The 48th WorldSkills Competition will feature seven new competition categories that mirror emerging industries, leading global vocational education into the digital and intelligent age.
Held every two years, the WorldSkills Competition is the world's largest international gathering of skills talent. The event is scheduled to take place in Shanghai from September 22 to 27 this year, with nearly 70 countries and regions expected to send about 1,400 competitors.
The competition will feature 64 skills, including seven new skills, namely unmanned aerial systems, digital interactive media design, rail vehicle technology, intelligent security technology, software testing, dental prosthetics, and retail sales.
While testing competitors' capabilities for handling new technologies and using AI tools to solve problems at work, the event is also accelerating the pace of turning competition standards to educational and training standards so as to provide reference for the cultivation of skilled professionals.
"So, competition is more than just about the competitors inside the workshop, it's about the whole skills festival and focus that comes around that. And so, we hope that every visitor is touched by and motivated by something that inspires, at a minimum, to get an appreciation of the value of skills. And maybe for some of them, it sparks dreams for what they would like to be able to do in their own future," said David Hoey, CEO of WorldSkills International.
WorldSkills Shanghai adds 7 new skills, reflecting emerging industries
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said Monday it had launched a combined missile and drone strike on U.S. air bases in Jordan in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli aerial attacks on Iran's Larak Island Sunday night.
The Iranian military targeted "technical and maintenance infrastructure," as well as areas where "enemy fighter jets" were stationed at the King Hussein and Al-Azraq U.S. bases in Jordan, inflicting heavy damage, according to a statement on IRGC's official news outlet Sepah News.
The IRGC warned that hostile actions would not weaken Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz, and said any further attacks would be met with a more severe response.
U.S. forces on Sunday struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, U.S. Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins said, marking the first known U.S. strike against Iran since late July.
"Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz," Hawkins said in a statement, adding that the U.S. military was "monitoring the area closely and remains prepared to protect the free flow of commerce" through the strategic waterway.
IRGC said multiple military personnel and civilians were killed or wounded in the "U.S.-Israeli" attack on Larak Island in Hormozgan province.
Citing unofficial reports, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said that at least two people were killed and two others injured in the U.S. "drone attack" on the island.
Larak Island is a small Iranian island located off the coast of Bandar Abbas, east of Qeshm Island and south of Hormuz Island.
Iran's IRGC says it attacked US bases in Jordan in retaliation
