The sale marks the end of a decade-long investment for KKR, which first acquired Goodpack in 2014 through a privatisation of the then Singapore-listed group. The Lam family is understood to have retained a minority stake following that transaction. KKR had explored options to exit Goodpack since 2020 and formally put the business up for sale in October 2024. Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital was previously reported as a frontrunner, with Brookfield Asset Management and Apollo Global Management also said to have shown interest. Founded in 1980, Goodpack operates a global leasing model for reusable pallet-sized intermediate bulk containers used to transport high-value payloads by road, rail, and sea. The business serves multinational clients across industrial and logistics supply chains. A source said the buyback reflects the family's belief that Goodpack is entering a new phase of growth as global customers redesign supply chains to improve resilience, efficiency, and sustainability....

Collaborators from across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts came together in December for a daylong summit of the Massachusetts Prison Education Consortium (MPEC), hosted by the Educational Justice Institute (TEJI) at MIT. Held at MIT's Walker Memorial, the summit aimed to expand access to high-quality education for incarcerated learners and featured presentations by leaders alongside strategy sessions designed to turn ideas into concrete plans to improve equitable access to higher education and reduce recidivism in local communities. In addition to a keynote address by author and resilience expert Shaka Senghor, speakers such as Molly Lasagna, senior strategy officer in the Ascendium Education Group, and Stefan LoBuglio, former director of the National Institute of Corrections, discussed the roles of learning, healing, and community support in building a more just system for justice-impacted individuals. The MPEC summit, 'Building Integrated Systems Together: Massachusetts Community Colleges and County Corrections 2.0,' addressed three key issues surrounding equitable education: the integration of Massachusetts community college education with county corrections to provide incarcerated individuals with access to higher education; the integration of carceral education with industry to expand work and credentialing opportunities; and the goal of better serving women who experience unique challenges within the criminal legal system....

These three are some of the oldest members of a group of centenarians in Brazil who are providing scientific clues about the limits of human longevity. Participants in the DNA Longevo (Portuguese for Long-lived DNA) study are still being recruited, but scientists have already sequenced the genomes of more than 160 centenarians. Twenty participants are 'supercentenarians' ' those who reached the age of 110. Early data show that the supercentenarians did not have especially healthy diets or exercise routines or access to high-end medicine for most of their lives. The secret to their long lives might instead lie in their genomes. In a preliminary report1 published this month, researchers hypothesize that the participants' genetic diversity could have a role in their resilience. 'We know that Brazil has a highly mixed population, and that may contribute to their longevity,' says geneticist Mayana Zatz, who leads the project at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center at the University of Sao Paulo....

Democracies keep playing yesterday's game'polite communiques, ritual conferences, cautious diplomacy'while autocrats innovate with disinformation, transnational networks, and the cosmetic trappings of pluralism. Where democratic appeals feel abstract, illiberal promises of order and quick results win. This is not only a political crisis but an existential one. Climate change is rapidly amplifying everything that makes autocracy appealing: displacement, food insecurity, collapsing local services, and economic shocks. Heat waves, floods, rising seas, and harvest failures are already harming millions; as extremes intensify, desperation grows, and democratic institutions will be tested'often in places least able to adapt. Authoritarian actors exploit that vulnerability, offering stability in the short term while eroding rights and accountability. If democracy is to survive, it must stop speaking only in ideals. First, reclaim the narrative'show how accountable institutions deliver safer streets, reliable services, and resilience to climate shocks. Tie democratic governance to tangible climate adaptation and social protections so people see a clear material stake in pluralism....