Source: Australian Mines and Metals Association – AMMA
Statement by AREEA Chief Executive Officer Steve Knott AM
As most employers predicted, a Government-appointed evaluation of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay (SJBP) Act has proved yet another “Claytons Review”.
Today’s draft report of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Review is essentially an audit of the competing submissions of unions and employer groups, with no meaningful recommendations on the most controversial elements of the SJBP changes.
It dodges any real criticism of the Albanese Government’s “unions first, employers and employees last” new enterprise bargaining laws.
For instance, on allowing unions to force employers to bargain for enterprise agreements without having to demonstrate the support of employees, the Review Panel found this was effective to “streamline bargaining and reduce barriers” – while failing to demonstrate how.
The latest ABS data shows 92.1% of private sector employees are non-union members. Having a bargaining system that preferences union bosses and only 7.9% of private sector employees is nonsensical.
The Review Panel also rejected the assertion that some unions view the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) new powers to arbitrate intractable disputes as a bargaining tactic.
This is at odds with reality as some AREEA members are experiencing absurd logs of claims that employers simply can’t accede to.
Waiting nine months for an intractable bargaining dispute trigger and facing new agreement terms being arbitrated is problematic enough.
What makes matters worse, given the Albanese Government’s swathe of appointees who are ex-union officials and/or ALP-aligned labour lawyers, is that the prospect of those at the FWC having former professional links to the union/s involved is very real.
To deal with this issue the Government should consider barring all tribunal members from hearing matters involving ex-clients or former employers, including unions, for a minimum of five years.
More broadly, those hoping this review might be the first step to unwinding the most damaging and unproductive elements of the Albanese Government’s first wave of extreme anti-business IR changes will be bitterly disappointed.
A proper and substantial review in 2026 will undoubtedly produce more evidence on just how bad the SJBP Act’s changes to Australia’s IR laws have been.
In the meantime, continued declines in productivity and workplace harmony coupled with international competitive pressures and high energy costs will be to the detriment of employers and employees.
What the nation desperately needs to reignite the economy after three years of Labor’s so-called IR reform, is for a system that encourages employers and employees to work together to their mutual benefit and in the interests of the nation.
This means unions involved at the behest of employees who choose to be union members – and not under mandated IR laws that put privileges for union officials first.
Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz
Legislation Now Moves To Full Senate For Consideration
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act. The bipartisan bill, authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of red snapper and certain species of tuna imported into the United States. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) co-leads the bill.
“Seafood that’s caught illegally or intentionally mislabeled rips off consumers and makes it harder for law-abiding U.S. fishermen to compete. Our bill will help fight against anyone who tries to pass off cheap foreign tuna for high-quality ahi from local Hawai‘i fishermen,” said Senator Schatz.
“The Hawai‘i fishing and seafood industries support Senator Schatz and the Commerce Committee’s legislation to prevent IUU products from entering US seafood markets. US fisheries, including the Hawai‘i Longline fishery, are among the most regulated in the world and we appreciate Congress taking steps to protect domestic fishermen and our markets. Hawai‘i-landed tuna is known for its sustainability and quality and the ability to detect tuna origin to deter seafood fraud is important and we are very appreciative of this effort,” said Mike Goto, Director of the United Fishing Agency.
Technology exists to chemically test and find the geographic origin of many foods, but not for tuna and red snapper. The legislation aims to develop a field test kit that can be used to accurately ascertain whether fish were caught in U.S. or foreign waters, thus allowing federal and state law enforcement officers to identify the origin of the fish and intercept illegally caught or falsely labelled red snapper and tuna before it enters the U.S. market.
New York – UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is proud to announce Shudufhadzo (known as Shudu) Musida as our Global Champion for Women and Girls.
Her first act in this role is to help observe the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation by launching a UNFPA campaign entitled Patterns of Hope – inside the movement to end female genital mutilation, which focuses on ending the harmful practice endured by more than 200 million women and girls worldwide.
Ms. Musida previously served as UNFPA’s first-ever Regional Champion for East and Southern Africa, where she advocated for women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health. Crowned as Miss South Africa in 2020, she has since leveraged her platform to mobilize awareness and action on gender equity and mental health, notably via her Mindful Mondays programme, which reached over 1 million weekly viewers. Her unwavering commitment and impact have been invaluable for UNFPA.
“I am incredibly honoured to continue advancing UNFPA’s mandate, especially as it faces concerted opposition around the world,” said Ms. Musida. “I’m committed to raising awareness and advocating for the rights of women and girls everywhere.”
Hailing from a village in Limpopo Province, South Africa, Ms. Musida’s upbringing instilled a deep understanding of the injustices faced by women and girls worldwide. She is currently bringing these experiences to the Ivy League through her enrolment in Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she is pursuing a master’s degree. And as UNFPA’s Global Champion, she will continue advocating for an intersectional approach to well-being, addressing mental health, improving sexual and reproductive health, and ending gender-based violence.
“We are thrilled to welcome Shudu to the UNFPA global team,” said Ian McFarlane, Director of UNFPA’s Division for External Relations. “Her energy, passion and commitment are inspiring. Working through partnerships we can achieve so much more than we would by working alone.”
Her two-year appointment will contribute to UNFPA’s mission to achieve sexual and reproductive health and rights for all by 2030.
To visit UNFPA’s “Patterns of Hope – inside the movement to end female genital mutilation” campaign, click here
For more information or interview requests, please contact: Eddie Wright: ewright@unfpa.org; Tel: +1 917 831 2074
Nokia to modernize Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation’s communication network for improved safety
Vietnam’s Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) will use Nokia’s multi-service network solution to upgrade its legacy network systems to enhance the performance and flexibility of its air traffic network.
Nokia’s trusted mission-critical Internet Protocol Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) networking solution will make air traffic management more robust, and Vietnam’s airways safer.
Nokia Quantum-Safe Network (QSN)-ready network will provide unparalleled security and reliability to VATM.
6 February 2025 Hanoi, Vietnam – Nokia today announced that Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) will use Nokia’s networking solution to replace the legacy Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) transport system with IP/MPLS technology to improve security and reliability in the South region of Vietnam. The new advanced transport network will support new-age applications required for operating highly reliable services to serve rapidly growing air traffic in Vietnam.
The initiative will provide an advanced transmission system to Ho Chi Minh City’s Air Traffic Control Center (ATCC), which will deliver mission critical applications to enhance Air Traffic Control (ATC). The newly upgraded transport network, compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s standard will be operational in the second quarter of 2025.
Nokia’s solution will provide VATM with advanced network capabilities such as advanced analytics, simplifying operations and improving network performance. The IP/MPLS network also offers increased flexibility and programmability, supporting critical applications that enhance overall air traffic management efficiency and safety. The network will equip VATM with robust security features and the ability to evolve to defend against quantum threats.
Ho Sy Tung, Deputy General Director at VATM, said: “Air traffic networks need to be exceptionally secure and reliable at all times to ensure the highest standards of safety are met. Nokia comes with extensive experience in air navigation with 20 air traffic control networks deployed worldwide. We are impressed by the quality and performance of Nokia’s IP/MPLS networking solution and are looking forward to the successful completion of this crucial initiative in the coming year.”
Nguyen Van Nam, General Director at ANSV – Advanced Network System Vietnam, said: “ANSV is proud to be selected as prime contractor for tender package CP-17. Together with other critical systems, we will provide a new Nokia IP/MPLS network replacing the existing SDH networks for air navigation systems.”
Jonathan Goh, Head of Enterprise Business, Network Infrastructure, Southeast Asia North at Nokia, said: “Our mission-critical network solutions are trusted worldwide, delivering exceptional performance and reliability. With embedded QSN capabilities, Nokia’s IP/MPLS technology will enhance the safety and operational efficiency of Vietnam’s air traffic network. We are honored that VATM has chosen Nokia for this pivotal network transformation, paving the way for safer, more advanced and reliable air traffic management across Vietnam.”
About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.
As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.
With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.
Australia’s sea surface temperatures were the warmest on record last year, according to a snapshot of the nation’s climate which underscores the perilous state of the world’s oceans.
The Bureau of Meteorology on Thursday released its annual climate statement for 2024 – the official record of temperature, rainfall, water resources, oceans, atmosphere and notable weather.
Among its many alarming findings were that sea surface temperatures were hotter than ever around the continent last year: a whopping 0.89°C above average.
Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface, and their warming is gravely concerning. It causes sea levels to rise, coral to bleach and Earth’s ice sheets to melt faster. Hotter oceans also makes weather on land more extreme and damages the marine life which underpins vital ocean ecosystems.
What the snapshot showed
Australia’s climate varies from year to year. That’s due to natural phenomena such as the El Niño and La Niña climate drivers, as well as human-induced climate change.
The bureau confirmed 2024 was Australia’s second-warmest year since national records began in 1910. The national annual average temperature was 1.46°C warmer than the long-term average (1961–90). Heatwaves struck large parts of Australia early in the year, and from September to December.
Average rainfall in Australia was 596 millimetres, 28% above the 30-year average, making last year the eighth-wettest since records began.
And annual sea surface temperatures for the Australian region were the warmest on record. Global sea surface temperatures in 2024 were also the warmest on record.
According to the bureau, Antarctic sea-ice extent was far below average, or close to record-lows, for much of the year but returned to average in December.
What caused the hot oceans?
It’s too early to officially attribute the ocean warming to climate change. But we do know greenhouse gas emissions are heating the Earth’s atmosphere, and oceans absorb 90% of this heat.
So we can expect human-induced climate change played a big role in warming the oceans last year. But shorter-term forces are at play, too.
The rare triple-dip La Niña Australia experienced from 2020 to 2023 brought cooler water from deep in the ocean up to the surface. It was like turning on the ocean’s air-conditioner.
But that pattern ended and Australia entered an El Niño in September 2023. It lasted about seven months, when the oscillation between El Niño and La Niña entered a neutral phase.
The absence of a La Niña meant cool water was no longer being churned up from the deep. Once that masking effect disappeared, the long-term warming trend of the oceans became apparent once more.
Water can store a lot more heat than air. In fact, just the top few metres of the ocean store as much heat as Earth’s entire atmosphere. Oceans take a long time to heat up and a long time to cool.
Heat at the ocean’s surface eventually gets pushed deeper into the water column and spreads across Earth’s surface in currents. The below chart shows how the world’s oceans have heated over the past 70 years.
Rapid warming of Earth’s oceans is setting off a raft of worrying changes.
It can lead to less nutrients in surface waters, which in turn leads to fewer fish. Warmer water can also cause species to move elsewhere. This threatens the food security and livelihoods of millions of people around the world.
Warm water causes coral bleaching, as experienced on the Great Barrier Reef in recent decades. It also makes oceans more acidic, reducing the amount of calcium carbonate available for organisms to build shells and skeletons.
Warming oceans trigger sea level rise – both due to melt water from glaciers and ice sheets, and the fact seawater expands as it warms.
Hotter oceans are also linked to weather extremes, such as more intense cyclones and heavier rainfall. It’s likely the high annual rainfall Australia experienced in 2024 was in part due to warmer ocean temperatures.
What now?
As long as humans keep burning fossil fuels and pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the oceans will keep warming.
Unfortunately, the world is not doing a good job of shifting its emissions trajectory. As the bureau pointed out in its statement, concentrations of all major long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increased last year, including carbon dioxide and methane.
Prolonged ocean warming is driving changes in weather patterns and more frequent and intense marine heatwaves. This threatens ecosystems and human livelihoods. To protect our oceans and our way of life, we must transition to clean energy sources and cut carbon emissions.
At the same time, we must urgently expand ocean observing below the ocean’s surface, especially in under-studied regions, to establish crucial baseline data for measuring climate change impacts.
The time to act is now: to reduce emissions, support ocean research and help safeguard the future of our blue planet.
Moninya Roughan receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Weeks after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced his support for mandatory minimum jail terms for antisemitic offences, the government has legislated such laws. Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke stated the federal parliament would now be “putting in place the toughest laws against hate speech that Australia has ever had”.
Labor opposes mandatory sentencing. This practice does not reduce crime but does undermine the independence of the judiciary, leads to unjust outcomes, and is often discriminatory in practice.
The evidence shows that Labor’s official policy platform is correct. Mandatory minimum sentencing is unlikely to help solve this issue – or any other issue for that matter. It has a poor track record of reducing crime.
What is mandatory sentencing?
Australian criminal laws usually set a maximum penalty for an offence. It is then the role of the courts (a judge or magistrate) to set the sentence, up to the maximum penalty.
This allows the judiciary to exercise discretion in sentencing. It means the courts can take into account a range of relevant factors when determining an appropriate sentence, guided by the sentencing laws in each jurisdiction.
However, laws that demand a mandatory sentence set a minimum penalty for an offence, thereby significantly reducing the role of judicial discretion.
Sentencing decisions are made by judges in Australian courts. Shutterstock
Let’s imagine two people are appearing in court, to be sentenced for exactly the same offence.
Defendant A (Kate) is 18 years old and has pleaded guilty. It is her first offence. She is Aboriginal, a victim of childhood domestic violence and lives on the streets. She has recently started to get help for her mental health problems.
Defendant B (Jim) is 35. He has a long criminal history, including breaches of bail and parole. He has never been out of prison for more than six months at a time. He has pleaded not guilty and doesn’t think he has done anything wrong.
The maximum penalty for this offence is five years. Under standard sentencing laws, a judge would usually give different sentences to Kate and Jim, based on their personal circumstances and future prospects. Jim would generally get a more severe sentence than Kate.
Now, let’s imagine parliament decides to set a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison. This means the judge has to send both Kate and Jim to prison for at least two years, despite the differences between them, even if a community-based sentence might be more appropriate for Kate.
A study with members of the Victorian public who had served on juries found strong support for sentencing discretion.
This is confirmed by recent research from the Queensland Law Reform Commission. It found general support from the public for individualised responses, not an inflexible approach to sentencing.
Mandatory sentencing yields more consistent outcomes, but denies flexibility in cases where defendants should be treated differently.
The argument that mandatory sentencing reduces crime is also contested.
It is uncontested, however, that certainty of detection (whether you’ll get caught) is the primary deterrent factor, not the severity of the sentence (assuming that the perpetrator is aware of it).
Firstly, it undermines judicial independence, the separation of powers (between the courts and executive government) and the rule of law: a concept based on fairness in the judicial system.
Mandatory sentencing also shifts discretion to other, less transparent, parts of the criminal justice system (for example, police and prosecution services), as they frame the charges that will bring defendants to court in the first place.
Secondly, a guilty plea is a mitigating factor the court considers when sentencing. Mandatory sentencing means there is little incentive for defendants to plead guilty. This increases workloads, delays, costs, and has consequent negative effects for victims.
In addition, juries may be reluctant to convict if they know the minimum sentence will insist upon a prison term. This can lead to inappropriate not guilty verdicts.
Undermining the right to a fair trial
Australia has previously come under fire from the United Nations for its mandatory sentencing laws.
These requirements are found in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which entered into force for Australia in 1980.
Indeed, the Law Council of Australia has suggested mandatory sentencing is inconsistent with the international prohibition against arbitrary detention, and undermines the right to a fair trial, given that such sentences have been somewhat predetermined.
These laws can also lead to injustice. As the example above shows, mandatory sentencing can impact disproportionately on vulnerable people, such as Indigenous people, and women with disabilities.
These cohorts are already far more vulnerable than non-Indigenous men (who account for most people who offend).
Adverse effects on imprisonment rates
The High Court recently stated that the mandatory minimum sentence will have the effect of lifting sentencing levels generally.
But the research shows longer prison sentences are much more expensive and less effective than community-based sentencing options in reducing crime.
achieving a just outcome in the particular circumstances of a case, while maintaining consistency across similar cases and with Australia’s human rights obligations, is […] paramount.
We need effective responses to all forms of racial and religious hatred, including antisemitic hate crimes, but populist, knee-jerk reactions are highly unlikely to make the community safer. Clear-headed thinking will best stand the test of time, not policy developed in anger or fear.
Lorana Bartels is a Director of the Justice Reform Initiative. She is a supporter of the Jewish Council of Australia. She has received research funding from the ACT, Commonwealth, Queensland, Tasmanian and Victorian governments. She recently undertook a project for the Queensland government, which examined the use of mandatory minimum sentences for murder. She is a member of the Tasmanian Sentencing Advisory Council, which recently completed a project on hate crimes.
Rick Sarre 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.
The Albanese government is trying once more to legislate wide-ranging changes to the way federal elections are administered.
The 200-page Electoral Reform Bill, if passed, would transform the electoral donation rules by imposing donation and spending caps, increasing public funding, and improving transparency.
As noble as it sounds, the bill in its current form would undermine Australian democracy by favouring established parties over independent candidates and other new players.
Donors could give A$20,000 per year, per recipient, to a branch of a party or candidate for electioneering purposes. In practice, that means donors could give no more than $20,000 per year to an independent but could contribute $180,000 to the Labor Party via each of its state and federal branches, or $160,000 to the Liberal Party (which has one less branch than the ALP).
The donation cap would reset annually and after each federal election, allowing a single donor to give $720,000 to the Labor Party in one election cycle or $640,000 to the Liberals, but no more than $20,000 to an independent who declares their candidacy in the year of an election.
Avoiding the American road
There are welcome components in the bill. Faster disclosure and lower donation thresholds would make the system more transparent. Given the large amount of undisclosed funding – “dark money ” – currently propping up political parties, this would be a significant improvement.
But democracy is not cheap.
Last year, the Financial Times reported Donald Trump and Kamala Harris spent a combined US$3.5 billion (A$5.6 billion) on their presidential races. This kind of money helps to sustain an American two-party system largely immune to challengers.
Australian campaigns look nothing like this, but there has been increased interest in the money spent in particular seats in recent years.
Former Labor minister Kim Carr revealed in his recent book Labor spent $1 million to defeat the Greens in the Melbourne electorate of Batman in 2018, while the LNP reportedly spent $600,000 campaigning to retain the affluent electorate of Fadden in 2023.
The bill before Parliament would cap election spending at $800,000 in each lower house seat. But the major parties could promote their generic party brand or a frontbench MP (in a seat other than their own) without affecting their capped spending.
These unfair discrepancies would reward the major parties while kneecapping independents whose first hurdle is to get their name “out there”.
Haunted by billionaires
The government argues its bill limits the influence of “big money” in politics, namely mining boss Clive Palmer, who spent $117 million at the last election.
For the Coalition, it is the community independents and their Climate 200 supporters who represent a kind of money “without precedent in the Australian political system” according to departing MP Paul Fletcher.
Rather than getting big money out of politics, this bill would make the major parties’ own funding pipelines the only money that matters.
The bill recognises “nominated entities” whose payments to associated political parties would not be limited by donation caps. Independents would not have this privilege.
Meanwhile, the long delay before the commencement of the bill in 2026 would give wealthy donors time to get their ducks in order. They could amass their own war chests before the new laws are due to come in to force and then register them as nominated entities at a later date.
Who pays? The taxpayer, of course!
Parties and candidates with more than 4% of the primary vote currently receive public election funding. The Hawke government introduced this measure as a “small insurance” against corruption.
The bill would raise the return to $5 per vote, which would mean an extra $41 million in funding, on top of the $71 million handed over after the 2022 election. Most of this money would go to the major parties.
The windfall would come with no extra guardrails or guidelines about how those funds could be spent. There are no laws to guarantee truth in political advertising at the federal level. Voters may well be paying for more political advertising that lies to them.
Closed consultations
Labor’s current strategy is to seek Coalition support for these changes to the rules of democracy.
Special Minister of State Don Farrell claims to have consulted widely on the design of the bill, but that came as news to independents David Pocock and Kate Chaney when asked about it last week.
The government’s haste and secrecy suggest it wants neither the bill nor its motives closely scrutinised.
Australians care about the quality of their democracy. Polling research by the Australia Institute last November showed four in five Australians expect electoral changes to be reviewed by a multi-party committee.
That’s what is needed for this bill. To do otherwise would threaten the integrity of Australian elections – or invite a High Court challenge that may overturn the entire system if the court rules freedom of political expression is at stake.
Democracy matters. The rules must not be changed on a whim.
Joshua Black is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Australia Institute, and formerly a Palace Letters Fellow at the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University.
WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, led by Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), advanced the nomination of the Honorable Kelly Loeffler to serve as the Small Business Administration (SBA) administrator by a vote of 12-7.
“For the last four years, small businesses were failed by an ever-growing and burdensome bureaucracy,” said Chair Ernst. “As a successful business leader, Kelly Loeffler is the perfect person to increase transparency and accountability at the SBA and prioritize the needs of small businesses. She will unshackle and unleash Main Street!”
Last week, Ernst discussed fixing the broken SBA with Loeffler and refocusing the agency on its mission to empower entrepreneurs and unleash the small business economy.
Source: United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation unanimously passed the bipartisan Hotel Fees Transparency Act by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), co-chairs of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus and members of the Senate Commerce Committee. This legislation will lower costs and improve transparency by requiring anyone advertising a hotel room or short-term rental to clearly show the final price a customer will pay to book lodging, including any fees.
“Traveling is expensive, and hidden fees make it difficult to compare prices and understand the true cost of a reservation,” said Klobuchar. “Our bipartisan bill will lower costs for hotel rooms and short-term rentals by increasing transparency and banning hidden fees.”
“High prices are forcing Kansans to account for all their expenses, and many cannot afford to pay hidden fees at hotels or short-term lodging,” said Moran. “This commonsense legislation requires hotels to be straightforward about all their fees so consumers aren’t burdened with unexpected costs on their check.”
The Hotel Fees Transparency Act is co-sponsored by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). It is endorsed by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Consumer Reports, the National Consumers League, and the Travel Technology Association.
Klobuchar has long led efforts to protect consumers and support the travel and tourism industry. In May 2024, a number of Klobuchar-backed provisions passed the Senate and were signed into law as part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act, including the Families Fly Together Act, a bill with Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to require airlines to allow children to sit together with their family members on flights at no additional charge.
Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day by participating in several events and interviews to promote his bill, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Sen. Tuberville reintroduced his hallmark Title IX legislation—which is cosponsored by 37 of his colleagues—in the Senate last month. Companion legislation passed the House on a bipartisan basis in January.
Sen. Tuberville also praised President Trump for his leadership in signing an Executive Order today to protect women’s sports and restore Title IX protections for women and girls everywhere. While Senator Tuberville is grateful for President Trump’s commonsense leadership, he insists Congress has to pass his bill to ensure Title IX protections are made permanent. Sen. Tuberville discussed this earlier this week on “The Megyn Kelly Show” when he said, “A lot of people don’t realize that an Executive Order […] only lasts as long as that president’s there. So, we got some work to do. […] As you said—we’ve got to get it to the floor. John Thune told me he’s going to get it to the floor. […] If it’s not going to pass, we’ll do it again, but we’ve got to get people on the record because this is something that’s very dear to the heart of all parents across the country—and it’s dead wrong.”
When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about this earlier today, she said, “It’s incredibly important that Congress immediately act on this priority. I think the President is really setting the tone—making this an immediate priority for this administration, just as he promised to do on the campaign trail.”
Sen. Tuberville also commemorated National Girls and Women in Sports Day by reintroducing the Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to prohibit any governing body recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) from allowing men to participate in any women’s Olympic athletic events.
Tuberville Joins “The Faulkner Focus”
Sen. Tuberville joined Harris Faulkner on “The Faulkner Focus” to discuss the latest with the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, as well as his efforts to protect women’s Olympic sports.
Read an excerpt from the interview below or watch here.
FAULKNER: “This Executive Order that Trump is getting ready to put in play comes as today we recognize National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Also on this day, Senator, you are reintroducing that bill called the Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. This is an effort to ensure that Trump’s protections are permanent. Tell us about it, Senator.”
TUBERVILLE: “Exactly, and you know I started coaching 40 years ago—right when Title IX started. And, Harris, let me tell you something. This is the best thing that this place has ever done. It gave young girls and women a different opportunity to build on leadership and have a future. And, so, this past four years—gender has been under attack. Parents have been under attack. Education has been under attack, and it all goes back to trying to not define what a woman is, and they can’t even define that. They’re telling us right now that men can have babies. So, at the end of the day, I’m giving a speech on the floor today. Leader Thune has promised he’s gonna put this bill on the floor sooner or later. This is my third time that I’ve had this up for a vote. The Democrats don’t want anything to do with it, but I gotta feeling a lot of them are gonna change their mind. And then at three o’clock, President Trump’s going to sign the Executive Order. But as you said, if when he goes out of office, if we don’t get a Republican back in there, this will change back into the gender nonsense that these Democrats have been pushing for the last four years. We have to protect women and girls in sports. And we also have to protect women and girls in Olympic sports because we have the Olympics coming here soon. And if we don’t do that, we’re gonna see men boxing against women like we did this past summer.”
Tuberville Speaks on Senate Floor
Senator Tuberville also delivered a floor speech where he called out Democrats’ out-of-touch, woke ideology that says men can get pregnant and boys should compete in women’s sports.
Read excerpts from the speech below or watch the full speech here.
“I’m here to call for a vote on my legislation, S.9, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, that would save Title IX and save women’s sports. Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day—that’s today. To celebrate, President Trump will sign an Executive Order this afternoon in the White House ending Democrats’ intentional destruction of Title IX and saving women’s sports.
I’m very thankful for his leadership on this. President Trump’s Executive Order will make sure women’s sports are protected for at least the next four years. But unfortunately, Executive Orders can be reversed. Congress needs to act on this to make sure the next Democrat administration, whenever it is, can’t take the same steps to destroy Title IX that the Biden administration took. For the past four years, the Biden administration waged an all-out assault on gender. Since the beginning of time, people have agreed that sex is assigned at birth and determined by God. But under the Biden administration, you had people claiming that men can get pregnant. Here on this floor, I heard that. Pure insanity.
But it didn’t stop there. They weren’t content to just erase gender norms that have been accepted for thousands and thousands of years. No. They wanted to allow transgender men to participate against women and girls in sports. This has been happening at schools all across the country. Young women have been forced to compete against men and even share locker rooms and showers. And on top of that, your taxpayer dollars are paying for this nonsense. Over the past several years under the Joe Biden administration, 900 women’s medals have gone to men. 900. That is absolutely wrong.
This one is personal for me. My first coaching job was in women’s basketball—years ago. Title IX was just starting to be implemented when I took that first job. I saw firsthand the immediate difference it made. Before Title IX, at a lot of schools, college women’s athletics didn’t really exist. Back then, there were more than 10x as many male athletes in college as female athletes. After Title IX, that quickly changed. For the first time, the young women I coached had equal access to facilities, resources, and competition. I saw these hardworking young women go on to earn college scholarships, start careers, and become leaders of our country. I still keep in touch with many of these young women today, and I’m deeply proud of them.
Looking back on it now, I wonder if they would have had the same opportunities without Title IX. Would they have had the same successes if they had had to compete against males 40 years ago? This really shouldn’t be controversial. It’s just common sense. A recent poll from the New York Times of all publications showed 79% of all Americans believe men should not compete in women’s sports. 79%.
President Trump campaigned largely on this issue. If you remember, his campaign spent nearly $20 million dollars on TV ads about the importance of keeping men out of women’s sports. So, on November 5, 2024 the American people didn’t just elect President Trump. They also decisively rejected this ridiculous notion that men can get pregnant and boys should compete against women in sports. Ridiculous. And they definitely didn’t want their tax dollars funding schools that allow boys to share locker rooms with girls.
My bill would prevent a school from receiving any federal funding if they let boys compete in women’s sports. It also defines gender [as] male and female for this purpose. I was glad to see President Trump sign an Executive Order defining gender during his first few days in office. The President also made it clear in the Executive Order that he wants Congress to take action on this as well because he understands it can go away with the sign [of] an ink pen.
That’s why today I’m also reintroducing a bill to prohibit men from competing in women’s Olympic sports because men competing against women at any level is dangerous. We are all deeply disturbed—all of us were deeply disturbed this past summer to see videos of boys and men boxing against women. You know, when I was growing up, we were taught never to hit a girl, but I guess that’s over now because of the Democrats. One study found out that males can punch up to 162% harder than females. Somebody is going to get killed or seriously injured if we don’t stop this absolute nonsense. It’s unsafe, it’s unfair, and it’s just plain wrong.
The Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act will make sure men aren’t allowed to compete against women in any sport, but especially not in a violent sport like boxing. This bill will restore fairness for the American women who train their whole lives to represent our country on the world stage. Their entire lives, they train. I know we’re all looking forward to the United States hosting the Summer Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles. I hope our bill [has] been passed and signed in law long before that so we can all enjoy some healthy, safe women-against-women or men-against-men competition during those Olympics.
But this huge issue goes way beyond politics. I’ve heard from parents, student, teachers, and coaches all over the country about this. These are people who have personally seen the benefits of Title IX and are very concerned about Democrats’ attempts to take these opportunities away from women and girls.
There are countless stories of girls who have benefited from Title IX in my state of Alabama.
This includes athletes like Rachel Argent of Thorsby High School in Chilton County, Alabama. Rachel’s athletic ability and good grades drew the attention of college coaches across Alabama. […] Because of her talent and work ethic, Rachel received basketball scholarships to Faulkner State Community College in Bay Minette, Alabama. After [getting] her degree, she got a softball scholarship at Samford University. That scholarship […] put her on the right direction. […] She didn’t have to worry about landing a full-time job while she went to school and participated in sports. […]
After college, Rachel returned to Thorsby High School as a teacher and a coach. She wanted to give back to the school what she had gotten from Title IX. She taught Health and Physical Education for grades kindergarten to twelve. She coached girls’ softball, basketball, track, and volleyball. She made an impact on hundreds of girls across our state of Alabama. It was all made possible again by Title IX.
Rachel’s daughter, Addie, played softball, tennis, golf, and basketball at Chilton County High School. She got a gold scholarship to the University of Mobile where she graduated with a degree in Nursing. Her athletics scholarship was part of her getting a degree and becoming a nurse. There are countless other young women like Addie and Rachel across Alabama and every other state across the country. More than 50,000 young women in Alabama alone competed in high school sports this past year, 50,000. Every single one of them deserves the full benefit of fair competition.
And I’m grateful that every member of the Senate Republican leadership is a cosponsor of my Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. They’ve been very supportive. Leader Thune is a proud cosponsor of my bill, and I’m glad to have his support. Leader Thune is committed to scheduling a vote on this bill and putting every Democrat on the record on whether or not they support men competing in women’s sports. We brought this bill to the floor for a vote during the last Congress. Really, we brought it twice, and every single Democrat always voted against it. What does that tell you?
Leader Thune has not rescheduled it for a vote yet this congress. Right now, we’ve obviously got a lot of things to do with [confirming] President Trump’s cabinet. Then we get started on the reconciliation process and getting the American economy jumpstarted again. We have a lot to accomplish in the first 100 days of the Trump administration, and I hope this bill is part of that 100 days.
President Trump will sign an Executive Order again today banning men from competing in women’s sports. Let’s lock that commitment in. Let’s lock it in for young girls and women all across this country. Let’s bring this bill to the floor for a vote very soon so the Senate can send it to the President’s desk and make this permanent.
To my Senate colleagues who are on the fence about this, I would ask—do you have daughters? Do you have granddaughters? Do you have nieces? Would you want them competing against men in sports? Would you feel comfortable with them sharing a locker room with a biological male?
I’m excited to welcome my first granddaughter in a couple weeks, Rosie Grace. I would raise hell if she was forced to compete, dress, or use the same showers as men. And American taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for any schools that are allowing this to happen. The days of woke, swamp politicians running our government are over. Common sense has been restored to the White House, and Congress needs to get back to work and let President Trump work on this bill.
This isn’t about politics. This is about right and wrong. The American people have delivered a verdict. They want men out of women’s sports and women’s locker rooms.
President Trump is 100% with us on this. The time to act is now. It’s time to restore Title IX protections and save women’s sports.”
Tuberville Attends White House Executive Order Signing
Sen. Tuberville went to the White House for President Trump’s signing of an Executive Order restoring Title IX protections for women and girls everywhere. During his speech, President Trump shouted out Sen. Tuberville for all of the work he has done to champion women’s sports in Congress and throughout his coaching career.
The President also shouted out 3x Superbowl Champion Patrick Mahomes, whom Coach Tuberville recruited when he was at Texas Tech University.
“And Tommy Tuberville [is here], a great coach,” said President Trump. “You know, his quarterback was named ‘Mahomes.’ He was a great college coach and I said ‘How good was he?’ and he said, ‘You don’t wanna know how good—he made me into a great coach.’”
Tuberville Joins Kudlow from White House
Following the Executive Order signing, Sen. Tuberville joined “Kudlow” on Fox Business live from Pebble Beach at the White House.
Read excerpts from the interview below or watch here.
KUDLOW: “No more biological men in women’s sports. Wow. Big signing today by President Trump. Joining us now to talk about it is Alabama Senator, Tommy Tuberville. Senator Tuberville, good to see you, sir. Tell us about the signing. Tell us what was in the signing, if you would.”
TUBERVILLE: “Well, it’s been too long happening, Larry. It’s just unfortunate—for the last four years we’ve had to put up with this nonsense of biological boys and men participating in women’s sports. Not just in sports here, but also in the Olympics. It was a great day. Had a lot of people there [for the] Executive Order putting a stop to it, but we’ve gotta permanently do it. I’ve got a bill that’s the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act that we’ve got. Hopefully, we get it on the floor soon where we can make it permanent. There’s no reason in the world why men and boys should be able to participate in women’s [sports]. It’s just wrong, it’s dangerous. And, you know, it’s just a great day that we finally got this done.”
KUDLOW: “Senator Tuberville, you mentioned the Olympics. So, good question—how will the Olympic Committee look at this resolution? Will they abide by it? Will they fight it? What do you anticipate, sir?”
TUBERVILLE: “Well, you got to remember, Larry. This is gonna be in L.A. the next time they have it. President Trump mentioned that. The Olympic Committee, two years ago, decided to let each sport decide what they wanted to do and how they wanted to handle it. Unfortunately, boxing let men participate against the women and it was terrible—it really was. Somebody’s gonna get hurt. And so, hopefully, they come to their senses. President Trump will probably get involved in this—with the Olympic Committee, knowing him. And hopefully, we can get all men and boys banned from any kind of [women’s] sports in the Olympics. It’s just not fair.”
KUDLOW: “You know, it’s so ironic to me, Senator, politically. For all these years, going back to, I’m gonna say, Gloria Steinem in the 1970s—over 50 years. The Democratic Party said it was the party to defend women. Okay? But in recent years, as you well know, with the trans movement and so forth and biological men now being allowed to play in women’s sports, etcetera, etcetera. All of a sudden, the Democrats are in favor of that and are wrecking women’s sports and treating women athletes, female athletes incredibly unjustly? I mean, how do you figure that? Do they see the stupidity of this whole story or not?”
TUBERVILLE: “Yeah. They see it. They just won’t admit it. The problem they have, Larry, is they’ve lost the middle class. They have no support anymore. […] They’ve lost their base. They’re not going back. They’ve really gotten so far out there, Larry. You know, even the Democrats [think men shouldn’t compete in women’s sports]. A lot of Democrats voted for President Trump because of this one issue that the Democrats kept pushing.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang presides over a plenary meeting of the State Council convened to discuss a draft government work report on Feb. 5, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] China’s State Council on Wednesday convened a plenary meeting to discuss a draft government work report. The document will be deliberated at the top legislature’s annual session in March. Premier Li Qiang, who presided over the State Council plenary meeting, said that it is necessary to respond fully to public expectations and concerns, comprehensively address the need to promote high-quality development, and revise the report further. As the new year unfolds with new circumstances and tasks, the systematic and innovative implementation of clear major policies and strategic deployments already outlined by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is imperative, Li said. Focusing on development goals, efforts to enhance counter-cyclical adjustments in response to changing conditions should be intensified, he noted, urging moves to introduce tangible, accessible policy measures, as well as moves to foster greater interaction between policies and the market. The premier also stressed that strong initiatives should be undertaken to achieve breakthroughs in key areas such as reinforcing domestic circulation, promoting technological innovation and facilitating industrial upgrades, while also aiming to cultivate new advantages for China’s long-term development. A more robust, high-standard approach to creating a first-class business environment will be adopted, providing improved conditions for all types of enterprises to innovate and develop in the country, and offering more opportunities for various talent to engage in entrepreneurship.
China’s State Taxation Administration released value-added tax (VAT) invoice data on Wednesday, revealing strong consumer spending during the Spring Festival holiday.
The eight-day holiday, which ended on Tuesday, saw the average daily sales revenues of consumer-related industries increase 10.8 percent from last year’s Spring Festival.
Goods consumption grew 9.9 percent year on year, and services consumption saw a 12.3 percent rise, according to the data.
Strong participation in China’s policy-backed consumer goods trade-in program boosted holiday market consumer sentiment.
Household appliance and audiovisual equipment sales revenues surged 166.4 percent from last year’s holiday figure, and sales of communication devices jumped 181.9 percent.
Since last year, “trade-in” has been a buzzword in China’s consumer market, driving retail sales growth steadily.
The holiday saw a tourism market boom, with sales revenues from tourism-related services increasing 37.5 percent.
Homestay businesses flourished during the period, attracting tourists with personalized lodging experiences marked by local cultural characteristics. Their sales revenues increased 12.6 percent compared to the Spring Festival holiday last year.
Demand for sports entertainment and fitness services remained strong, with sports venues reporting a 135 percent increase in sales revenues and fitness services seeing a 224.1 percent revenue rise.
Department store retail sales increased 5.2 percent, and convenience store sales grew 16.1 percent, according to the data.
The vibrant holiday market has boosted confidence in the Chinese economy, setting a positive tone for the rest of the year, said Chen Lifen, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council.
China’s logistics efficiency continued to improve in 2024, with the ratio of social logistics costs to gross domestic product (GDP) dropping to the lowest level in history last year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Wednesday.
The ratio stood at 14.1 percent for 2024, representing a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the previous year — and reaching the lowest level since such statistics data was first published in 2006.
Across industry segments, the ratio of transportation costs to GDP decreased by 0.2 percentage points, while the ratio of management costs to GDP dropped by 0.1 percentage points, according to the NDRC.
China aims to lower the ratio of social logistics costs to GDP to approximately 13.5 percent by 2027.
In the future, the country will accelerate the implementation of the railway freight network project and the interconnected inland waterway transport system project, as well as support the establishment of international logistics hubs and commodity resource allocation hubs in certain regions, the commission said.
An aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 15, 2024 shows a view of Tesla’s megafactory in east China’s Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]
U.S. carmaker Tesla said on Wednesday that its Shanghai energy-storage battery Megafactory will start official operation next week.
The construction of this Megafactory in east China was completed at the end of last year. Following its launch ceremony in May 2024, it took just seven months for the project to be completed. Trial operation began last month.
The Megafactory is the first of its kind to be built by Tesla outside the United States, and is dedicated to manufacturing Megapacks, Tesla’s energy-storage batteries. Mass production at the Shanghai facility is expected to fully commence in the first quarter of 2025, Tesla said.
This Megafactory was built with an initial annual production capacity of 10,000 units — equal to around 40 gigawatt-hours of energy storage, according to the company.
The United States government’s latest move to eliminate a “de minimis” tariff exemption for small packages and low-value items imported from China will disrupt the normal international trade order, wreak havoc in the fast-growing cross-border e-commerce industry, and ultimately hurt the interests of US consumers, said experts and industry insiders on Wednesday.
They added that in order to mitigate the negative impacts of escalating trade protectionism, China’s cross-border online retailers should strengthen the establishment of overseas warehouses, accelerate the localization of supply chains and operations, and diversify their business layouts in emerging markets.
Their comments came on the heels of the US decision to halt a trade exemption, known as “de minimis”, that allows exporters to ship packages worth less than $800 into the US duty-free. The decision came as part of the announcement of the imposition of an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China.
The US Postal Service said on Tuesday that it had temporarily stopped accepting packages from the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a move that may block or delay parcels from Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms including Shein and PDD Holdings’ Temu, as well as some from Amazon, from entering the US.
However, the agency said later in a notice that it will resume accepting packages from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong starting on Wednesday.
Hong Yong, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the US protectionist measures against China will not only increase the costs of cross-border transactions and hinder technological advancement and innovation in the global e-commerce landscape, but will also damage the interests of US consumers, especially low-income groups.
“The elimination of a small-package tax exemption will pose challenges to Chinese cross-border online marketplaces, and force these platforms to adjust pricing strategies and establish more local warehousing and logistics facilities in overseas markets, in order to reduce dependence on cross-border transportation and lower international logistics costs,” Hong said.
In response to the US Postal Service’s temporary suspension of the acceptance of incoming international parcels from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a news conference on Wednesday that the US should stop politicizing and instrumentalizing trade and cracking down on Chinese companies.
Lin said China will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises.
Both Shein and Temu have gained popularity among US consumers, as they offer a wide selection of merchandise, including apparel, consumer electronics, jewelry, shoes, bags and accessories at competitive prices. Most of the products are shipped directly from factories or warehouses in China.
Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy, said the US move to contain the rise of Chinese cross-border online retailers will have an adverse impact on the healthy development of the global e-commerce industry, create barriers to the free flow of commodities and services, and violate the basic principles of the market economy, thus “impeding technological progress and industrial upgrading and stunting global economic growth”.
The “de minimis” provision has existed since the 1930s in the US, but the threshold has increased and its use has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. The number of shipments entering the US under the exemption has surged more than 600 percent in the past 10 years, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
Moreover, media reports said that the European Union will increase customs checks on goods shipped directly by e-commerce retailers like Temu and Shein to EU consumers. The new customs guidelines would require these online marketplaces to disclose more information on EU-bound packages in order to track and inspect them more efficiently.
Zhu said it is of great importance for Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms to accelerate steps to expand their presence in more diverse markets, while improving the added value of products and the service level, as well as enhancing brand competitiveness globally, amid increasing cost pressures caused by tariff hikes in the US and mounting regulatory challenges in Europe.
China’s Ministry of Commerce will extend anti-dumping duties levied on potato starch imported from the European Union (EU) for another five years, starting Thursday.
If anti-dumping measures are terminated, the dumping of imported potato starch from the EU may continue or recur, potentially causing ongoing or renewed harm to China’s potato starch industry, the ministry said.
China first imposed anti-dumping duties on imported potato starch from the EU in 2007, with the duties lasting five years. On April 18, 2011, the country announced an adjustment of the anti-dumping duty rates to between 12.6 percent and 56.7 percent.
Potato starch is widely used in the food industry to make industrial materials, such as emulsifiers, as well as food products, such as instant noodles.
Announcement on Open Market Operations No.22 [2025]
(Open Market Operations Office, February 6, 2025)
In order to keep liquidity adequate in the banking system, the People’s Bank of China conducted reverse repo operations in the amount of RMB275.5 billion through quantity bidding at a fixed interest rate on February 6, 2025.
This photo taken on May 5, 2023 shows a view of the Urumqi Diwopu International Airport, which is undergoing reconstruction and expansion, in Urumqi, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. [Photo/Xinhua]
China’s civil aviation industry transported 18.24 million passengers during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday that ended on Tuesday, an increase of 2.9 percent compared to the same period in 2024, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Wednesday.
Some 145,000 flights were operated during the holiday, with a flight punctuality rate of 96 percent, up 3.4 percentage points compared with the flight punctuality rate achieved in the same period last year.
During the 2025 holiday, the average number of international passenger flights per day reached 1,888 — an increase of 24.6 percent compared to the same period in 2024. This figure is 86.6 percent of the daily average level recorded in 2019.
The most popular international routes during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday were those connecting China with Japan, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
This aerial photo taken on Sept. 10, 2023 shows a view of Zhangjiang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in east China’s Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]
The latest business environment improvement action plan released in Shanghai on Wednesday will help the city better address market entities’ needs and inject more vitality into the city’s economic growth, said officials and market experts.
Their comments were made on Wednesday when the Shanghai municipal government held the business environment improvement work conference for the eighth consecutive year. The latest action plan, which is now in its eighth edition, was released during the conference.
The plan aims to enhance the sense of gain among enterprises by coming up with 58 detailed measures which are more substantial and down-to-earth, according to Lu Aiguo, head of the business environment construction division at the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission.
One focus of the new plan is deepening the reform by aligning with the standards specified in World Bank’s Business Ready evaluation system, said Lu. Ten related reform measures have been rolled out, covering market entry, operational venues, infrastructure, utilities, international trade and market competition, among others.
As to international trade, Shanghai will expand the benefit scope for controlled and inspected high-tech goods. The import pilot program for research and development as well as testing items should be further optimized. Customs clearance facilitation services will be improved by better implementing reform measures such as multi-modal transport and the application of electronic certificates, according to the new action plan.
Another 24 measures have been included in action plan 8.0 to optimize the all-round services rendered to companies. On the one hand, more innovative financing products should be introduced, providing continued financing support to small and medium-sized enterprises.
On the other, more efforts should be made to facilitate the outbound reaches of domestic companies while further opening up the local market. Professional service providers will be supported to set up branches in the markets involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Meanwhile, visas as well as entry and exit services for foreign talent will be more convenient. More foreign-invested projects should be introduced in the city and major foreign-invested projects should be settled at a faster pace, according to the new action plan.
Japanese carmaker Toyota announced on Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement with the Shanghai government to establish a new wholly-owned company in Jinshan district of Shanghai for the development and production of Lexus electric vehicles and batteries.
The advanced and mature industrial chains, logistics networks, talent supply and market size in Shanghai and the neighboring cities are the major reasons to land this new project, according to Toyota.
To improve services provided to companies, efforts will be made to promulgate a negative list for cross-border data flow within the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, according to the new action plan.
Companies will be better guided to conduct data export activities in accordance with laws and regulations. This is conducive to companies’ international competitiveness, said Huang Lina, an official from the internet security division at Shanghai Cyberspace Administration.
The new action plan also includes 14 measures to optimize supervision over companies.
According to Wu Beibei, deputy director of the laws and regulations division at Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation, the targets, frequency and content of on-site inspections will be reduced to lower the impact on companies. The goal is to lower the number of planned administrative on-site inspections in the next two to three years, she said.
More than 1.9 billion parcels were handled across China during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday that ended on Tuesday, the State Post Bureau said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, since the start of the Spring Festival travel rush on Jan. 14, China’s postal and courier industry has collected over 8 billion parcels, a jump of 38 percent compared with the same period of 2024.
Around 8.65 billion parcels have so far been delivered during this period in 2025, a surge of 35 percent from the previous year.
The significant increase in parcel volumes reflects the vitality and potential of China’s consumer market, according to the bureau.
The 2025 Spring Festival, an occasion for family reunions, fell on Jan. 29.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Policy on incorporation of mediation clauses in government contracts takes effect today Policy on incorporation of mediation clauses in government contracts takes effect today ***************************************************************************************
The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that the policy on the incorporation of mediation clauses in government contracts takes effect today (February 6). The mediation clause signifies the parties’ agreement to use mediation to resolve disputes first before resorting to arbitration or litigation. The Government issued the Policy Statement on the Incorporation of Mediation Clauses in Government Contracts on November 6, 2024. By virtue of the policy statement, the Government will, as a matter of general policy, incorporate a mediation clause in government contracts. To complement the implementation of the policy, the DoJ today also promulgated “The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mediation Rules (2025 Edition)”, which may be referred to as the “HKSARG Mediation Rules (2025)”. These Rules provide for a set of procedural rules for the conduct of mediation proceedings and are intended to operate together with the mediation clause in government contracts. These Rules shall not affect the operation of “The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Construction Mediation Rules (1999 Edition)” promulgated by the then Works Bureau in 1999, as amended by the then Environment, Transport and Works Bureau in 2003. Further information about the policy, including a sample mediation clause for incorporation in government contracts, is available on the webpage of the DoJ. A spokesman for the DoJ said, “By taking the lead to incorporate mediation clauses in government contracts, it is hoped that private organisations would be encouraged to make reference to and adopt similar mediation clauses in their contracts, thereby deepening our ‘mediate first’ culture.”
Ends/Thursday, February 6, 2025Issued at HKT 11:05
The Law Council of Australia is extremely disappointed in the Government’s proposal to impose mandatory sentencing in response to certain hate crimes and a broad range of terrorism offences.
“The Law Council has been gravely concerned by the recent incidents and acts of antisemitism that have occurred across the country. At the same time, it is vitally important in challenging times to uphold rule of law principles and not adopt measures that risk serious injustice,” Law Council of Australia President, Juliana Warner said.
“The Government’s amendments to the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 have introduced mandatory minimum sentences for certain hate crimes and terrorism offences. This would mean, for example, a person guilty of public display of prohibited symbols at a political protest would be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months imprisonment.
“Under mandatory sentencing, the personal circumstances of the offender are not taken into consideration. This has the potential to disproportionately impact vulnerable groups.”
Other elements of the amendments would see minimum sentences of six years imposed in relation to a broad range of terrorism offences. This would include the offence of getting funds to, from or for a terrorist organisation. Financing terrorism offences would be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of three years.
“Mandatory sentencing laws are arbitrary and limit the individual’s right to a fair trial by preventing judges from imposing a just penalty based on the unique circumstances of each offence and offender,” Ms Warner said. “Judges are best placed to determine the appropriate and just penalty under these laws on an individual, case-by-case basis.
“The decision to add mandatory sentencing as part of the Government’s response to hate crimes has come late in the day without proper consideration. Further, the Australian Labor Party has gone against its 2023 National Platform that states Labor opposes mandatory sentencing. To our knowledge, no security or law enforcement agency has asked for these extraordinary measures.
“There has been no opportunity to scrutinise the rationale, necessity and proportionality of these changes, which comes as part of the Federal Government’s response to a rise in antisemitic incidents and deterioration in social cohesion.
“Australia is a multicultural society and we must preserve our social cohesion and protect against the specific harms of hateful speech on vulnerable groups. In doing so, we acknowledge the importance of carefully framed criminal laws proscribing speech to prevent radicalisation, violence and activities that incite hatred.
“However, expanding offences and strengthening penalties should not be seen as the default tool through which to prevent radicalism and extremism from propagating or to facilitate behavioural change of disaffected individuals. There should be greater resourcing for countering violent extremism through early intervention and diversionary programs with a specific focus on children and young people.
“We are also concerned the new offences contained in the Hate Crimes Bill have the potential to worsen existing uncertainty and inconsistency by piecemeal expansion of Commonwealth criminal offences.
“Complex and overlapping Commonwealth and state offences are more difficult to enforce and may lead to arbitrary differences in outcome. There is a risk that inconsistent penalties at Commonwealth level will have limited impact on the intended objectives and worsen complexity in this area. Further, overly broad offences may rely on discretion to enforce in circumstances which become politicised.
“Before we pursue changes to our laws, we must ensure gaps do indeed exist that require a legislative response and consult on proposals to ensure they are the best solution.
“As debate on the Bill moves through Parliament, the Law Council urges the Senate to ensure proper consideration by, and consultation with, our community before mandatory sentencing legislation is passed.”
Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
February 05, 2025
Durbin releases new report that highlights the health harms from federal freeze of the MMWR, a critical scientific update which has been released by the CDC every week since 1961 until now
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released a staff report that examines the impact of the Trump Administration’s federal communications freeze on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The report reveals new findings about information that has been stifled by the cessation of the MMWR, including timely bird flu updates, and provides important assessments from public health leaders about the consequences of the Trump Administration’s freeze.
Since January 13, 1961, CDC has—without fail—published weekly issues of the MMWR, the agency’s routine update to doctors, health departments, researchers, and the public about infectious disease outbreaks, emerging health findings, and urgent new health care updates. Information from the MMWR provides timely research and analyses of public health threats, including the latest reports from the CDC’s disease detectives. For decades, the weekly report published every Thursday, and provided unbiased, science-based information to identify critical new information for the health care community.
On the report’s release, Durbin released the following statement:
“Viruses do not take a break because the President slaps a gag order on our public health agencies. Outbreaks are not contained because scientists are ordered to stop talking about them. Doctors, health care providers, and the public all benefit from the release of critical and timely health information. Without it, we will see preventable suffering and death,” said Durbin. “The Trump Administration must immediately resume the timely, objective, and scientific publication of the CDC’s MMWR reports, without any political meddling, by releasing the next MMWR issue tomorrow.”
Key findings and takeaways from Durbin’s report include:
Critical quotes and testimonials from public health practitioners in local communities who were co-authors on two separate studies that had been slated to be published in the January 23, 2025, issue of the MMWR before it was blocked;
Analyses from former CDC officials, leading epidemiologists, and disease prevention experts about the impact of the MMWR moratorium, including impacts for the historic ongoing tuberculosis outbreak underway in Kansas, the avian influenza, and fentanyl crisis.
Halting the publication of MMWRs has occurred in tandem with an unprecedented purge of public health data from the CDC’s website, which occurred within the last week and removed extensive collections of datasets used by researchers and public health officials to address vaccinations, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis, suicide, tobacco use, violence, and other health threats. The tampering of this data was ostensibly to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order to remove mentions of gender, accessibility, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. These actions could have profound consequences for public health interventions.
On February 4, 2025, a federal lawsuit was filed by a group of physicians seeking to restore the websites and data removed from the CDC’s website, among other sources, arguing that the purge creates a “dangerous gap” in information available to track diseases and diagnose their patients.
For a PDF copy of Durbin’s report, click here.
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Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
February 05, 2025
Durbin: Placing Mr. Vought in charge of OMB would be irresponsible
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senate Democrats in speaking out against President Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Russell Vought. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin outlined why Mr. Vought is unfit for the job, including his actions as Director of OMB during the first Trump administration and his part in crafting Project 2025— a policy proposal written by a conservative think tank outlining a sweeping, extreme vision forAmerica.
“Mr. Vought has been nominated by President Trump to run this agency… its job is to oversee federal agencies and administer the federal budget. Most of the time, when we are called on to evaluate nominations, we do our best to take a look and review the nominee’s qualifications and experience,” Durbin said. “But for Mr. Vought, there is no need for imagination. He already has served as Director of OMB during the last half of President Trump’s first term in office, and I believe he proved who he was in that period of time.”
Durbin continued, “When he served as Director of OMB during President Trump’s first term, Mr. Vought illegally refused to release hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine and delayed $20 billion in disaster aid for Puerto Rico… And when he left that role, Mr. Vought went on to become a key architect of ‘Project 2025’—a policy proposal written by a conservative a think tank outlining a sweeping, extreme vision for America’s future. Project 2025 included policies to consolidate power in the executive branch and undermine critical services that the federal government provides to the American families.”
During his speech, Durbin also slammed the Trump Administration for their decision to issue an OMB memo last week to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement” of trillions of dollars of Federal financial assistance, which caused mass confusion about the funding and operations of hundreds of government-funded programs ranging from Medicaid, to Head Start, to Violence Against Women Act grants.
Shortly before the federal funding freeze was set to begin, U.S. District Court Judge Loren L. Alikhan, who was confirmed under Durbin’s tenure as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, temporarily blocked the move by the Trump Administration. Another judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Trump’s measure. The Trump Administration rescinded the memo but claimed that the federal funding freeze would still take place.
“This latest attempt to put a sweeping freeze on federal funds is far from the first time Mr. Vought has broken the law and undermined Congress’s power of the purse that is set forth in the Constitution. It is clear from Mr. Vought’s comments and actions that he has contempt for Congress as a co-equal branch of government,” Durbin said. “It is appalling that so many of my Republican Senate friends voted to advance his nomination as he actively attempts to strip Congress of our Congressional authorities.”
Durbin continued, “We [Democrats] are not opposing Mr. Vought solely because he poses a threat to our ability to do our jobs in Congress. Mr. Vought has made it clear that he is targeting working families across the country. Both in his previous tenure as OMB Director and in policy proposals, Mr. Vought has proposed budget cuts that slash the social safety net for resources for tax cuts for the wealthy.”
Durbin concluded, “To my Republican colleagues—for the sake of the institution in which we work, the constituents we were elected to serve, and the constitutional foundations of our nation, please don’t vote for Mr. Vought. Maya Angelou once said: ‘When someone shows you who they are…believe them the first time.’ Well, from his tenure running OMB to his authorship of Project 2025, Mr. Vought has shown us exactly who he is and what he believes. He is a man with little respect for the Constitution and limited understanding of the plight of real working Americans. Giving Mr. Vought the reins of OMB is an invitation to a policy battle at the expense of our Constitution.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
Air taxis, “autonomous autos” and reusable rockets are just some of the future transport solutions that inventors all over the world are striving to make a reality, while patents for combustion engines are “flatlining”, the UN intellectual property agency (WIPO) said on Thursday.
Latest information gleaned from patent filings featuring in WIPO’s Technology Trends report on the Future of Transportation, offers a tempting glimpse of a not-so distant and enticing future where there’s less traffic pollution, fewer snarl-ups and air travel to the other side of the world – made possible in just a few hours.
“Analysis of patents shows that inventors are working hard to ensure that how we get around tomorrow is cleaner and better than today,” maintained WIPO, which said that patent filings for future transportation solutions have grown by 700 per cent over the last two decades, from 15,000 inventions in 2003 to 120,000 in 2023.
“Autonomous ships and smart ports are revolutionizing transportation at sea; electric vehicles, high-speed trains and smart traffic management systems are driving change on land,” WIPO insisted.
“Vertical take-off and landing aircraft are offering new ways to travel by air, while reusable rockets and satellite technology are pushing what is possible beyond the earth’s atmosphere.”
Driving this trend is the recognition that transportation accounts for more than one-third of CO2 emissions globally, which has encouraged the development of sustainable technologies that reduce the environmental impact of transportation.
These include the adoption of electrified propulsion, the shift to renewable energy sources and the promotion of public and shared transport options.
Digitalization is also revolutionizing the transportation sector, WIPO insists, pointing to the rise of autonomous driving, “which is projected to generate from $300 billion to $400 billion in revenue by 2035”.
Patently true
According to the Geneva-based UN agency, intellectual property supports this kind of groundbreaking innovation – such as wireless charging for electric vehicles – by encouraging investment in research and development.
Competition is fierce as firms jostle for access to rare earth minerals, while AI is also taking centre stage, WIPO says.
“The report also shows flatlining growth in patenting activity for legacy products like the internal combustion engine and other fossil fuel-based systems” such as catalytic converters, the UN agency noted.
Its data indicated that more than 1.1 million inventions have reshaped transportation since 2000, introducing the prospect of sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel-based systems such as renewable energy cells, air taxis and self-piloting cargo ships.
In the driver’s seat of this travel transformation are China, Japan, the US, South Korea and Germany, which represent the world’s top inventors. Land transportation patents dominate global filings, at 3.5 times more than for air, sea and space combined. The US, meanwhile, has filed the most international patents.
The largest area of growth in patenting is related to sustainable propulsion – such as batteries for electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cells – which represent efforts to ensure that people and goods are moved around in a “cleaner, more climate-friendly fashion”.
Experts with an eye on imaginative transport solutions for the future say that AI is also poised to play a key role. They point to the rise of autonomous driving, although infrastructure has not adapted swiftly enough for such vehicles to take over, the WIPO report notes.
Drone dilemma
The scarcity of minerals, meanwhile, will determine whether the world can massively adopt electric cars – vehicles that report co-author Christopher Harrison says may not be miracle solutions for private owners.
“Having these rare and limited raw earth minerals in an electric vehicle for personal use that’s been utilized only a few per cent of the day is not an effective use of those tools,” he told journalists.
In the air sector, drones will continue their sky-high ascension.
“I would not like to look up at a sky full of drones delivering pizzas or a pair of gloves to my house and causing visual and noise pollution,” said Robert Garbett, the founder of Drone Major Group, cited in the WIPO report.
“If a delivery is to a remote location that is really hard to get to, people will be more likely to accept it as a beneficial solution,” he added, citing emergency medicine as an example.
According to WIPO, transport patent growth in China has been strong given its recent dominance of the electric vehicle market. But other countries have also contributed with strong patent filings activity including Sweden, Italy, India and Canada.
Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, alongside Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced the Focus on Learning Act, legislation that would require the Surgeon General to complete a study on the effects of cellphone use in K-12 classrooms on students’ mental health, educational outcomes, and academic performance.
The senators first introduced the legislation in 2023. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order for cellphone-free education in Virginia, which went into effect on January 1, 2025.
“We need to do more to ensure students can excel in the classroom, and part of this means digging into how cellphone use in schools is impacting students’ mental health and their ability to learn and form relationships with their peers. I’m glad to join my colleagues in introducing this bipartisan legislation to provide us with more information on cellphone use, so schools and parents can make the best decisions to set kids up for success. I’m also glad that our work on this issue has already generated interest at the state and local level around the nation,” said Kaine.
The Focus on Learning Act would authorize $5 million annually to fund a pilot program over the next five years. Schools participating in the pilot program would be required to have a communication system in place that allows teachers, administrators, and staff to communicate with local emergency responders. The legislation would require a report on the findings of the pilot program to be submitted to Congress and made publicly available. The legislation would allow exceptions for students who have a disability, need mobile devices to monitor or treat health conditions, or are learning English as second language for translation purposes.
The bill is cosponsored by Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
A common anatomical variation is being born with more than ten fingers or more than ten toes.
Former Doctor Who actor David Tennant this week confirmed he has 11 toes. He says he was born with an extra toe on his right foot, meaning he has polydactyly.
Here’s how this anatomical variation occurs, and how common it really is.
Let’s start in the womb
The term polydactyly is derived from the Greek poly (meaning many) and dactyly (referring to fingers or toes or digits). To understand it, we need to start with how an embryo develops in the womb.
Developing hands and feet start as limb buds, which look like little flat paddles. But with polydactyly, an extra finger or toe grows from the limb bud.
Based on the research literature, about one in 700–1,000 people born have polydactyly. Having an extra finger on the side of your little finger or having an extra toe on the side of your little toe is the most common form.
If the extra digit doesn’t have bone, or has poor muscle connections to the hand or foot, it won’t work. So it is usually cut off or tied off with a suture (specialised medical string) straight after you are born.
This newborn baby has one of the most common form of polydactyly – an extra little finger. Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock
Less commonly, people are born with double thumb tips or an extra thumb. Seeing as we use our thumbs so often, an orthopaedic surgeon may need to remove the extra bones to improve use of the thumb.
The rarest type of polydactyly affects the fourth finger (ring finger) or the second toe (next to your big toe).
If you have polydactyly and you don’t have one of those syndromes, it means you inherited a dominant mutated gene from your ancestors. In other words, one of your parents would have passed this on to you when you were conceived.
Tennant does not appear to have any of these syndromes. So we can probably presume he inherited a mutated copy of a gene related to his polydactyly from one of his parents.
How about webbed fingers and toes?
Another common anatomical variation is when people have fused or “webbed” fingers or toes, known as syndactyly. This term comes from syn (meaning together with) and dactyly (referring to fingers or toes).
Syndactyly also arises in the womb. When individual fingers and toes develop from the paddle-like limb buds, cells in between the growing fingers and toes have to die and disappear. But if the cells don’t die and disappear, they can cause webbing or fusing.
Based on the medical literature, about one in 2,000–3,000 people born have syndactyly. So it’s about three times less common than polydactyly.
There are nine different types of syndactyly, and 11 syndromes associated with it. Eight of the syndromes are also associated with polydactyly. The other three are Apert and Pfeiffer syndromes, and acrocephalosyndactyly.
For most types of syndactyly you only have to inherit one mutated copy of the gene from one parent to get the variation.
American actor Ashton Kutcher looks to have syndactyly, with his skin fused to the first joint between his second and third toes.
In a nutshell
You might be surprised how common anatomical variations are in your fingers and toes, whether that’s having an extra digit, like Tennant, or fused ones, like Kutcher.
But these are just a few examples of the rich diversity of variation in our anatomy, some of which are visible, some not.
Amanda Meyer is affiliated with the Australian and New Zealand Association of Clinical Anatomists, the American Association for Anatomy, and the Global Neuroanatomy Network.
Alexandra Trollope 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.
China saw 14.37 million cross-border trips during the past eight-day Spring Festival holiday, a 6.3% increase over last year’s holiday period, according to data released by the National Immigration Administration on Wednesday. A total of 958,000 cross-border trips were made by foreign visitors during the holiday, up 22.9%.
