We've just posted with a review of the last year of the FPA grant program.

#FreeCAD #Grants #FPA #Community

https://blog.freecad.org/2026/03/01/fpa-grant-program-2025-year-in-review/

#israel #palästina : #krieg / #gaza / #kriegsberichterstattung / #medien / #fpa / #journalismus / #einreiseverbot / #unabhängigkeit / #audio

https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/kein-zugang-zum-gazastreifen-wie-israel-weiter-auslaendische-medien-aussperrt-100.html

Fragile ceasefire in Gaza holds

Vigil number 113 held in Salisbury

February 2026

The vigils continue in Salisbury and around 25 braved the cold and rain on Saturday 31st January to hold the 113th such event. A fragile ceasefire continues to hold and plans are continuing for the Board of Peace. 492 have died since the October ceasefire and the total dead is now put at 71,660 by the Hamas Health Ministry. On this, news this week that the IDF has now accepted this as a correct figure having decried the statistics since 2023. A further 10,000 are thought to be under the rubble unaccounted for. Throughout the conflict, Israel has claimed it is engaged in targeted strikes and reports of indiscriminate attacks are according to Netanyahu, a ‘blood libel’.

The UN has reported that the ceasefire is making a difference as more aid is getting in to the territory. They say the famine is being reversed although aid is insufficient to meet all needs. Foreign media have not been allowed into Gaza preventing verification of claims and the reporting of facts on the ground. The Foreign Press Association has launched a claim in the Israel Supreme Court to allow journalists in now that a ceasefire is in place. They argue it is absurd to prevent journalists from entering.

We have noted in previous posts that despite 113 vigils having taken place, there has been no sign of the local MP Mr John Glen at any of them and he has never mentioned their existence in his weekly column in the local paper the Salisbury Journal. About 2 weeks ago, an attendee of the vigils wrote to him for an answer but has not received a reply. Mr Glen is thought to be a member of the influential and well-funded Conservative Friends of Israel organisation as are a number of Labour and LibDem MPs. About 80% of conservative members are thought to be members. The question is whether being a member of this group overrides his role as the local MP employed to represent his constituent’s interests, not those of a foreign power?

Images courtesy of Peter Gloyns. A video of the vigil is available here.

Sources: BBC, Guardian, Al Jazeera, factually, UN.

Dec 2025 bug bounty update
We are currently at 17 release blockers for FreeCAD 1.1, so the FPA members have raised the price per fixed release blocker from $50 to $100.

Meanwhile, two more people have collected bugfix rewards:

Werner Meyer, who is a co-founder of FreeCAD.

Chris "ipatch" Jones, who previously contributed numerous improvements benefiting Mac users.

For more information
https://blog.freecad.org/2025/12/19/dec-2025-bug-bounty-update/
#DevelopmentUpdates #FPA

Job Offer: Competition Co-ordinator
The FreeCAD Project Association (FPA) are keen to develop a recurring CAD challenge/competition and are looking for a project co-ordinator.

Inspired by CAD challenges such as the "Too Tall Toby" program the co-ordinator will lead on designing and delivering a pilot activity, leading to a sustained event.
https://blog.freecad.org/2025/10/12/job-offer-competition-co-ordinator/
#FPA #FreeCAD #GetFediHired #CAD #Community #Opensource

Die israelische Presse-Agentur #FPA will wieder Zugang zum Gaza-Streifen!
"Erklärung zum anhaltenden Verbot des Zugangs zum Gazastreifen [11. September 2025]

Die Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem stellt mit Bestürzung fest, dass seit der Einreichung ihrer zweiten Petition beim Obersten Gerichtshof Israels für einen freien und unabhängigen Zugang zum Gazastreifen bereits ein ganzes Jahr vergangen ist. Bedauerlicherweise gibt es noch immer keine Entscheidung."
https://foreignpressassociation.online/2025/09/11/the-foreign-press-association-statement-on-the-continued-ban-on-access-to-gaza-september11-2025/

Q3 2025 grants announced
The FPA members have voted on grant proposals based on feedback from the Technical Grant Review Committee.

Here are the confirmed grants:

Jo Hinchliffe (concretedog) will write FreeCAD tutorials developing resources that target the promotion of FreeCAD in educational environments. Jo is a regular contributor to the FreeCAD blog and author of two books featuring FreeCAD and KiCad, bo
https://blog.freecad.org/2025/10/03/q3-2025-grants-announced/
#FPA #Grants

First bugfix program payouts done
We’ve just done the first payouts in the pilot bugfix rewards program launched in August. Two contributors have claimed the reward so far: tetektoza fixed 15 confirmed issues, and matthiasdanner fixed another five. Congrats!

We have more money to spend on this, so if you already qualify for a reward or just thinking about joining, please see this blog post for details about t
https://blog.freecad.org/2025/10/02/first-bugfix-program-payouts-done/
#FPA