for UTWind.

Our turbine is made from wood and 3D-printed plastics. A few parts were outsourced to our sponsoring machine shop, Protocase, but the majority of the fabrication was done in house by our team 3D printing, laser cutting, drill pressing, lathing, milling and assembly.

One of the things that set our team apart was our high coefficient of power, even when operating at very low wind speeds, says Suraj Bansal,UTWind co-president and technical adviser and a PhD candidate at UTIAS.

In addition, we had a very modular, low-cost and sustainable construction, as well as a self-starting wind-turbine design thanks to our active pitch control system. We are currently creating a mobile app to control and monitor the wind turbine performance right from our mobile devices.

UTWind is one of U of T Engineerings newest design teams, co-founded in January 2021 by Bansal and UTIAS alumnusBen Gibson.

I was a member of a similar wind turbine design team at the University of Manitoba, while Suraj had prior experience from his masters research work in the U.S. to design extreme-scale wind turbines, Gibson says.

We wanted to pass as much of that knowledge on as we could, while both having fun and pushing ourselves to the maximum. And so far, it has worked out great.

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U of T student team takes first place at International Small Wind Turbine Contest - University of Toronto

If norms exist in the Chinese Communist Party, perhaps Xi Jinping, the general secretary and de facto president of the Peoples Republic of China, has established one by attending the inauguration of incoming chief executives. He last came to Hong Kong five years ago when Carrie Lam took up the post.

But his visit, whose length did not match the three days of 2017, perhaps from a fear of Covid-19 or a need to concentrate on mitigating its economic and social consequences on the mainland, has deeper significance.

For Xi himself, it is an opportunity to bang the nationalist and patriotic drums in this important year when he intends to continue for a third term in the trinity of top party, army and state posts. This reminder to the Chinese people that the CCP ended the century of foreign humiliation, which began with the ceding of Hong Kong to Britain, portrays Xi as the embodiment of the CCPs success.

For others, the 25th anniversary is significant as a halfway milestone to 2047. Before the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of the PRC, had promised 50 years no change () as reassurance that his policy of one country, two systems would allow Hong Kongs freedoms to continue and remain different from those on the mainland.

So, where does Hong Kong stand 25 years after the handover?

The answer is not where the people of Hong Kong and the British government hoped back in 1997. At best Hong Kong experiences one country, one and a half systems. 50 years no change was always a way of papering over unresolved differences or worries. The hope was that, by 2047, the PRC would have changed, and thus the gap with the Hong Kong system would have narrowed. Indeed the CCP has changedfor the worseand the gap between past rhetoric and present reality has widened.

Every five years or so since 1997 the clash between Hong Kongs and Beijings interpretation of one country, two systems boiled over into protest. The issues were unsurprising: national security legislation (2003); national education (2012); electoral system (2014); and extradition arrangements, which then led to wider unrest (2019).

The wide scale demonstrations and street violence of 2019 convinced the CCP that its three red linesno harm to national security, no challenge to the central governments authority and the basic law, and no using Hong Kong as a base to undermine the PRChad been crossed. In essence, they embodied the fear that Hong Kongs protests and values might spill over into neighbouring Guangdong province and provoke unrest. The spear point of the CCPs response was the national security law, or NSL, which came into force on 1 July 2020. The NSL centred on four crimes: secession from the PRC, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Their definitions are elasticintentionallyand their enforcement ubiquitous. Currently, around 150 people are awaiting trial.

While maintaining the slogan of one country, two systems, the CCP has reached into its traditional playbook for ensuring control. No self-respecting and aspiring totalitarian regime can afford to ignore:

Among other signs of reduced differences between Hong Kong and the mainland, there have been increasing interference and self-censorship in the arts and culture, an expansion of technological surveillance, and a greater presence and powers to operate for mainland security forces.

Hong Kongs value to the PRC has been steadily diminishing. Its gross domestic product, once equivalent to over 18% of that of the mainland, is now under 3%. Its port and airport, while formidable, are matched by recently built facilities elsewhere in the south of the PRC. Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities are increasingly important in meeting the PRCs financial needs.

Yet Hong Kong retains value for Beijing. While the CCP might be happy to see Shanghai and Shenzhen take over the ex-colonys financial role, there are impediments while the Chinese yuan, unlike the Hong Kong dollar, remains a non-convertible currency (and will for many years). Hong Kong has been a good place for Chinese companies to raise money. And it has proved useful for powerful CCP members as a safer place for their families and capital.

But Dengs phrase of 50 years without change still haunts. It implies change after 2047. The CCP has set itself the second centennial goal of becoming a strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious and modern socialist country by 2049, the centenary of its founding of the PRC. Translated from party-speak, this means that the PRC is to become the worlds primary superpower in an international order transformed to its advantage and values. It is surely inconceivable that a CCP so committed to a narrative of nationalism and superiority would be happy for Hong Kong to retain much more than the merest vestiges of one country, two systems. For the CCP, Hong Kong must become no different from any other mainland city, including a move away from the common law system to legal consistency with the mainland.

This absorbing of Hong Kong into the mainland is partly what lies behind Xis emphasis on the greater bay area plan, an intention to mould the 10 major cities of Guangdong province into an unrivalled economic and technological powerhouse. Hong Kongs identity, population and culture would be subsumed and diluted into insignificance within the 126 million people of the neighbouring province. It is no coincidence that in the 28 June Peoples Dailyarticleannouncing Xis visit, a large portion centres on Hong Kongs future in the greater bay area. As 2047 looms, the CCP may be indifferent to whether foreign companies stay in Hong Kong or move north: if they wish to do business in the PRC, they will need a presence in Hong Kong or the mainland.

Sometimes it is the smallest details which reveal the state of things. The mainland press has assured the world that the Hong Kong police detachment of honour will no longer march in its traditional British fashion but with a mainland goose step. Political slogans, never a feature in Hong Kong, have been floating on boats through Victoria Harbour. Outside the Hong Kong police headquarters two banners spread different messages. In Chinese, there is the disconcerting message about a threat as yet unseen in Hong Kong, Remember to report terrorists. The next victim could be you and in English, United we stand. One country, two audiences.

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Xi's anniversary visit marks near-total CCP control of Hong Kong | The Strategist - The Strategist

A Turkish flag is put in the barrel of an Armored Vehicle parked outside the parliament building in Ankara, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

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ANKARA, July 1 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would approve possibly reinstating the death penalty if parliament were to send a bill on the matter to him, broadcaster NTV cited him as saying on Friday.

Erdogan's justice minister said at the weekend Turkey would consider turning back the 2004 abolishment of capital punishment after the president earlier raised the issue in connection with the cause of wildfires. His nationalist ally Devlet Bahceli has backed the idea and said the penalty should extend to terrorism, rape, and the murder of women. read more

"If necessary, this should be brought back on the agenda and made into a debate. We should see what comes of this debate," Erdogan was cited as saying.

"I said it before, if parliament makes such a decision as a result of our justice ministry's work, I will approve this decision," he added.

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Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Erdogan says he is ready to back reinstating Turkey's death penalty - Reuters

A videograb shows Erdogan tapping Boris on shoulder in Madrid.

Gulf Today Report

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeting his British counterpart Boris Johnson a little awkwardly at the Nato summit in Madrid earlier this week has become a social media sensation.

The video showed the UK prime minister sitting at a table, Turkey's president can be seen sneaking up behind him and tapping him on the shoulder.

Boris appeared a bit taken aback by Erdogan's greeting.

He even attempts to remove the hand from his back before saying, Hello My distinguished friend

Media reports suggest Boris appeared to have been caught off-guard by Erdogan at the summit.

The awkward greetings have become an instant meme.

Social media users said that Erdogan's move represented, "Alpha behavior."

Boris turns and says hello to Erdogan.

A TTwitter user wrote, "Trkye Erdogan showing Boris who wears the pants in the house..."

"Big boss enters the room" another user wrote.

Another wrote on Facebook, Erdogan was "bullying" the British PM, commenting on the video, "Turkeys president chooses his next victim.

On the political front, Erdogan told Sweden and Finland that he could still block their drives to join Nato if they fail to implement a new accession deal with Ankara.

Erdogan issued his blunt warning at the end of a Nato summit at which the US-led alliance formally invited the Nordic countries to join the 30-nation bloc.

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VIDEO: Erdogan taps Boris on shoulder at Nato summit, and the internet loves it - Gulf Today

The European Union will set up a reconstruction platform to coordinate the rebuilding of Ukraine after its war with Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.

The platform will be used to map investment needs, coordinate action and channel resources, von der Leyen told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in the southern Swiss city of Lugano on Monday.

Since the beginning of the war, the European Union has mobilised around 6.2 billion euros ($6.48bn) in financial support, von der Leyen said. And more will come. We will engage substantially in the mid- and long-term reconstruction.

The two-day conference that opened on Monday, held under tight security in the picturesque city of Lugano, had been planned well before Russias full-scale invasion on February 24. It had originally been slated to discuss reforms in Ukraine before being repurposed to focus on reconstruction.

The platform will bring together countries, institutions, the private sector and civil society. It will also include international organisations like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank.

The European Investment Bank, the lending arm of the EU, is proposing a funding structure previously used during the COVID-19 pandemic to help rebuild Ukraine with up to $104.3bn of investment, the Reuters news agency reported earlier on Monday.

Through the reconstruction platform, the European Commission can offer its extensive expertise in running programs that combine reform and investments, von der Leyen said.

In addition, we have been working closely with Ukraine for a long time. And this work will only intensify now that Ukraine has formally become a candidate to join our Union.

Europe has a special responsibility and a strategic interest to be at Ukraines side, she added.

The Kremlins goal is the military, political and economic destruction of Ukraine, she said.

They want to undermine Ukraines very existence as a state. We cannot and we will not let this happen.

Rebuilding Ukraine is the common task of the whole democratic world, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday, insisting the recovery of his war-torn country would serve world peace.

Reconstruction of Ukraine is the biggest contribution to the support of global peace, Zelenskyy said, speaking via video link to the conference in Lugano.

Lugano is not a pledging conference but will instead attempt to lay out the principles and priorities for a rebuilding process designed to begin even as the war rages.

Zelenskyy said the aim of reconstruction was the most ambitious project of our time.

His Swiss counterpart and conference co-host, Ignazio Cassis, stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine in this time of horror, wanton destruction and grief.

It was vital, Cassis said, to provide the people of Ukraine with the prospect of a return to a life of self-determination, peace and a bright future.

While Zelenskyy was unable to leave Ukraine to co-host the event with Cassis, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal attended, in a rare trip outside Ukraine since the war began.

Five other government ministers were also among the about 100 Ukrainians who made the journey, although Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reportedly had to cancel at the last moment due to illness.

Ukraine needs $750bn for a three-stage recovery plan in the wake of Russias invasion, Shmyhal said on Monday.

Shmyhal also told the conference that there had been more than $100bn of direct damage to Ukrainian infrastructure from Russias invasion.

Today, the direct infrastructure losses of Ukraine stand at over $100bn, he said. Who will pay for the renewal plan, which is already being valued at $750bn?

Shmyhal added that the Ukrainian government believed that a key source of funding for the recovery plan should be assets confiscated from Russian oligarchs.

He said Ukraines recovery plan had three phases: A first focused on fixing things that matter to peoples daily lives such as water supply which is ongoing; a fast-recovery component that will be launched as soon as the fighting ends including temporary housing, hospital and school projects; and one that aims to transform the country over the longer term.

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European Union to set up platform for Ukraine war reconstruction - Al Jazeera English