Source: Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association
Headline: Speech: Samantha McCulloch closing address to the 2025 Conference & Exhibition – Australian Energy Producers
During my opening remarks I noted that despite some sobering messages from our Wood Mackenzie study on Australia’s investment competitiveness, there is cause for optimism.
This week has demonstrated why.
We’ve had the welcome announcement from the Queensland Government that it’s releasing nine new areas for future gas exploration to boost future supply.
The Minister said: Queensland is open for business.
Yesterday, Minister Murray Watt announced the conditional approval of Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf extension – a critical project for Western Australia’s long-term energy security and economic growth.
I commend the Minister for backing this vital project, and being guided by science and evidence.
On the opening morning of the conference, we heard from Resources Minister Madeleine King who recommitted to implementing the Government’s Future Gas Strategy, including the much-needed reforms to clarify consultation requirements for offshore projects.
And, importantly, the Minister acknowledged the enormous economic benefits that Australia’s LNG investment and trade continues to deliver for our nation, observing that ”Every Australian receives a dividend from our energy exports.”
And I acknowledge Senator McDonald and the Coalition’s commitments during the election campaign to also back the North West Shelf extension and the coalitions continued support for our industry.
As the Prime Minister said earlier in the week, the energy transition cannot happen without security of energy supply, “because you will lose community support if people flick on the switch and the lights don’t go on.”
Or as Minister King put it, “You can’t get a transition through warm thoughts”.
The fact is that Australia needs the reliable and affordable energy that natural gas delivers.
And that will require continued investment in gas exploration and development.
I remarked at the start of the conference that Queensland’s gas industry is testament to what can be achieved when government and industry work together.
And the Queensland Government continues to build on that legacy.
It was encouraging to hear Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki tell our conference that at the heart of his government’s aspiration on energy generation is a simple principle –more.
“We needmoresupply to meet future demand and put downward pressure on power prices.”
And we also heard this morning from Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro about her government’s commitment to speed up approvals to unlock more gas supply in the Territory.
The Western Australian and South Australian Governments are also backing the role of gas in their economic and energy security.
We just need this sentiment to spread to Victoria and NSW.
I think Kevin Gallagher would agree.
We chose this year’s conference theme:The Energy Edge,to highlight the opportunity for Australia to harness its competitive strengths amid the global energy transformation.
Our abundant gas reserves, our innovation, and our proximity to fast growing markets mean we are ideally placed to remain an energy powerhouse.
To quote former Australian Ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey’s advice to our industry on what our message to government should be:
“Give us certainty and stability, and we can do the job. We can give Australians cheaper energy. We can give people in the world greater opportunity… [and] We can make Australia richer.”
I could not agree more.
And, judging by the extraordinary work that our industry is leading and that has been showcased here this week – in the plenary sessions, the technical presentations, the conversations on the exhibition floor – I am confident that our industry is well placed to harness our energy edge.
A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments.
The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.
Washington, DC:An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Lone Christiansen and comprising Thomas Elkjaer, Gee Hee Hong, Yueling Huang, Alain Kabundi, and Sylwia Nowak, conducted discussions for the 2025 Article IV Consultation with Italy during May 14–28. At the end of the visit, the mission issued the following statement:
Outlook: The growth outlook remains highly uncertain amid ongoing global trade tensions. Persistently low productivity growth and demographic headwinds weigh on longer-term economic prospects.
Fiscal policy: A better-than-expected fiscal outturn in 2024 enabled a return to a primary surplus. Continuing the strong performance will be essential to place public debt on a downward trajectory.
Financial sector policy: The banking sector remains well-capitalized and liquid. Continuing to monitor asset quality and macro-financial linkages between the sovereign and financial institutions remains important to safeguard financial stability.
Structural policies:Medium-term challenges that are weighing on growth have become today’s pressing issues. A swift and effective implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan will be key to support higher, lasting growth and should be complemented by a successor reform program to amplify the gains.
Recent economic developments, outlook, and risks
The Italian economy has continued to expand at a moderate pace. For the second consecutive year, economic activity grew by 0.7 percent in 2024, supported in part by infrastructure investment under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) and a positive contribution from net exports. The current account strengthened to a surplus of above 1 percent of GDP. Despite heightened global trade policy uncertainty, economic activity held up well in the first quarter of 2025, with real GDP growing by 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and employment reaching a record high. Credit to households has turned positive, and the contraction in credit to corporates has eased. Headline inflation gradually strengthened, reaching 2 percent in April. Nonetheless, the female labor force participation rate remains well below the EU average, productivity growth is weak, and regional disparities endure, with labor inactivity rates significantly higher in the South than in the North.
Heightened uncertainty has dampened the near-term economic outlook, while subdued productivity growth and rapid population aging are expected to continue weighing on growth prospects. Timely and effective implementation of NRRP projects is expected to support near-term economic activity, while trade tensions are likely to provide a notable drag. Consequently, the April 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO) projected growth to moderate to 0.4 percent in 2025 before temporarily picking up to 0.8 percent next year, amid the peak in NRRP-related investments and positive trade spillovers from higher investment in Germany. Headline inflation is expected to average 1.7 percent this year, on lower energy prices and moderate wage growth, before converging to the ECB’s 2 percent target in 2026. Over the medium term, weak productivity growth and adverse demographics are projected to continue weighing on the outlook, keeping growth at around 0.7 percent.
The outlook is subject to substantial uncertainty and risks. On the upside, the stronger-than-expected preliminary outturn for the first quarter presents mild upside risks to the April 2025 WEO forecast. A faster-than-expected acceleration in global growth, stronger productivity gains from public investments and reforms, and deeper EU integration could further support investment, exports, and productivity. However, downside risks remain significant, including from escalating trade tensions, an intensification of regional conflicts, and a further tightening of global financial conditions. Climate-related shocks, including extreme weather events, could also dampen growth and further constrain fiscal space. As digitalization advances, cyberthreats could become more pervasive and disruptive, particularly for the financial system. Delayed or inefficient NRRP implementation could undermine growth.
Fiscal policy: Leaning into continued strong performance
Maintaining strong fiscal disciplinealong with growth-enhancing reformsiscritical toreduce the public debt ratio and will help reinforce resilience. A better-than-expected fiscal outturn in 2024, owing to continued improvements in tax compliance and a strong labor market, is welcome. Overall, the headline deficit was halved, the primary balance turned to a surplus, and the authorities envision further gradual deficit reduction. Staff recommends continuing the strong performance and reaching a primary surplus of 3 percent of GDP by 2027 to decisively reduce the debt ratio and help contain related vulnerabilities. Achieving this goal would require additional near-term efforts compared to what is already built into the authorities’ fiscal plans. However, the recommended cumulative adjustment path would entail a smaller effort over the medium term than a more gradual one in view of the projected worsening in the interest rate-growth differential and of spending pressures stemming from population aging. Along with such efforts, growth-enhancing reforms would help strengthen debt reduction and, over time, could reduce the needed adjustment.
Several measures could be considered. Building on the progress made, reform efforts on tax evasion and tax compliance should continue. Rationalizing tax expenditures would help broaden the taxbase, bolster revenue, and reduce complexity. Eliminating the preferential flat-rate for income on self-employment would address equity concerns and prevent revenue loss. Given the robust labor market and high corporate profits, hiring subsidies should be replaced with productivity-boosting measures. Updating property values in the cadastre would increase revenue and could ensure more equitable tax treatment. These measures, by addressing distortions, are expected to have limited adverse effect on economic activity.
In the event of new spending pressures or macroeconomic shocks, debt-reducing efforts should continue. Given the limited fiscal space, any new spending measures, including for defense, should be fully compensated by further savings elsewhere. Fiscal consolidation efforts combined with growth-enhancing reforms would need to continue even in the event of all-but-the-most-severe adverse macroeconomic shocks, rendering automatic stabilizers the primary counter-cyclical response. Resources from EU funds should be safeguarded for productivity-enhancing investments.
Beyond the near term, it will be important to containlatent spending pressures. Pension-related spending pressures could be contained by avoiding costly early retirement schemes. At the same time, raising the effective retirement age would help boost labor supply. There is also scope to enhance transparency and monitoring of the net expenditure path within the Medium-Term Fiscal-Structural Plan (MTFSP), while maintaining comprehensive reporting of key fiscal indicators. Although the stock of public guarantees is gradually declining, it remains sizable, calling for continued prudent management, centralized monitoring, and adequate provisioning. In addition, publicly guaranteed loans should not substitute for on-budget spending, as such measures undermine budgetary discipline and distort resource allocation.
Continued vigilance will be important to safeguard financial sector soundness. Strong profitability, sound asset quality, and adequate liquidity and capital positions have helped strengthen the banking sector. In this respect, amid a still-negative credit gap, maintaining the current neutral countercyclical capital buffer remains appropriate, as does the continued implementation of the systemic risk buffer at 1 percent. In addition, maintaining close monitoring of loan quality is warranted, particularly given the uncertain outlook and risks to firms exposed to the potential impact of trade tensions. Regarding non-bank financial institutions, the rebound in life insurance premium income has helped mitigate risks in the life sector. While financial sector exposures to the domestic sovereign have declined from previous highs, they remain sizable and, hence, pose a vulnerability that requires continued monitoring.
Continuing to address weaknesses among some less significant institutions (LSIs) remains a priority. Within the overall soundness of the banking sector, vulnerabilities exist among some LSIs. Further enhancing oversight—through targeted inspections, in-depth reviews of credit risk management practices and governance, and continued monitoring of nonperforming loans—would help address these risks. In this regard, the ongoing inspection program by the Bank of Italy to ensure compliance with IT security standards is welcome, and LSIs should continue to integrate cyber risks into their governance and risk management frameworks. Timely escalation of corrective measures for weak banks would support further improvements in capital adequacy and operational efficiency.
Structural policies: Implementing reforms to boost growth
To tackle persistent productivity challenges and unlock stronger potential growth, comprehensive and sustained reforms are crucial. The authorities’ ongoing efforts to advance their reform and investment agenda through the NRRP are welcome, as are their longer-term commitments under the MTFSP. With the NRRP window rapidly closing, continued efforts to ensure its full and timely delivery will be essential. Looking ahead, leveraging the design and implementation lessons from the NRRP will support successful execution of future reforms and help secure a durable lift to growth. More broadly, reforms should be clearly specified and prioritize strengthening human capital, expanding labor supply, and revitalizing the private sector’s capacity to innovate and adopt frontier technologies. Enhancing the workforce is vital to mitigate the impact of a shrinking working-age population and to meet the growing demand for high-skilled labor. Policies aimed at increasing female labor force participation—such as enhancing access to childcare and removing disincentives like tax credits for dependent spouses—should be further strengthened and would support both economic growth and pension system sustainability.
Reviving private sector dynamism and innovation requires improved access to finance, especially risk capital, and greater policypredictability. Italian firms have long struggled to scale up and innovate. Eliminating tax incentives that favor small firms and facilitating the exit of unproductive firms, including through the timely implementation of the new insolvency code, would promote more efficient resource allocation and enable high-performing firms to grow. Deepening national capital markets—particularly by broadening access to risk capital—and ensuring a more predictable regulatory environment are crucial to support the investment needed for technological upgrades and the digital transition. At the European level, advancing the single market and making progress towards the savings and investment union will further help firms achieve economies of scale and improve access to capital. Industrial policies should be deployed cautiously, be targeted to specific objectives where externalities or market failures prevent effective market solutions, be coordinated at the EU level, and avoid favoring domestic producers over imports to minimize trade and investment distortions.
Accelerating the transition to renewables, adapting to a changing climate, and investing in resilient energy infrastructure are essential to reduce extreme weather impacts and energy import dependence. Climate-related risks and energy security are macro-critical for Italy, given the reliance on agriculture, tourism, and foreign energy supply. The 2024 National Energy and Climate Plan provides a strategic foundation but more ambitious action is needed to meet 2030 climate targets and improve energy security. Strengthening grid infrastructure, expanding storage capacity, and streamlining permitting processes are critical to support renewable integration. Deeper integration into EU electricity markets would enhance resilience, reduce price volatility, and improve the efficiency of renewable energy use.
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We are grateful to the Italian authorities and our other counterparts for their time, frank and open discussions, and warm hospitality.
Desideriamo esprimere la nostra gratitudine alle autorità italiane e a tutti gli altri interlocutori per il tempo dedicatoci, per la franchezza e la disponibilità dimostrate nel corso dei colloqui e per la calorosa ospitalità.
GRAND-LANCY, Switzerland, May 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Temenos (SIX: TEMN), a global leader in banking technology, today announced the winners of the Temenos Forward Awards 2025, which recognize the innovation of Temenos customers who are leading the way in the banking industry.
Jean-Pierre Brulard, Chief Executive Officer,Temenos, commented: “As banks adapt to changing customer demands and the opportunities and challenges of transformative technologies such as Generative AI, the Temenos community is shaping the future of finance. We are delighted to recognize the success of banks at the forefront of innovation with our Temenos Forward Awards. Congratulations to all our award winners. Together, we are leading banking forward.”
The following awards were selected by a judging panel comprised of Temenos executives, previous award winners, journalists and industry analysts.
Future-Ready Banking Award – Santander International
In 2024, Santander International became the first Temenos client to utilize lending on the Temenos SaaS Foundation Platform. Throughout the program it has transitioned to a near-zero customization SaaS architecture with integrations that enhance customer analysis and reporting, demonstrating Santander International’s commitment to agility and customer-centric solutions.
Customer Experience Excellence Award – PC Financial
Part of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s leading food and pharmacy retailer, PC Financial offers a range of financial products designed to deliver on the company’s purpose – helping Canadians Live Life Well. The retailer went live on Temenos SaaS in just six months and has raised the bar in digital banking with the launch of an innovative new savings feature for the PC Money Account. PC Financial is seeing strong customer engagement with this feature and stands out with a unique customer experience strategy that seamlessly blends everyday banking products with retail offerings.
Fast Track Growth Award – STC Bank
STC Bank has emerged as a fintech leader in Saudi Arabia, transforming from STC Pay into STC Bank as a fully licensed digital bank. This evolution highlights its strategic investment in cutting-edge technologies and innovation to redefine banking services standards in the region. With Temenos Core, the bank has successfully launched a microservice and data-driven architecture and is expanding into innovative lending and digital deposit solutions, reinforcing its strategy of modular, data-driven offerings.
Digital Transformation Award – Credem
Credem, a prominent Italian bank, has emerged as a digital banking frontrunner through its deep commitment to innovation and client-centric experiences. Having launched several new mobile apps using Temenos Digital, the bank offers a seamless, consistent experience for Retail, SME, and Private Wealth clients. In 2024, Credem successfully launched a new Retail Online Banking (OLB) platform as well as a completely redesigned mobile banking interface, leading to a significantly enhanced user experience and a marked improvement in its AppStore ratings.
Ambassador Award – Jihyun Lee (Bank Julius Baer)
As Head of IT APAC and Global Core Banking at Bank Julius Baer, Jihyun has consistently demonstrated visionary leadership, driving transformative projects that redefine modern core banking systems. Her expertise in pioneering innovations such as fully automated CI/CD pipelines and real-time integration patterns has positioned her as a trusted strategic partner within the Temenos community. Jihyun’s commitment to excellence and her ability to foster collaborative relationships make her a true ambassador of Temenos’ values and a thought leader in the industry.
Additionally, the following clients were chosen for a People’s Choice Award for their successful deployment of an innovative solution. Voting was conducted by a jury, as well as peers on social media.
People’s Choice Award (Banking Innovation) – MIDBANK
Established in 1975, MIDBANK provides retail, corporate, and investment banking services across Egypt. The bank has modernized its core and digital banking operations with Temenos to enhance efficiency and customer experience. This has led to a 30% reduction in processing times for transactions, projected annual savings of 20% in operational costs due to improved automation and streamlined workflows, and 25% higher customer satisfaction scores within the first six months of its migration.
People’s Choice Award (Banking Innovation) – EQ Bank
EQ Bank is Canada’s first-born digital bank, showing Canadians how banking can – and should – be better. In collaboration with Temenos and Microsoft, EQ Bank developed the TDH-EQB Fabric environment – an innovative solution enabling near real-time data access within the Temenos Data Hub (TDH) environment. This initiative delivers significant benefits to both EQ Bank and Temenos by enhancing performance, optimizing operational efficiency, and enabling faster insights.
Crisil on Thursday forecast India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.5 per cent in fiscal 2026, adding that improving domestic consumption is likely to support industrial activity.
“We expect domestic consumption demand to improve driven by healthy agricultural growth, easing inflation supporting discretionary spend, rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and income tax relief this fiscal,” the global ratings agency said in a note.
The India Meteorological Department expects an above-normal monsoon this fiscal (106 per cent of long-period average), which bodes well for agricultural production and inflation.
Furthermore, according to Crisil Intelligence, crude oil prices are expected to remain subdued this fiscal, averaging $65-$70 per barrel compared with an average of $78.8 per barrel in the previous fiscal.
“We expect the MPC to cut the repo rate by another 50 basis points (bps) this fiscal, after 50 bps cuts until April. Bank lending rates have begun easing, which should support domestic demand,” according to the note.
Overall, Crisil forecasts gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.5 per cent in fiscal 2026, with external headwinds posing downside risks.
In the month of significant tariff announcements by the United States (US), IIP growth slowed in April. Production slowed in certain export-oriented sectors (including pharmaceuticals and chemicals), while front-loading exports benefitted others (machinery and readymade garments). Among consumer goods, durables performed better than non-durables.
Industrial goods recorded a mixed performance, with output growth in capital goods picked up sharply along with a mild acceleration in intermediate goods.
Performance of export-oriented sectors was mixed in April, despite the sharp improvement in merchandise exports (9.0 per cent in April in nominal terms vs 0.7 per cent in the previous month).
There was also a 6.4 per cent increase in the production of consumer durables such as electronic goods, refrigerators, and TVs during November, reflecting the higher consumer demand for these items amid rising incomes, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics.
The infrastructure sector clocked a growth of 4 per cent on the back of big-ticket government projects being implemented in the highways, railways and ports sectors.
Around 1:10pm on Tuesday, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre received reports that a male had been involved in an altercation with a security guard at the Coles supermarket in Alice Springs.
It is alleged a 24-year-old Aboriginal male was placing items down the front of his clothing when he was confronted by security guards.
One of the security guards was assaulted and there were two police officers, who were in plain clothes at the time, in the supermarket who rendered assistance to the security guards.
The man was placed onto the ground by those police officers, and lost consciousness a short time later.
Initial first aid was provided, including CPR.
St John Ambulance attended the scene, and the man was conveyed to Alice Springs Hospital where he was pronounced deceased shortly after 2:20pm.
The NTPF Major Crime Section Detectives are in Alice Springs investigating the death with oversight from the Professional Standards Command. Police are also investigating this matter on behalf of the Coroner.
The cause of the man’s death is currently undetermined, and the forensic pathologist is required to complete further investigation to provide any substantive cause of death.
Police believe the man was involved in an incident near the Commonwealth Bank on Gregory Terrace just prior to the incident at Coles. It is alleged that during this incident the 24-year-old has assaulted a woman who was not known to him. Police have since identified this woman and investigations remain ongoing.
Detectives are urging anyone who witnessed the incident at Coles or on Gregory Terrace to make contact on 131 444. Anonymous reports can be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/.
Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst said “Detectives have collected a considerable amount of evidence and the public can be assured that a full and thorough investigative report will be prepared for the Coroner.
“Police are in contact with the man’s family and are providing support through our Cultural Reform Team and I have visited the community of Yuendumu today to provide an update. We are also providing welfare support, alongside the NT Police Association, to the members involved.
“Our thoughts are with the deceased’s family, our members and the entire Alice Springs Community and we thank them for their patience as we work through this investigation.”
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Dominic Sprague, 41, of Greece, NY, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to conspiracy to transport stolen goods in interstate commerce. According to the plea agreement, Sprague faces up to 72 months in prison when sentenced.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi, who is handling the case, stated that between December 2021 and October 17, 2024, Sprague, who was the owner and operator of the New York Gold Diamond Pawn Shop in Greece, engaged in a conspiracy with larcenists, Amanda Reeves, Shabon Banks, Chad Lewis, Jr., and pawn shop manager James Civiletti, to buy and sell stolen goods.
As part of the scheme, Reeves, Banks, and Lewis stole new-in-box items from store shelves on a weekly and sometimes daily basis, both alone and in concert with one another. They then sold the stolen goods to the pawn shop, which was managed by Civiletti, for a fraction of their actual retail value. The pawn shop then resold the stolen merchandise on eBay at much higher prices, resulting in significant profits. In total, the New York Gold Diamond Pawn Shop purchased 37,936 stolen new-in-box items from Reeves, Banks, and Lewis on more than 670 occasions, for which they were paid $290,000.00, which was approximately 25% of the actual retail value of the stolen items. This resulted in actual losses to the victim-retailers of approximately $1,160,000.00.
Banks, Reeves, Lewis and Civiletti were previously convicted and are awaiting sentencing.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Greece Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Wood; the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Todd Baxter; Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Harry Chavis.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 23, 2025, before Judge Wolford.
The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Thursday amid positive global cues, as buying was seen in the IT and metal sectors in the early trade.
At 9:29 am, the BSE Sensex was up 237.56 points or 0.29 per cent at 81,549.88, while the NSE Nifty rose 57 points or 0.23 per cent to trade at 24,809.45.
Sectoral indices also showed strength, with the Nifty Bank gaining 86.95 points or 0.16 per cent to 55,503.95. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 105.80 points or 0.19 per cent at 57,247.20, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose by 85.20 points or 0.48 per cent to 17,869.20.
Despite the Nifty declining for the past two sessions, analysts noted a drop in the India VIX, indicating a lack of demand for downside protection—typically not seen when investor sentiment is bearish.
“The 24,462 level remains crucial to determine whether this is a temporary dip or the beginning of a deeper correction. As long as the Nifty holds above this level, it remains a buyer’s market,” said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities.
Among the top performers in the Sensex pack were Infosys, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Power Grid, TCS and L&T. Bajaj Finance was the only stock in the red during early trade.
Asian markets also opened in the green, with indices in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul, China, and Japan trading higher. Jakarta was the only notable exception, trading lower.
On Wall Street, the previous session ended in losses. The Dow Jones closed at 42,098.70, down 244.95 points or 0.58 per cent. The S&P 500 fell 32.99 points or 0.56 per cent to 5,888.55, while the Nasdaq slipped 98.23 points or 0.51 per cent to 19,100.94.
Market sentiment remained sensitive to global developments, including U.S. tariff-related news. “The U.S. Federal Court striking down the reciprocal tariffs sends a strong message—that the President cannot act unilaterally against the interests of the market and the economy,” said Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
On the institutional front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers on May 28, purchasing equities worth ₹4,662.92 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also continued their buying spree, picking up stocks worth ₹7,911.99 crore.
sets our strategic direction, makes decisions about funding allocations and provides guidance on our operations monitors the performance of the Chief Executive and the organisation oversees management of strategic risk.
Dr Alan Bollard CNZM, Chair
Alan Bollard is Chair of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery. He is New Zealand Governor of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, a Director of China Construction Bank (NZ), and Chair of the New Zealand Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. He has been Chair of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Professor of Pacific Region Business at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, and Chair of the Centres for Asia-Pacific Excellence. Alan was the Director of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research from 1987 to 1994, Chair of the New Zealand Commerce Commission from 1994 to 1998, and the Secretary to the Treasury between 1998 and 2020. From 2002 to 2012, he was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. He was the Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Singapore from 2012 to 2018. Alan has published a number of economics and popular books. He is a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a Fellow of Royal Society Te Apārangi, and has honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Auckland and Massey University. Robin Hapi CNZM, Deputy Chair
Robin Hapi was a former Commissioner of the Tertiary Education Commission from 2007 to 2013 and joins TEC for a second time from February 2025. This follows a term of 12 years as Amokapua/Chair of Te Wānanga o Raukawa. He has served on several Boards and led a range of commercial and not-for-profit entities. Robin is currently Chair of Tū Ātea Ltd and Co-Chair of the Pūhoro STEMM Academy. His previous service includes positions on the Boards of Te Mātāwai, Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities, WorkSafe NZ and the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency; he has also been Chair of the Māori Economic Development Advisory Board, Chair of BERL and Deputy Chair of Callaghan Innovation. Robin is an old boy of Hato Pāora College and an alumni of Massey University, where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration with Distinction. In December 2015 Robin was awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in recognition of his contribution to governance, community and Māori, and in 2022 he received the Dame Mira Szászy Lifetime award from the University of Auckland Business School for his contribution to governance. Robin is also a Distinguished Fellow of the NZ Institute of Directors. Robin is of Ngāti Kahungunu descent and affiliates to Kahurānaki Marae, Te Hauke. Dr Alastair MacCormick, Commissioner, Chair Whatitata Whakau – Risk and Assurance Committee
TEC’s longest serving Commissioner, Alastair was first appointed to the TEC Board of Commissioners in May 2017, and appointed as Chair of the Whatitata Whakau – Risk and Assurance Committee in August 2017. Alastair is an Emeritus Professor of the University of Auckland. He holds a Doctorate in Management Science from Yale University and an MCom in Economics and a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from Auckland. For a decade he was Dean of Business and Economics at the University of Auckland and subsequently Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). Alastair also served over nine years on the Grants Committee of Callaghan Innovation for the Government support of Private Sector R&D and is a professional director with global experience in both public, private and listed companies. Alastair’s generosity with his time and expertise is demonstrated in his role as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital (a voluntary role which Alastair has supported for almost 40 years) along with founding the New Zealand Education and Scholarship Trust in 1991. He has also spent 14 years on the Board of Trustees for Auckland Grammar School, serving as Chair of the Board for six years. Alastair was awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in The Queen’s Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours for services to tertiary education and the community. Kirk Hope, Commissioner
“People are our greatest asset and the drivers of our economy. Business needs a training and development system to ensure everyone can reach their potential and New Zealand continues to prosper”.
Appointed in November 2019, Kirk brings strong current business sector knowledge to the TEC Board table. Kirk is the Chief Executive of the Financial Services Council. Previously, he was the Chief Executive of BusinessNZ, New Zealand’s largest business advocacy group with approximately 80,000 business connections. It is not just his knowledge and understanding of business that Kirk brings to TEC. He has held the positions of CEO of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association, Executive Director of the Financial Services Federation, along with several executive positions in both government and banking industries. The pairing of business acumen with a strong financial base, a Master’s in Law, an honours degree in political science, easily makes Kirk a great fit for TEC. Kirk’s passion is giving back, so sometime in the future we could see him sharing his wealth of knowledge and business expertise through teaching – perhaps that will be after he finishes PhD in economic history (a long term goal) or when he isn’t surfing. Samuelu (Sam) Sefuiva, Commissioner, Chair Ohu Tangata – People and Culture Committee
Sam has over 30 years’ experience in public policy, strategic and business advice, cultural and economic development and executive leadership. He has a strong professional and personal interest in the Pacific region particularly in human rights, social enterprise and public policy. Sam joined the TEC Board in January 2023. Sam has mentored, led and facilitated senior executives in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific in improving international, regional and domestic non-government and community enterprise environments. His strengths are in high level policy advice and relations, strategic thinking, business planning and facilitation. Currently his leadership roles include: Mana Whakapai-AMPTI (consortium) Manager, Auckland Māori and Pasifika Trades Training Initiative; Trustee, Digital Wings Trust; and Trustee Black Grace (Dance) Trust. Previously, Sam was Chief Advisor to the Race Relations Commissioner at the NZ Human Rights Commission. Sam enjoys spending time with his family and including grandchildren, his wider Samoan fanau and village (Salani, Falealili), as well as some passive recreational activities such as reading, surfing, fishing. Deidre Shea, Commissioner
“Accessible, quality educational opportunities for all New Zealanders throughout their lives are key to the health and success of our communities and our nation. I am privileged to be able to contribute to this as a member of TEC’s board.”
Commissioned in 2023, Deidre received her Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday honours for services to Education. Deidre held leadership roles with Ōnehunga High School (OHS) from 1995 and was Principal from 2007 until 2022. Her leadership extended to the Auckland Secondary School Principals’ Association from 2008 to 2015 and the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SPANZ) 2014 to 2023. She became President of SPANZ from 2019 to 2021, leading through numerous challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic. Deidre is committed to excellent, lifelong educational opportunities for all. She has overseen the establishment of a Construction School at OHS in 2005, followed by a Services Academy in 2007 and later a Health Science Academy. OHS operates the nation’s largest school-based Adult and Community Education programme. Deidre has chaired Te Hikoi (formerly the AIMHI Alternative Education consortium) for the past decade. Bharat Guha, Commissioner
Bharat Guha is the current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Invercargill Licensing Trust. He is a chartered accountant with extensive experience in the education and hospitality sector. Bharat has held numerous senior positions as CEO, Deputy CEO and CFO in different New Zealand and overseas organisations. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Bharat was based in London, working as the Group CFO for an LSE-listed company with branches in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore and Nepal. Bharat was recognised as a Fellow of the Australia New Zealand Chartered Accountants for his financial work on the Zero Fee Scheme for the Southern Institute of Technology. In addition, he has developed and led successful government–private tertiary institution partnerships for attracting international students to New Zealand. Bharat is a graduate of the University of Otago, undertaking a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Information Systems) and a Master in Business Administration. He also completed the Executive Leadership Programme at Oxford University and the Southland Leadership Academy. Bharat is committed and passionate about ensuring the future growth of tertiary education in New Zealand. Sharon McGuire, Commissioner
Sharon McGuire has a strong commercial background and knowledge of the polytechnic and broader tertiary sector. She also has governance experience with several entities. Her tertiary experience includes being a director for regional economic development with the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. Sharon’s commercial experience includes working as a general manager in the hotels sector, as a director of a major sports franchise, work with Chambers of Commerce, and as a business owner specialising in project services and advising on business viability. Sharon has held senior executive roles and is an experienced Director in the Not-for-Loss sector. Sharon is a great supporter of community organisations, and was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow for services to Rotary and the wider community. Top
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
The UN Security Council holds a meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 28, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
The interim UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process warned on Wednesday that the two-state solution is on life support, calling for collective action to revive it.
“The two-state solution is on life support. Reviving it requires collective action,” said Sigrid Kaag. “Peace cannot be a transaction or a partial, temporary arrangement. It needs to be built on international consensus and legitimacy, moving it from managing the conflict to ending it.”
There can be no sustainable peace in the Middle East without a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The region’s future will remain bound to its unresolved past, unless bold political will and decisions break the cycle, she told the Security Council.
Palestinian statehood is a right, not a reward, she said.
The upcoming high-level international conference in June, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, presents a critical opportunity. It must not be another rhetorical exercise. It must launch a path toward ending the occupation and realizing the two-state solution based on international law, UN resolutions and previous agreements, said Kaag. “We need to pivot ourselves from declarations to decisions. We need to implement rather than adopt new texts.”
Humanitarian aid and assistance urgently need to reach all civilians across Gaza. Essential services, livelihoods, and human dignity need to be restored. Forced displacement of civilians must be rejected and prevented. Post-war Palestinian governance and appropriate security arrangements in Gaza are needed. The territorial and political unity of Gaza and the West Bank must be preserved. Hostages need to be unconditionally released, said the UN envoy.
While war-torn Gaza rightly captures the world’s attention, the West Bank is on a dangerous trajectory, she warned.
“Developments are best described as accelerating de facto annexation through settlement expansion, land seizures, and settler violence. If not reversed, this will make the two-state solution physically impossible,” she said.
International engagement and alignment are critical, said Kaag. “We need to act now to reverse the current trajectory. A well-defined, widely supported and timebound political process, accompanied by safeguards and guarantees, is essential.”
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua has quality checked and approved the 10 cent coin with the effigy of King Charles III, King of New Zealand (KCIII), for production and New Zealanders can expect to see it in their change around 2027.
When I despairingly contemplate the horrors and cruelty that Palestinians in Gaza are being subjected to, I sometimes try to put this in the context of where I live.
I live on the Kāpiti Coast in the lower North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Geographically it is around the same size as Gaza. Both have coastlines running their full lengths. But, whereas the population of Gaza is a cramped two million, Kāpiti’s is a mere 56,000.
The Gaza Strip . . . 2 million people living in a cramped outdoor prison about the same size as Kāpiti. Map: politicalbytes.blog
I find it incomprehensible to visualise what it would be like if what is presently happening in Gaza occurred here.
The only similarities between them are coastlines and land mass. One is an outdoor prison while the other’s outdoors is peaceful.
New Zealand and Palestine state recognition Currently Palestine has observer status at the United Nations General Assembly. In May last year, the Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of Palestine being granted full membership of the United Nations.
To its credit, New Zealand was among 143 countries that supported the resolution. Nine, including the United States as the strongest backer of Israeli genocide outside Israel, voted against.
However, despite this massive majority, such is the undemocratic structure of the UN that it only requires US opposition in the Security Council to veto the democratic vote.
Notwithstanding New Zealand’s support for Palestine broadening its role in the General Assembly and its support for the two-state solution, the government does not officially recognise Palestine.
While its position on recognition is consistent with that of the genocide-supporting United States, it is inconsistent with the over 75 percent of UN member states who, in March 2025, recognised Palestine as a sovereign state (by 147 of the 193 member states).
NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon . . . his government should “correct this obscenity” of not recognising Palestinians’ right to have a sovereign nation. Image: RNZ/politicalbytes.blog/
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s government does have the opportunity to correct this obscenity as Palestine recognition will soon be voted on again by the General Assembly.
In this context it is helpful to put the Hamas-led attack on Israel in its full historical perspective and to consider the reasons justifying the Israeli genocide that followed.
7 October 2023 and genocide justification The origin of the horrific genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the associated increased persecution, including killings, of Palestinians in the Israeli occupied West Bank (of the River Jordan) was not the attack by Hamas and several other militant Palestinian groups on 7 October 2023.
This attack was on a small Israeli town less than 2 km north of the border. An estimated 1,195 Israelis and visitors were killed.
The genocidal response of the Israeli government that followed this attack can only be justified by three factors:
The Judaism or ancient Jewishness of Palestine in Biblical times overrides the much larger Palestinian population in Mandate Palestine prior to formation of Israel in 1948;
The right of Israelis to self-determination overrides the right of Palestinians to self-determination; and
The value of Israeli lives overrides the value Palestinian lives.
The first factor is the key. The second and third factors are consequential. In order to better appreciate their context, it is first necessary to understand the Nakba.
Understanding the Nakba Rather than the October 2023 attack, the origin of the subsequent genocide goes back more than 70 years to the collective trauma of Palestinians caused by what they call the Nakba (the Disaster).
The foundation year of the Nakba was in 1948, but this was a central feature of the ethnic cleansing that was kicked off between 1947 and 1949.
During this period Zionist military forces attacked major Palestinian cities and destroyed some 530 villages. About 15,000 Palestinians were killed in a series of mass atrocities, including dozens of massacres.
The Nakba – the Palestinian collective trauma in 1948 that started ethnic cleansing by Zionist paramilitary forces. Image: David Robie/APR
During the Nakba in 1948, approximately half of Palestine’s predominantly Arab population, or around 750,000 people, were expelled from their homes or forced to flee. Initially this was through Zionist paramilitaries.
After the establishment of the State of Israel in May this repression was picked up by its military. Massacres, biological warfare (by poisoning village wells) and either complete destruction or depopulation of Palestinian-majority towns, villages, and urban neighbourhoods (which were then given Hebrew names) followed
By the end of the Nakba, 78 percent of the total land area of the former Mandatory Palestine was controlled by Israel.
Genocide to speed up ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing was unsuccessfully pursued, with the support of the United Kingdom and France, in the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. More successful was the Six Day War of 1967, which included the military and political occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Throughout this period ethnic cleansing was not characterised by genocide. That is, it was not the deliberate and systematic killing or persecution of a large number of people from a particular national or ethnic group with the aim of destroying them.
Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians began in May 1948 and has accelerated to genocide in 2023. Image: politicalbytes.blog
In fact, the acceptance of a two-state solution (Israel and Palestine) under the ill-fated Oslo Accords in 1993 and 1995 put a temporary constraint on the expansion of ethnic cleansing.
Since its creation in 1948, Israel, along with South Africa the same year (until 1994), has been an apartheid state. I discussed this in an earlier Political Bytes post (15 March 2025), When apartheid met Zionism.
However, while sharing the racism, discrimination, brutal violence, repression and massacres inherent in apartheid, it was not characterised by genocide in South Africa; nor was it in Israel for most of its existence until the current escalation of ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
Following 7 October 2023, genocide has become the dominant tool in the ethnic cleansing tool kit. More recently this has included accelerating starvation and the bombing of tents of Gaza Palestinians.
The magnitude of this genocide is discussed further below.
The Biblical claim Zionism is a movement that sought to establish a Jewish nation in Palestine. It was established as a political organisation as late as 1897. It was only some time after this that Zionism became the most influential ideology among Jews generally.
Despite its prevalence, however, there are many Jews who oppose Zionism and play leading roles in the international protests against the genocide in Gaza.
Zionist ideology is based on a view of Palestine in the time of Jesus Christ. Image: politicalbytes.blog
Based on Zionist ideology, the justification for replacing Mandate Palestine with the state of Israel rests on a Biblical argument for the right of Jews to retake their “homeland”. This justification goes back to the time of that charismatic carpenter and prophet Jesus Christ.
The population of Palestine in Jesus’ day was about 500,000 to 600,000 (a little bigger than both greater Wellington and similar to that of Jerusalem today). About 18,000 of these residents were clergy, priests and Levites (a distinct male group within Jewish communities).
Jerusalem itself in biblical times, with a population of 55,000, was a diverse city and pilgrimage centre. It was also home to numerous Diaspora Jewish communities.
In fact, during the 7th century BC at least eight nations were settled within Palestine. In addition to Judaeans, they included Arameans, Samaritans, Phoenicians and Philistines.
A breakdown based on religious faiths (Jews, Christians and Muslims) provides a useful insight into how Palestine has evolved since the time of Jesus. Jews were the majority until the 4th century AD.
By the fifth century they had been supplanted by Christians and then from the 12th century to 1947 Muslims were the largest group. As earlier as the 12th century Arabic had become the dominant language. It should be noted that many Christians were Arabs.
Adding to this evolving diversity of ethnicity is the fact that during this time Palestine had been ruled by four empires — Roman, Persian, Ottoman and British.
Prior to 1948 the population of the region known as Mandate Palestine approximately corresponded to the combined Israel and Palestine today. Throughout its history it has varied in both size and ethnic composition.
The Ottoman census of 1878 provides an indicative demographic profile of its three districts that approximated what became Mandatory Palestine after the end of World War 1.
Group
Population
Percentage
Muslim citizens
403,795
86–87%
Christian citizens
43,659
9%
Jewish citizens
15,011
3%
Jewish (foreign-born)
Est. 5–10,000
1–2%
Total
Up to 472,465
100.0%
In 1882, the Ottoman Empire revealed that the estimated 24,000 Jews in Palestine represented just 0.3 percent of the world’s Jewish population.
The self-determination claim Based on religion the estimated population of Palestine in 1922 was 78 percent Muslim, 11 percent Jewish, and 10 percent Christian.
By 1945 this composition had changed to 58 percent Muslim, 33 percent Jewish and 8 percent Christian. The reason for this shift was the success of the Zionist campaigning for Jews to migrate to Palestine which was accelerated by the Jewish holocaust.
By 15 May 1948, the total population of the state of Israel was 805,900, of which 649,600 (80.6 percent) were Jews with Palestinians being 156,000 (19.4 percent). This turnaround was primarily due to the devastating impact of the Nakba.
Today Israel’s population is over 9.5 million of which over 77 percent are Jewish and more than 20 percent are Palestinian. The latter’s absolute growth is attributable to Israel’s subsequent geographic expansion, particularly in 1967, and a higher birth rate.
Palestine today (parts of West Bank under Israeli occupation). Map: politicalbytes.blog
The current population of the Palestinian Territories, including Gaza, is more than 5.5 million. Compare this with the following brief sample of much smaller self-determination countries — Slovenia (2.2 million), Timor-Leste (1.4 million), and Tonga (104,000).
The population size of the Palestinian Territories is more than half that of Israel. Closer to home it is a little higher than New Zealand.
The only reason why Palestinians continue to be denied the right to self-determination is the Zionist ideological claim linked to the biblical time of Jesus Christ and its consequential strategy of ethnic cleansing.
If it was not for the opposition of the United States, then this right would not have been denied. It has been this opposition that has enabled Israel’s strategy.
Comparative value of Palestinian lives The use of genocide as the latest means of achieving ethnic cleansing highlights how Palestinian lives are valued compared with Israeli lives.
While not of the same magnitude appropriated comparisons have been made with the horrific ethnic cleansing of Jews through the means of the holocaust by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Per capita the scale of the magnitude gap is reduced considerably.
Since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry (and confirmed by the World Health Organisation) more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed. Of those killed over 16,500 were children. Compare this with less than 2000 Israelis killed.
Further, at least 310 UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) team members have been killed along with over 200 journalists and media workers. Add to this around 1400 healthcare workers including doctors and nurses.
What also can’t be forgotten is the increasing Israeli ethnic cleansing on the occupied West Bank. Around 950 Palestinians, including around 200 children, have also been killed during this same period.
Time for New Zealand to recognise Palestine The above discussion is in the context of the three justifications for supporting the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians strategy that goes back to 1948 and which, since October 2023, is being accelerated by genocide.
First, it requires the conviction that the theology of Judaism in Palestine in the biblical times following the birth of Jesus Christ trumps both the significantly changing demography from the 5th century at least to the mid-20th century and the numerical predominance of Arabs in Mandate Palestine;
Second, and consequentially, it requires the conviction that while Israelis are entitled to self-determination, Palestinians are not; and
Finally, it requires that Israeli lives are much more valuable than Palestinian lives. In fact, the latter have no value at all.
Unless the government, including Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, shares these convictions (especially the “here and now” second and third) then it should do the right thing first by unequivocally saying so, and then by recognising the right of Palestine to be an independent state.
Ian Powell is a progressive health, labour market and political “no-frills” forensic commentator in New Zealand. A former senior doctors union leader for more than 30 years, he blogs at Second Opinion and Political Bytes, where this article was first published. Republished with the author’s permission.
NEWARK, N.J. – On May 14, 2025, U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz entered a final judgment forfeiting to the United States approximately $7 million in fraud and money laundering proceeds, as well as a real property purchased with laundered fraud proceeds that has an estimated market value of nearly $2 million, United States Attorney Alina Habba announced.
On May 6, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a civil forfeiture complaint against approximately $7 million in seized and frozen U.S. currency, as well as a real property in Cresskill, New Jersey, that was purchased with nearly $1 million in laundered fraud proceeds, alleging that the assets were the proceeds of fraud and money laundering offenses. As alleged in the complaint, between April 2020 and August 2020, Jae H. Choi (“Choi”) fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans totaling approximately $8,971,457, and then laundered those fraud proceeds through various financial accounts held in the names of Choi’s nominees, including Choi’s relative and various corporate entities that Choi controlled. According to the civil forfeiture complaint, Choi then spent the laundered fraud proceeds on personal expenses and purchased the Cresskill real property.
United States Attorney Habba credited special agents of the Internal Revenue Service –Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan, special agents of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General’s Boston New York Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Amy Connelly, postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, and special agents of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General’s Eastern Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Braithwaite, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter A. Laserna of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit of the Criminal Division in Newark.
Revenue of $44.1 billion, up 12% from Q4 and up 69% from a year ago
Data Center revenue of $39.1 billion, up 10% from Q4 and up 73% from a year ago
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today reported revenue for the first quarter ended April 27, 2025, of $44.1 billion, up 12% from the previous quarter and up 69% from a year ago.
On April 9, 2025, NVIDIA was informed by the U.S. government that a license is required for exports of its H20 products into the China market. As a result of these new requirements, NVIDIA incurred a $4.5 billion charge in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 associated with H20 excess inventory and purchase obligations as the demand for H20 diminished. Sales of H20 products were $4.6 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 prior to the new export licensing requirements. NVIDIA was unable to ship an additional $2.5 billion of H20 revenue in the first quarter.
For the quarter, GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins were 60.5% and 61.0%, respectively. Excluding the $4.5 billion charge, first quarter non-GAAP gross margin would have been 71.3%.
For the quarter, GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.76 and $0.81, respectively. Excluding the $4.5 billion charge and related tax impact, first quarter non-GAAP diluted earnings per share would have been $0.96.
“Our breakthrough Blackwell NVL72 AI supercomputer — a ‘thinking machine’ designed for reasoning— is now in full-scale production across system makers and cloud service providers,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Global demand for NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure is incredibly strong. AI inference token generation has surged tenfold in just one year, and as AI agents become mainstream, the demand for AI computing will accelerate. Countries around the world are recognizing AI as essential infrastructure — just like electricity and the internet — and NVIDIA stands at the center of this profound transformation.”
NVIDIA will pay its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.01 per share on July 3, 2025, to all shareholders of record on June 11, 2025.
Q1 Fiscal 2026 Summary
GAAP
($ in millions, except earnings per share)
Q1 FY26
Q4 FY25
Q1 FY25
Q/Q
Y/Y
Revenue
$44,062
$39,331
$26,044
12%
69%
Gross margin
60.5%
73.0%
78.4%
(12.5) pts
(17.9) pts
Operating expenses
$5,030
$4,689
$3,497
7%
44%
Operating income
$21,638
$24,034
$16,909
(10)%
28%
Net income
$18,775
$22,091
$14,881
(15)%
26%
Diluted earnings per share*
$0.76
$0.89
$0.60
(15)%
27%
Non-GAAP
($ in millions, except earnings per share)
Q1 FY26
Q4 FY25
Q1 FY25
Q/Q
Y/Y
Revenue
$44,062
$39,331
$26,044
12%
69%
Gross margin
61.0%
73.5%
78.9%
(12.5) pts
(17.9) pts
Gross margin excluding H20 charge
71.3%
Operating expenses
$3,583
$3,378
$2,501
6%
43%
Operating income
$23,275
$25,516
$18,059
(9)%
29%
Net income
$19,894
$22,066
$15,238
(10)%
31%
Diluted earnings per share*
$0.81
$0.89
$0.61
(9)%
33%
Diluted earnings per share excluding H20 charge and related tax impact
$0.96
*All per share amounts presented herein have been retroactively adjusted to reflect NVIDIA’s ten-for-one stock split, which was effective June 7, 2024.
Outlook NVIDIA’s outlook for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 is as follows:
Revenue is expected to be $45.0 billion, plus or minus 2%. This outlook reflects a loss in H20 revenue of approximately $8.0 billion due to the recent export control limitations.
GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be 71.8% and 72.0%, respectively, plus or minus 50 basis points. The company is continuing to work toward achieving gross margins in the mid-70% range late this year.
GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $5.7 billion and $4.0 billion, respectively. Full year fiscal 2026 operating expense growth is expected to be in the mid-30% range.
GAAP and non-GAAP other income and expense are expected to be an income of approximately $450 million, excluding gains and losses from non-marketable and publicly-held equity securities.
GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates are expected to be 16.5%, plus or minus 1%, excluding any discrete items.
Highlights NVIDIA achieved progress since its previous earnings announcement in these areas:
Data Center
First-quarter revenue was $39.1 billion, up 10% from the previous quarter and up 73% from a year ago.
Announced that NVIDIA is building factories in the U.S. and working with its partners to produce NVIDIA AI supercomputers in the U.S.
Announced partnership with HUMAIN to build AI factories in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to drive the next wave of artificial intelligence development.
Unveiled Stargate UAE, a next-generation AI infrastructure cluster in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, alongside strategic partners G42, OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank Group and Cisco.
First-quarter Gaming revenue was a record $3.8 billion, up 48% from the previous quarter and up 42% from a year ago.
Announced the NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 5070 and RTX 5060, bringing Blackwell graphics to gamers at prices starting from $299 for desktops and $1,099 for laptops.
Unveiled NVIDIA DLSS 4 is now available in over 125 games, including Black Myth Wukong, DOOM: The Dark Ages, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Marvel Rivals and Star Wars Outlaws.
Announced the Nintendo Switch 2 is powered by an NVIDIA processor and AI-powered DLSS, delivering up to 4K gaming.
Launched the NVIDIA RTX Remix modding platform, attracting over 2 million gamers, alongside the release of the Half-Life 2 RTX demo.
Professional Visualization
First-quarter revenue was $509 million, flat with the previous quarter and up 19% from a year ago.
Unveiled NVIDIA DGX Spark and DGX Station™ personal AI supercomputers powered by the NVIDIA Grace Blackwell platform.
Announced that leading industrial software and service providers Accenture, Ansys, Databricks, SAP, Schneider Electric with ETAP, and Siemens are integrating the NVIDIA Omniverse™ platform into their solutions to accelerate industrial digitalization with physical AI.
Automotive and Robotics
First-quarter Automotive revenue was $567 million, down 1% from the previous quarter and up 72% from a year ago.
Announced a collaboration with General Motors on next-generation vehicles, factories and robots using NVIDIA Omniverse, NVIDIA Cosmos™ and NVIDIA DRIVE AGX™.
Launched NVIDIA Halos, a unified safety system combining NVIDIA’s automotive hardware, software and advanced AV safety AI research.
Announced NVIDIA Isaac™ GR00T N1, the world’s first open humanoid robot foundation model, followed by NVIDIA Isaac™ GR00T N1.5; NVIDIA Isaac GR00T-Dreams, a blueprint for generating synthetic motion data; and NVIDIA Blackwell systems to accelerate humanoid robot development.
Released new NVIDIA Cosmos™ world foundation models and physical AI data tools.
CFO Commentary Commentary on the quarter by Colette Kress, NVIDIA’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, is available at https://investor.nvidia.com.
Conference Call and Webcast Information NVIDIA will conduct a conference call with analysts and investors to discuss its first quarter fiscal 2026 financial results and current financial prospects today at 2 p.m. Pacific time (5 p.m. Eastern time). A live webcast (listen-only mode) of the conference call will be accessible at NVIDIA’s investor relations website, https://investor.nvidia.com. The webcast will be recorded and available for replay until NVIDIA’s conference call to discuss its financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2026.
Non-GAAP Measures To supplement NVIDIA’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP, the company uses non-GAAP measures of certain components of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP other income (expense), net, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income, or earnings, per diluted share, and free cash flow. For NVIDIA’s investors to be better able to compare its current results with those of previous periods, the company has shown a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures. These reconciliations adjust the related GAAP financial measures to exclude stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related and other costs, other, gains/losses from non-marketable and publicly-held equity securities, net, interest expense related to amortization of debt discount, H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges, and the associated tax impact of these items where applicable. The inclusion of H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges in the reconciliations to adjust the related GAAP financial measures was a result of the U.S. government informing NVIDIA on April 9, 2025 that it requires a license for export to China of H20 products. H20 products were designed primarily for the China market. Free cash flow is calculated as GAAP net cash provided by operating activities less both purchases related to property and equipment and intangible assets and principal payments on property and equipment and intangible assets. NVIDIA believes the presentation of its non-GAAP financial measures enhances the user’s overall understanding of the company’s historical financial performance. The presentation of the company’s non-GAAP financial measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the company’s financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP, and the company’s non-GAAP measures may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies.
NVIDIA CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(In millions, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
April 27,
April 28,
2025
2024
Revenue
$
44,062
$
26,044
Cost of revenue
17,394
5,638
Gross profit
26,668
20,406
Operating expenses
Research and development
3,989
2,720
Sales, general and administrative
1,041
777
Total operating expenses
5,030
3,497
Operating income
21,638
16,909
Interest income
515
359
Interest expense
(63
)
(64
)
Other income (expense), net
(180
)
75
Total other income (expense), net
272
370
Income before income tax
21,910
17,279
Income tax expense
3,135
2,398
Net income
$
18,775
$
14,881
Net income per share:
Basic
$
0.77
$
0.60
Diluted
$
0.76
$
0.60
Weighted average shares used in per share computation:
Basic
24,441
24,620
Diluted
24,611
24,890
NVIDIA CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In millions)
(Unaudited)
April 27,
January 26,
2025
2025
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities
$
53,691
$
43,210
Accounts receivable, net
22,132
23,065
Inventories
11,333
10,080
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
2,779
3,771
Total current assets
89,935
80,126
Property and equipment, net
7,136
6,283
Operating lease assets
1,810
1,793
Goodwill
5,498
5,188
Intangible assets, net
769
807
Deferred income tax assets
13,318
10,979
Other assets
6,788
6,425
Total assets
$
125,254
$
111,601
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable
$
7,331
$
6,310
Accrued and other current liabilities
19,211
11,737
Total current liabilities
26,542
18,047
Long-term debt
8,464
8,463
Long-term operating lease liabilities
1,521
1,519
Other long-term liabilities
4,884
4,245
Total liabilities
41,411
32,274
Shareholders’ equity
83,843
79,327
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
$
125,254
$
111,601
NVIDIA CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In millions)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
April 27,
April 28,
2025
2024
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income
$
18,775
$
14,881
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash
provided by operating activities:
Stock-based compensation expense
1,474
1,011
Depreciation and amortization
611
410
(Gains) losses on non-marketable equity securities and publicly-held equity securities, net
175
(69
)
Deferred income taxes
(2,177
)
(1,577
)
Other
(98
)
(145
)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
Accounts receivable
933
(2,366
)
Inventories
(1,258
)
(577
)
Prepaid expenses and other assets
560
(726
)
Accounts payable
941
(22
)
Accrued and other current liabilities
7,128
4,202
Other long-term liabilities
350
323
Net cash provided by operating activities
27,414
15,345
Cash flows from investing activities:
Proceeds from maturities of marketable securities
3,122
4,004
Proceeds from sales of marketable securities
467
149
Proceeds from sales of non-marketable equity securities
–
55
Purchases of marketable securities
(6,546
)
(9,303
)
Purchase related to property and equipment and intangible assets
(1,227
)
(369
)
Purchases of non-marketable equity securities
(649
)
(190
)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired
(383
)
(39
)
Net cash used in investing activities
(5,216
)
(5,693
)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds related to employee stock plans
370
285
Payments related to repurchases of common stock
(14,095
)
(7,740
)
Payments related to employee stock plan taxes
(1,532
)
(1,752
)
Dividends paid
(244
)
(98
)
Principal payments on property and equipment and intangible assets
(52
)
(40
)
Net cash used in financing activities
(15,553
)
(9,345
)
Change in cash and cash equivalents
6,645
307
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
8,589
7,280
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
$
15,234
$
7,587
NVIDIA CORPORATION
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
(In millions, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
April 27,
January 26,
April 28,
2025
2025
2024
GAAP cost of revenue
$
17,394
$
10,608
$
5,638
GAAP gross profit
$
26,668
$
28,723
$
20,406
GAAP gross margin
60.5%
73.0%
78.4%
Acquisition-related and other costs (A)
123
118
119
Stock-based compensation expense (B)
64
53
36
Other
3
–
(1
)
Non-GAAP cost of revenue
$
17,204
$
10,437
$
5,484
Non-GAAP gross profit
$
26,858
$
28,894
$
20,560
Non-GAAP gross margin
61.0%
73.5%
78.9%
GAAP operating expenses
$
5,030
$
4,689
$
3,497
Stock-based compensation expense (B)
(1,410
)
(1,268
)
(975
)
Acquisition-related and other costs (A)
(37
)
(43
)
(21
)
Non-GAAP operating expenses
$
3,583
$
3,378
$
2,501
GAAP operating income
$
21,638
$
24,034
$
16,909
Total impact of non-GAAP adjustments to operating income
1,637
1,482
1,150
Non-GAAP operating income
$
23,275
$
25,516
$
18,059
GAAP total other income (expense), net
$
272
$
1,183
$
370
(Gains) losses from non-marketable equity securities and publicly-held equity securities, net
175
(727
)
(69
)
Interest expense related to amortization of debt discount
1
1
1
Non-GAAP total other income (expense), net
$
448
$
457
$
302
GAAP net income
$
18,775
$
22,091
$
14,881
Total pre-tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments
1,813
756
1,082
Income tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments (C)
(694
)
(781
)
(725
)
Non-GAAP net income
$
19,894
$
22,066
$
15,238
Diluted net income per share (D)
GAAP
$
0.76
$
0.89
$
0.60
Non-GAAP
$
0.81
$
0.89
$
0.61
Weighted average shares used in diluted net income per share computation (D)
24,611
24,706
24,890
GAAP net cash provided by operating activities
$
27,414
$
16,628
$
15,345
Purchases related to property and equipment and intangible assets
(1,227
)
(1,077
)
(369
)
Principal payments on property and equipment and intangible assets
(52
)
(32
)
(40
)
Free cash flow
$
26,135
$
15,519
$
14,936
(A) Acquisition-related and other costs are comprised of amortization of intangible assets, transaction costs, and certain compensation charges and are included in the following line items:
Three Months Ended
April 27,
January 26,
April 28,
2025
2025
2024
Cost of revenue
$
123
$
118
$
119
Research and development
$
28
$
27
$
12
Sales, general and administrative
$
9
$
16
$
8
(B) Stock-based compensation consists of the following:
Three Months Ended
April 27,
January 26,
April 28,
2025
2025
2024
Cost of revenue
$
64
$
53
$
36
Research and development
$
1,063
$
955
$
727
Sales, general and administrative
$
347
$
313
$
248
(C) Income tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments, including the recognition of excess tax benefits or deficiencies related to stock-based compensation under GAAP accounting standard (ASU 2016-09).
(D) Reflects a ten-for-one stock split on June 7, 2024.
Three Months
Ended
April 27,
2025
($ in millions)
GAAP gross profit
$
26,668
GAAP gross margin
60.5%
Stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related costs, and other costs
190
H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges
4,538
Non-GAAP gross profit (as adjusted to exclude H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges)
$
31,396
Non-GAAP gross margin (as adjusted to exclude H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges)
71.3%
GAAP net income
$
18,775
Total pre-tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments and H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges
6,351
Income tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments and H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges
(1,491
)
Non-GAAP net income (as adjusted to exclude H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges)
$
23,635
Diluted net income per share
GAAP
$
0.76
Non-GAAP (as adjusted to exclude H20 excess inventory and purchase obligation charges)
$
0.96
Weighted average shares used in diluted net income per share computation
24,611
NVIDIA CORPORATION
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP OUTLOOK
Q2 FY2026 Outlook
($ in millions)
GAAP gross margin
71.8%
Impact of stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related costs, and other costs
0.2%
Non-GAAP gross margin
72.0%
GAAP operating expenses
$
5,700
Stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related costs, and other costs
(1,700
)
Non-GAAP operating expenses
$
4,000
About NVIDIA NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in accelerated computing.
For further information, contact:
Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the impact of H20 export licensing requirements; global demand for NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure; the demand for AI computing accelerating; countries recognizing AI as essential infrastructure and NVIDIA’s role; AI factories fueling a new industrial revolution and their impact; expectations with respect to growth, performance and benefits of NVIDIA’s products, services and technologies, including Blackwell, and related trends and drivers; expectations with respect to supply and demand for NVIDIA’s products, services and technologies, including Blackwell, and related matters including inventory, production and distribution; expectations with respect to NVIDIA’s third party arrangements, including with its collaborators and partners; expectations with respect to technology developments and related trends and drivers; future NVIDIA cash dividends or other returns to stockholders; NVIDIA’s financial and business outlook for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 and beyond; projected market growth and trends; expectations with respect to AI and related industries; and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic and political conditions; NVIDIA’s reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test NVIDIA’s products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to NVIDIA’s existing product and technologies; market acceptance of NVIDIA’s products or NVIDIA’s partners’ products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of NVIDIA’s products or technologies when integrated into systems; and changes in applicable laws and regulations, as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company’s website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
DALLAS, May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Beneficient (NASDAQ: BENF) (“Beneficient,” “Ben” or the “Company”), a technology-enabled platform providing exit opportunities and primary capital solutions and related trust and custody services to holders of alternative assets through its proprietary online platform, AltAccess, announced today that the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which had been previously adjourned to 2:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time today, May 28, 2025, has been once again adjourned to allow for more time for stockholders to vote.
At this time, there were not present, by remote communication or by proxy, a sufficient number of shares of the Company’s common stock to constitute a quorum. The Company’s Board of Directors continues to believe that all the proposals contained in the proxy statement are advisable and in the best interests of the Company’s stockholders to consider and act upon. Therefore, the Company adjourned the Annual Meeting.
The meeting has been scheduled to reconvene on May 29, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time and will be held virtually online at https://www.cstproxy.com/beneficient/2025.
During the period of the adjournment, the Company will continue to solicit proxies from its stockholders with respect to the proposals set forth in the Company’s proxy statement. Proxies previously submitted in respect to the Annual Meeting will be voted at the reconvened meeting unless properly revoked, and stockholders who have previously submitted a proxy or otherwise voted need not take any action unless they wish to change their vote.
The Company encourages all stockholders who have not yet voted to do so before May 28, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Central time. The stockholders may vote by internet at https://www.cstproxyvote.com, or by telephone at 1 (866) 894-0536, or by returning a properly executed proxy card to Corporate Secretary, Beneficient, at 325 N. Saint Paul Street, Suite 4850, Dallas, Texas 75201. About Beneficient
Beneficient (Nasdaq: BENF) – Ben, for short – is on a mission to democratize the global alternative asset investment market by providing traditionally underserved investors − mid-to-high net worth individuals, small-to-midsized institutions and General Partners seeking exit options, anchor commitments and valued-added services for their funds − with solutions that could help them unlock the value in their alternative assets. Ben’s AltQuote™ tool provides customers with a range of potential exit options within minutes, while customers can log on to the AltAccess® portal to explore opportunities and receive proposals in a secure online environment.
Its subsidiary, Beneficient Fiduciary Financial, L.L.C., received its charter under the State of Kansas’ Technology-Enabled Fiduciary Financial Institution (TEFFI) Act and is subject to regulatory oversight by the Office of the State Bank Commissioner.
Additional Information and where to find it
The Company has filed a definitive proxy statement and associated proxy card with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company (the “Annual Meeting”). The Company, its directors, its executive officers and certain other individuals set forth in the definitive proxy statement will be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders in respect of the Annual Meeting. Information regarding the names of the Company’s directors and executive officers and certain other individuals and their respective interests in the Company by security holdings or otherwise are set forth in the definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on March 21, 2025. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH OR FURNISHED TO THE SEC, INCLUDING THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY SUPPLEMENTS THERETO AND ACCOMPANYING PROXY CARD, BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and shareholders can obtain a copy of the documents filed by the Company with the SEC, including the definitive proxy statement, free of charge by visiting the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. The Company’s stockholders can also obtain, without charge, a copy of the definitive proxy statement and other relevant filed documents when available from the Company’s website at www.trustben.com.
WARSAW, N.Y., May 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Financial Institutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: FISI) (the “Company”), parent company of Five Star Bank and Courier Capital, LLC, announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.31 per outstanding common share.
The Company also announced dividends of $0.75 per share on its Series A 3% preferred stock and $2.12 per share on its Series B-1 8.48% preferred stock.
All dividends are payable July 2, 2025, to shareholders of record on June 13, 2025.
About Financial Institutions, Inc. Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISI) is a financial holding company with approximately $6.3 billion in assets as of March 31, 2025, offering banking and wealth management products and services. Its Five Star Bank subsidiary provides consumer and commercial banking and lending services to individuals, municipalities and businesses through banking locations spanning Western and Central New York and a commercial loan production office serving the Mid-Atlantic region. Courier Capital, LLC offers customized investment management, financial planning and consulting services to individuals and families, businesses, institutions, non-profits and retirement plans. Learn more at Five-StarBank.com and FISI-Investors.com.
For additional information contact: Kate Croft Director of Investor and External Relations (716) 817-5159 klcroft@five-starbank.com
Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)
In episode 4, Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Honorable Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D., breaks down the Veterans Benefits Banking Program – what it is, how to apply, and who’s eligible. For more information, call 800-827-1000.
A model for anticipatory action and integrated risk governance emerges in Brussels
Brussels, 27 May 2025 — As wildfire seasons grow longer and more destructive across Europe, driven by climate change and land-use pressures, a new strategy unveiled in Brussels last week aims to transform the continent’s approach to wildfire risk management.
At the heart of this shift is the Integrated Wildfire Risk Management (IWRM) Strategy for Europe, launched during a high-level event convened on 20–21 May by the Firelogue project and the EUResearch Executive Agency (REA). The strategy is the result of a multi-year collaboration between leading scientists, policymakers, and civil society actors, supported by the European Green Deal through projects such as FirEUrisk, FIRE-RES, SILVANUS, and TREEADS.
Framed by the urgency of increasing fire severity and shifting hazard patterns, the event brought together approximately 150 participants—from EU institutions and national governments to fire services, NGOs, and research networks—to explore how Europe can move toward a more proactive and integrated approach to wildfire risk.
Integrated and systemic governance
While wildfires have long been considered an issue for the Mediterranean, their geographic spread and intensity are now testing response systems across the continent. In this context, the IWRM Strategy signals a fundamental pivot: away from isolated emergency response toward systemic risk governance, in line with global resilience agendas such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The strategy offers a common framework for Member States and stakeholders to align efforts around shared goals, risk metrics, and governance structures. It emphasizes the need to build fire-resilient landscapes, improve coordination across sectors, and strengthen the capacity of local authorities to plan and act before disaster strikes.
“We are no longer dealing with exceptional events, but with recurring climate-driven risks that demand long-term, integrated solutions,” said Claudia Berchtold, one of the lead authors of the strategy paper.
Bridging Science, Policy, and Practice
Throughout the two-day event, attendees engaged in knowledge exchange and hands-on demonstrations that showcased how innovation can enhance preparedness. Tools presented included drone-based fire monitoring, mobile applications for rapid response, and immersive training environments using virtual reality.
Importantly, these technological advances are not stand-alone solutions. They are embedded within the strategy’s broader emphasis on data-informed decision-making, community engagement, and institutional learning. These align closely with UNDRR’s call for whole-of-society approaches and multi-stakeholder coordination in disaster risk reduction.
One keynote focused on the importance of stakeholder inclusion, particularly the empowerment of local and regional authorities who often bear the brunt of wildfire impacts. Another panel addressed the challenge of integrating early-warning systems with planning processes, land management, and social protection policies—key to reducing vulnerability and exposure.
Collaborative Risk Governance in Action
The event’s high-level roundtable included participation from the European Commission’s DG Environment, DG ECHO, and the Joint Research Centre, as well as international partners such as the World Bank. Discussions underscored the importance of interoperability between national systems and the role of cross-border partnerships in managing transboundary risk. To foster long-term collaboration, the strategy proposes integrated risk assessments, the creation of better collaboration at multiple scales e.g by the means of regional Fire Forums—multi-stakeholder platforms designed to facilitate joint planning, capacity-building, and peer learning across Europe. These would support the goals of both the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and global DRR frameworks by connecting practitioners, scientists, and policymakers in a continuous cycle of preparedness and adaptation.
Toward Fire-Smart Landscapes and Societies
In its closing session, the event turned toward the future. Project representatives reflected on four years of EU-funded research and laid out priorities for the coming decade: from scaling risk-reduction solutions to embedding wildfire preparedness into broader climate adaptation strategies.
“We need to act on the knowledge we’ve built—to invest in fire-smart landscapes, strengthen local capacities, and accelerate knowledge transfer,” said Krishna Chandramouli, another key contributor to the strategy.
For UNDRR and its partners, the IWRM Strategy offers not only a blueprint for Europe, but also a replicable model of how countries and regions can integrate disaster risk reduction into climate action, land management, and sustainable development planning. “It connects closely with the Making Cities Resilient 2030 Initiative and its recent report Flames of change: Innovating heat and wildfire governance for inclusive communities” say Andrew Mackey Bower, UNDRR Programme Management Officer who joined the event.
A Regional Strategy with Global Relevance
The Brussels event marked more than the launch of a new policy—it was a demonstration of what anticipatory action and collaborative risk governance can look like in practice. As wildfires grow more complex and interconnected, Europe’s strategy stands as a timely and relevant contribution to global DRR efforts.
Question for written answer E-002055/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Claudiu-Richard Târziu (ECR)
According to the World Bank, Romania needs to invest over 350 billion dollars by 2050 just to decarbonise its energy sector – an amount equating to approximately 4 % of its annual GDP. This reflects the enormous burden that the green transition is placing on eastern European countries, with no clear guarantees as to the economic or social benefits.
In its current form, the ‘green mirage’ could do serious harm to strategic industries, increase dependence on imports from outside the EU and put jobs at risk. While Romania is bearing huge costs, other economies are receiving subsidies or ignoring the rules set at European level.
1.Why is the Commission promoting a climate agenda that is harming eastern European countries disproportionately?
2.How does it justify the costs imposed on Romania in comparison with the preferential treatment of other states?
3.What will it do to protect European industries from unfair competition and balance efforts between East and West?
On 4 June 2025 at 14.45, ECON Members will vote on the ‘Financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2024’. The draft report welcomes the strategic priorities of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for 2024-2027 and includes a strong call for the EIB to play an even bigger role in addressing Europe’s investment needs and funding common EU priorities. It also reiterates the Parliament’s call for an interinstitutional agreement between the Parliament and the EIB.
As usual, the BUDG and ECON Committees alternate in preparing an own-initiative annual report on the EIB and this year it is ECON’s turn. Members tabled 317 amendments to the draft report by the Rapporteur, Francisco Assis, who then tabled five compromise amendments that deal with a wide range of topics. These include: closing the investment gap and fostering competitiveness; consolidating the EIB’s role as EU’s climate bank; financing peace, security and defence; addressing challenges in social infrastructure, cohesion policy and housing; promoting digital transformation and new technologies; EIB neighbourhood and Global Gateway; governance: accountability and transparency. The plenary vote is planned for the July 2025 part-session.
Rapporteur: Francisco ASSIS (S&D) Shadows: Kinga KOLLÁR (EPP), Jaroslava POKORNÁ JERMANOVÁ (PfE), Johan VAN OVERTVELDT (ECR), Ľudovít ÓDOR (Renew), Damian BOESELAGER (Greens/EFA), Marc BOTENGA (The Left)
The European Investment Bank (EIB) welcomes the launch of the United Nations Ocean Investment Protocol, a comprehensive new framework to align financial flows and business practices with the transition to a sustainable ocean economy. As a knowledge partner in its development, the EIB recognises the Protocol as a vital guide to scaling finance for a healthy and resilient ocean.
The United Nations Global Compact and the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) today unveiled the Protocol, which builds on the UN Global Compact Sustainable Ocean Principles and UNEP FI’s Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles. The Ocean Investment Protocol offers financial institutions, insurers, ocean industries, governments, and development finance institutions a clear pathway to collectively foster the growth of the Sustainable Ocean Economy and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG14 (“Life Below Water”).
As the largest supporter of the blue economy among development finance institutions, the EIB Group has committed €10.6 billion to blue economy projects between 2020 and 2024, mobilising €43 billion in total investments. The EIB was also a co-founder of the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles in 2017, helping to set a global standard for responsible investment.
The release of the Ocean Investment Protocol comes at a pivotal moment, as global momentum builds around a nature-positive agenda, the urgent need to curb carbon emissions, and accelerating action to tackle plastic and chemical pollution. The Protocol is intended to galvanize multi-stakeholder collaboration in the run-up to major ocean, climate, and biodiversity milestones.
Key elements include:
Holistic Guidance for financial actors to manage environmental risks and pursue growth in sectors such as offshore renewables, sustainable seafood, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Data and Disclosure recommendations, promoting greater transparency on nature-related risks and impacts and aligning with global reporting frameworks, including the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and science-based targets.
Sector-Specific Roadmaps outlining responsible financing and operational practices in shipping, tourism, fisheries, renewable energy and other key ocean industries.
Policy and Regulation Support to foster investment-ready environments, highlight the importance of marine spatial planning and encourage incentives for sustainable practices.
Catalytic Role of Development Finance in advancing pipeline development for the Sustainable Ocean Economy, especially in emerging markets and coastal communities most vulnerable to climate change.
“The UN Ocean Investment Protocol is a strong complement to the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles, which the EIB co-founded,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “It provides governments, financial institutions, insurers, and companies with the clarity and guidance needed to align private investments with the Sustainable Development Goals. By setting clear recommendations for responsible investment, the Protocol will help ensure that growth in ocean industries goes hand in hand with environmental stewardship and social inclusion. At the EIB, we look forward to helping turn these recommendations into concrete action for the benefit of people and planet.”
Background information
A thriving ocean is essential for biodiversity, food security, climate resilience, and global livelihoods. The Sustainable Ocean Economy links ocean health with prosperity—making targeted finance more urgent than ever. It is central to achieving the targets of the SDGs, the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. With ocean health inseparable from global prosperity, mounting pressures—rising ocean temperatures, overfishing, pollution, biodiversity loss, weak governance, and inequitable access to marine resources—highlight the urgency of dedicated investments and policies that safeguard marine ecosystems and drive equitable economic opportunities.
The ocean economy is already equivalent in size to the world’s fifth largest economy, and global markets are reliant on the ocean and its industries to support 90 percent of global trade volume. Developing a regenerative and sustainable ocean economy is becoming increasingly central to global transitions in trade, infrastructure, energy, climate resilience, food security and regenerative tourism. The Ocean Investment Protocol responds to the critical need for swift, holistic efforts to preserve ocean ecosystems and foster growth in sustainable ocean-based sectors. It outlines actionable steps to align investments with nature- and climate-positive outcomes, fostering innovation across key ocean sectors. By 2050, the market value of a refocused, sustainable and fairly shared ocean economy is projected to reach USD$5.5 trillion.
EIB
The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, high-impact investments outside the European Union, and the capital markets union.
The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.
All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment.
Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the Group supported a record of over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised €110 billion in growth capital for startups, scale-ups and European pioneers. Approximately half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.
High-quality, up-to-date photos of our headquarters for media use are available here.
overnor Kathy Hochul today announced the completion of the redeveloped John P. Taylor Apartments in the city of Troy. The new $67 million seven-story mixed-use building, developed by Pennrose, features 141 affordable apartments and ground floor retail space, replacing the complex’s two original towers which were demolished in 2022 after having been vacant for more than a decade. Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, New York State Homes and Community Renewal has financed more than 1,300 affordable homes in Rensselaer County. The redevelopment of the John P. Taylor Apartments continues this effort and complements Governor Hochul’s $25 billion five-year housing plan, which is on track to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide.
“The completion of the John P. Taylor Apartments is another step forward in our ongoing mission to create and preserve affordable housing opportunities for New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said. “This complex demonstrates how important our investments are for communities like Troy. This comprehensive project delivers 141 modern, energy-efficient affordable homes and significant infrastructure improvements that support the city’s continued efforts to revitalize its downtown waterfront.”
The redevelopment of the John P. Taylor Apartments was a priority of the Revitalize Riverside component of Troy’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which was awarded by the State in 2021. The Revitalize Riverside plan was designed to enhance Troy’s South Central neighborhood and is part of a comprehensive strategy to create commercial space, add new housing, restore Troy’s downtown street grid, and improve the Congress Street Bridge which serves as an important artery to several of the region’s major roadways.
All units are supported by Project-based Section 8 vouchers issued by the Troy Housing Authority. Residents of the original John P. Taylor Apartments were given a preference for placement in the new apartments.
The new building was constructed to meet EPA Energy Star Multifamily New Construction and Enterprise Green Communities PLUS criteria. The development utilizes advanced energy efficiency features including all-electric HVAC, increased insulation, and an energy recovery ventilation system.
The John P. Taylor Apartments will offer an array of modern amenities for residents, including free Wi-Fi, washers and dryers in every apartment, and common areas such as a fitness center, community room, and outdoor patio.
State financing includes Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits that generate $30 million in equity and $20 million in subsidy from New York State Homes and Community Renewal. The Department of State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative provided $1.6 million in support. The Federal Home Loan Bank provided $1.4 million.
New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, “Replacing aging public housing stock with modern homes and amenities is one of the most impactful ways to increase quality of life and make housing more affordable for families. This $67 million project, developed by Pennrose in partnership with the Troy Housing Authority, not only provides 141 new apartments but connects people to the city and further revitalizes Troy’s historic waterfront. Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, HCR is proud to work alongside state and local partners to support efforts that are delivering thousands of affordable homes and improving affordability across New York.”
New York Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley said, “The new Taylor Apartments are a major step towards Governor Hochul’s efforts to make New York more affordable and to create badly needed housing throughout our state. We are incredibly proud of how the Downtown Revitalization Initiative takes a holistic approach in creating opportunities for communities to thrive and for residents to have an affordable place to call home. Congratulations on this successful project completion.”
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer said, “Every family in Troy deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. I’m proud that the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit that I worked hard to protect and expand has delivered millions to build over 140 new homes at the John P. Taylor Apartments – a redeveloped waterfront building with energy-efficient air conditioning and ventilation systems. High housing costs are a key driver of inflation so we must build more housing for working people to bring down those high prices. I’m proud to have secured federal funding to raze the old, outdated and dilapidated Taylor towers, so that this wonderful new era at the Taylor Apartments could begin. I applaud Governor Hochul’s work increasing access to affordable housing in the Capital Region and across New York, and I will continue working to deliver federal resources to ensure that every New Yorker has a roof over their heads.”
Assemblymember John McDonald said, “The redevelopment of the John P. Taylor Apartments is a great example of what can be accomplished when state and local partners work together to meet the needs of our communities. This project not only provides high-quality, affordable housing for families in Troy, but it also strengthens the city’s economy through smart, community-focused investment. I’m proud to support initiatives like this that enhance quality of life and create new opportunities for Capital Region residents.”
Troy Mayor Carmella R. Mantello said, “The completion of the John P. Taylor Apartments marks a major milestone in our continued efforts to move Troy forward. This transformative redevelopment is made possible through the partnership of Pennrose, the Troy Housing Authority, and our city. It not only brings much-needed state of the art affordable housing to our downtown waterfront but also strengthens the connection between our neighborhoods and the Capital Region. Together, we are building a more vibrant, inclusive, and prosperous future for all who call Troy home.”
Troy City Council President Sue Steele said, “It was a great honor for me to serve as Chair of the Troy Housing Authority Board of Commissioners during the planning, demolition and construction of Taylor 1. This project transformed our city’s downtown while also providing new, modern housing for tenants of the THA. On behalf of the board I want to thank each and everyone involved in making this a reality. I’m grateful for the combined vision of local, state and federal partners and Pennrose to step up and address a critical housing need in our city.”
Troy Housing Authority Executive Director Deborah Witkowski said, “I want to thank Governor Hochul and our federal and state partners for their investment in the City of Troy and the new Taylor I building which provides 141 units of high-end affordable housing with modern-day amenities that encourage a healthy, sustainable environment for the residents we serve. The Taylor I building is only the beginning of the overall Taylor Apartments revitalization plan that will eventually include other mixed-use, mixed-income buildings with direct access to the riverfront, recreational areas, and a connection to Troy’s downtown district.”
Pennrose Regional Vice President Dylan Salmons said, “Today’s ribbon cutting is a significant milestone in the years-long effort to revitalize the historic downtown, and we look forward to continuing the momentum with phase II. We’d especially like to thank the local community, neighborhood stakeholders, and residents of Taylor Apartments for their time, feedback, continued trust, and collaboration throughout this process.”
Governor Hochul’s Housing Agenda Governor Hochul is committed to addressing New York’s housing crisis and making the State more affordable and more livable for all New Yorkers. As part of the FY 2025 Enacted Budget, the Governor secured a landmark agreement to increase New York’s housing supply through new tax incentives, capital funding, and new protections for renters and homeowners. Building on this commitment, the FY 2026 Enacted Budget included more than $1.5 billion in new state funding for housing, a Housing Access Voucher pilot program, and new policies to improve affordability for tenants and homebuyers. In addition, as part of the FY 2023 Enacted Budget, the Governor announced a five-year, $25 billion Housing Plan to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide, including 10,000 with support services for vulnerable populations, plus the electrification of an additional 50,000 homes. Nearly 60,000 homes have been created or preserved to date.
The FY 2025 Enacted Budget also strengthened the Pro-Housing Community Program which the Governor launched in 2023. Pro-Housing certification is now a requirement for localities to access up to $750 million in discretionary funding. Currently, more than 300 communities have been certified, including Troy.
NEWARK, N.J. – Five Amtrak employees recently admitted participating in a health care fraud scheme to defraud Amtrak, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
Kevin Frink, 53, of Willingboro, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court to an Indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Michael Toal, 35, of Hazlet, New Jersey, David McBrien, 37, of Levittown, Pennsylvania, Damany Walker, 41, of Irvington, New Jersey, and David Lonergan, 65, of Rockaway Park, New York, in recent weeks also pleaded guilty before Judge Arleo in Newark federal court to the Indictment charging conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
The Indictment also charges four other co-conspirators in connection with the scheme: Quinton Johnson, 53, of Irvington, New Jersey; Gregory Richardson, 35, of Roosevelt, New York; Timothy Bogen, 59, of Hamden, Connecticut; and Dion Jacob, 50, of Brooklyn, New York. Defendant Rodolfo Rivera, 41, of Clayton, Delaware, previously pleaded guilty to the Indictment, and co-conspirator Anthony Saloka, 44, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to an Information.
“The defendants admitted to colluding with corrupt health care providers in a scheme to defraud Amtrak’s health care plan for personal financial gain. My office is committed to holding accountable those who profit from health care scams, like this one, that harm the public and the health care system.”
– U.S. Attorney Alina Habba
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From January 2019 through June 2022, Frink, Toal, McBrien, Walker, Lonergan, and their co-conspirators—who were also Amtrak employees—engaged in a scheme to obtain cash kickbacks from health care providers in return for their agreement to allow their health insurance plan to be billed for services that were never provided and were not medically necessary. In total, as a result of the conspiracy, the Amtrak health care plan paid over $11 million in fraudulent claims associated with providers connected to the scheme.
Each defendant received thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks from health care providers in return for their participation in the scheme, including from Punson Figueroa, an acupuncturist. Defendants Frink, McBrien, Walker, and Lonergan also received cash kickbacks from Michael DeNicola, a podiatrist. Figueroa previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and was sentenced on September 24, 2024 to 34 months in prison. DeNicola previously pleaded guilty on June 29, 2022 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, among other offenses. His sentencing remains pending.
The health care fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Walker’s and McBrien’s sentencings are scheduled for July 24, 2025. Lonergan’s sentencing is scheduled for August 20, 2025. Toal’s sentencing is scheduled for October 23, 2025. Frink’s sentencing is scheduled for October 9, 2025.
U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Waters, the Amtrak Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Sam Dotson, and special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III in New York, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica R. Ecker and Katherine M. Romano of the Health Care Fraud and Opioid Abuse Prevention Unit, and Senior Trial Counsel Barbara Ward of the Bank Integrity, Recovery, and Money Laundering Unit, in Newark.
The charge and allegations contained in the Indictment against Johnson, Richardson, Bogen, and Jacob are merely accusations, and they are each presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
###
Defense counsel: Sarah Sulkowski, Esq. (for Kevin Frink)
Michael Chazen, Esq. (for Michael Toal)
Michael V. Calabro, Esq. (for David McBrien)
Michael Rosas, Esq. (for Damany Walker)
Bruce S. Rosen, Esq. and Sarah Fehm Stewart, Esq. (for David Lonergan)
NREL’s hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis (HERO) wave energy converter (WEC) is seen anchored off Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head, North Carolina. This is NREL’s first marine-powered desalination device to weather ocean waters. Photo by John McCord / Coastal Studies Institute
The life of a wave energy converter (WEC) may sound idyllic—bobbing on ocean waves all day or swaying underwater, quietly generating electricity for the people living and working near shore.
But in reality, it takes a lot of careful planning for salt water and electronics to achieve that perceived state of bliss. And that is where a robust risk management plan can find ways to make that pairing work.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Marine Energy Technology Development Risk Management Framework gives marine energy researchers and developers a comprehensive process to break down their approach and any variables that may impede or accelerate their success. The tool includes technical components, environmental conditions, funding sources, staffing, stakeholder support, deployment permits, and more.
With a greater understanding of each factor and its underlying components, the framework enables groups to better manage uncertainties (both positive and negative) and develop effective contingency plans.
“You might have one little vulnerable part that costs 10 cents to buy, like an O-ring, but the effects of it failing might be a $1 million loss because it leads to water entering a sealed chamber,” said David Snowberg, NREL engineer and lead author on the report. “That kind of information is useful to know early on.”
Calculating the Odds
The revised framework includes a new template for assessing failure modes, their effects, and their potential causes, which are prioritized through a criticality analysis. This free, public tool can help organizations prioritize their investments while minimizing potential damage and costs.
Senior mechanical engineer David Snowberg (left) leads a tour of the Composites Manufacturing Education and Technology facility for Colorado state representatives in 2022. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL
“A risk register provides a structured approach for managing all sources of uncertainty that might impact your objectives,” Snowberg added. “That uncertainty can also be opportunities where potential unknowns become benefits to your project. A risk register can help you manage both those positive and negative uncertainties.”
He emphasized that it is critical to consider more than just the technical components of a project. Human aspects, such as stakeholder support, are equally important factors in the overall success and timeline of a project.
“Ignoring risks is rarely a good approach,” said Scott Jenne, NREL ‘s marine energy desalination lead. “They usually come back and cause greater problems than if you had dealt with them early on.”
Using the marine energy risk management framework, people can identify risks, analyze them, and then plan a response. This cycle continues throughout the course of a project so that groups have a responsive, adaptable way to monitor and manage any type of uncertainty that they encounter.
Putting It Into Practice
At NREL, Snowberg is working through the framework with Jenne and the team that designed and built the hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis WEC (HERO WEC), a wave-powered desalination device that has gone through extensive laboratory testing and five ocean installations in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
“The HERO WEC is able to desalinate seawater using either the hydraulic configuration or the electric configuration—so it has two different energy conversion systems that can be swapped out based on the specific area of research the team is focusing on, which makes it at least twice as complicated as it would be otherwise,” Snowberg said.
Having worked through multiple designs since 2020, Jenne noted, “The complexity increases due to the need to integrate two unique conversion systems on the same device and the fact that you’ve added more things that depend on each other.”
The hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis (HERO) wave energy converter (WEC) device preparing for its ocean deployment at the Coastal Studies Institute, East Carolina University Outer Banks Campus. Photo by Andrew Simms, NREL
For a device like the HERO WEC, it is not just about basic functionality—survivability is also a key priority. What would it need to survive a 1-in-50-year storm? And what types of conditions would that storm create, from waves and winds to currents and surf?
“The marine environment is harsh,” Snowberg said. “Getting things to survive the corrosion, the biofouling, and everything out there is challenging.”
The HERO WEC team is currently redesigning the second version of the device and leveraging the risk management framework throughout their process—helping them apply lessons learned to build on past successes and steer clear of previous challenges.
“It’s really important that we design HERO WEC to be highly survivable and reliable,” Jenne said. “Having this framework is a critical tool for us to be able to evaluate what might go wrong before we build another physical model.”
Since the development of the original framework 10 years ago, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office has worked closely with NREL to incorporate key components and uphold specific requirements for projects with open water testing that they support.
Snowberg emphasized that the risk management processes are tools for success, meant to meet people where they are at and provide guidance at any stage of project development.
“If you can manage the uncertainty of your project in a way that you see those benefits, then it’s something you’ll be motivated to continue doing,” Snowberg said. “I’ve been at NREL for 15 years, and managing risks to help support marine energy has been the most fulfilling and rewarding type of project that I’ve worked on because it has the most tangible impact.”
With these concrete tools in hand, WPTO and NREL can help pave the way for the marine energy industry to find clearer, quicker paths to success.
Co-authors on theMarine Energy Technology Development Risk Management Frameworkinclude Ritu Treisa Philip, NREL mechanical engineer, and Jochem Weber, chief engineer of NREL’s Water Power program.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed separate criminal charges against 18 defendants as part of Operation Take Back America, for violations that include straw purchasing of firearms, bank robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, illegal reentry, and failure to notify a change of address.
The 18 defendants charged last week and the alleged offenses include:
Walter Adonai Rivera Chinchilla, 24, of Charlotte, and Fausto Odalis Reyes Guevara, 27, of Honduras, are charged via a superseding indictment of conspiracy to provide a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. Guevara is also charged with possession of a firearm by a person unlawfully in the United States. According to the superseding indictment, on October 12, 2024, Guevara messaged Chinchilla that Guevara needed a “17” and a white Beretta for a good price. Two days later, Chinchilla allegedly purchased a Beretta 92FS pistol from Guns Too, a licensed firearms dealer located in Caldwell County. When he purchased the firearm from Guns Too, Chinchilla allegedly lied on the forms, falsely attesting that he was the actual buyer of the firearm when he was in fact buying it for Guevara. The indictment further alleges that on the same day Chinchilla purchased a second firearm, a Glock 45 pistol, from Foothills Jewelry & Loan, a licensed firearms dealer in Catawba County. It is further alleged that Chinchilla lied again on the forms falsely attesting that he was the actual buyer of the firearm when he knew he was buying it for Guevara. Chinchilla is also facing additional charges including trafficking in firearms, making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm, and dealing in firearms without a license.
Jose Francisco Meraz-Villatoro, 31, of Mexico, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien and illegal reentry by an alien. It is alleged that Meraz-Villatoro unlawfully possessed two firearms: a Glock 43 9mm handgun and a Girsan Regard MC 9mm handgun. Meraz-Villatoro was previously deported from the United States three times: in September 2013, in July 2014, and again in November 2022.
Carlos Sarmiento-Ochoa, 20, of Honduras, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien and illegal reentry by an alien. It is alleged in the indictment that Sarmiento-Ochoa unlawfully possessed a Glock 23, 40 caliber handgun, and that he was previously deported from the United States in May 2018 and again in October 2019.
Gial Obed Rodas-Hernandez, 20, of Honduras, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien and illegal reentry by an alien. The indictment alleges that Rodas-Hernandez unlawfully possessed a Taurus PT709 handgun, 9mm, and that he was previously deported from the United States in February 2021.
Jose Alberto Velazquez-Trejo, 41, of Mexico, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien and illegal reentry by an alien. The indictment alleges that Velazquez-Trejo unlawfully possessed a Sig Sauer P226 handgun. Velazquez-Trejo was also previously deported from the United States in May 2008.
Norman Enrique Lopez-Santamaria, 42, of Honduras, is charged with illegally reentering into the United States and failure to notify of a change of address. Lopez-Santamaria was previously deported from the United States four times: in October 2002, in July 2009, in August 2010, and again in May 2014.
Rogelio Hernandez-Flores, 50, of Mexico, is charged with illegally reentering the United States and failure to notify of a change of address. Hernandez-Flores was previously deported from the United States three times: in August 1997, July 2003, and again in November 2007.
Luis Zamora-Cruz, 47, of Mexico, is charged with illegally reentering the United States and failure to notify of a change of address. Zamora-Cruz was previously deported from the United States in July 2010 and again in May 2017.
Christian Emanuel Valladares-Sierra, 25, of Honduras, is charged with illegally reentering the United States and failure to notify of a change of address. Valladares-Sierra was previously deported from the United States in September 2018.
Josue Oveniel Martinez-Avalo, 31, of Honduras, is charged with illegally reentering into the United States and failure to notify of a change of address. Martinez-Avalo was previously deported from the United States in June 2014.
Luis Alfredo Navarrete Pastrana, 32, of Mexico, is charged with illegal reentry into the United States. Pastrana was previously deported from the United States in October 2021.
Bryan Flowers, 53, of Hickory, N.C., is charged with bank robbery. According to the indictment, on April 17, 2025, Flowers allegedly robbed the Peoples Bank located in Lincolnton, N.C., by force, violence, and intimidation.
Dwayne Furlow Chaney, 40, of Charlotte, is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Chaney allegedly illegally possessed a Smith & Wesson M&P, .40 caliber pistol, and did so knowing he was prohibited from possessing a firearm following a prior criminal conviction.
Marshall Demetrius Rice, 45, of Charlotte, is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. The indictment alleges that Rice illegally possessed a Smith & Wesson, model SD9VE, 9mm pistol, and did so knowing he was prohibited from possessing a firearm following a prior criminal conviction.
Damiyus Diamonte Fowler, 28, of Charlotte, is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Fowler allegedly illegally possessed a Glock 19, Gen 5 9mm caliber pistol, and did so knowing he was prohibited from possessing a firearm following a prior criminal conviction.
Aaron Deondre Conway, 41, of Charlotte, is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. The indictment alleges that Conway illegally possessed a Walther, Model PPK/S .380 caliber pistol, and did so knowing he was prohibited from possessing a firearm following a prior criminal conviction.
Jamil Omire Ali, 31, of Charlotte, is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Ali allegedly illegally possessed a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield, .40 caliber pistol, and did so knowing he was prohibited from possessing a firearm following a prior criminal conviction.
Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The charges in the indictments are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson credited Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Removal Operations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for their investigations that led to the charges. U.S. Attorney Ferguson also commended the local law enforcement agencies that assisted in the investigation and apprehension of the defendants.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the cases.
NEWARK, N.J. – A Sussex County, New Jersey woman and a Texas man admitted to exploiting a child and producing child pornography, as well as to other child pornography offenses, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
Dominique Saczawa, 34, of Sparta, New Jersey, and Russell Lynn Davis, Jr., 47, of Heller, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel in Camden federal court. Saczawa pleaded guilty to production of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, advertisement of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. Davis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, and receipt of child pornography.
According to documents filed in these cases and statements made in Court:
Saczawa admitted to sexually exploiting a then-four-year-old by engaging in sexual contact and then producing images and videos of that sexual contact. Saczawa also admitted to sharing these videos and/or images with others, including Davis. Davis admitted to conspiring with Saczawa to sexually exploit the victim, including instructing Saczawa in a video message to perform oral sex on the victim.
Saczawa also admitted to running a group chat within an online messaging application in which participants discussed and shared content and/or images of child pornography. As an administrator of this group, Saczawa solicited participants to share such content. The images Saczawa shared included images of toddlers potentially as young as one year old being sexually assaulted.
Davis had previously been convicted in Texas of indecent contact with a child.
“Protecting small children, the most vulnerable of our community, is among the most important work that we can do. Every child deserves to be in a home free of sexual exploitation, and we will prosecute those that threaten this right. When predators target children, we are committed to unmasking and holding them accountable.”
– U.S. Attorney Alina Habba
“There are truly no words to describe how grotesque the behavior in this case is. A woman admitting to using a prepubescent child to create child sexual assault material is beyond the bounds of any acceptable human behavior – and it always will be. Our FBI Newark Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, alongside our partner agencies, do the work of superheroes each and every day, saving children from monsters and preventing evil from harming more victims,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly.
U.S. Attorney Habba credited FBI Newark’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly, with the investigation.
The charge of production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison, or in the case of a defendant who has previously been convicted of a sex offense, a mandatory minimum penalty of 25 years and a maximum potential penalty of 50 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The charge of receipt of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, or in the case of a defendant who has previously been convicted of a sex offense, a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum potential penalty of 40 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The charge of advertisement of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
Saczawa and Davis are both scheduled for sentencing on September 22, 2025.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Rachelle M. Navarro of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit in Newark.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS LAUNCHES A CO-OPTION PROCEDURE OF A WOMAN DIRECTOR
Press release
Paris, 28 May 2025
The Board of Directors, on 28 May 2025, acknowledged the resignation of Mrs. Béatrice Cossa-Dumurgier from her duties as Director of Societe Generale, incompatible with her new professional responsibilities.
This resignation was notified to Societe Generale with immediate effect.
Consequently, in accordance with Article L. 225-24 paragraph 4 of the French Commercial Code, upon the proposal of the Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee, a co-option procedure of a woman director has been launched.
Mr. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Chairman of the Board of Directors, thanks Mrs. Béatrice Cossa-Dumurgier for her participation in the work of the Societe Generale Board of Directors.
Societe Generale is a top tier European Bank with around 119,000 employees serving more than 26 million clients in 62 countries across the world. We have been supporting the development of our economies for 160 years, providing our corporate, institutional, and individual clients with a wide array of value-added advisory and financial solutions. Our long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients, our cutting-edge expertise, our unique innovation, our ESG capabilities and leading franchises are part of our DNA and serve our most essential objective – to deliver sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders.
The Group runs three complementary sets of businesses, embedding ESG offerings for all its clients:
French Retail, Private Banking and Insurance, with leading retail bank SG and insurance franchise, premium private banking services, and the leading digital bank BoursoBank.
Global Banking and Investor Solutions, a top tier wholesale bank offering tailored-made solutions with distinctive global leadership in equity derivatives, structured finance and ESG.
Mobility, International Retail Banking and Financial Services, comprising well-established universal banks (in Czech Republic, Romania and several African countries), Ayvens (the new ALD I LeasePlan brand), a global player in sustainable mobility, as well as specialized financing activities.
Committed to building together with its clients a better and sustainable future, Societe Generale aims to be a leading partner in the environmental transition and sustainability overall. The Group is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe).
In case of doubt regarding the authenticity of this press release, please go to the end of the Group News page on societegenerale.com website where official Press Releases sent by Societe Generale can be certified using blockchain technology. A link will allow you to check the document’s legitimacy directly on the web page.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Speech
Israel must immediately let aid into Gaza and enable the UN to operate: UK statement at the UN Security Council
Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East.
I thank Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag and Dr Sidwah for their briefings today, which painted a catastrophic picture.
Let me pay tribute to you and to your humanitarian and health worker colleagues working tirelessly to alleviate this suffering.
I will make three points.
First, the UK has always supported Israel’s right to defend itself. It suffered a heinous attack by Hamas on 7 October, and hostages have been through an unimaginable ordeal. We reiterate our call for their immediate and unconditional release and accountability for those responsible.
But as my Prime Minister has said, we strongly oppose the Israeli Government’s escalating military action in Gaza which is wholly disproportionate.
An immediate ceasefire, not more bloodshed, is the way to secure the release of the hostages and stop the endless cycle of violence.
Second, as we have heard again today, the level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable. Civilians face starvation, displacement and trauma.
The UN warned of the risks from the Israeli Government’s plan for aid delivery. In Rafah yesterday, we saw this warning become a reality. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation lost control of its distribution centre, with multiple casualties reported and great distress for those desperately seeking aid.
In contrast, the UN has a clear plan to deliver lifesaving aid at scale. It contains robust mitigations against aid diversion. Brave humanitarians stand ready to do their jobs. 9,000 trucks wait at the border.
Our message to Prime Minister Netanyahu is clear: let aid in and enable the UN to operate, now.
We reiterate our support for the UN, OCHA and all its aid agencies.
We also reject the Israeli Government’s unacceptable intention to take control of the Gaza Strip. Permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law.
Third, President, in the West Bank, violent settlers continue to assault and abuse Palestinians, forcing entire communities to flee. In Jerusalem, provocative visits to Holy Sites and inflammatory language by Israeli ministers are adding to the tensions.
On 20 May, the UK announced further sanctions on individuals and entities promoting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
We will continue to act against those committing these abuses.
President, the UK will not give up on a two-state solution, and we will continue to work closely with France, Saudi Arabia and all our partners towards a successful conference in June, which moves us towards this goal.
And finally, let me finish by condemning the horrific murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim in Washington DC last week, and offering condolences to their families and to their colleagues.