The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force has announced the agenda and panelists for its May 12 roundtable, “Tokenization — Moving Assets Onchain: Where TradFi and DeFi Meet.”
“Tokenization is a technological development that could substantially change many aspects of our financial markets,” said Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, leader of the Crypto Task Force. “I look forward to hearing ideas from our panelists on how the SEC should approach this area.”
The roundtable, announced in March as part of a series on crypto asset regulation, will be held at the SEC’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. from 1 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. The event will be open to the public and webcast live on the SEC’s website. Doors will open at 12 p.m.
For online attendance, registration is not necessary; a link to watch the event will be available on May 12 on www.sec.gov. Please register for in-person attendance.
In addition, the date for the Crypto Task Force’s roundtable, “DeFi and the American Spirit,” has been changed from June 6 to June 9. All those who previously registered were informed of the change of date, and their registrations have carried forward to the new date. New registrations can continue to be completed.
To learn more about the Crypto Task Force and the roundtable topics, please visit the Crypto Task Force webpage.
* * *
Agenda
1 p.m. –
2 p.m.
Opening/Welcome Remarks from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Richard B. Gabbert, Chief of Staff, Crypto Task Force
Chairman Paul S. Atkins (keynote address)
Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw
Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce
2 p.m. –
3:30 p.m.
Evolution of Finance: Capital Markets 2.0
Moderator:
Jeff Dinwoodie, Cravath
Panelists:
Cynthia Lo Bessette, Fidelity
Eun Ah Choi, Nasdaq
Will Geyer, Invesco
Sandy Kaul, Franklin Templeton
Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock
Christine Moy, Apollo Management
Johnny Reinsch, Tokenized Asset Coalition
Christian Sabella, DTCC
Alex Zozos, SuperState
3:30 p.m. –
4 p.m.
Break
4 p.m. –
5:30 p.m.
The Future of Tokenization
Moderator:
Tiffany Smith, WilmerHale
Panelists:
Hilary Allen, American University Washington College of Law
Retail prices for regular grade gasoline in California are consistently higher than in any other state in the continental United States, often exceeding the national average by more than a dollar per gallon. Several factors contribute to this high price, including state taxes and fees, environmental requirements, special fuel requirements, and isolated petroleum markets.
Taxes and fees The components of retail gasoline prices are taxes and fees, distribution and marketing, refining costs, and crude oil prices. Drivers in California pay the highest taxes at the pump, equivalent to $0.90 per gallon (gal) between local, state, and federal taxes as of March 2025.
Federal taxes—which are the same for each state—account for $0.18 of the $0.90/gal in taxes. The other $0.72/gal is made up of state excise tax ($0.60/gal), state sales tax ($0.10/gal), and an underground storage tank fee ($0.02/gal). California’s state gasoline excise tax is the highest in the United States; the average across all states is $0.28/gal.
Environmental requirements In addition to state taxes, the California Energy Commission estimates that environmental compliance costs added as much as $0.54/gal as of March 2025. The state’s Cap-and-Trade Program and Low Carbon Fuel Standard reflect costs associated with fuel supplier emissions and carbon intensity, and these costs are ultimately reflected in the price consumers pay at the pump.
Special fuel requirements California also mandates a special blend of gasoline designed to reduce pollution and improve air quality. This fuel burns cleaner but is more expensive to produce because it requires more processing steps and expensive blending components.
Refiners outside the state only make this blend to supply California’s market, meaning that California primarily relies on in-state refineries for its gasoline supply.
Isolated petroleum markets Supply side issues also contribute to higher California gasoline prices relative to the rest of the country.
Most of the gasoline consumed in California is refined within the state due to lack of petroleum infrastructure connections. California is geographically isolated from other U.S. refining centers because no pipelines supply California from across the Rocky Mountains and only a limited number of pipelines deliver to the West Coast from the Gulf Coast. Of the refineries outside of California with physical access to the state’s gasoline markets, only a few can meet California’s stringent fuel blending requirements.
California also imports gasoline from other countries, such as India and South Korea, to meet its fuel supply needs. Other countries produce California-specification gasoline, but high shipping costs usually limit imports to periods of refinery outages or the summer driving season.
In addition, West Coast refineries have historically maintained lower inventory levels compared with the U.S. average, and California refineries have been closing, with more closures on the horizon. All of these supply chain issues mean that California gasoline prices are more volatile and subject to large spikes, especially if any of the limited number of refineries go offline for maintenance or have an unexpected outage.
Principal contributors: Anne Miranda, Tara Bennett-Chirico
Evolution has fostered many reproductive strategies across the spectrum of life. From dandelions to giraffes, nature finds a way.
One of those ways creates quite a bit of suffering for humans: pollen, the infamous male gametophyte of the plant kingdom.
In the Southeastern U.S., where I live, you know it’s spring when your car has turned yellow and pollen blankets your patio furniture and anything else left outside. Suddenly there are long lines at every car wash in town.
Even people who aren’t allergic to pollen – clearly an advantage for a pollination ecologist like me – can experience sneezing and watery eyes during the release of tree pollen each spring. Enough particulate matter in the air will irritate just about anyone, even if your immune system does not launch an all-out attack.
So, why is there so much pollen? And why does it seem to be getting worse?
2 ways trees spread their pollen
Trees don’t have an easy time in the reproductive game. As a tree, you have two options to disperse your pollen.
Option 1: Employ an agent, such as a butterfly or bee, that can carry your pollen to another plant of the same species.
The downside of this option is that you must invest in a showy flower display and a sweet scent to advertise yourself, and sugary nectar to pay your agent for its services.
A bee enjoys pollen from a cherry blossom. Pollen is a primary source of protein for bees. Ivan Radic/Flickr, CC BY
Option 2, the budget option, is much less precise: Get a free ride on the wind.
Wind was the original pollinator, evolving long before animal-mediated pollination. Wind doesn’t require a showy flower nor a nectar reward. What it does require for pollination to succeed is ample amounts of lightweight, small-diameter pollen.
Why wind-blown pollen makes allergies worse
Wind is not an efficient pollinator, however. The probability of one pollen grain landing in the right location – the stigma or ovule of another plant of the same species – is infinitesimally small.
Therefore, wind-pollinated trees must compensate for this inefficiency by producing copious amounts of pollen, and it must be light enough to be carried.
For allergy sufferers, that can mean air filled with microscopic pollen grains that can get into your eyes, throat and lungs, sneak in through window screens and convince your immune system that you’ve inhaled a dangerous intruder.
Plants relying on animal-mediated pollination, by contrast, can produce heavier and stickier pollen to adhere to the body of an insect. So don’t blame the bees for your allergies – it’s really the wind.
Climate change has a role here, too
Plants initiate pollen release based on a few factors, including temperature and light cues. Many of our temperate tree species respond to cues that signal the beginning of spring, including warmer temperatures.
Studies have found that pollen seasons have intensified in the past three decades as the climate has warmed. One study that examined 60 location across North America found pollen seasons expanded by an average of 20 days from 1990 to 2018 and pollen concentrations increased by 21%.
Anyone who has lived in the Southeast for the past couple of decades has likely noticed this. The region has more tornado warnings, more severe thunderstorms, more power outages. This is especially true in the mid-South, from Mississippi to Alabama.
Severity of wind and storm events mapped from NOAA data, 2012-2019, shows high activity over Mississippi and Alabama. Red areas have the most severe events. Christine Cairns Fortuin
Since wind is the vector of airborne pollen, windier conditions can also make allergies worse. Pollen remains airborne for longer on windy days, and it travels farther.
To make matters worse, increasing storm activity may be doing more than just transporting pollen. Storms can also break apart pollen grains, creating smaller particles that can penetrate deeper into the lungs.
Many allergy sufferers may notice worsening allergies during storms.
The peak of spring wind and storm season tends to correspond to the timing of the release of tree pollen that blankets our world in yellow. The effects of climate change, including longer pollen seasons and more pollen released, and corresponding shifts in windy days and storm severity are helping to create the perfect pollen storm.
Christine Cairns Fortuin receives funding from U.S. Forest Service, Southern Research Station.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Callinex Mines Inc. (the “Company” or “Callinex”) (TSXV: CNX, OTCQX: CLLXF) based in Vancouver, British Columbia, focused on the exploration and development of its copper-gold portfolio of mineral projects today announced that Max Porterfield, CEO, will present live at the Metals & Mining Virtual Investor Conference hosted by VirtualInvestorConferences.com, on May 6th.
This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event.
It is recommended that online investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates.
Callinex Mines Inc. (TSXV: CNX) (OTC: CLLXF) is advancing its portfolio of base and precious metals rich deposits located in established Canadian mining jurisdictions. The focus of the portfolio is highlighted by the rapidly expanding Rainbow deposit at its rich VMS Pine Bay Project located near existing infrastructure in the Flin Flon Mining District. Callinex prepared an indicated mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 3.44 Mt grading 3.59% CuEq for 272.4 Mlb CuEq (238.3 Mlb Cu, 56.9 Mlb Zn, 37.6 koz Au, 692.8 koz Ag, 2.3 Mlb Pb), an inferred mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 1.28 Mt grading 2.95% CuEq containing 83.4 Mlb CuEq (72.1 Mlb Cu, 19.5 Mlb Zn, 11.1 koz Au, 222.2 Koz Ag, 0.8 Mlb Pb) and an inferred mineral resource at the Pine Bay deposit of 1.0 Mt grading 2.62% Cu containing 58.1 Mlb Cu (see news release dated July 10, 2023). The second asset in the portfolio is the Nash Creek Project located in the VMS rich Bathurst Mining District of New Brunswick. A 2018 PEA generates a strong economic return with a pre-tax IRR of 34.1% (25.2% post-tax) and NPV8% of $230 million ($128 million post-tax) at $1.25 Zinc (see news release dated May 14, 2018). The third asset, 100% owned Point Leamington Deposit in Newfoundland, is located in one of the richest VMS and Gold Districts in Canada. Callinex prepared a pit constrained Indicated Mineral Resource of 5.0 Mt grading 2.5 g/t AuEq for 402 koz AuEq (145.7 koz gold, 60.0 Mlb copper, 153.5 Mlb zinc, 2.0 Moz silver, 1.5 Mlb lead), a pit constrained Inferred Mineral Resource of 13.7 Mt grading 2.24 g/t AuEq for 986.5 koz AuEq (354.8 koz gold, 110.2 Mlb copper, 527.3 Mlb zinc, 6.2 Moz silver, 7.0 Mlb lead) and an out-of-pit Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.7 Mt grading 3.06 g/t AuEq for 168.5 koz AuEq (65.4 koz gold, 13.3 Mlb copper, 102.9 Mlb zinc, 1.4 Moz Ag, 2.6 Mlb lead) (see news release dated October 25, 2021).
About Virtual Investor Conferences®
Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly traded companies to seamlessly present directly to investors.
Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. Accelerating the next level of investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences delivers leading investor communications to a global network of retail and institutional investors.
For additional information, please contact:
Callinex Mines Inc.
Max Porterfield, President and Chief Executive Officer
Virtual Investor Conferences John M. Viglotti SVP Corporate Services, Investor Access OTC Markets Group (212) 220-2221 johnv@otcmarkets.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, completing the private placement financing, the ability to complete the proposed drill program and the timing and amount of expenditures. Except as required under applicable securities laws, Callinex does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
On a late summer day in 1906, a small group of newly arrived Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia took a streetcar across town to Fairmount Park. Several miles from the cramped row houses and oppressive sweatshops of the immigrant quarter of South Philly, the neighborhood now known as Queen Village, they enjoyed a sunny picnic.
They weren’t there to make small talk, though.
Instead, they wanted to write “revolutionary articles” that would spark the “struggle against all that degrades and oppresses humanity,” as one of the leaders of the group, Joseph Cohen, later wrote in his 1945 memoir.
More specifically, the picnicgoers wanted to start a newspaper. It would be titled Broyt un Frayheyt – Yiddish for Bread and Freedom – the anarchist reminder that to live the good life, one needs both.
I’m a professor of media and politics at Temple University in Philadelphia. For the past year I’ve been tracking the life and times of my great-grandfather Max, a radical Yiddish journalist in the early years of the 20th century.
To my surprise, I found he had lived here in Philadelphia, and his story is part of a largely forgotten moment in U.S. history: when Philly was an epicenter of the national anarchist movement, heartily supported by the city’s burgeoning Jewish immigrant community.
Beyond the Russian pale
By 1906, thousands of people like Max had made their way to Philadelphia from the Russian “pale” – the only part of the Russian Empire where they could legally reside. They fled economic isolation and state-sanctioned persecution in search of a more stable life.
South Philly was better than where they had come from, but immigrant life then, as now, was by no means easy. They had escaped a legal regime of oppression and the perpetual threat of antisemitic mob violence. But in turn they found a world of dark alleys and dead ends. Their labor was exploited, their living conditions meager.
For some, the American promise of freedom and prosperity seemed to ring hollow.
They did, however, find one freedom they had not experienced before. They were able to speak, write and publish their ideas no matter how outlandish or against the grain.
The Yiddish press in the United States was experiencing extraordinary growth at the time. In New York, Philadelphia and other cities, newspapers quickly emerged – and often disappeared – month over month.
Jewish anarchists in America
Max moved to Philadelphia in 1906 to work with another immigrant named Joseph Cohen. Cohen had arrived in Philadelphia three years earlier. He earned a scant living making cigars, but his real work was advocating anarchism.
At the dawn of the 20th century, anarchism was not the nihilistic chaos the term may bring to mind today. It was a heartfelt dream of a free and egalitarian society.
The anarchists believed that man-made hierarchies – political, economic and religious – were illegitimate and limited the full expression of humanity. They rejected the authority of the state. That particularly appealed to many Jewish immigrants, for whom laws in the old country had long served as vehicles of oppression.
Cohen had studied this philosophy of local autonomy and communal life with the Philadelphia activist Voltairine de Cleyre.
History may remember Emma Goldman, a Lithuanian-born New Yorker and perhaps the leading voice of American anarchism from that era. But de Cleyre was the heart and soul of Philadelphia’s anarchist scene.
A tireless critic of the inequities of the industrial age, de Cleyre had taught herself Yiddish to better serve as “the apostle of anarchism” in the Jewish ghetto.
While de Cleyre could often be found speaking in front of city hall, Max, Cohen and their colleagues were more likely to gather at the corner of Fifth and South streets, the hub of Philadelphia’s Yiddish press and its culture of rambunctious street debate.
By 1906, Cohen had co-founded the anarchist Radical Library in the upstairs rooms at 229 Pine St. This provided the Philadelphia anarchists a meeting space and reading room.
But “the Jewish newspaper men, the radicals and the tireless talkers,” as the Philadelphia historian Harry Boonin wrote, still congregated in the ramshackle cafes lining the 600 block of South Fifth, where they would argue over anarchism and atheism deep into the night.
Competition with NYC comrades
Cohen’s goal was to publish a nationally influential anarchist paper that would give voice to the “comrades from Philadelphia.”
That meant direct competition with the New York Yiddish press and the influential weekly newspaper Freie Arbeiter Stimme, or The Free Voice of Labor. Edited by Saul Yanovksy on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, FAS was the center of the Jewish anarchist movement and of the Yiddish intelligentsia more broadly.
“To be able to say ‘I have written for Yanovsky,’” wrote the sociologist Robert Park in 1922, “is a literary passport for a Yiddish writer.”
Although the FAS masthead said the paper was located in New York and Philadelphia, Yanovksy controlled the operation from New York, much to Cohen’s dismay.
Cohen had partnered with Yanovsky earlier in 1906 to publish a daily anarchist newspaper. He maintained a small office in the back of Finkler’s cigar store at Fifth and Bainbridge streets. But the paper was printed in New York and delivered back to Philadelphia each morning by courier train.
Cohen wrote in his memoir that he suspected Yanovsky intentionally sabotaged the effort by insisting that he personally write the daily editorial, but then turning in his copy too late for the paper to make the train. After two months the partnership, and the paper, fell apart.
For Cohen, the lesson was that to be the genuine voice of the anarchist movement, he had to print the paper locally in Philadelphia.
Bread and Freedom published its first issue on Nov. 11, 1906. The date was symbolic. It was the anniversary of the execution of the “Chicago martyrs” – the four men wrongly sentenced to death for the 1886 bombing at a labor rally at Chicago’s Haymarket Square. The Haymarket affair galvanized the anarchist movement among immigrants, even as it accelerated the wider fear of foreign-born radicalism.
Over the next three months, the newspaper offered a weekly digest of anarchist arguments. It translated into Yiddish Voltairine de Cleyre’s critique of capitalism and what she called its “moral bankruptcy” – its hunger for wealth, power and material possessions. It attacked what de Cleyre called the “dominant idea” of the times – “the shameless, merciless” exploitation of the worker, “only to produce heaps and heaps of things – things ugly, things harmful, things useless, and at the best largely unnecessary.”
Almost as soon as it began, however, Bread and Freedom ran out of money. Its rhetoric was exciting but ineffective. The paper offered no real solutions beyond an impossible demand to dismantle the capitalist state.
Although two members of the group were briefly detained by the police in Baltimore for selling a radical newspaper, their fiery propaganda lit no revolutionary spark.
Instead, it disappeared quietly, folding in January 1907.
Shifting tactics
Even then, a different kind of immigrant was arriving in the U.S. from Russia. Their radical politics were coupled with organizational acumen.
Many of the older anarchists would join forces with these newcomers, and the effort morphed into something more pragmatic. They helped build the foundations of the 20th-century labor movement, which successfully fought for once-radical ideals such as the eight-hour workday and paid sick leave.
A few years earlier, though, the streets of South Philly had been home to a vibrant space of free speech and boundless political imagination. It would not last long, but it is a moment I believe is worth remembering.
Geoffrey Baym does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jordan Batchelor, Research Analyst at the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety, Arizona State University
One reason teachers have a low suicide rate may be that they find meaning in their jobs.Digital Vision/Getty Images
But on the flip side, some professions have very low rates of suicide. One of them is education. National and state data shows that educators in the U.S., including teachers, professors and librarians, are among the least likely to die by suicide.
We’re a team of researchers at the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety at Arizona State University. We manage Arizona’s Violent Death Reporting System, part of a surveillance system sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with counterparts in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. We collect data on violent deaths, including suicide, thanks to agreements with local medical examiners and law enforcement.
When public health researchers like us look at suicide data, we often focus on high-risk populations to learn where intervention and prevention are most needed. But we can learn from low-risk populations such as educators too.
Why some professions have higher suicide rates
Over the past 25 years, the suicide rate in the U.S. has increased significantly.
The age-adjusted rate in 2022 was 14.2 suicides per 100,000 people, up from 10.9 a little over two decades earlier, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Epidemiologists often adjust data for age to allow for a fairer comparison of incidence rates across populations with different age distributions.
In short, some explanations are directly tied to one’s work, such as having low job security, little autonomy or agency, and an imbalance of work efforts and rewards. Other factors are more indirect, such as an occupation’s demographic makeup or the type of personality that chooses a profession. Together, factors like these help explain the rate of suicide across occupations.
Teachers, professors and librarians
Educators, on the other hand, have relatively little suicide risk.
Nationally, about 11 in 100,000 male educators died by suicide in 2021, with the figure for women being about half that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, the rate for male workers in arts, design, entertainment, sports and media was 44.5 suicides per 100,000, and the rate for male workers in construction and extraction was 65.6.
Data from our state of Arizona follows the same pattern. From 2016 through 2023, a total of 117 educators died by suicide, mostly primary and secondary school teachers. This works out to be an incidence rate of 7.3 suicides per 100,000 educators − one-third the rate for all Arizona workers and the lowest among all occupations in the state.
Why educators have a low suicide rate
So why are educators at such a low risk of suicide? After all, educational professions certainly present their own challenges. For example, many teachers experience high amounts of burnout, which can cause physical and mental health problems such as headaches, fatigue, anxiety and depression.
Another factor is workplace environment. Workplaces that offer increased access to lethal means such as firearms and medications are associated with higher suicide rates. This helps explain why workers in law enforcement, medical professions and the military tend to show high rates. The comparatively low availability of lethal means in schools may help keep educators’ rates low.
In addition, educators’ workplaces, typically schools and campuses, offer rich opportunities to form strong social relationships, which improve one’s overall health and help workers cope with job stress. The unique, meaningful bonds many educators form with their students, administrators and fellow educators may offer support that enhances their mental health.
Finally, based on more contextual information in our Arizona database, we found that a lower proportion of educators who died by suicide had an alcohol or drug abuse problem. Alcohol or substance abuse problems can increase suicidal ideation and other work-related risk factors such as job insecurity and work-related injury. In short, educators may live a healthier lifestyle compared with some other workers.
Improving worker health
So, what can workers and employers in other professions learn from this, and how can we improve worker health?
One lesson is to develop skills to cope with job stress. All professions are capable of producing stress, which can negatively affect a person’s mental and physical health. Identifying the root cause of job stress and applying coping skills, such as positive thinking, meditation and goal-setting, can have beneficial effects.
Developing a social network at the workplace is also key. High-quality social relationships can improve health to a degree on par with quitting smoking. Social relationships provide tangible and intangible support and help establish one’s sense of purpose and identity. This applies outside the workplace, too. So promoting work-life balance is one way organizations can help their employees.
Organizations can also strive to foster a positive workplace culture. One aspect of such a culture is establishing a sense of meaning or purpose in the work. For educators, this feature may help offset some of the profession’s challenges. Other aspects include appreciating employees for their hard work, identifying and magnifying employee strengths, and not creating a toxic workplace.
It is worth noting that continued research on occupational health is important. In the context of educators, more research is needed to understand how risk differs between and within specific groups. Despite their overall low risk, no person or demographic is immune to suicide, and every suicide is preventable.
If you or someone you know is experiencing signs of crisis, the free and confidential 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available to call, text or chat.
This research was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Violence Prevention, who sponsor the Arizona Violent Death Reporting System data. The findings and conclusions of this research are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC.
Charles Max Katz is affiliated with Arizona State University.This research was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Violence Prevention, who sponsor the Arizona Violent Death Reporting System data. The findings and conclusions of this research are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Chris Vagasky, Meteorologist and Research Program Manager, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Radar shows a NOAA Hurricane Hunter flying through the eye of Tropical Storm Idalia during a mission in 2023.Nick Underwood/NOAA
The National Hurricane Center’s forecasts in 2024 were its most accurate on record, from its one-day forecasts, as tropical cyclones neared the coast, to its forecasts five days into the future, when storms were only beginning to come together.
Thanks to federally funded research, forecasts of tropical cyclone tracks today are up to 75% more accurate than they were in 1990. A National Hurricane Center forecast three days out today is about as accurate as a one-day forecast in 2002, giving people in the storm’s path more time to prepare and reducing the size of evacuations.
Yet, cuts in staffing and threats to funding at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – which includes the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service – are diminishing operations that forecasters rely on.
I am a meteorologist who studies lightning in hurricanes and helps train other meteorologists to monitor and forecast tropical cyclones. Here are three of the essential components of weather forecasting that have been targeted for cuts to funding and staff at NOAA.
Tracking the wind
To understand how a hurricane is likely to behave, forecasters need to know what’s going on in the atmosphere far from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
Hurricanes are steered by the winds around them. Wind patterns detected today over the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains – places like Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota – give forecasters clues to the winds that will be likely along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts in the days ahead.
A meteorologist prepares to launch a weather balloon at Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo. Data collected by the balloon’s radiosonde will help predict local weather that can influence fire behavior. Neal Herbert/National Park Service
That move and other cuts and threatened cuts at NOAA have raised red flags for forecasters across the country and around the world.
Forecasters everywhere, from TV to private companies, rely on NOAA’s data to do their jobs. Much of that data would be extremely expensive if not impossible to replicate.
Under normal circumstances, weather balloons are released from around 900 locations around the world at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern time every day. While the loss of just 12 of these profiles may not seem significant, small amounts of missing data can lead to big forecast errors. This is an example of chaos theory, more popularly known as the butterfly effect.
The balloons carry a small instrument called a radiosonde, which records data as it rises from the surface of the Earth to around 120,000 feet above ground. The radiosonde acts like an all-in-one weather station, beaming back details of the temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and air pressure every 15 feet through its flight.
For more than 80 years, scientists have been flying planes into hurricanes to measure each storm’s strength and help forecast its path and potential for damage.
Known as “Hurricane Hunters,” these crews from the U.S. Air Force Reserve and NOAA routinely conduct reconnaissance missions throughout hurricane season using a variety of instruments. Similar to weather balloons, these flights are making measurements that satellites can’t.
Hurricane Hunters use Doppler radar to gauge how the wind is blowing and LiDAR to measure temperature and humidity changes. They drop probes to measure the ocean temperature down several hundred feet to tell how much warm water might be there to fuel the storm.
They also release 20 to 30 dropsondes, measuring devices with parachutes. As the dropsondes fall through the storm, they transmit data about the temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and air pressure every 15 feet or so from the plane to the ocean.
Dropsondes from Hurricane Hunter flights are the only way to directly measure what is occurring inside the storm. Although satellites and radars can see inside hurricanes, these are indirect measurements that do not have the fine-scale resolution of dropsonde data.
That data tells National Hurricane Center forecasters how intense the storm is and whether the atmosphere around the storm is favorable for strengthening. Dropsonde data also helps computer models forecast the track and intensity of storms days into the future.
Two NOAA Hurricane Hunter flight directors were laid off in February 2025, leaving only six when 10 are preferred. Directors are the flight meteorologists aboard each flight who oversee operations and ensure the planes stay away from the most dangerous conditions.
Having fewer directors limits the number of flights that can be sent out during busy times when Hurricane Hunters are monitoring multiple storms. And that would limit the accurate data the National Hurricane Center would have for forecasting storms.
Eyes in the sky
Weather satellites that monitor tropical storms from space provide continuous views of each storm’s track and intensity changes. The equipment on these satellites and software used to analyze it make increasingly accurate hurricane forecasts possible. Much of that equipment is developed by federally funded researchers.
Forecasting rapid intensification is one of the great challenges for hurricane scientists. It’s the dangerous shift when a tropical cyclone’s wind speeds jump by at least 35 mph (56 kilometers per hour) in 24 hours.
Under the federal budget proposal details released so far, including a draft of agencies’ budget plans marked up by Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, known as the passback, there is no funding for Cooperative Institutes. There is also no funding for aircraft recapitalization. A 2022 NOAA plan sought to purchase up to six new aircraft that would be used by Hurricane Hunters.
The passback budget also cut funding for some technology from future satellites, including lightning mappers that are used in hurricane intensity forecasting and to warn airplanes of risks.
It only takes one
Tropical storms and hurricanes can have devastating effects, as Hurricanes Helene and Milton reminded the country in 2024. These storms, while well forecast, resulted in billions of dollars of damage and hundreds of fatalities.
The U.S. has been facing more intense storms, and the coastal population and value of property in harm’s way are growing. As five former directors of the National Weather Service wrote in an open letter, cutting funding and staff from NOAA’s work that is improving forecasting and warnings ultimately threatens to leave more lives at risk.
Chris Vagasky is a member of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association.
It isn’t easy to figure out how the Earth was built, because it happened 4½ billion years ago, and no one was there to watch. So scientists have had to look at what the Earth looks like now and at all of the other planets, moons and debris in the solar system.
They’ve concluded that the Earth was built in the same way that you would build a big snowball to make a snowman. The mass that would become our home rolled through planetary debris – rocks floating in space – for more than 100 million years, adding more and more material, until it grew into a full-size planet.
How do scientists like me know this is what happened? First, studies of the size, composition and location of asteroids and comets, many of which are as old as the Earth, indicate that 4½ billion years ago the solar system looked the way Saturn looks today, with rings of space rocks orbiting around the Sun. There’s still one such ring around the Sun – it’s called the asteroid belt and lies between Mars and Jupiter, with the Sun’s gravity holding the rocks in orbit.
The solar system that includes Earth formed from a spinning disk of dust and gases.
All of the other bodies that we know as planets today began as similar rings of space debris. An eddy, or area of rolling, developed in each of these rings and caused the debris to clump up in a snowball effect. But these pieces of debris were asteroids that smashed violently into the growing planets.
We can see those impacts on planets and moons whose surfaces haven’t weathered or reformed. If you look at the Moon or the planet Mercury, you can see that they are covered with craters from asteroid impacts.
When asteroids or comets struck these building planets, they crashed into their surfaces at speeds as high as 40,000 to 50,000 miles per hour (65,000 to 80,000 kilometers per hour). The impacts caused huge explosions that emitted massive amounts of dust and broken or melted rock.
In fact, scientists believe that the Moon was once part of the Earth, until a large asteroid crashed into the Earth so hard that the Moon broke away and shot into space. There, it began orbiting the Earth as it does now.
Still under construction
Most big asteroids and comets collided with the Earth when it was young, about 4½ billion years ago. The number of such collisions has steadily decreased ever since. However, at least 100 tons of dust-size space rock rains down on the Earth every day, increasing the size of our planet bit by bit.
The Earth also collides with space rocks, called meteors, that show up as shooting stars in the night sky. Some of these meteors come from an impact that struck Mars at some point, breaking away rock from the planet surface and shooting it into outer space. These rocks have been falling to Earth ever since.
What’s the difference between an asteroid and a comet? Asteroids are large space rocks, while comets are large, dirty ice balls. Meteors are smaller − typically the size of pebbles or even dust.
About 65 million years ago, a huge asteroid struck the Earth in the Gulf of Mexico. The enormous Chicxulub explosion drove large tsunamis throughout the ocean and raised so much dust into the air that it made the dinosaurs go extinct.
Another large asteroid impact, about 35 million years ago, made a huge crater in the area that is now the Chesapeake Bay, near Washington, D.C. More recently, in 1908, an asteroid likely exploded over Tunguska, Russia, flattening 830 square miles (2,150 square kilometers) of trees. Fortunately, no one lived in the area, so there were no known casualties.
Barringer Crater in Arizona was caused by a meteor strike about 50,000 years ago. It measures about 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometers) across. D. Roddy, USGS/Wikipedia
Once a mass of space debris was assembled into the Earth, many processes continued to shape the planet’s surface. Wind, water, heat and cold cause rocks to weather and break down and soil to erode. Mountains are created as pieces of Earth’s crust collide and crack. Rivers and glaciers wear down the planet’s surface to make it smoother.
The Earth is a dynamic planet that is constantly being built, and these processes will continue for billions of years into the future.
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.
And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.
Alexander E. Gates does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, spoke with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.
The prime ministers congratulated each other on their respective election and re-election. Prime Minister Carney underscored the many areas of close co-operation between Canada and Australia, particularly in trade, defence, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The leaders looked forward to building a stronger relationship between their two nations and agreed to remain in close contact.
U.S. National Science Foundation-supported research shows that fires in populated areas are three times more likely to lead to premature deaths than wildfires overall, informing fire mitigation efforts.
Scientists at the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) led the study, published in Science Advances, which found that smoke from fires that blaze through the wildland-urban interface (WUI) has far greater health impacts than smoke from wildfires in remote areas.
“This research will support the development of advanced fire prevention strategies, improve building codes and lead to effective emergency response plans,” said Bernard Grant, a program director in the NSF Directorate for Geosciences. “It will help protect lives and homes, safeguard natural ecosystems and reduce the economic burden of wildfire disasters,”
The researchers used an advanced NSF NCAR-based computer model, the Multi-Scale Infrastructure for Chemistry and Aerosols, to simulate pollutants from fires. Their modeling included carbon monoxide chemical tracers, which allowed them to estimate emission sources and differentiate between wildland and WUI fires.
“The health impacts are proportionately large because they’re close to human populations,” said NSF NCAR scientist Wenfu Tang, the report’s lead author. “Pollutants emitted by WUI fires, such as particulate matter and the precursors to ozone, are more harmful because they’re not dispersing across hundreds or thousands of miles.”
If there’s one thing Christopher Sancomb freely admits, it’s that he likes things like foamed aluminum, pieces of copper, chunks of iron, and sticks of ebony.
“I’ve always been a materials person,” says Sancomb, an assistant professor of industrial design in the Department of Art and Art History. “It’s always been a big part of my work.”
For 15 years before coming to UConn in 2019, Sancomb designed museum exhibitions for children, a job that required him to carefully consider each material he planned to use: Would it do what he wanted it to do? Is it environmentally friendly? How hard is it to obtain? Can it be ethically sourced?
“That began my collection and fostered a deeper interest into all the things that go along with the stuff we use in the world,” he says.
Industrial designers and engineers – really, anyone who builds something from scratch – must think about things like this when working on projects, he says, and until now UConn students studying for these professions had no place to learn about the infinite number of materials available in the world.
Sancomb has changed that.
Christopher Sancomb, assistant professor of industrial design at UConn, arranges some of the items in the Materials Library within the Fine Arts Complex on Monday, April 28, 2025. (Sydney Herdle/UConn Photo)
UConn’s Materials Library, of which he is founder, has been a project five years in the making, stalled by the pandemic but now finishing its first year as a resource for students and faculty.
In the rear of the Art Design Center – that’s Room 108 in the Art Building – the library houses a collection of raw, manufactured, and reclaimed materials from all over the world that go into the built environment around us, he explains.
“We want to use this as a hands-on learning space, so you can see the thing, touch the thing, measure it, mark it, uncover where it comes from, learn more about it as a way to understand what we use in the world, what we put into the world as designers,” he says.
It’s a place where people can feel the weight of a brick of mycelium, the gentleness of a tuft of alpaca wool, the grooves of a crocodile pattern on a piece of bioleather, and the sturdiness of recycled plastic turned into a 1.5-inch-thick felt-like board.
It’s a place to refine ideas, develop new ones, and spark creativity.
“Let’s say you came in and were thinking of using an existing plastic that had certain qualities – maybe it needs a high breaking strength and high UV sensitivity. Maybe it needs to be washed and sanitized. Traditional plastics from the petrochemical world might work, but the library would show you there are alternative biomaterials that are just as well-suited and they’re less toxic,” he says.
Assessing Alternatives Through Hands-on Research
Samantha Wilkins ’25 (ENG) freely admits that she loves everything about airplanes, from the ailerons to the yaw string. There’s just something about them, she says.
As one of five interns at the Materials Library this academic year – each with their own research project in addition to helping Sancomb establish the library – she’s been thinking about sustainable aviation.
What alternative textiles can be used as seat covers and cushions? What plant-based products can form the cabin’s airframe?
“We have a bunch of different materials in here that I didn’t even know existed,” she says of the library.
Take hemp, for example.
“I was doing a lot of research and found an aircraft designer who made a completely sustainable, flyable aircraft out of hemp because it comes in all different forms. He made the entire fuselage structure out of it. This is just the textile version,” Wilkins, a multidisciplinary engineering major who’s concentrating in industrial design, says as she holds a fabric hemp sample in her hand.
“I’ve been researching a lot about hemp, jute, flax, things like that and the different forms they can take,” she says. “It really intrigues me that you can have so many different forms from one single material and it can serve so many different uses. I love that.”
Pamela Mackingue ’26 (SFA) says that after working as an intern this year, hemp also has become one of her new favorite things.
A pile of wool sits on a table as Christopher Sancomb, assistant professor of industrial design at UConn, arranges some of the items in the Materials Library within the Fine Arts Complex on Monday, April 28, 2025. (Sydney Herdle/UConn Photo)
The double major in digital media and design and art with a concentration in industrial design says she’s focused her research on the fashion industry and finding materials that are more sustainable than many other products used today.
She’s growing her own leather – out of kombucha – fermenting black tea to create a biofilm that can be dried out to resemble the texture of animal leather, conditioned to restore some of its natural oils, and dyed any color in the rainbow. What she freely admits is that it’s not her own novel idea – it’s a process she came across while researching sustainable leather alternatives.
“As a designer, you have to think about the product you’re using, why you’re using it, what’s the purpose of it, how does it help your design,” she says. “It’s important information to know and getting that hands-on experience in the Materials Library is equally important.”
In addition to their research projects, Sancomb says the interns are helping him with the day-to-day work of the library – that is, cataloging each item and deciding what information is important for someone to know, then putting that information into a database, which eventually will go online.
Nonetheless, Wilkins says, “You can look at a database or inventory, but you don’t really know what you’re looking for until you get in here. The hands-on element is super important. A database can help you grasp the basics, then you can come in here to narrow down the possibilities and interact with the material you settled on.”
Personal Belongings, Donated Items, Purchased and Procured Objects
Sancomb opens the lid of an old cardboard box labeled “Constantine’s Rare Collection of the World’s Fine Woods” and carefully lifts out rectangle samples of cabinet wood veneer. They’re about 50 years old, he says, and were a donation from a friend.
Each of the 50 samples no doubt has a story, he says. Some of the wood might have been over forested and no longer is available. Some might have been the root of a humanitarian conflict. Some might be lost to forest fires and labor disputes.
“I find it really interesting the stories that can be told just from this collection and what might be in here that’s just gone,” he says.
With hundreds of items in the library, Sancomb says the collection includes some of his personal belongings like a chunk of marble with machined, cut, and polished faces brought back after a research trip to Italy, along with donated items like a bag of wool from UConn’s farm.
Other items have been purchased or procured without a cost other than a written request. No hazardous materials are part of the collection, and nothing is of significant monetary value – important things, Sancomb says, to keep the library freely open for all.
“My students are required at different times to think about the library and work with it, but we want students from other disciplines to know they can come here and access the materials,” he says.
UConn Bound in April drew dozens of prospective students and their families, and a steady stream of people came through during an open house the month prior, everyone wanting to see the library, which surprisingly isn’t something all schools have.
A variety of items sit in the Materials Library within the Fine Arts Complex on Monday, April 28, 2025. (Sydney Herdle/UConn Photo)
The Rhode Island School of Design has a materials library, and so does the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the University of Texas at Austin, but not every school with an industrial design program boasts such a research space, Sancomb says.
Over the next decade, he says he hopes UConn’s library can outgrow its current home and move into a larger, more permanent location, maybe joining with another library on campus to bring its catalog to the UConn community.
Its hundreds of items could become thousands, with Connecticut industries and Connecticut products figuring prominently, he envisions. A larger budget would allow for more acquisitions, although donations likely will always be accepted.
“We recently got a large donation of wood and veneer,” Sancomb says, “so we’re working to catalog that collection and make it available to students through an application process. This way, if someone got an IDEA grant and needed to build some furniture, for instance, they might come to us with a proposal, and we would help supply them.”
Sancomb reaches across a table and hands off a small block of what looks like compressed soda can flip-tops.
Imagine that someone dipped a straw into a vat of molten aluminum and blew bubbles, he says. This is the solidified result, light airy panels of foamed aluminum that are sturdy enough for some structural applications, like for insulation or exterior cladding.
“They’re sound-dampening. They have a high fire retardancy because they’re made of metal, and they’re recyclable,” Sancomb says. “It’s a visually stunning material because you look at it and ask, ‘Is this what I think it is?’ And it is.”
Donations of raw, manufactured, and reclaimed items can be made to the Materials Library by emailing Sancomb at christopher.sancomb@uconn.edu. Check out @uconnindustrialdesign on Instagram for its Material Monday campaign, featuring materials that might not be in the library but have interesting backstories.
Editor’s Note: As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2025 graduating students over the coming days.
Major: MA, Curriculum and Instruction Hometown: Stamford, Connecticut
Q: Why did you choose UConn?
A: UConn offered me a safe space to explore different opportunities and see which one I would enjoy doing for the rest of my life. When you are fresh out of high school and start your undergrad, all of the options seem overwhelming. UConn has a variety of courses and activities you could indulge in to find what is the right fit for you without making you feel the extra pressure of having to figure it all out. UConn has a wonderful community of both faculty and students, and it is a great resource to reach out to as you navigate the new paths in college.
Q: What’s your major or field of study, and what drew you to it?
A: As a graduate student, I was drawn to the Neag School of Education, specifically the Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG). I always knew I wanted to be a teacher from a young age, but I completed my undergraduate degree in history to see other options. As I’ve explored different opportunities, my heart kept going back to education and choosing teaching as a career. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing something I loved, and working with children brings out the best in me. The TCPCG program allowed me to explore that passion further and learn more about how I can help mold young minds and be the teacher I have always wanted to see in my K-12 journey.
Q: Did you have a favorite professor or class?
A: My favorite professors of all time have to be in the TCPCG program. Dr. Katie Nagrotsky specifically has been a wonderful support throughout this journey. I have had two classes with her. When you see her teach a group of aspiring educators, you can feel the passion she has for education, which is inspiring to see as someone who wants to pursue the field. She gives great advice to future teachers and has taught us so much during the program. Outside of class, she is a great resource to reach out to for anything going on, and she shows that she is here to help us succeed.
Q: What activities were you involved in as a student?
A: As a student, I wasn’t as involved with UConn activities as I would have liked to be. But, even if you aren’t involved, some good advice would be to try and attend different activities. It can help you figure out where you shine — whether it is in leadership positions or coming up with great fundraising activities and trying to make a difference in the world.
Q: What’s one thing that surprised you about UConn?
A: UConn surprised me with its level of support and guidance as a student, allowing me to explore different avenues and figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. I thought Storrs was in the middle of nowhere and I wouldn’t have a good time — strictly focusing on school and leaving with a degree. However, the people here really make UConn a wonderful place to be. School spirit here is unlike anywhere else, and the community gets together in the most beautiful way to support each other.
Q: What are your plans after graduation/receiving your degree?
A: I plan to teach social studies in a Connecticut middle or high school. Originally, I had never thought middle school would be a setting for me. I remember always saying I could teach elementary school, and I could do high school, but in no world would I do middle school. However, things have changed, and middle schoolers are actually pretty great to work with. I want to spend some years in the classroom before pursuing higher education through a Ph.D. program.
Q: How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?
A: UConn has been my rock in terms of supporting me for the next chapter of my life. I completed my undergraduate degree at UConn and, more recently, attended graduate school. The support I have received from my program is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. UConn has given me beautiful friendships that have evolved over the years, as well as great people who have had an impact on the type of person I am today. Five years later, the senior me who graduated high school would be proud of all that I have accomplished at UConn.
UConn has been my rock in terms of supporting me for the next chapter of my life. — Jainat Akther
Q: Any advice for incoming students?
A: The years will go by in the blink of an eye. It is important to find a balance between focusing on school and doing things you love, so you can look back and think of UConn as the best four years of your life. Make lots of friends. Go out and explore different things. Even if you think you won’t have the time of your life, indulge in those opportunities that present themselves to you. You might end up finding great people for life!
Q: What’s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn?
A: Attend a basketball game! Even if it is just one. This is where the true school spirit shines through, and it is a euphoric feeling when you are watching a game, in a stadium filled with students who are all anticipating another UConn win.
Q: What will always make you think of UConn?
A: NCAA 2025 Women’s Basketball Championship. UConn has the best basketball team in the U.S., no doubt. But this season was great to watch and see them win the championship after all the work they have put into the games. It is something I couldn’t stop bragging about to my students!
Commencement is more than a ceremony—it’s a defining moment.
Read Our Stories
When the members of the Class of 2025 first arrived at UConn in the fall of 2021, they were beginning their college careers at a time when the country and the world were still emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, with nothing but uncertainty in the near-term forecast.
Very quickly, it became clear that at least one thing was certain: the students of this class were determined to make their mark at UConn. Entering as the most diverse class in the history of the University, they soon established themselves as scholars, entrepreneurs, activists, and mentors.
They experienced many milestones during their four years at UConn: a new University President; the opening of Science 1, Connecticut Hall, and the Toscano Family Ice Forum; the largest philanthropic gift in the University’s history; consecutive records for fundraising at HuskyTHON; and, in case you hadn’t heard, back-to-back national championships for the men’s basketball team and a 12th national championship for the women’s basketball team.
This is a group of Huskies who refused to let adversity or uncertainty define their time at UConn, an attitude they’ll bring to whatever they pursue next – business, public service, art, professional sports, graduate education, families, military service, and more.
So congratulations, Class of 2025 – from Avery Point; from Farmington; from Hartford; from Stamford; from Storrs; from Waterbury; and from all over Connecticut, the nation, and the world. When you look back, it won’t be on what you missed four years ago, but on everything you’ve gained in the four years since. Yesterday, today, tomorrow: Huskies Forever.
Inspiring. Impactful. Unforgettable. For UConn’s Class of 2025, the last four years have been nothing short of exceptional. As this impressive class of soon-to-be brand-new Husky alumni prepares to take its next steps into the world, we look back and celebrate some of the moments that have made their time at UConn truly historic.
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I felt like I was a lot closer to the friends I made in college than in high school. I felt like I sort of like came into my own. – Lilian Vito ’25 (CAHNR, CLAS)
Go to a basketball game! The energy is a lot different than anywhere else on campus, and you don’t get that sort of experience on any other college campus really. I met Paige Bueckers, I think it was the first week of class, on campus, and I wasn’t entirely familiar with UConn basketball at that point. I just didn’t watch sports really. But I met her, found out she was a really good player and then just from that point on, I’ve been keeping up with both the women’s and the men’s basketball teams. – Justin Coe ’25 (ENG)
Don’t be afraid to try new things. UConn has so many opportunities, so many doors that can be opened for you. Don’t just try to stick in your lane. Try something new every week – every week, try a new club. Every week, meet someone new. – Jadon Gomez-Stafford ’25 (ENG)
There are two different things that college life prepares you for. One’s obviously the professional life. But I think what college helps with more deeply is that interpersonal connection and also finding a sense of community, finding great friends, finding great people for you to interact with. And not all of them stick with you for the rest of your life, but the ones that do can really make your life a lot easier as go forward. – Harsh Shah ’25 (BUS, CLAS)
Don’t be afraid to try things out and see what sticks. There’s a lot to this school. – Milo Barron ’25 (ENG)
As the Class of 2025 embark on the next chapter of their lives, they share their thanks for the incredible memories, lifelong friends, professors, and staff that have inspired and helped them grow into the individuals they are today.
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Try as many things as possible. There are many opportunities at UConn, some that you have to look very hard to find and some that are just out there. In my experience just trying different opportunities that UConn provides helped me with my soft skills, like communication and dealing with uncertainties. They also provided me with a good opportunity to meet people, to network. And I think that’s a huge part of college. – Ammar Alsadadi ’25 (BUS, CLAS)
Get involved in stuff early. I found out about a lot of the resources and programs that we have later on, that I wish I knew about earlier. So, try to get as much as you can out of the school while you’re here. – Sahana Chinthak ’25 (CLAS)
I came from a really small town; my graduating class was 96 students. So, coming to a big campus and collaborating with other students and professors that’s been very eye opening, and it’s expanded my knowledge to a point where I can communicate better with people and I’m able to work better with people. I feel like I’ll carry those values and all the stuff I’ve learned into the real world. – Braden Gutierrez ’25 (CAHNR)
I got to take a whole bunch of different classes because I’m in general studies. So, I got to take big classes, small classes, different types of majors. Creative writing is definitely my favorite. – Natalie Levy ’25 (BGS)
My number one piece of advice to anyone is join a club. You need to be involved in the campus because there are so many opportunities where you can meet your next best friend or maybe your next partner. If you get involved in a club, something that you’re interested in, you’re going to meet these people that are also interested in this thing. You can really build your network that way. – Minh Vu ’25 (BUS)
Congratulations and welcome to our newest UConn alumni!
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When you’re walking around campus you don’t recognize anyone, but then in your class – junior year, senior year – it’s like 10 to 15 kids, maybe 20 in your classes. So, it gets pretty small, and you get to know everyone there. – Matthew Henrickson ’25 (BUS, CLAS)
I’m originally from India but I live in-state, so a lot of the people from my high school came to UConn and actually I was a little hesitant. I really wanted to go into business, and I didn’t really know what to do, but UConn provided me with a lot of real-world experiential learning opportunities where I could actually be in the real world and learn by doing rather than being in the classroom. I never expected to be able to do that as a student, gain all that experience. – Atharva Bhatnagar ’25 (CLAS)
One thing I was looking for in a university – I wanted it to have a lot of school spirit. I didn’t realize what I was getting into coming here! It’s been really fun to be a part of this community. – Isabel Angelo ’25 (ENG)
What will always make me think about UConn is my friends and the people that I’ve met here. Also, my parents both went here, so whenever I’m with them, it just kind of reminds me of my time here. – Paige Dolyak ’25 (CLAS)
A lot of people move off campus too early, but being on campus and being constantly surrounded by thousands of people your age is the best thing that you could do. You can have such a fun, unique experience. I love it. I’m sad that I’m leaving. – Alexia Landry ’25 (CLAS)
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Keg Royalties Income Fund (the “Fund”) (TSX: KEG.UN) today announced that it has entered into a letter of intent (the “Letter of Intent”) pursuant to which one or more affiliates of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (collectively, “Fairfax”) would acquire all of the issued and outstanding units of the Fund (“Units”) other than those Units already owned by Fairfax (including any Units issuable in respect of securities exchangeable into Units (the “Exchangeable Units”)), at a purchase price of $18.60 per Unit (the “Offer Price“), payable in cash (the “Proposed Transaction”).
The Offer Price represents a 30.8% premium to the closing price for the Units on May 2, 2025, and a 34.7% premium to the 20-day volume weighted average trading price as of the end of trading on May 2, 2025. The Proposed Transaction would not be subject to any financing condition.
The Letter of Intent was entered into following negotiations between Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd. (“HWIC”), in its capacity as investment manager on behalf of Fairfax, and the board of trustees of the Fund (the “Trustees”), each of whom is independent. The Trustees determined to enter into the Letter of Intent after carefully evaluating the financial terms of the Proposed Transaction and receiving advice from the Fund’s independent financial and legal advisors.
The largest holder of outstanding Units (without taking into account any Exchangeable Units held by Fairfax), which currently holds 14.6% of the issued and outstanding Units on an undiluted basis (representing 9.9% of the Units on a fully diluted basis, including the Exchangeable Units), has entered into an agreement with HWIC, in its capacity as investment manager on behalf of Fairfax, to support the Proposed Transaction, subject to certain customary conditions.
In connection with their continued review of the Proposed Transaction, the Trustees have retained an independent valuator to prepare a formal valuation of the Units (the “Formal Valuation“) as required under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101“) and provide an opinion that, subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications to be set forth in any written opinion, the consideration to be received by the holders of Units (other than Fairfax) pursuant to the Proposed Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to the holders of Units (other than Fairfax) (a “Fairness Opinion”).
The Letter of Intent is not a definitive agreement with respect to the Proposed Transaction, and the execution of a definitive agreement in respect of the Proposed Transaction, if any, remains subject to, among other things, (i) the negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement on terms satisfactory to the Fund and Fairfax, (ii) final approval of the Proposed Transaction by the Trustees, and (iii) receipt of the Formal Valuation and Fairness Opinion satisfactory to the Trustees. The consummation of the Proposed Transaction would be subject to various conditions customary for transactions of this nature, including, among others, (i) receipt of any required regulatory, court and stock exchange approvals, and (ii) the approval of the Proposed Transaction at a special meeting of the holders of Units entitled to vote on the Proposed Transaction, including “minority approval” as defined under MI 61-101.
Unitholders of the Fund do not need to take any action at this time in respect of the proposal from Fairfax pursuant to the Letter of Intent and should await further information from the Trustees in respect of the Proposed Transaction.
While the Trustees have determined to enter into the Letter of Intent with respect to the Proposed Transaction, the Letter of Intent does not bind the Trustees or the Fund to enter into the Proposed Transaction, or any agreement in respect thereof, all of which remains subject to final approval by the Trustees. There can be no assurance that the Fund and Fairfax will enter into a definitive agreement in respect of the Proposed Transaction or that the Proposed Transaction will occur as proposed or at all. The Fund does not expect to make further public comment regarding the matters contemplated herein until a definitive agreement in respect of the Proposed Transaction is entered into or the Proposed Transaction is abandoned.
Advisors
Capital West Partners and Lawson Lundell LLP are acting as financial advisor and legal advisor, respectively, to the Trustees in respect of the Proposed Transaction. Torys LLP is acting as legal advisor to Fairfax in respect of the Proposed Transaction.
Forward Looking Information
This news release contains “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” (collectively, “forward-looking information”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This information includes, but is not limited to, statements concerning our objectives, our strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements made with respect to the Trustees’ beliefs, plans, estimates, projections and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “expects”, “estimates”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”, “will”, “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent the Trustees’ expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances. Forward-looking information in this news release, which includes, among other things, statements relating to the Proposed Transaction (including statements in respect of the execution of the definitive agreement and the consummation of the Proposed Transaction, including the satisfaction of the conditions precedent thereto, in each case, if at all), is necessarily based on a number of opinions, estimates and assumptions that the Fund considered appropriate and reasonable as of the date such statements are made in light of its experience, current conditions and expected future developments, including the assumption that the Proposed Transaction can be completed on acceptable terms and that any conditions precedent can be satisfied.
Risks and uncertainties related to the Proposed Transaction include, but are not limited to: the possibility that the Proposed Transaction will not be completed on the terms and conditions currently contemplated; failure of the Fund and Fairfax to enter into a definitive agreement for the Proposed Transaction on terms satisfactory to the Fund and Fairfax, or at all; failure of the Fund and Fairfax to obtain the required regulatory, court, stock exchange and unitholder approvals for, or satisfy other conditions to effect, the Proposed Transaction; failure by the independent valuator to deliver a Formal Valuation and Fairness Opinion satisfactory to the Trustees at the time the definitive agreement is entered into; the risk that the Proposed Transaction may involve unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; the risk of a change in general economic conditions; the risk that, prior to the completion of the Proposed Transaction, the business of KRL (as defined below) may experience significant disruptions; the risk that any legal proceedings may be instituted against the Fund or determined adversely to the interests of the Fund; and other risk factors contained in filings made by the Fund with the Canadian securities regulators, including the Fund’s annual information form dated March 25, 2025 and financial statements and related management discussion and analysis for the financial year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain jurisdictions of Canada and available at www.sedarplus.ca.
Although the Trustees have attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other risk factors not presently known to them or that they presently believe are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward- looking information. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future results. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Fund’s expectations as of the date of this news release (or as the date they are otherwise stated to be made) and are subject to change after such date. However, the Fund disclaims any intention or obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws in Canada. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.
About The Keg Royalties Income Fund
The Fund is a limited purpose, open-ended trust established under the laws of the Province of Ontario that, through The Keg Rights Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of the Fund, owns certain trademarks and other related intellectual property used by Keg Restaurants Ltd. (“KRL”). Vancouver-based KRL is the leading operator and franchisor of steakhouse restaurants in Canada and has a substantial presence in select regional markets in the United States. KRL has been named the number one restaurant company to work for in Canada in the latest edition of Forbes “Canada’s Best Employers 2025” survey.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SHARC International SystemsInc. (CSE: SHRC) (FSE: IWIA) (OTCQB: INTWF) (“SHARC Energy” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that Fred Andriano has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors (“BOD”) and Executive Officer. Mr. Andriano replaces SHARC Energy’s founder Lynn Mueller as Executive Chairman. Mr. Mueller will remain on the Board as Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of the Company.
Mr. Andriano has extensive experience and expertise in finance, accounting, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions. He has been in the heating and cooling energy sector for 20 years. He formally was the Vice President of Finance and Administration – NIBE North America for NIBE Industrier AB. Prior to that he was Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary for WaterFurnace International, Inc. Furthermore, he spent 6 years as Chief Financial Officer of a regional M&A firm.
“I am very appreciative for the opportunity to help guide the Company’s Board and management team as we strategize for expansion and growth. The Company has tremendous products, applications and dedicated team members and it’s time we leveraged their strengths while we continue to build awareness of the opportunities SHARC Energy’s products present to the heat transfer sector,” stated Mr. Andriano.
Mr. Mueller added, “The additions of Michael as CEO and Fred as Executive Chair marks a significant day in the evolution of SHARC Energy’s maturity,” says Mr. Mueller. “These moves validate SHARC Energy as an emerging player in the industry with superior Wastewater Energy Transfer products and proven executives with successful track records in the thermal energy, heat transfer and hydronic space to augment the team.”
The appointment will strategically accelerate the Company’s growth and improve its ability to expand its markets, products and geographical reach. The Company anticipates future strategic moves enabling SHARC Energy to grow revenue and improve profitability.
The Company also has the bittersweet task of announcing the BOD has accepted the retirement and resignation of Eleanor Chiu. Mrs. Chiu has been a director for just shy of six years, consistently adding valued insight, business acumen and astute counsel to both management and the Board. She leaves SHARC Energy as a strong believer and long-term shareholder, holding 5% of the Company.
“I am pleased to be leaving the BOD in good hands with addition of Fred as Chairman. In the short time that I have known Fred, he brings a strong understanding of the corporate governance policies and procedures needed for a public company to grow and mature. With the additions of Michael and Fred to augment Lynn and Hanspaul, I remain confident in the opportunity SHARC Energy and Wastewater Energy Transfer present,” says Mrs. Chiu.
“Eleanor has been an important member of the Board and she will be dearly missed. I have leaned on her for nearly six years. She will always be remembered as one of the instrumental members that built the foundation the Company will grow on for years to come. Thank you Eleanor,” stated Mr. Mueller.
Mr.Andriano will take over Mrs. Chiu role as Chairman of the Audit Committee going forward.
About SHARC Energy SHARC International Systems Inc. is a world leader in energy recovery from the wastewater we send down the drain every day. SHARC Energy’s systems recycle thermal energy from wastewater, generating one of the most energy-efficient and economical systems for heating, cooling & hot water production for commercial, residential, and industrial buildings along with thermal energy networks, commonly referred to as “District Energy”.
SHARC Energy is publicly traded in Canada (CSE: SHRC), the United States (OTCQB: INTWF) and Germany (Frankfurt: IWIA) and you can find out more on our SEDAR profile.
The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified using words such as “anticipate”, “plan”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “intend”, “should”, and similar expressions. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. SHARC Energy’s actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information because of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. SHARC Energy believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company’s expectations as of the date hereof and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation.
The Army Mission – our purpose – remains constant: To deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt & sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spectrum of conflict as part of the joint force.
Interested in joining the U.S. Army?
Visit: spr.ly/6001igl5L
Connect with the U.S. Army online:
Web: https://www.army.mil
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USarmy/
X: https://www.twitter.com/USArmy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usarmy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-army
#USArmy #Soldiers #Military #Shorts #Army
WATERLOO, Ontario and ATLANTA, May 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Descartes Systems Group (TSX: DSG) (Nasdaq: DSGX), the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, is scheduled to report its first quarter fiscal 2026 financial results after market close on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.
Members of Descartes’ executive management team will host a conference call to discuss the company’s financial results at 5:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 4. Designated numbers are +1 289 514 5100 for North America and +1 800 717 1738 for international, using conference ID 26605.
The company will simultaneously conduct an audio webcast on the Descartes website at www.descartes.com/descartes/investor-relations. Phone conference dial-in or webcast log-in is required approximately 10 minutes beforehand.
Replays of the conference call will be available until June 11, 2025, by dialing +1 289 819 1325 or Toll-Free for North America using +1 888 660 6264 with Playback Passcode: 26605#. An archived replay of the webcast will be available at www.descartes.com/descartes/investor-relations.
About Descartes Systems Group
Descartes is the global leader in providing on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, security, and sustainability of logistics-intensive businesses. Customers use our modular, software-as-a-service solutions to route, track and help improve the safety, performance and compliance of delivery resources; plan, allocate and execute shipments; rate, audit and pay transportation invoices; access global trade data; file customs and security documents for imports and exports; and complete numerous other logistics processes by participating in the world’s largest, collaborative multimodal logistics community. Our headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and we have offices and partners around the world. Learn more at www.descartes.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).
While Maine has some of the best air quality in the nation, there are still pollutants like ground-level ozone and small particles that can harm the heart and lungs. This is especially important to remember during National Air Quality Awareness Week, occurring from May 5 to May 9, 2025. Ozone is produced when sunlight and warmer temperatures create chemical reactions with pollutants emitted by various sources. Particle Pollution is produced from both natural and man-made processes and include things such as dust, soil, soot, smoke and sea salt. Maine’s peak ozone levels occur during the warmer summer months, while particle pollution levels are higher mostly during the summer and winter months. Additionally, May 6 marks World Asthma Day, a reminder of the ongoing battle that many face against respiratory conditions.
In recent years, Maine has seen an increase in smoke from wildfires in the western United States and Canada. When wildfires create smoky conditions, there are things you can do, indoors and out, to reduce your exposure to smoke. Reducing exposure is important for everyone’s health – especially children, older adults, and people with heart or lung disease.
Have enough medication and food (enough for more than 5 days) on hand.
Follow your health care providers advice about what to do if you have heart or lung disease.
If you have asthma, follow your asthma management plan.
If you feel sick, reduce your exposure to smoke and contact your health care provider.
Pay attention to public service announcements, health advisories, and air quality advisories.
Maine DEP forecasts Ozone and Particle Pollution year-round which is available on DEP’s website, via toll free hotline, EnviroFlash emails and text messages. Forecasts are issued using a color-based Air Quality Index created by EPA. Green – good; Yellow – moderate; Orange – unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive people and Red – unhealthy pollution levels for all.
While sensitive people may feel the impacts sooner or at lower levels when the air is in the unhealthy for sensitive groups (USG) or higher category, everyone should think about ways to reduce their exposure. Please take some time to think about how you contribute to air pollution and what you can do to make a positive difference. Here are a few ways to help reduce air pollution in your community especially, on days when the air quality is expected to be unhealthy:
Conserve electricity
Choose a cleaner commute by carpooling or using public transportation where available
Combine errands, reduce trips
Defer the use of gas-powered lawn and garden equipment until early evening hours
Limit idling
Refuel vehicles after dusk
Use environmentally friendly paints and cleaning products
For more information about Air Quality visit Maine DEP’s website.
For additional information, contact: David R. Madore, Deputy Commissioner david.madore@maine.gov
The first quarter financial performance was expected to be moderate, but the increased macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty has impacted NNIT to a larger extent than expected. Based on the realized results and the continued uncertainty, NNIT adjusts the 2025 financial outlook.
Given the current uncertainty, organic revenue growth is expected to be 0% to 5% (previously 7% to 10%), which is due to postponement of projects and the sales pipeline materializing at a slower pace than planned as customers are hesitating to engage in new contracts, especially within Life Science. Expectations for the Group operating profit margin excluding special items are maintained at 7% to 9% as NNIT is significantly reducing its cost base by adjusting capacity and lowering general spending across regions and on corporate level. Special items are expected to be up to last year’s level of DKK 69m (previously expected to be below the 2024 level) mainly driven by further restructuring costs.
NNIT generated Q1 2025 Group revenue of DKK 464m (Q1 2024: DKK 463m). The organic growth was negative by 0.8% (Q1 2024: 8.0%) due to Region Europe and Region US. Group operating profit excl. special items was DKK 18m (Q1 2024: 24m), equal to a margin of 3.9% (Q1 2024: 5.2%). Profit and margin were mainly impacted by Region Europe and a decrease in Region Denmark driven by overcapacity following the postponement of a large contract, which has been signed in Q2, and the loss of a large public tender. Special items for the Group amounted to DKK 25m (Q1 2024: income DKK 11.3m) primarily driven by restructuring costs.
Financial figures, DKK million
Q1 2025
Q1 2024
FY 2024
GROUP
Revenue
464
463
1,851
Group operating profit excl. special items
18
24
117
Group operating profit margin excl. special items
3.9%
5.2%
6.3%
Special items
25
-11
69
REGION EUROPE
Revenue
119
126
512
Regional operating profit
12
14
67
Regional operating profit margin
10.0%
11.2%
13.0%
REGION US
Revenue
87
93
346
Regional operating profit
26
18
73
Regional operating profit margin
30.4%
19.0%
21.2%
REGION ASIA
Revenue
37
32
149
Regional operating profit
3
-2
8
Regional operating profit margin
7.6%
-5.3%
5.2%
REGION DENMARK
Revenue
221
212
844
Regional operating profit
33
48
151
Regional operating profit margin
15.1%
22.6%
17.9%
Despite the adjustment of expectations for organic growth, NNIT maintains expectations for the Group operating profit margin excl. special items to reach 7% to 9%. NNIT has executed several cost reducing initiatives, which include capacity adjustments across the group, to minimize the impact on profitability.
NNIT will publish the Q1 2025 trading statement on May 5, 2025, one day earlier than planned.
Media Relations Thomas Stensbøl Press & Communications Manager Tel: +45 3077 8800 tmts@nnit.com
ABOUT NNIT
NNIT is a leading provider of IT solutions to life sciences internationally, and to the public and private sectors in Denmark.
We focus on high complexity industries and thrive in environments where regulatory demands and complexity are high.
We advise on and build sustainable digital solutions that work for the patients, citizens, employees, end users or customers.
We strive to build unmatched excellence in the industries we serve, and we use our domain expertise to represent a business first approach – strongly supported by a selection of partner technologies, but always driven by business needs rather than technology.
NNIT consists of group company NNIT A/S and the subsidiary SCALES. Together, these companies employ more than 1,700 people in Europe, Asia and USA.
Financial performance for the first quarter was expected to be moderate, but macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty increased, which impacted NNIT. The uncertainty has influenced customer behavior, especially in the three regions focusing on IT Life Science solutions, where several projects have been postponed, most predominantly in Region Europe. Group revenue amounted to DKK 464.1m, entailing flat revenue growth compared with last year.
Despite improving utilization and capacity adjustments made across regions during the quarter as well as tight cost focus across business areas, the group operating profit excl. special items declined to DKK 18.0m in Q1 2025 compared with DKK 23.9m in the same quarter last year. The decline was due to the lower profit generation in Region Europe and Region Denmark, partly offset by improved profitability performance in Region US and Region Asia. Group operating profit margin excl. special items was 3.9% in Q1 2025 compared with 5.2% in the same quarter last year.
Region Denmark growth around 4% where selected solution areas focusing on the Public sector in Denmark, is showing growth upwards at 8%. SCALES also contributed to the growth in region Denmark solidifying its position as a leader within D365 solutions.
Special items amounted to DKK 25.3m in Q1 2025 covering restructuring costs of DKK 20m impacting all regions, earn-out payments of DKK 3m, and IT systems and integration costs amounting to around DKK 2m.
The financial outlook for 2025 was adjusted on May 5, 2025 cf. company announcement 04/2025 as the current macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape has deteriorated materially since the full-year outlook communicated in February. NNIT expects to be further affected by current uncertainty why the organic growth range was adjusted to 0% to 5% (previously 7% to 10%). Group operating profit margin excl. special items was maintained at 7% to 9% due to significant cost reducing initiatives with most already having been executed. As a result of lower revenue generation caused mainly by external factors, NNIT expects to incur additional restructuring costs as special items. Special items are expected to be at up to last year’s level of DKK 69m (previously expected to be significantly below the 2024 level).
The first quarter was more severely affected by uncertainty than expected at the beginning of the year. Hesitance among several customers of NNIT has resulted in less revenue and sales as projects are being postponed. In general, NNIT has taken action to adjust capacity to fit the current demand with several reductions completed in 2024 and leaving NNIT in a stronger position going into 2025. However, it has been necessary to take further actions to mitigate the business impact from lower revenue generation with a reduction of around 100 employees in Q1 2025. Furthermore, NNIT has carried out several cost-reducing initiatives such as putting new employments on hold and limiting all discretionary spending to a minimum with full impact from the second quarter.
Given the current macroeconomic environment and geopolitical unrest, NNIT continues to expect that its customers will be affected, which is reflected in the adjusted full-year financial outlook.
Pär Fors, CEO of NNIT, comments: “The business environment of NNIT has deteriorated in the first quarter of the year as especially our Life Science customers are being negatively impacted by the macroeconomic unrest. Customers are hesitant to engage in new contracts before things are stabilizing, and we are navigating this environment to continue our strategic journey at NNIT. However, the impact from the uncertainty is more severe than initially expected, why the full-year outlook has been adjusted.”
Financial overview – Selected key figures
NNIT A/S, DKK million
Q1 2025
Q1 2024
FY 2024
Revenue
464.1
463.4
1,851
Revenue growth, %
0.2%
12.2%
23.4%
Revenue growth, organic %
-0.8%
8.0%
10.8%
Group operating profit excl. special items
18.0
23.9
117
Group operating profit margin excl. special items, %
3.9%
5.2%
6.3%
Special items
.25.3
11.3
-69
Group operating profit incl. special items
-7.3
35.2
48
Group operating profit margin incl. special items, %
Media Relations Thomas Stensbøl Press & Communications Manager Tel: +45 3077 8800 tmts@nnit.com
ABOUT NNIT
NNIT is a leading provider of IT solutions to life sciences internationally, and to the public and private sectors in Denmark.
We focus on high complexity industries and thrive in environments where regulatory demands and complexity are high.
We advise on and build sustainable digital solutions that work for the patients, citizens, employees, end users or customers.
We strive to build unmatched excellence in the industries we serve, and we use our domain expertise to represent a business first approach – strongly supported by a selection of partner technologies but always driven by business needs rather than technology.
NNIT consists of group company NNIT A/S and the subsidiary SCALES. Together, these companies employ more than 1,700 people in Europe, Asia and the USA.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
SANAA/JERUSALEM, May 5 (Xinhua) — Yemen’s Houthi group said Sunday it would continue to launch missile strikes on Israeli airports, especially Ben Gurion Airport, as part of its “total air blockade” of the country.
“We are declaring a comprehensive air blockade against the Israeli enemy in response to its decision to expand its aggression against Gaza,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sari’a said in a statement broadcast by rebel-controlled al-Masirah TV.
“We will work to impose a blockade, repeatedly targeting airports, in particular Ben Gurion Airport,” he said, calling on international airlines to cancel all their flights scheduled to any Israeli airport.
Earlier on Sunday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that hit an access road leading to the main terminal of Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel in the morning, leaving four people lightly injured.
The Israeli army said its air defense systems had attempted to intercept the missile but failed. It later issued a separate statement saying the likely cause of the air defense malfunction was a “technical problem” with the interceptor missile.
Following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video warning to the Houthis, threatening to strike the group. He then wrote on the social media site X that Israel would take revenge on the Houthis in Yemen and their ally Iran. –0–
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University celebrated the 60th anniversary of the preparatory faculty for foreign students. This event was not just an anniversary date, but a vivid demonstration of many years of successful experience and achievements in the field of international education.
The history of the faculty began in 1965, when the first 200 students from Cuba, Arab countries and Africa crossed the threshold of the classrooms at 21 Politekhnicheskaya Street. Under the leadership of Dean A. N. Nosov, a unique educational structure was created with three departments: Russian language, natural sciences and humanities. In 1988, the faculty found a new home – a modern building at 28 Grazhdansky Prospekt, which today remains a center of attraction for foreign students.
The special value of the preparatory faculty is its ability to adapt to the challenges of the time, while maintaining the best traditions. Today we see how graduates of the preparatory faculty become successful specialists all over the world, and many remain in Russia, contributing to the development of our economy and science. This is the best assessment of our work, – noted the Vice-Rector for International Affairs of SPbPU Dmitry Arsenyev.
Over six decades, the preparatory faculty has achieved impressive results in educational activities.
When I came to Russia, I knew only a few Russian words. But thanks to the unique teaching method, after a month and a half I could understand speech and participate in dialogues, recalls 2016 graduate Hanaa Itri from Morocco. Today, she successfully works at a large Russian university, continuing the traditions of intercultural communication.
The anniversary celebrations lasted two days. On the first day, an all-Russian scientific and methodological seminar was held, where representatives of leading Russian universities – Moscow State University, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Kazan Federal University, Tomsk and Volgograd Polytechnics – discussed current issues of teaching taking into account the ethnic factor.
On the second day, a festival of Russian language and culture was held, where students enthusiastically competed in linguistic contests, participated in master classes on folk crafts, and mastered the secrets of traditional Russian cuisine.
The culmination of the celebration was the gala concert in the White Hall “Day of the Russian Language”, in which more than 60 students from 30 countries participated. The staff and veterans of the Higher School received gratitude from the Committee for Science and Higher School of St. Petersburg and honorary certificates from SPbPU.
Preparatory faculty graduates shared their memories of their student years. One of them is the senior teacher of additional education at the Higher School of MOP Mukbil Mansur Hassan Muhammad from Yemen. After studying at the preparatory faculty, he graduated from the physics and metallurgy faculty and defended his PhD thesis at the Polytechnic University.
The Polytechnic Institute has become my home. I love my job and my students. My students are my friends. I know from my own experience how difficult it is to adapt to life in another country where everything is new: the climate, the cuisine, the language, the people. Creative events help students get to know the country and get to know each other better, – shared Mukbil Mansur Hassan Muhammad.
Foreign students performed Russian songs and dances at the concert. The numbers dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War were presented: the compositions “Katyusha”, “Wait for me”, “Yablochko” and “Siniy kerchief”.
The event was attended by students from Turkmenistan, China, Latin America and Africa, as well as from other parts of the world. Many students of the preparatory faculty have talents: they dance, sing, recite poems. Concerts and similar events help foreign children adapt to our culture. Creativity plays an important role in this process, – said Lyubov Stepanova, senior teacher of additional education at the Higher School of MOP and the organizer of the event.
Last year’s preparatory faculty graduates and current first-year students of the Institute of Historical and Cultural Studies Anzhi and Roz from Haiti also took part in the concert: Russia is a large, beautiful country with a rich culture and history. When we were choosing a university for study on the Internet, we really liked the Polytechnic, and were impressed by the opportunities for students. And our friends study here, and they told us a lot of good things. We like it here, the teachers are very helpful, for which we are very grateful to them.
60 years is not just a number. It is thousands of graduates, dozens of countries, hundreds of educational programs. But the main thing is the traditions of quality and innovation that we carefully preserve and develop, – summed up the director of the Higher School of International Educational Programs Viktor Krasnoshchyokov.
Today, the preparatory faculty of SPbPU is a modern educational center, where time-tested methods and innovative approaches are harmoniously combined. As a graduate from Indonesia, Desmarnov Tirto Pamangin, said: Here they not only give knowledge of the language, but also open the door to a new life. This is precisely the mission of the Higher School – to be a bridge between cultures and peoples.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Jammu, May 4, 2025 – In a landmark achievement for Indian student innovation, Japteg Singh Bamrah, a Class 12 student from Dalhousie Public School, has won the prestigious HonorsGradU 2025 Scholarship, securing the coveted “Build a Better Future” Award for his groundbreaking invention—the Solar Mech Engine.
Japteg Singh Bamrah and his Mentor, Dr. Nasir Ul Rasheed, demonstrating the Solar Mech Engine project executed under the Jigyasa Hackathon initiative.
Mentored by Dr. Nasir Ul Rasheed, Senior Scientist at CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu, under the Jigyasa Hackathon initiative, Japteg emerged as one of five global winners out of thousands of entries from around the world. He has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship for his undergraduate education in the United States, along with an additional $5,000 grant for further development and scaling of his innovation. Notably, his project was recognized as the top technology among this year’s winners.
Organized by Honors Graduation, a U.S.-based non-profit supporting student-led sustainability and innovation projects, the HonorsGradU Scholarship is highly competitive, offering only five awards annually across the globe. Japteg is the first and only student from India since the program’s inception in 2012 to top the list, marking a moment of pride for the nation.
During the National Startup Festival held on February 22–23, 2025, at CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, Japteg presented his Solar Mech Engine to Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of Science and Technology and Vice President of CSIR, who graced the event as Chief Guest. The festival highlighted India’s growing support for grassroots innovation under the “Start-Up India, Stand-Up India” campaign, originally launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2015 and spearheaded by Dr. Singh.
The Solar Mech Engine, which earlier won the CSIR Jigyasa Hackathon 2024, is a standalone solar thermal system that operates on Concentrated Heat and Power (CHP) technology. It utilizes the principles of cyclic air expansion and contraction due to temperature differences to convert heat energy into mechanical energy. A key feature is its low-resistance generator, which employs electromagnetic induction for direct mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion. Its unique selling proposition lies in its ability to function as a reversible heat pump, making it a highly efficient and sustainable energy solution.
CSIR-IIIM’s incubation and mentoring of Japteg’s project underscores its commitment to empowering young innovators and transforming their ideas into practical, scalable technologies.
In recognition of his innovation and academic excellence, Japteg has received offers from over ten top universities across the USA, Australia, and Canada, with additional scholarships amounting to $16,000 annually for his undergraduate studies.
With a total grant of $31,000, Japteg Singh Bamrah plans to refine his Solar Mech Engine further and pursue his higher education at a leading global university. His journey from a school innovator to a global sustainability advocate stands as a testament to the power of mentorship, vision, and grassroots innovation in building a better future.
It took an election win, but Anthony Albanese on Monday finally received that much-awaited phone call from US President Donald Trump.
The conversation was “warm and positive,” the prime minister told a news conference, thanking the president for “reaching out”.
“I won’t go into all of the personal comments that he made, but he was very generous in his personal warmth and praise towards myself. He was fully aware of the [election] outcome and he expressed the desire to continue to work with me in the future.”
While they talked about tariffs (as well as AUKUS), the detailed engagement on that sensitive matter was left for later.
Trump, as they say, loves a winner.
When asked earlier in Washington about the Australian election, Trump said he was “very friendly” with Albanese.
“I don’t know anything about the election other than the man that won, he’s very good, he’s a friend of mine,” the president said. Albanese had been “very, very nice to me, very respectful to me.
“I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him.” There’s more than a touch of irony in this, given all the effort by the government and his other opponents to paint Peter Dutton as “Trump-lite”.
The prime minister is likely to meet Trump soon, perhaps in June. Albanese has been invited to the G7 meeting in Canada. Trump may or may not be there but a meeting could be arranged around this.
On the tariff front, the government is readying to defend the local film industry, after Trump announced a 100% tariff on all movies going into the United States.
Arts Minister Tony Burke said: “Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry.”
Indonesia to be Albanese’s first foreign visit of new term
Albanese announced his first overseas visit would be to Indonesia. This will be a particularly important visit, given the significance of the bilateral relationship and the recent Russian request (which Indonesia rejected) to base planes in Papua.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto congratulated Albanese on his win in a call on Sunday.
In the call, Albanese asked the president to host his first overseas visit, and the president said it would be “a great honour” to do so.
Meanwhile, in the next few days Labor’s factions will be jostling over the spoils of victory. The factions work out broadly the membership of the frontbench, but Albanese, given he has massive authority with the huge win, will be able to impose his will in this process where he wants to do so. The prime minister allocates the portfolios.
Although there will be changes, Labor sources are expecting substantial continuity between the old and new ministries, especially at the higher level.
Albanese has previously confirmed top cabinet members, notably Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defence Minister Marles, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Trade Minister Don Farrell, will remain in their present ministries.
Most interest is in whether Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is moved. Albanese would not say, when asked during the campaign, whether she would remain in environment although he confirmed she would stay in cabinet. Albanese and Plibersek have had a poor relationship over decades. She had expected to become education minister after the last election and was shocked to be given the environment portfolio/
Albanese told his news conference “I want Labor to be the natural party of government”.
Knife out for Angus Taylor
What goes around comes around. Outgoing NSW Liberal senator Hollie Hughes, who blamed shadow treasurer
Angus Taylor for her loss of preselection because he endorsed the candidate who beat her, has unleashed on Taylor’s leadership aspirations.
Hughes told the ABC on Monday she would not support Taylor to be the next leader.
She said the opposition’s economic narrative “was just completely non-existent. I’m not quite sure what [Taylor has] been doing for three years.
“There was no tax plan, I think the economic team has significantly let down the parliamentary team, it’s let down our membership, it’s let down our supporters and it’s let down people in Australia broadly – the fact they had nothing to sell, nothing to say, and clearly had not done the work that was required.”
She said deputy leader Sussan Ley had done “a fantastic job over the past three years and I’m hopeful that she will definitely still be part of our leadership.”
Four names are in the mix for the successor to Peter Dutton, who lost his seat of Dickson in Saturday’s rout. They are Taylor, Ley, immigration spokesman Dan Tehan and defence spokesman Andrew Hastie. None has yet declared their candidature.
Hastie told The West Australian at the weekend, “I certainly want to be able to drive change within the party itself and what that looks like will be up to my colleagues to determine”.
Michelle Grattan 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.
Danish insurance and pension companies purchased European listed stocks for kr. 21 billion in the first quarter of the year. They mainly bought Danish, German, and French shares, but also a significant portion of British and Swiss shares. In recent years, the companies have primarily purchased US shares, but in the first quarter of 2025 the purchase has been reversed to a sale of nearly kr. 5 billion. The total sale of US shares reflects that some companies sold shares while others bought shares. US shares still make up the largest portion, 53 per cent, of the companies’ total listed equity portfolio of kr. 1,320 billion, while European shares account for 29 per cent.
Largest purchase of listed European stocks since 2018
Note:
The quarterly net purchases of publicly traded stocks by insurance and pension companies, distributed between Europe and the USA. Danish investment funds have been looked through, such that the pension companies’ equity and bond investments through these funds are included.
In February 2025, Syrians lodged one of the smallest numbers of monthly applications in over a decade. As a result, having been the main recipient country for Syrian asylum-seekers, Germany was no longer the main destination for asylum seekers in the EU+. France and Spain each received more applications than Germany. In France, Haitians and Ukrainians together represented one fifth of all applicants, while Venezuelans dominated the asylum landscape in Spain.
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has just published the first monthly dataset for 2025, on asylum applications in the EU+. In February, EU+ countries received around 69 000 asylum applications, following a decreasing trend that has been ongoing since October 2024. The fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria has led to a significant change in the asylum landscape in the EU+. In February, Syrians lodged the fewest applications in over a decade (5 000), with their number decreasing by 70 %, compared to October 2024.
With Syrians, historically, having almost always been the nationality with the most applicants for international protection in the EU+, this change is notable for many reasons, among them the fact that Germany was not the main receiving EU+ country in February 2025. The sharp decrease in Syrian applications has also impacted several of the EUAA’s first instance asylum indicators.
The latest asylum figures show how important stability in other regions is for Europe. This is strongly reflected in the declining trend in asylum applications from Syrian nationals in the EU in the first quarter. With the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the new returns regulation, we are bringing our European House in order. Together with Member States, we need to step up our cooperation with partner countries to address migration well beyond our borders.
Magnus BrunnerEuropean Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration
These figures show a changing asylum landscape in Europe, with several months of fewer applicants seeking protection, and also shifts in their profiles, nationalities and destination countries. At the same time, both the EU Institutions and the Agency are working on making Europe’s asylum systems more streamlined and effective, ensuring that protection is provided in a timely manner to those in genuine need.
Nina GregoriExecutive Director
Changing trends in citizenships and key receiving EU+ countries
For more than a decade, Germany (12 780) has almost always been the largest recipient of asylum applications in the EU+. However, in February 2025, that was no longer the case, and the country received 40% fewer applications compared to February 2024. France (13 081) and Spain (12 976) both received more applications than Germany, with figures that were relatively stable in the past 12 months. Italy (11 405) also received a significant number of applications, despite a declining trend. Taken together, applications in these four receiving countries represented almost three quarters of all applications lodged in the EU+.
In February 2025, Venezuelans (8 500) were the largest applicant group. Though Venezuelans have long been among the 5 biggest applicant groups in the EU+, mostly applying in Spain due to a well-established diaspora, the recent increase in applications since October 2024 may be linked to the ongoing economic and political crisis in the country, as well as increasingly restrictive asylum policies in the United States of America.
Recognition rate at the lowest level since COVID-19
Over the past two years, the EU+ recognition rate, which reflects the percentage of asylum applicants that receive decisions granting either refugee status or subsidiary protection, has fluctuated around 40% at first instance. In January and February 2025, the monthly EU+ recognition rate fell to 25 %, the lowest level since the first months of COVID-19 in 2020.
A significant contributor to this change was the number of asylum decisions issued to Syrians in January and February 2025, which dropped to around 1 600 in both months. In addition, the EU+ recognition rate for Syrians stood at just 14 %, down from around 90 % in previous months. The reasons for these significant changes are two-fold. Firstly, many EU+ countries have temporarily paused the processing of Syrian asylum claims, pending greater clarity on the security and political situation in Syria. Secondly, many Syrians have begun to withdraw their asylum applications. In some EU+ countries, a withdrawn application results in a negative decision, thus reducing the overall EU+ recognition rate.
More generally, the Agency’s data show that there were around 964 000 asylum applications pending at first instance at the end of February 2025. Together with Syrians (113 000), Venezuelans (100 000) and Colombians (89 000) were awaiting the most first instance decisions. In February, some 52 % of applications were lodged by citizenships for whom the EU+ recognition rates stood at 20 % or less, in 2024. Citizenships in this group included Bangladeshis (4 %), Columbians (5 %), Egyptians (4 %), and Moroccans (4 %).
Record Q1 EBITDA of USD 182.1 million, net profit of USD 83 million
Operational cash-flow of USD 154.7 million in the quarter
Q1 gross production of 4.2 mmbbls with 3.2 mmbbls net to BW Energy
Highest quarterly production since inception from the Dussafu licence
Maintained a strong balance sheet with cash position of USD 286.9 million
Substantial oil discovery in the Bourdon prospect
Maromba development FID unlocking path to more than doubling production and potential for future dividends
BW Energy, operator of the Dussafu Marin licence in Gabon and the Golfinho cluster offshore Brazil, reported a record quarterly EBITDA of USD 182.1 million for the first quarter of 2025. This was up 31% from USD 141.6 million in the previous quarter on increased oil sales following all-time-high production in Gabon and higher output in Brazil. The net production was ~36,000 bbls/day, including the Tortue, Hibiscus, and Hibiscus South fields in the Dussafu licence (73.5% working interest or “WI”) and the Golfinho field (100% WI).
“BW Energy delivers a strong first quarter with record production and EBITDA on the back of sustained stable operations across our asset portfolio in Gabon and Brazil,” said Carl K. Arnet, the CEO of BW Energy. “The accretive start to 2025 is further underpinned by the Bourdon discovery growing our Dussafu reserves, FID on the Golfinho Boost adding to production and reducing OPEX, and finally the Maromba FID. This transformative project is set to unlock industry-leading production growth and position BW Energy for future shareholder distributions.”
DUSSAFU
BW Energy completed three liftings in the first quarter at an average realised price of USD 74.8/bbl. Net production was approximately 2.6 mmbbls of oil and the net sold volume, the basis for revenue recognition, was approximately 3.2 mmbbls including 65,000 bbls of DMO deliveries and 320,889 bbls of state profit oil with an over-lift position of 350,893 bbls at period-end.
Net production from the Dussafu licence averaged ~28,700 bbls/day, an increase of 5% from the previous quarter. Operating cost (excluding royalties) decreased to USD 9.9/bbl from USD 11.7/bbl in the fourth quarter due to operational efficiencies and increased production. Further cost savings are expected as BW Energy is preparing to take over the operations of the BW Adolo FPSO during the current quarter.
On 2 January 2025, Phase 1 of the Hibiscus / Ruche development was completed with eight producing wells, two more than planned at project sanction.
GOLFINHO
Net production from the Golfinho field averaged ~7,300 bbls/day equivalent to a total production of 657,000 bbls in the quarter, up 12% from the previous quarter as gaslift resumed after completion of Petrobras maintenance. One lifting was carried out of ~500,000 bbls at a realised price of USD 75/bbl. Remaining inventory was approximately 597,750 bbls at the end of the period. Operating cost (excluding royalties) averaged USD 42.2/bbl barrel, down from 56.4/bbl in the fourth quarter, primarily due to higher production. In early April, the Brazilian oil and gas regulator ANP extended the production phase under the Golfinho concession contract, which has been extended to 2042 from previously 2031.
OTHER ITEMS
On 28 March, BW Energy entered into an up to USD 500 million Reserve Based Lending (RBL) facility, replacing the 2022 facility which was increased to USD 300 million in 2023. The facility has an initial commitment of USD 400 million, which can be expanded with an additional USD 100 million subject to mutual agreement and satisfaction of customary conditions precedent. The senior secured long-term debt facility matures on 1 October 2030.
At 31 March 2024, BW Energy had a cash balance of USD 286.9 million, compared to USD 221.8 million at end-December. The increase reflects cash flow from operations less debt repayment and investments in the period. The Company had a total drawn debt balance of USD 599 million including the MaBoMo lease, the Dussafu RBL, the Golfinho prepayment facility and bond debt.
Production guidance for 2025 is unchanged at between 11 and 12 mmbbls net to BW Energy. Expected full-year operating cost is maintained at USD 18 to 22/bbl (the basis for calculating unit operating cost has been revised from 2025 onwards to exclude royalties, tariffs, workovers, domestic market obligation purchases, production sharing costs, and incorporates the impact of IFRS 16 adjustments, primarily impacting Gabon operations). Net capital expenditures for 2025 are expected at USD 650-700 million, up from USD 260 to 285 million previously. The increased follows the FIDs for the Maromba development and the Golfinho Boost project.
DEVELOPMENT PLANS
BW Energy confirmed a substantial oil discovery with good reservoir and fluid quality in the Bourdon prospect offshore Gabon. Management estimates indicate 56 million barrels oil in place, of which approximately 25 million barrels are considered recoverable, potentially through a future development cluster following the MaBoMo blueprint. The discovery will enable the Company to book additional reserves not included in its 2024 Statement of Reserves.
Work on optimising Golfinho production continued to focus on stabilising FPSO performance and selected future well workovers. In mid-April, BW Energy made FID on the Golfinho Boost project with planned investments of USD 107 million. The project is set to add 3 kbbls/day of incremental production and 12 mmboe of further reserves, while also increasing production uptime and reducing OPEX with first oil planned in the second half of 2027.
BW Energy has also made FID for the Maromba development offshore Brazil based on a capex-efficient, phased development with a wellhead platform (WHP) and FPSO. The development targets 500 million barrels of oil in place in the highly delineated Maastrichtian sands. First oil is planned in the second half of 2027 with expected plateau production of 60,000 barrels of oil per day, enabling short pay-back time and more than doubling BW Energy’s total net production by 2028.
In Namibia, BW Energy continued to prepare for an appraisal well targeting the Kharas Prospect northwest in the Kudu licence with planned start-up drilling operations in the second half of 2025. Long-lead items have been procured and the Company is reviewing offers for rig capacity.
REPORTS AND PRESENTATION
Please find the first-quarter earnings presentation attached. The reports are also available at:
BW Energy will today hold a live presentation at Hotel Continental, Oslo, Norway, and conference call followed by a Q&A hosted by CEO Carl K. Arnet, CFO Brice Morlot, CSO Thomas Young, CTO Jerome Bertheau and CCO Thomas Kolanski at 09:30 CEST.
You can follow the presentation via webcast with supporting slides, available on:
Please note, that if you follow the webcast via the above URL, you will experience a 30 second delay compared to the main conference call. The Web page works best in an updated browser – Chrome is recommended.
BW Energy is a growth E&P company with a differentiated strategy targeting proven offshore oil and gas reservoirs through low risk phased developments. The Company has access to existing production facilities to reduce time to first oil and cashflow with lower investments than traditional offshore developments. The Company’s assets are 73.5% of the producing Dussafu Marine licence offshore Gabon, 100% interest in the Golfinho and Camarupim fields, a 76.5% interest in the BM-ES-23 block, a 95% interest in the Maromba field in Brazil, a 95% interest in the Kudu field in Namibia, all operated by BW Energy. In addition, BW Energy holds approximately 6.6% of the common shares in Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. and a 20% non-operating interest in the onshore Petroleum Exploration License 73 (“PEL 73”) in Namibia. Total net 2P+2C reserves and resources were 599 million barrels of oil equivalent at the start of 2025.
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Grace Meng (6th District of New York)
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) announced today that they wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins praising recent state-led efforts to expand Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to include certain hot food purchases.
Currently, SNAP contains an outdated provision that limits purchases to food that needs to be prepared at home before it is consumed or specifically cold prepared foods. However, states can individually apply for waivers from the federal government to increase the types of foods included in SNAP for beneficiaries in their states. Secretary Rollins recently supported an effort in Arkansas to include hot rotisserie chicken in the state’s SNAP.
Meng and Bennet reintroduced their bipartisan, bicameral Hot Foods Act in March, which would remove this prohibition and allow all SNAP recipients, regardless of which state they live in, to use their benefits to buy hot foods like prepared rotisserie chickens, hot sandwiches, soups and more.
In their letter, the members wrote, “As you know, for more than 60 years, the law governing SNAP has prohibited beneficiaries from purchasing hot, ready-to-eat foods with their benefits. This outdated restriction means that while a parent can use SNAP to buy frozen chicken and spend over an hour preparing and cooking it, they cannot purchase a hot rotisserie chicken to serve their family immediately. This policy no longer reflects the realities of modern American life or the diverse needs of SNAP households.”
Of the more than 42 million SNAP participants, including 2.8 million New Yorkers, nearly 70 percent of them are children, elderly, or those with disabilities. The ability to purchase hot and ready-to-eat foods would provide much-needed flexibility to those who rely on this program to supplement their nutrition and dietary needs.
A copy of the letter can be viewedhere.
Originally introduced by Rep. Meng in May 2023, the Hot Foods Act has 80 cosponsors. It is supported by The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), First Focus Campaign for Children, Feeding America, Hunger Free America, and the National Association of Convenience Stores.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Grace Meng (6th District of New York)
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS), wrote a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi opposing the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to terminate federal grants awarded through the agency’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and urging the Administration to restore funding for critical programs supporting law enforcement and violence prevention.
OJP is the largest grant-making arm of the DOJ. The grants funded by the office have been instrumental in supporting a wide range of law enforcement and community-based initiatives across the country, including local law enforcement, prosecution, judges, forensic science, reentry, hospitals, faith-based organizations, victim services and youth groups.
In her letter to Attorney General Bondi, Ranking Member Meng wrote, “These programs are not “wasteful” spending, as you have claimed. They play a critical role in leading violence prevention and intervention efforts; serving at-risk youth and victims of crimes, coordinating responses to rising hate crimes; and assisting individuals struggling with substance use disorders. These programs save lives.”
The grants terminated by the DOJ support at-risk youth, victims of crime, lead violence prevention efforts, coordinate responses to increases in hate crimes, and help people struggling with substance abuse. This includes the Community-Based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crimes grant program, originally authored by Meng following the passage of her COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which was signed into law by President Biden in 2021.
Meng continued, “You stated the priority of your department is “law and order in America.” But law and order cannot exist if victims of crime are unable to recover, or if law enforcement does not have the resources to more effectively fight crime and restore relationships with the community members they serve, or if non-violent offenders cannot find a pathway to reentry into society.”
Meng serves as Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS), which has jurisdiction over federal funding appropriated to the DOJ.
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