Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
On May 15, 2025, an art exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Russian public diplomacy and the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing was ceremoniously opened at the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing. The event was jointly organized by the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing and the website www.pdnet.cn, with the support of the International Exchange Committee of the China Association of Trade in Services. The ceremony was attended by Cultural Counselor of the Russian Embassy in China Maxim Chernyshev, Director of the Serbian Cultural Center Tatyana Soldat, as well as representatives of friendly circles from China, Russia, Serbia, Indonesia, Rwanda and other countries.
In her welcoming speech, Director of the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing Tatyana Urzhumtseva noted that for 100 years Rossotrudnichestvo has served as a bridge connecting the cultures of Russia and China. Over the past 15 years, the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing has become a platform for dialogue, a keeper of traditions, and a creative laboratory. She emphasized that the centenary of people’s diplomacy is not just a chronological milestone, but a century-long testimony to a sincere dialogue, where humanitarian cooperation and people’s friendship remain a “golden bridge” between the two countries.
Liu Chunyan, editor-in-chief of www.pdnet.cn and deputy director of the International Exchange Committee of the China Association for Trade in Services, said that people’s friendship is the cornerstone of interstate relations. Over the past 15 years, the Beijing-based Russian Cultural Center has organized many events that have strengthened mutual understanding and laid a solid foundation of people’s support for the development of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation in the new era.
Artist Chen Ruiqi, whose works combine traditional Chinese ink painting with oil painting techniques, shared his sources of inspiration and deep connection with Russian culture, demonstrating an aesthetic dialogue of “unity in diversity” between the two artistic traditions.
The exhibition presents more than 50 works by Chinese masters, who through a unique artistic optics celebrate Chinese-Russian friendship and explore the possibilities of synthesizing the artistic languages of the two countries. The exhibition will run from May 15 to 17 and is open to the public.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
ABU DHABI, May 16 (Xinhua) — UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and U.S. President Donald Trump held talks at the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, reaffirming their commitment to deepening their strategic partnership, local news agency WAM reported.
The two heads of state reportedly discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in a range of areas, including investment, energy, advanced technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and industry.
The UAE President highlighted the depth of UAE-US relations, which he said date back more than 50 years. He reiterated the UAE’s commitment to global peace, stability and prosperity through multilateral cooperation and close coordination with international partners, especially the United States.
The parties also exchanged views on regional and international developments of mutual interest, with particular emphasis on maintaining security and de-escalating tensions in the Middle East.
D. Trump praised the leadership of his Emirati counterpart and noted that under his leadership, bilateral relations continue to strengthen.
Also on Thursday, the two presidents jointly opened an AI campus in Abu Dhabi, the largest of its kind outside the United States. –0–
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
General holidays for 2026 published
Every SundayA Government spokesman said, “As the Ching Ming Festival in 2026 falls on a Sunday, the following day will be designated as a general holiday in substitution. In this connection, as the day following the Ching Ming Festival falls on Easter Monday, the next day that is not itself a general holiday will be observed as an additional general holiday. Moreover, as the Birthday of the Buddha and the Chung Yeung Festival in 2026 both fall on a Sunday, the day following them will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.” Issued at HKT 11:00
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Government published in the Gazette today (May 16) the Land Registration Fees (Amendment) Regulation 2025 (the Amendment Regulation) to revise the fees for registration services provided by the Land Registry Trading Fund.
The types of fees to be revised include: (i) registration of instruments including assignment and mortgage; (ii) registration of agreement for sale and purchase; (iii) registration of lease, agreement for a lease, or renewal or surrender of a lease; (iv) registration of other instruments; and (v) registration of instruments whereby any charge or mortgage on any share or interest in any property is assigned or transferred.
A Government spokesman said, “The above-mentioned five types of fees have not been adjusted for almost 30 years and are significantly under-recovered. The Government has reviewed and adjusted the relevant fees in accordance with the established mechanism and ‘user pays’ principle. The revised fees are set at levels generally adequate for recovering the full costs of providing the services. In order for the affected parties to adapt to the fee revisions progressively, we propose to increase the above-mentioned fees in three phases in the financial years of 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 respectively, with the increases ranging from around 15 per cent to around 35 per cent in each phase. Among them, registration fee types (i) and (ii) are related to conveyancing transactions. After the fee revisions, the increase in registration fees is still limited compared with the overall costs involved in a typical property conveyancing transaction including property price, stamp duty, and fees for conveyancing solicitors and estate agents. Regarding the other three types of non-conveyancing related registration fees, the payers are primarily corporate clients and financial institutions. It is anticipated that the impact of the fee revisions will be manageable to them.” The revised fees can be viewed from the Land Registry’s website (www.landreg.gov.hk/en/new/fee.htm).
The Amendment Regulation was published in the Gazette today and will be tabled at the Legislative Council (LegCo) next Wednesday (May 21). Subject to approval of the Amendment Regulation by the LegCo by negative vetting, the revised fees will come into effect in three phases on July 16, 2025, July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2027, respectively.
If you provide taxi, limousine or ride-sourcing services you must register for goods and services tax (GST) regardless of your turnover. You must collect and pay the GST and income tax on all your rides and all other business income.
We use a range of data sources, including data provided to the ATO by taxi and ride-sourcing platforms, to review the tax file number (TFN), Australian business number (ABN) and GST registration status and other activities of drivers in this industry.
If you’re a driver in this industry and don’t have a TFN, ABN and GST registration, you need to:
register now
collect, report and pay GST on all your future rides as required under the law
report all your income from your rides in your next tax return.
If you don’t register for GST, penalties and interest may apply. If you haven’t declared all your income for ride-sourcing in prior years you can amend a previous tax return.
You can also contact your tax professional to obtain advice specific to your business needs.
What we’ll do if you don’t register
We’ll continue to monitor drivers who don’t have a TFN, ABN or GST registration and those who haven’t declared all their assessable income.
If you’re a driver who, after 3 months, still chooses not to register and comply with your GST and income tax obligations, we may:
register you for GST
back-date your GST registration
instruct you to back-pay all the GST on your prior rides, plus interest
determine what income tax you need to pay on your taxable income
apply financial penalties, which you’ll also need to pay
instruct you to complete a number of online courses.
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Mireille Rebeiz, Chair of Middle East Studies and Associate Professor of Francophone and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Dickinson College
Within a span of two weeks from late April to early May 2025, Israel launched two aerial attacks ostensibly targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon: The first, on April 27, struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs; the second, an assault in southern Lebanon, left one person dead and eight others injured.
While the attacks may not be an aberration in the long history of Israel’s military action in Lebanon, the latest episodes were notable given the context: Israel and Hezbollah have been nominally locked in a truce for five months.
As an expert on Lebanese history and culture, I believe the latest violations clearly show the fragility of that ceasefire. But more importantly, they complicate the Lebanese government’s mission of disarming Hezbollah, the paramilitary group that remains a powerful force in the country despite a series of Israeli targeted killings of its senior members. That task forms the backbone of a nearly 20-year-old United Nations resolution meant to bring lasting peace to Lebanon.
The long road to a ceasefire
In the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Hezbollah vowed solidarity with the Palestinian movement, resulting in a running series of tit-for-tat attacks with Israel that escalated into a full-blown war in the fall of 2024.
On Oct. 1, 2024, Israel invaded Lebanon – the sixth time since 1978 – in order to directly confront Hezbollah. That operation led to the killing of an estimated 3,800 Lebanese people and the displacement of over 1 million civilians. The damage to Lebanon’s economy is estimated at US$14 billion, according to the World Bank.
Hezbollah lost a lot of its fighters, arsenal and popular support as a result. More importantly, these losses discredited Hezbollah’s claim that it alone can guarantee Lebanon’s territorial integrity against Israel’s invasion.
The United States and France brokered a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel on Nov. 27, 2024. The agreement was based in part on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006 to end that year’s 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah. The resolution had as a central tenet the disarmament of armed militias, including Hezbollah, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
The 2024 ceasefire built on that resolution. It required Hezbollah’s retreat beyond the Litani River, which at its closest point is about 20 miles from northern Israel. In return, and by February 2025, Israel was to gradually withdraw from Lebanese territories in order to allow the Lebanese army to take control of areas in the south and to confiscate all unauthorized weapons – a nod to Hezbollah’s arsenal.
Despite these violations, large-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah has not resumed. But the next step, a lasting peace based on the laying down of Hezbollah arms, is complicated by a series of factors, not least the sectarian nature of Lebanese politics.
Since its inception in 1920, Lebanon’s governance has been defined by a polarized and formally sectarian political system, which seeded the roots of a decades-long civil conflict that began in 1975. A series of invasions by Israel in response to attacks from Lebanese-based Palestinian groups exacerbated sectarianism and instability.
The Taif Agreement, ending Lebanon’s civil war in 1989, formally recognized the state’s right to resist the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories – and with it Hezbollah’s presence as a force of resistance. An uneasy coexistence between the government and Hezbollah emerged, which often spilled over into violence, including assassinations of important public figures.
A view from the southern Lebanese district of Marjeyoun shows smoke billowing from the site of Israeli airstrikes on May 8, 2025. Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images
The acquiescence of Hezbollah and its allies was in part a sign of how much the power of the Shiite militia had been diminished by Israel during the conflict.
But it is also the result of a widespread general understanding in Lebanon of the need to end the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s war. The new president has brought much-needed hope to a battered country – one that has been plagued by numerous crises, including a collapsed economy that by 2019 had pushed 80% of the population into poverty.
But Aoun’s presidency signals the changing political environment in another key way; unlike his predecessors, Aoun has not endorsed Hezbollah as a legitimate resistance movement.
To this end, Aoun has made impressive gains. According to state officials, the Lebanese army had by the end of April 2025 dismantled over 90% of Hezbollah’s infrastructure south of the Litani River and taken control over these sites.
Yet Hezbollah’s chief, Naim Kassem, doggedly rejects calls to disarm and integrate the group’s fighters into the Lebanese armed forces.
Even in Hezbollah’s weakened position, Kassem believes only his movement, and not the Lebanese state, can guarantee Lebanon’s safety against Israel. And Israel violations of the ceasefire only play into this narrative.
“We will not allow anyone to remove Hezbollah’s weapons,” Kassem said after one recent airstrike, vowing that the group would hand over weapons only when Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon and ended it’s air incursions.
Yet countries including the United States and Qatar – not to mention Israel – consider Hezbollah’s disarmament a prerequisite to both peace and much-needed international assistance.
And this makes the task ahead for Aoun difficult. He will be well aware that international aid is desperately needed. But pressing too hard to accommodate either Israel’s or Hezbollah’s interests risks, respectively, exacerbating either domestic political pressures or jeopardizing future foreign investment.
To complicate matters further, the situation in Lebanon is hardly helped by developments in neighboring Syria.
The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad in December 2024 has added another element of regional uncertainty and the fear in Lebanon of further sectarian violence. Although Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has vowed to protect all religious groups, he was not able to prevent the massacre of Alawite civilians in several coastal towns – an attack that triggered a fresh wave of refugees heading toward Lebanon.
The removal of Assad was another blow for Hezbollah, a strong Assad ally that benefited from years of Syrian interference in Lebanon.
The challenge of international relations
For now, a return to full-scale war in Lebanon does not appear to be on the table.
But what comes next for Lebanon and Hezbollah depends on many factors, not least the state of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and any spillover into Lebanon. But the actions of other regional actors, notably Saudi Arabia and Iran, matter too. Should Saudi Arabia be encouraged down the path of normalizing relations with Israel – a process interrupted by the Oct. 7 attack – then it would impact Lebanon in many ways.
Meanwhile, Iran, too, is seemingly turning to diplomatic means to address some of its regional issues, with nascent moves to both improve ties with Saudi Arabia and forge forward with a new nuclear deal with the U.S. This could see Tehran turn away from a policy of trying to impose its influence throughout the region by arming groups aligned with Tehran – first among them, Hezbollah.
Mireille Rebeiz is affiliated with the American Red Cross.
Attribute to Detective Inspector Christiaan Barnard:
A Wellington-based man was arrested by the Financial Crime Group in Auckland this morning as part of an FBI investigation into an organised criminal group who stole cryptocurrency from seven victims valued at US$265M (NZD$450M).
Between March and August 2024, the cryptocurrency is alleged to have been fraudulently obtained by manipulating the victims and subsequently laundered through multiple cryptocurrency platforms.
Over the past three days, search warrants have been executed in Auckland, Wellington, and California with several people arrested, including one in New Zealand. A total of 13 people are facing charges.
The Wellington man has been indicted by the US Department of Justice under US Federal law with charges of racketeering (RICO), conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
It is alleged the defendants scammed seven victims, spending the stolen virtual currency to purchase, among other things, $9 million of exotic cars, hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury handbags, watches and clothing, nightclub services and private security guards and rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami.
The man was bailed after appearing in the Auckland District Court today where he received interim name suppression. He is due to reappear in the Auckland District Court on 3 July 2025.
We have worked closely with our law enforcement colleagues in the United States in support of their investigation. Today’s search warrant and arrest reflects the importance of international partnerships where criminals are operating across borders.
There is an ongoing investigation, and no further comment will be made by Police.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Andy Ogles formally demanded that the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation launch a criminal investigation into former FBI Director James Comey, whose recent social media post has raised credible and disturbing concerns about incitement to violence against the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
The letter—sent to Secret Service Director Sean Curran, FBI Director Kash Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino—calls Comey’s May 15th Instagram post “a coded suggestion to ‘eliminate 47’—that is, assassinate the President.” The post featured a staged photograph of seashells arranged in the numbers “86 47”—a phrase widely understood to mean “kill 47.”
The letter urges both agencies to investigate potential violations of federal law, including 18 U.S.C. § 871 (threats against the President) and 18 U.S.C. § 875 (interstate threats), and demands confirmation of whether Comey still retains any access to classified material or security clearances.
“This isn’t just bad judgment—it’s a veiled threat from a former FBI Director who knows exactly what he’s doing,” said Congressman Ogles.“If a right-winger posted this against a leftist, all hell would break loose. But because it’s James Comey—the man who weaponized the FBI against President Trump—the left is silent. That’s unacceptable. The Left invented the term ‘stochastic terrorism’ to go after conservatives anytime they voiced a strong opinion.
Now they need to live by their own standard. If James Comey thinks he’s above the law, it’s time to prove him wrong. The radical Left will stop at nothing to silence, imprison, or now apparently even threaten President Trump. It’s time for perp walks. If Comey broke the law, he shouldn’t get a pass. He should be in handcuffs,” Congressman Ogles said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to visit the Bhuj airbase in Gujarat for a two-day visit on Friday. The Defence Minister will also visit the India-Pakistan border region. During his visit, Singh is expected to evaluate the operational preparedness of the Indian Armed Forces in the region and examine the effectiveness of strengthened security measures following Pakistan’s recent unsuccessful drone incursions. Amid military tensions, the Pakistani Army attempted to target India’s Bhuj using drones.
However, India’s security forces successfully thwarted Pakistan’s repeated attacks with the assistance of air defence systems. Eventually, after facing continuous military setbacks and no success, Pakistan called for a ceasefire. Bhuj Rudra Mata Air Force Station is a key installation of the Indian Air Force located in Bhuj.
The station shares its runway with the civilian Bhuj Airport and functions under the South Western Air Command (SWAC). Bhuj Air Force Station, which houses the 27 Wing, is a critical base for air defence and surveillance due to its proximity to the India-Pakistan border. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning visited the Adampur Air Base in Punjab.
During his visit to the Adampur Air Base, the Prime Minister was briefed by Air Force officers and interacted with the personnel involved in the operation. Adampur Air Base falls under the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force.
Several operations, including Operation Sindoor, were led by the Western Air Command, with Air Marshal Jeetendra Chaudhry, the Western Air Command Chief, overseeing the missions in coordination with the Chief of Air Staff.
The Western Air Command is one of the most critical operational commands of the Indian Air Force, covering a vast and strategic region- from Jammu and Kashmir to Rajasthan, including Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Western Uttar Pradesh.
This region includes some of the most sensitive borders and forward airbases, making it the nerve centre for any aerial military action involving Pakistan. Rajnath Singh recently reviewed the security situation along India’s western border. The border areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, which lie adjacent to Pakistan, are part of the western frontier.
The security review meeting, which focused on the safety of the nation’s borders, was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the Army and Navy Chiefs, and senior officials.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the meeting held on Tuesday in New Delhi discussed the security situation on the western borders. The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, provided detailed information regarding the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border with Pakistan. (IANS)
Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the ASEAN Economic Community, Satvinder Singh, attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting in Jeju, South Korea, under the theme: “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Connect, Innovate, Prosper.”
Representing the ASEAN Secretariat as an official observer, DSG Satvinder highlighted ASEAN’s initiatives in digital transformation, AI governance, and sustainable trade, among others. He reaffirmed ASEAN’s support for a rules-based multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core. Looking ahead, he underscored ASEAN’s commitment to deepening cooperation with APEC to advance supply chain resilience and advocate for an inclusive and sustainable development in Asia-Pacific.
Earlier this week, ASEAN Secretariat officials also participated in the Second Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM2). ASEAN’s active engagement reflects its commitment to deepening regional cooperation with APEC on shared priorities such as supply chain resilience, sustainable trade, and inclusive economic growth.
Photo Credit: ASEAN Secretariat
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Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
The Advanced Engineering School “Cognitive Engineering” of Novosibirsk State University presented the results of its work for 2024 and long-term development plans at the Council for the consideration of issues and coordination of the activities of the Advanced Engineering School chaired by the head of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Valery Falkov.
The flagship project of the Ministry of Education and Science “Advanced Engineering Schools” has been implemented since 2022. Currently, 50 such schools have been created within its framework, and by 2030, on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, their number should be increased to 100. Thanks to this program, new competence centers in the fields of biotechnology, oil and gas engineering, space instrumentation, optical sensors and closed-loop technologies have appeared at NSU. Students of the Advanced Engineering Schools study in 5 master’s programs of NSU and 6 network educational programs of higher education created jointly with NSTU, NSAU, Ufa State Petroleum Technological University.
Starting this year, the first 30 schools from 15 regions, including NSU PISh, are moving to a new stage of financing under the terms of the project – after three years of budget financing, they will move to off-budget financing and will operate at the expense of funds attracted from industrial partners and other competitive programs of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.
— The first 30 advanced engineering schools are moving to a new qualitative level of development. The results presented by the university teams show that together we have managed to create an effective model for integrating education, science and production. The next stage for the first wave of schools will be scaling up their activities. Everything necessary for this is available: modern equipment, competencies, established contacts with industrial partners. It is important that regional authorities pay great attention to the development of advanced engineering schools in their cities, understanding their value for strengthening relations between higher education and the real sector of the economy, — emphasized the head of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science Valery Falkov.
At the defense of the results of the work, Novosibirsk State University was represented by the Vice-Rector for Research Activities of NSU Dmitry Churkin, the Director of the NSU Cognitive Engineering School Sergey Golovin, the Deputy General Director for Expertise and Functional Development of Gazpromneft NTC LLC Veronika Filimonova, the founder of Sibsensor LLC Ivan Shelemba, and a graduate and junior research fellow of the NSU Cognitive Engineering School Stepan Karmushin.
The NSU Advanced Engineering School presented key results of its activities over 3 years of work. During this time, a number of new educational spaces were created at the NSU Advanced Engineering School: three laboratories in the field of biotechnology, a research and testing laboratory in optical sensorics, a digital factory and fab lab in the field of space instrumentation, a fab lab in chemical synthesis, as well as a VR studio and coworking for project work. The involvement of leading specialists in the activities of the laboratories and good equipment allows students and employees to work at the cutting edge of technological developments.
The main achievements and contribution of the NSU Advanced Engineering School to the process of scientific and technological development of the country were highlighted by the director of the NSU Advanced Engineering School, Sergei Valerievich Golovin:
— The main result of 2024 is the completion of the formation of technology platforms for the development of new products and the implementation of educational programs. New centers for biotechnology, optical sensorics, closed-loop technologies have been created, and existing divisions in the field of space instrumentation and oil and gas technologies are implementing new large projects. Among the achievements of the past year: the creation of a digital factory of small spacecraft and the production of the first commercial CubeSat satellites, the development of new equipment and methods for express diagnostics of the state of permafrost soils, the development of a reagent base for high-performance DNA and RNA sequencing with subsequent data processing using multifunctional software, the creation of a unique metrology complex for fiber-optic sensors. The creation of the PIS gave a new impetus to work with schoolchildren on their early career guidance and involvement in science and technology.
Project work in the competence centers of the PIS or in the framework of industrial partners on applied tasks to be solved is the basis of student training. The opportunity to interact at the training stage with the competence centers of the PIS NSU, scientific organizations, private technology businesses and large companies forms a holistic picture of the possibilities for further employment or the creation of their own technology business for students.
— Novosibirsk State University is one of the key partners in our ecosystem. Together, we implement projects in the field of geological exploration, production and development of science-intensive software, including the use of mathematical modeling and artificial intelligence methods. Particular attention is paid to the integration of fundamental science into solving current industry problems. NSU students undergo training in our master’s programs and participate in practical work in the company’s scientific division. This cooperation opens up new prospects for the development of engineering education and technology, — Veronika Filimonova, Deputy General Director for Expertise and Functional Development of Gazpromneft NTC LLC, spoke about the training of new generation engineers and the projects implemented jointly with the PISH partner.
The implementation of the socio-economic development initiative “Advanced Engineering Schools” in the period from 2022 to 2024 was carried out within the framework of the federal project “Advanced Engineering Schools” of the state program “Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation”. Since 2025, the continuity of the activities of the project “Advanced Engineering Schools” was ensured by including them in the federal project “Universities for the Generation of Leaders” of the national project “Youth and Children”.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Organisation: Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives
On behalf of: Primary Production Committee
For release: 16 May 2025
Have your say on the Valuers Bill The Deputy Chairperson of the Primary Production Committee is calling for submissions on the Valuers Bill with a closing date of 11.59pm on Friday, 27 June 2025.
The Valuers Bill would re-enact the Valuers Act 1948. The Act provides for the registration of land valuers and the establishment of the New Zealand Institute of Valuers.
This is a revision bill. Revision bills are used to re-enact legislation in an up-to-date and accessible form. They may not change the effect of the law (except as authorised by section 96(3) of the Legislation Act 2019).
This bill would not make any substantial policy changes to the Act. It would make minor changes to the Act to correct inconsistencies and omissions. It is intended to rewrite the law using plain language and modern drafting style. The scope of the changes the committee can recommend on this bill is narrow.
Have your say on proposed amendments to the Valuers Bill The Primary Production Committee is also considering Amendment Paper 286 alongside this bill. An Amendment Paper is a document that gives notice of proposed amendments to a bill. Amendment Paper 236 would amend the Valuers Bill and proposes more substantial policy changes.
Amendment Paper 286 would make changes to the Valuers Bill, including:
increasing the penalties for offences
removing the requirement for a person to be at least 23 years old to become a registered valuer
expanding the Valuers Registration Board’s disciplinary powers.
The Attorney-General has presented a Section 7 report to the House on the Valuers Bill. The report highlights that the current age restriction appears to be inconsistent with the right to freedom from discrimination under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. The Section 7 report is also linked below.
If you would like to make a submission on the Valuers Bill or the proposed changes to the bill in Amendment Paper 286, please do here on the Parliament website.
If you have any questions about your submission or the submission process, please contact the committee secretariat through the contact details on the left-hand side of this page.
What you need to know for making a submission:
Submissions are publicly released and published to the Parliament website. Only your name or organisation’s name is required on a submission. Please keep your contact details separate, as if they are included on the submission they will become publicly available when the submission is released.
If you wish to include information of a private or personal nature in your submission you should discuss this with the committee secretariat before submitting.
If you wish to speak to your submission, please state this clearly.
Further guidance on making a submission can be found from the ‘How to make a submission’ link in the ‘Related documents’ panel at the bottom of this page.
Two gang members on a late night cruise through the streets of Glen Eden ended the evening in Police custody.
Officers patrolling the area spotted a vehicle, which had been reported stolen from an Avondale address last month, travelling on Woodbank Drive at about 11.10pm.
Waitematā West Area Response Manager, Senior Sergeant John Thornley, says the vehicle stopped voluntarily and officers blocked it in before arresting the two occupants.
“A patched Killer Beez member and a Crips member were quickly taken into custody.
“A search of the vehicle found a modified unloaded starter pistol and a bullet was also located in one of the men’s pockets.
“We’re really pleased to have another dangerous weapon off the street, and this is a good example of proactive Police work that has resulted in a safer community.”
A 42-year-old man appeared in Waitākere District Court today charged with unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The other man, aged 33, had a warrant to arrest for an unrelated matter.
In the underwriting auction conducted on May 16, 2025, for Additional Competitive Underwriting (ACU) of the undernoted Government securities, the Reserve Bank of India has set the cut-off rates for underwriting commission payable to Primary Dealers as given below:
India remains the fastest-growing large economy and is expected to record a 6.3 per cent growth this fiscal year, while the global economy faces a “precarious moment,” according to the UN.
The UN’s mid-year update of the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report said India’s economy is projected to grow a tad faster next year at 6.4 per cent, even though it is also 0.3 per cent lower than the January projection.
“The world economy is at a precarious moment,” the report warned. “Heightened trade tensions, along with policy uncertainty, have significantly weakened the global economic outlook for 2025.”
“It’s been a nervous time for the global economy,” Shantanu Mukherjee, the director of the Economic Analysis and Policy Division, said at the release of the WESP. “In January this year, we were expecting two years of stable, if subpar growth, and since then, prospects have diminished,” he added.
Against this picture, the growth of the world’s fifth-largest economy, India, contrasts with the global rate of 2.4 per cent this year, and that of other major economies, according to the WESP.
The projection for China is 4.6 per cent, for the US 1.6 per cent, Germany (negative) -0.1 per cent, Japan 0.7 per cent, and the European Union 1 per cent. “Resilient private consumption and strong public investment, alongside robust services exports, will support economic growth” for India, the report said.
On inflation and employment, the WESP saw positive trends for India. “Inflation is projected to slow from 4.9 per cent in 2024 to 4.3 per cent in 2025, staying within the central bank’s target range,” it said.
“Unemployment remains largely stable amid steady economic conditions,” it said, but added a note of caution that “persistent gender disparities in employment underscore the need for greater inclusivity in workforce participation”. The WESP drew attention to the risks to the export sector from the US tariff threats.
“While looming US tariffs weigh on merchandise exports, currently exempt sectors- such as pharmaceuticals, electronics, semiconductors, energy, and copper, could limit the economic impact, though these exemptions may not be permanent,” it said. The International Monetary Fund last month projected India’s economy to grow by 6.2 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent next year. (IANS)
The domestic benchmark indices opened lower on Friday amid mixed global cues, with selling pressure seen in the IT, financial services, and pharma sectors during early trade.
At around 9:29 a.m., the Sensex was trading 231.64 points, or 0.28 per cent, lower at 82,299.10, while the Nifty declined 49.95 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 25,012.15.
The Nifty Bank index was down 52.40 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 55,303.20. Meanwhile, the Nifty Midcap 100 was trading at 56,700.05, up 169.20 points, or 0.30 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index stood at 17,318.40, having risen 78.45 points, or 0.46 per cent.
According to analysts, from a technical perspective, the Nifty formed a strong bullish candle on the daily chart, breaking out of an inside bar pattern and closing above the crucial 25,000 level.
Traders are advised to adopt a “buy on dips” strategy with strict risk management and avoid taking large overnight positions due to ongoing global uncertainties, he added.
Among the Sensex constituents, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Infosys, HCL Tech, and M&M were the top losers. On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, and Axis Bank emerged as the top gainers.
In the broader Asian markets, China, Hong Kong, and Japan were trading in the red, whereas Bangkok, Jakarta, and Seoul were in the green.
In the previous trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the U.S. closed at 42,322.75, up 271.69 points, or 0.65 per cent. The S&P 500 ended with a gain of 24.35 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 5,916.93, while the Nasdaq closed at 19,112.32, down 34.49 points, or 0.18 per cent.
April’s economic data presented a mixed picture of the U.S. economy. The Producer Price Index (PPI) unexpectedly declined by 0.5 per cent, significantly diverging from economists’ expectations of a 0.2 per cent increase. This drop suggests easing inflationary pressures at the wholesale level, according to experts.
On the institutional front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of equities worth ₹5,392.94 crore on May 15, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities worth ₹1,668.47 crore.
Barcelona secured their 28th LaLiga title on Thursday when they beat city rivals Espanyol 2-0, securing an unassailable seven-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid with two games left to play.
Following a 4-3 loss at Barcelona on Sunday, Real needed to win their final three games and hope the leaders didn’t earn more than one point in the same period to maintain any mathematical chances of claiming the title.
However, their slim title hopes were dashed when Lamine Yamal curled a superb shot into the back of the net in the 53rd minute, with Fermin Lopez securing the victory by striking a ball from inside the box, assisted by Yamal, five minutes deep in stoppage time.
The result moved Hansi Flick’s Barca to 85 points, seven ahead of last season’s champions Real, with Atletico Madrid third on 70 points. It caps a remarkable first season at Barca for coach Hansi Flick as his side have won the LaLiga and Copa del Rey double.
The Catalan side said they will be presented with the league trophy on Friday during a special celebration in the city.
Barca were seconds away from celebrating the title without stepping on the pitch on Wednesday until Real scored a late winner against Mallorca to keep their slim hopes alive.
But Barca took care of business themselves with a hard-fought win at Espanyol, with the match being delayed for a few minutes after several fans were injured after being hit by a car outside the stadium.
The hosts were arguably the better side in a first half that was goalless thanks to Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who made a brilliant reflex save to deny a Javi Puado effort from close range in one of several dangerous Espanyol counter-attacks.
Just when it seemed Barca were out of ideas on how to break down their opponents, it was teenage sensation Lamine Yamal who worked his magic, scoring a stunning goal with what is becoming his trademark move.
The 17-year-old took the ball on the right touchline and made a superb lateral run parallel to the edge of the box before unleashing a curling strike between two defenders and into the top corner.
“Lamine’s goal is a move he practices a lot, he had scored twice today in the warm-up the same way. We have to look after him and let him enjoy it, he is fantastic,” his teammate Pedri told Movistar Plus.
“You don’t win a league every day so now we need to enjoy it and celebrate this trophy. It was one of the most complicated titles. We are happy with the year we have had. We’ve enjoyed it and so have the fans.”
Yamal’s goal worked as a confidence boost as Barca took control and, after Leandro Cabrera was sent off with a straight red for elbowing Yamal in the body in the 80th minute, substitute Lopez wrapped up the win to begin the title celebrations.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11)
WASHINGTON, DC —Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill issued the following statement on the NJ TRANSIT train engineers’ strike:
“I’m deeply concerned about the impact that this loss in rail service will have on families and commuters across New Jersey. For so many in our community, NJ TRANSIT isn’t optional — it’s how we get to work, school, and critical appointments.
“I have spoken with both NJ TRANSIT and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). These workers have kept our stateed moving through storms, shutdowns, and a pandemic. They have gone years without a contract, and deserve fair treatment and a livable wage. I respect their right to organize and collectively bargain.
“At the same time, disruptions in service will have a serious ripple effect across our state and region. I’m urging both sides to return to the negotiating table immediately. A fair resolution is still possible — and the cost of a prolonged strike is simply too high for New Jersey families.”
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amali Cooray, PhD Candidate in Genetic Engineering and Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
In the 2000s, biotech company Theranos promised to revolutionise blood testing. Founder Elizabeth Holmes claimed Theranos technology could perform hundreds of tests using just a finger-prick drop of blood. If true, their diagnostics would be faster, cheaper and more accessible.
Theranos raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors and was valued at more than US$9 billion in 2015.
However, the technology never worked, leading to one of the biggest scandals in biotech history. Theranos was secretly using traditional machines to run many tests, then claiming the results came from its own (non-functional) device. Holmes was eventually convicted of fraud and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Today, a new startup, Haemanthus, claims to have developed a similar technology. Co-founded by Billy Evans (Holmes’ partner), this new company says it can detect and diagnose illnesses using tiny amounts of blood, urine, or even saliva.
While technology has advanced since Theranos’ time, it’s important to consider these claims carefully.
Clinicians and lab techs can currently detect many conditions with blood, and some with urine or saliva. These are an important tools in modern medicine. However, the volumes required are usually much greater than a few drops or a dab.
What can blood detect?
Blood circulates through all organs, transporting cells, nutrients, hormones and waste products. Blood tests collect several millilitres of blood from a vein and send this to a laboratory for analysis.
Blood tests can check if a person has signs of infection or disease, to monitor organ function, or to show how a person is responding to medical treatment. Blood tests are widely used to monitor heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, or deficiencies in iron or vitamins.
A significant proportion of medical decisions are based on laboratory analysis of blood tests. Making them more affordable and accessible would have great benefits.
What about urine?
Urine is produced by the kidneys and contains waste filtered from the blood. The colour and composition of urine gives you a snapshot of any problems the body might be trying to fix.
Urine analysis can detect urinary tract infections, kidney disorders, diabetes and liver diseases by measuring sugars, proteins and cells.
As urine tests are non-invasive and easy to administer, they can be used to quickly screen for some conditions.
However, factors such as how much you’ve had to drink and what you’ve eaten can influence urine composition, potentially affecting test results.
Saliva can also be used for diagnoses
Saliva is the clear, watery liquid produced by salivary glands in the mouth. It’s mostly water (around 99%), but also contains various substances such as hormones, antibodies, enzymes, DNA, RNA and metabolites.
Saliva testing is already used in clinical settings to detect HIV antibodies, monitor levels of cortisol (a marker of stress) and to diagnose viral infections such as COVID.
The potential of saliva as another non-invasive diagnostic tool is growing, especially as researchers identify more markers of disease that it can contain.
However, saliva production varies between individuals. The composition of saliva can be impacted by what you eat and drink, the time of day, or even stress. These variations can limit how consistent and reliable saliva can be for making a diagnosis.
But how much of it do you need?
While diagnosing diseases using bodily fluids isn’t new, Haemanthus and other startups differentiate themselves by aiming (and claiming) to need only small amounts for multiple tests: a drop of blood, a swab of saliva, or a few milliliters of urine. This would mean faster, cheaper, more convenient tests that cause less discomfort.
But there are physical limitations of small samples. Many diagnostic markers (called biomarkers) are only present in very low amounts in our body fluids.
When the sample amount decreases, so do the amounts of the biomarkers, making it harder to detect them reliably. This is particularly true for biomarkers such as hormones, cancer markers, or early-stage disease indicators.
What can you detect with a few drops?
Of course, some conditions can be diagnosed using small samples, but generally only one condition is tested for with each small sample, unlike the claims of companies like Theranos.
Finger-prick blood samples, for example, can monitor blood glucose levels of people with diabetes.
The specific biomarkers for these conditions can be reliably detectable in small amounts of fluid.
To diagnose more complex conditions, or even unknown conditions, multiple tests may be required, each needing different sample preparations. This requires both volume and precision – two things tests with small sample volumes struggle to deliver.
What happens next?
While the idea of diagnosing illnesses with small fluid samples is promising, especially for remote or resource-limited settings, the science suggests we should be cautious.
Most human diseases are complicated, and we usually need comprehensive testing approaches to diagnose them. Relying only on small fluid samples could lead to misdiagnosis, delayed treatments, or unnecessary interventions.
John (Eddie) La Marca receives funding from Cancer Council Victoria. He is affiliated with the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
Sarah Diepstraten receives funding from Cure Cancer Australia and My Room Children’s Cancer Charity.
Amali Cooray does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
On election night, a triumphant Anthony Albanese took to the stage brandishing a Medicare card as a symbol of the nation’s commitment to public healthcare.
As the re-elected government gets to work on its promised national food security strategy “Feeding Australia”, it has a unique opportunity to build a strategic agenda as bold and transformative as Medicare.
That agenda is investment in food as a public good – a recognition that a healthy food system is as important to the nation’s health and wellbeing as access to hospitals, bulk-billing doctors and subsidised medicines.
Feeding Australia
The new Labor government, with its large majority, has a once-in-a-generation chance to deliver meaningful change in our food system.
It went into the election promising a new food security strategy, which Agriculture Minister Julie Collins says will improve supply chain resilience and and minimise price volatility at the checkout:
Australia has an impressive record in agriculture, feeding millions of people both here and abroad, but we can’t afford to be complacent. The Albanese Labor government will protect and strengthen Australia’s food security for the benefit of our farmers and all Australians, as well as the trading partners that rely on our produce. When our food and supply chains are secure, it reduces financial strain on households, helping all Australians.
Repeating past mistakes will again risk putting corporate hunger first. The Feeding Australia strategy must prioritise the health of people, planet, and care for Country.
Food for thought
The food security strategy must address multiple, converging crises:
growing food poverty
worsening diet-related health
biosecurity threats
accelerating climate change
declining farmer viability
supermarket duopoly.
Australia produces enough food to feed more than twice its population. Yet it struggles to feed its own people well.
Foodbank Australia estimates one third of Australians now experience some form of food insecurity. A combination of market failures and policy inaction leaves us vulnerable to supply chain disruption and even greater food inequity.
But it’s not only consumers who are suffering. One-third of vegetable growers are considering leaving agriculture in the next year, due to high costs and what growers’ group AUSVEG has called the “relentless squeeze” on margins.
A business-as-usual approach will only reinforce the current state of Australia’s supermarket sector, which is among the most concentrated and profitable in the world. Accusations of price gouging and misleading pricing raise concerns for consumers, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis.
As extreme climate events and biosecurity threats increase in frequency and intensity, the duopoly’s centralised supply chains have occasionally failed. After this year’s floods in Far North Queensland, supermarket shelves were empty once again.
Empty shelves were a weekly occurance in Far North Queensland after the floods stopped rail and road transport. Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash
Yet, independent grocers with shorter supply chains remained stocked – as they did during the Queensland floods in 2011.
The food strategy must do more than offer a band-aid solution to fix an ailing food system.
Community networks
Local food networks have an important role to play in this process.
They are collectives of people and organisations that are committed to creating food and farming systems that put health, equity, and sustainability first. They gather collective wisdom, mobilise public procurement to support local producers, and secure more democratic, health-oriented, and sustainable food system policies.
New research points to how community-led food cooperatives can also help improve food security and healthier diets.
These, and other examples, show the power of community in strengthening food system resilience and security. But they can’t do it alone. Communities need government support and investment.
Future food
The question of who feeds Australia – and how we are fed – matters to us all.
The National Food Security Strategy is an opportunity to forge a more healthy food future. It can lay the foundations for a food and farming system that feeds us well for generations to come.
Achieving this bold agenda will take an inclusive, participatory process that foregrounds First Nations’ voices and the lived experience of those at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis.
Rachael Walshe works for Sustain: The Australian Food Network
Kelly Donati is a co-founder and volunteer board director of Sustain: The Australian Food Network.
Molly Fairweather works for Sustain: The Australian Food Network. She is also a member of Healthy Food Systems Australia (HFSA).
Nick Rose is the co-founder and Executive Director of Sustain: the Australian Food Network. He is also a Senior Lecturer in the Bachelor of Food Studies at William Angliss Institute.
Nick Rose was a Partner Investigator on an ARC project, Strengthening Food Governance at the Local Level (2019-2022).
Sustain currently receives funding from a range of public sector organisations and philanthropic foundations with a shared mission for food system change, including VicHealth and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Organisation.
When a molecule absorbs light, it undergoes a whirlwind of quantum-mechanical transformations. Electrons jump between energy levels, atoms vibrate, and chemical bonds shift — all within millionths of a billionth of a second.
These processes underpin everything from photosynthesis in plants and DNA damage from sunlight, to the operation of solar cells and light-powered cancer therapies.
Yet despite their importance, chemical processes driven by light are difficult to simulate accurately. Traditional computers struggle, because it takes vast computational power to simulate this quantum behaviour.
Quantum computers, by contrast, are themselves quantum systems — so quantum behaviour comes naturally. This makes quantum computers natural candidates for simulating chemistry.
Until now, quantum devices have only been able to calculate unchanging things, such as the energies of molecules. Our study, published this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, demonstrates we can also model how those molecules change over time.
We experimentally simulated how specific real molecules behave after absorbing light.
Simulating reality with a single ion
We used what is called a trapped-ion quantum computer. This works by manipulating individual atoms in a vacuum chamber, held in place with electromagnetic fields.
Normally, quantum computers store information using quantum bits, or qubits. However, to simulate the behaviour of the molecules, we also used vibrations of the atoms in the computer called “bosonic modes”.
This technique is called mixed qudit-boson simulation. It dramatically reduces how big a quantum computer you need to simulate a molecule.
Using a new technique allows realistic simulations to be carried out with small quantum computers. Nicola Bailey
We simulated the behaviour of three molecules absorbing light: allene, butatriene, and pyrazine. Each molecule features complex electronic and vibrational interactions after absorbing light, making them ideal test cases.
Our simulation, which used a laser and a single atom in the quantum computer, slowed these processes down by a factor of 100 billion. In the real world, the interactions take femtoseconds, but our simulation of them played out in milliseconds – slow enough for us to see what happened.
A million times more efficient
What makes our experiment particularly significant is the size of the quantum computer we used.
Performing the same simulation with a traditional quantum computer (without using bosonic modes) would require 11 qubits, and to carry out roughly 300,000 “entangling” operations without errors. This is well beyond the reach of current technology.
By contrast, our approach accomplished the task by zapping a single trapped ion with a single laser pulse. We estimate our method is at least a million times more resource-efficient than standard quantum approaches.
We also simulated “open-system” dynamics, where the molecule interacts with its environment. This is typically a much harder problem for classical computers.
By injecting controlled noise into the ion’s environment, we replicated how real molecules lose energy. This showed environmental complexity can also be captured by quantum simulation.
What’s next?
This work is an important step forward for quantum chemistry. Even though current quantum computers are still limited in scale, our methods show that small, well-designed experiments can already tackle problems of real scientific interest.
Simulating the real-world behaviour of atoms and molecules is a key goal of quantum chemistry. It will make it easier to understand the properties of different materials, and may accelerate breakthroughs in medicine, materials and energy.
We believe that with a modest increase in scale — to perhaps 20 or 30 ions — quantum simulations could tackle chemical systems too complex for any classical supercomputer. That would open the door to rapid advances in drug development, clean energy, and our fundamental understanding of chemical processes that drive life itself.
The authors declare no competing interests. The research was supported by the Sydney Horizon Fellowship program, the Wellcome Leap Quantum for Bio program, the Australian Research Council, the US Office of Naval Research Global, the US Army Research Office Laboratory for Physical Sciences, Lockheed Martin and the Sydney Quantum Academy.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
China plans to accelerate the availability of tax refund stores for eligible overseas visitors to about 10,000 shops nationwide this year, almost tripling the current number, as the country continues to boost inbound tourism and consumption, a senior official said.
By the end of last year, China had more than 3,700 stores nationwide available for tax refunds for overseas visitors, adding more than 600 stores over the previous year, the Ministry of Commerce said.
Promoting inbound consumption serves as an important lever to help vigorously boost consumption, and it holds great growth potential. It will also help offset the impact of additional tariffs to a certain extent, said Sheng Qiuping, vice-minister of commerce, during a conference on Thursday in Beijing.
China will continue to optimize the layout of tax refund stores, and encourage various regions to set up such stores in major commercial complexes, shopping streets, tourist attractions, resorts, cultural and museum venues, airports, passenger ports, hotels and other places where overseas tourists gather, according to a guideline issued by the Ministry of Commerce and five other departments in late April.
The country has lowered the starting point for tax refunds from 500 yuan ($69.3) to 200 yuan and doubled the limit for cash refunds from 10,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan.
In addition, the country will relax the registration requirements for retailers to become tax refund stores, allowing newly opened shops that have been established for less than a year to apply to become tax refund shops, and the filing time has been shortened to within five working days, the guideline said.
“Tax refund stores are also encouraged to broaden product offerings to include time-honored brands, renowned Chinese consumer goods, smart devices, intangible cultural heritage items, crafts and specialty products,” Sheng said.
Globally, Japan has more than 60,000 stores that are available for tax refunds for overseas visitors, and South Korea has some 20,000 such stores. France, Germany and Italy each have over 10,000 such stores. The number of such stores in China is far from enough, the Ministry of Commerce said.
Last year, the total expenditure of inbound tourists in China reached $94.2 billion, accounting for 0.5 percent of China’s GDP, which is lower than the proportions of 1 percent to 3 percent for major countries in the world, said the commerce ministry.
“Accelerating the promotion of the tax refund policy will help reduce shopping costs for overseas travelers and inject new impetus to boost consumption. This is an important measure for China to cope with external uncertainties,” Sheng said.
China has been opening its doors wider to international travelers. In 2024, the country expanded its unilateral visa-free policy to include 38 countries, allowing visits of up to 30 days, according to the National Immigration Administration.
Multiple favorable policies have helped significantly boost inbound consumption. During the recent five-day May Day holiday, the country saw the number of inbound and outbound passenger trips of foreign visitors exceed 1.1 million, up 43.1 percent year-on-year, said the National Immigration Administration.
Shanghai, one of the cities with the highest concentration of foreign tourists, said inbound consumption has become an important lever for it to actively respond to the trade frictions between China and the United States, and promoting inbound consumption will help the city to build itself into an international consumption center.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
People talk at a business event in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2025. The business event aimed at promoting cooperation between Chinese and Israeli enterprises in the life and health industry was held on Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic hub. [Photo/Xinhua]
A business event aimed at promoting cooperation between Chinese and Israeli enterprises in the life and health industry was held on Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic hub.
The event, organized by the China-Israel Changzhou Innovation Park, brought together over 100 representatives from the government and the business, technology, and medical sectors of both countries. During the event, Chinese and Israeli companies inked agreements on technological cooperation, and several Israeli firms signed deals to join the innovation park.
Speaking at the event, Chinese Ambassador to Israel Xiao Junzheng emphasized that technological innovation is a key driver of the healthy development of China-Israel relations.
He said that China, boasting a vast, unified market, a comprehensive industrial system, and a growing innovation ecosystem, complements Israel’s strengths in original research and its well-established innovation environment.
Shen Dong, a senior official from east China’s Changzhou city, home to the innovation park, said the park has become a “key window” for China-Israel scientific cooperation over the past decade, particularly in the health sector. He noted that it has attracted nearly 300 Israeli companies and joint ventures.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
People shop at a Walmart store in Rosemead, California, the United States, on May 15, 2025. Walmart on Thursday reported mixed results for its fiscal first quarter ending April 30, narrowly missing revenue expectations as the retailer signaled that rising tariffs are likely to lead to higher prices for consumers. [Photo/Xinhua]
Walmart on Thursday reported mixed results for its fiscal first quarter ending April 30, narrowly missing revenue expectations as the retailer signaled that rising tariffs are likely to lead to higher prices for consumers.
While the company beat earnings estimates, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned that current tariff levels — despite a temporary reduction on Chinese imports — are “still too high” for Walmart or its suppliers to fully absorb.
“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible. But given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” McMillon said Thursday on an earnings call. “The higher tariffs will result in higher prices,” he said.
Walmart’s revenue for the quarter totaled 165.61 billion U.S. dollars, up 2.5 percent from a year ago but slightly below analysts’ expectations of 165.84 billion dollars. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 61 cents, beating the forecast of 58 cents. Net income declined to 4.49 billion from 5.10 billion dollars a year earlier.
While Walmart achieved its first profitable quarter for its e-commerce operations both in the United States and globally, concerns about future pricing overshadowed the milestone. Tariffs on Chinese imports, particularly in categories like toys and electronics, continue to exert pressure, as do duties on products from countries like Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombia, which have affected prices for items such as coffee, bananas, avocados, and roses.
“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told CNBC. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that consumers are going to start seeing higher prices.”
Rainey said the impact would likely start to show toward the end of May and become more noticeable in June. Walmart is working closely with suppliers to maintain value but admitted the speed and scale of cost increases are “a little bit unprecedented.”
Trade policy remains a significant uncertainty, with about one-third of Walmart’s U.S. merchandise imported from countries including China, Mexico, and Vietnam. While Walmart has not canceled any orders due to tariff concerns, it has scaled back the size of certain shipments to adjust for anticipated changes in consumer demand tied to higher prices. Tariffs have already driven up prices on items like mattresses, toys, and strollers, contributing to higher costs for both businesses and consumers.
According to the Federal Reserve, tariffs have added approximately 0.3 percent to overall prices this year. In response, some companies are raising prices across their product lines, while others are targeting specific items. Many are choosing to remove high-cost products from their offerings altogether, rather than risk losing sales due to price resistance or being undercut by competitors.
Despite these challenges, Walmart reported decent performance last quarter. Comparable store sales rose 4.5 percent, largely driven by gains in its grocery segment. The company also reported increased spending from higher-income customers. Walmart maintained its full-year guidance, projecting sales growth of 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent for the current quarter, although it did not provide updated profit forecasts due to the volatility in trade policy. The company’s shares fell slightly in Thursday trading, reflecting investor caution amid the pricing pressures.
Bank of America analyst Robert Ohmes noted this week that Walmart is “well positioned to manage tariffs,” thanks to its strong supplier relationships and commitment to low prices. Unlike many of its competitors, Walmart sources only about 15 percent of its merchandise from China, reducing its exposure to tariff-related cost spikes. Additionally, roughly 60 percent of Walmart’s inventory consists of groceries, the majority of which are sourced domestically.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (L) and BYD’s Chairman and CEO Wang Chuanfu attend a press conference in Budapest, Hungary, on May 15, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
Chinese investments have become an “indispensable engine” of Hungary’s economic growth, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday.
Orban made the remarks here at a press conference announcing Chinese leading electric vehicle manufacturer BYD’s decision to base its European business headquarters and a new research and development center in Budapest.
“We are living in a time of transformation,” said Orban. “New technologies, new consumer demands, and new manufacturers have emerged. And we Hungarians do not want to be left out of this new era. That’s why we made a strategic decision: the Hungarian industry must join the age of electromobility.”
Orban said that Hungary cannot enter this new technological era alone. “We need partners. And we can only enter this new era if there is Chinese-Hungarian strategic cooperation, because China leads in this industry’s technology.”
Orban also underscored Hungary’s “connectivity strategy.” “Hungary aspires to be a meeting point for Eastern and Western capital, trade, and innovation,” he said.
In the past decade, Hungary’s trade volumes have doubled, and China consistently ranks among the country’s top three investors. “In some years, China has even been the number one investor in Hungary,” Orban said. “This means Chinese investments have become an important, even indispensable engine of Hungarian economic growth.”
The prime minister also highlighted major infrastructure projects supported by Chinese cooperation, such as the Budapest-Belgrade railway. “China plays a crucial role in financing Hungary’s modernization,” he said.
Commenting on broader relations between the European Union (EU) and China, Orban said, “We believe we must return to economic cooperation based on mutual respect and look forward to the opening of new chapters in EU-China cooperation.”
The BYD project will create 2,000 jobs, mostly for university-trained engineers. It also includes strategic partnerships with Hungarian universities and vocational institutions, aiming to link research and development efforts with local talent.
BYD’s Chairman and CEO Wang Chuanfu highlighted Hungary’s advantageous location, deep-rooted automotive industry, and developed infrastructure as key factors behind the company’s decision. “Hungary lies at the heart of Europe, with a mature industrial base that has attracted many global automakers,” Wang said.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Japan’s economy contracted an annualized 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2025, marking the first contraction in four quarters, government data showed Friday.
Quarter-on-quarter, real gross domestic product in the January-March period, adjusted for inflation, declined 0.2 percent from the October-December period, according to the Cabinet Office.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
The fourth Changsha International Construction Equipment Exhibition (CICEE) opened on Thursday in the central Chinese city of Changsha, bringing together over 1,800 global exhibitors to showcase cutting-edge machinery and technologies that are shaping the industry’s future.
This year’s exhibition, themed “High-end, Intelligent, and Green,” has seen the participation of global industry leaders such as Caterpillar and Hitachi Construction Machinery, as well as Chinese construction machinery giants like Sany and Zoomlion.
Exhibitors are showcasing new-energy machinery, unmanned technology and other high-end equipment across an exhibition space of about 300,000 square meters. Exhibits cover equipment used in the fields of construction, emergency rescue, mining, agriculture and transportation.
Some 760 international buyers from over 20 countries and regions are also attending to explore procurement opportunities.
Tsunetaka Mori, Hitachi Construction Machinery’s representative in China, told the opening ceremony that the CICEE has grown into a globally renowned industry event and a world-class platform for market participants over the years.
Noting that the Chinese market remains a top priority in Hitachi’s global strategy, Mori said the company will ramp up its investments in China and provide stronger technology and resource support.
This year’s CICEE, scheduled to run through Sunday, also features a slate of forums, technical exchange events and business-matching activities.
China’s machinery industry posted a steady performance in 2024, buoyed by the country’s large-scale equipment upgrade program and a slew of incremental pro-growth policies. According to the China Machinery Industry Federation, the added value of major machinery enterprises increased 6 percent in 2024 when compared to the previous year. Major enterprises are those with an annual main business revenue of 20 million yuan or more (about 2.78 million U.S. dollars).
Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan Province, is known as a construction machinery manufacturing powerhouse as it hosts the headquarters of China’s top players, including Sany, Zoomlion and Sunward.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
A maiden flight from Lhasa to Pokhara is seen at Lhasa Konggar International Airport in Lhasa, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, March 31, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)
Southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region opened three new international and regional cargo flight routes in the first quarter (Q1).
The routes link Lhasa, the regional capital, to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu, and Pokhara, the second-largest city in Nepal, according to the Xizang regional office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
The maiden flight from Hong Kong arrived at the Lhasa Konggar International Airport at the end of April, carrying 868 kilograms of prepackaged food and other items, including preserved prunes with dried tangerine peel, preserved ginger with plum, and loquat syrup with fritillaria extract.
“Over the years, Xizang has witnessed a sustained increase in demand for imported snacks, with consumers showing growing preference for high-quality and diverse food products,” said Tenzin, general manager of the marketing department of Xizang airport group.
“The specialty snacks in this shipment from Hong Kong will further diversify market offerings, providing consumers with more premium choices,” Tenzin added.
This batch of goods was not only the first shipment of cross-border e-commerce imported through Xizang’s aviation port, but also marked the first-ever air cargo connection between Hong Kong and the region, according to the airport customs.
“The smooth customs clearance of this shipment showed Xizang’s breakthrough in cross-border air freight channels, significantly enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness of regional cross-border trade,” said Li Shisen, director of the airport customs.
The two air routes between Lhasa and Nepal will facilitate imports of high-quality textiles and distinctive copper handicrafts from Nepal. “This strategic addition will diversify our import portfolio while strengthening bilateral trade ties,” Li added.
The new cargo flight routes have also accelerated the distribution of Xizang’s distinctive products to domestic and global markets. According to official statistics, Xizang’s civil aviation sector handled 11,375.3 tonnes of air freight in Q1, up 12.4 percent year on year.
This year, Xizang’s foreign trade has seen steady growth. In Q1, the total import and export value of the region reached 2.308 billion yuan (about 320.72 million U.S. dollars), a 5.9 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to the customs of Lhasa.
Of the total, Xizang’s exports reached 1.95 billion yuan, remaining stable compared with last year, while its imports amounted to 358 million yuan, marking a 56.7 percent year-on-year increase.
Xizang now has a network of 79 domestic air cargo routes, and continues to strengthen logistics connectivity with other regions across the country.
“Now, fresh agricultural products like matsutake mushrooms can be delivered from the plateau to major cities across the country within 72 hours, with some cities enjoying an ultra-fast two-hour delivery service,” said Liu Jie of the Xizang branch of China Post Group Corporation Limited.
Not only domestic and international trade, but also the tourism industry in Xizang is being driven by the takeoff of the region’s civil aviation sector.
With the arrival of the peak tourist season in Xizang, which will last until the end of October, airlines have been launching new routes and increasing flight frequencies to meet the growing travel demand from domestic and international passengers. Data shows that 11 domestic and foreign airlines currently operate flights to Xizang, connecting it to 58 cities worldwide.
The ever-expanding flight network is providing residents in Xizang with more travel options than ever before.
“Today our tour group will depart from Lhasa, then travel to Pokhara and Kathmandu in sequence, before finally flying back from Kathmandu,” said Pasang, a tour guide with a local travel agency. “The launch of these new air routes has significantly reduced travel time, directly boosting our company’s business.”
According to Penpa Tsering, a regional civil aviation official, Xizang’s civil aviation sector will continue its aviation network development to achieve convenient connectivity with more cities in home and abroad.
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, issued the following statement on the release of the Army Corps’ work plans detailing how it will spend the funding provided by Congress under Republicans’ yearlong continuing resolution for fiscal year 2025. The plans show how Trump’s Army Corps of Engineers intends to zero out and significantly cut funding for essential projects in Washington state and across the country.
Among other important priorities, the Army Corps’ plans include the complete elimination of construction funding for the Howard Hanson Dam fish passage facility in Washington state–which was otherwise poised to receive $500 million this year in funding Senator Murray secured in the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill she wrote as Chair and passed through committee in August 2024, as well as in House Republicans’ fiscal year 2025 bill.
Overall, the Army Corps’ plans would steer hundreds of millions of dollars more in construction funding to red states while cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in construction funding for blue states, relative to the president’s fiscal year 2025 request. This includes the complete elimination of Army Corps construction funding for states like California. The president’s budget request has, historically, been fully funded–and was fully funded in both the Senate and House draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills.
“This is some corrupt B-S from the President. We are witnessing a historic and serious, politically motivated abuse of our taxpayer dollars by President Trump. I am going to fight to make sure our communities get the resources they need.
“Trump is ripping away taxpayer dollars from blue states like mine for absolutely critical Army Corps projects that maintain and build foundational water infrastructure–whether it’s dredging for our ports, protecting communities from flood waters, or maintaining major dams. President Trump is setting a dangerous precedent—one that Republicans need to think carefully about. This is not how things should ever work in America.
“I am furious that this administration plans to unilaterally defund construction on the Howard Hanson Dam, which was set to receive $500 million to execute a necessary construction contract this year–funding I fought tooth and nail for in the appropriations bill I cleared unanimously out of committee last year and that was also included in the House Appropriations bill drafted by Republicans. This is a staggering betrayal of Washington state and the entire Pacific Northwest and a tremendous, unacceptable setback in the important work to safeguard our water supply, protect our communities from dangerous flooding, and save our salmon. Eliminating this funding will also prevent the federal government from meeting its legal obligations to finish construction of this passage.
“I fought so hard against Republicans’ slush fund CR for exactly this reason: it handed authority over to the Trump administration to move money around and unilaterally defund critical projects, just like we are seeing now. I warned that Republicans’ bill, which was drafted without any Democratic input, would be catastrophic for the nearly 8 million people I represent in Washington state and so many others across the country, and I fear that is now exactly what we are witnessing.
“It does not pass muster that nearly half a billion dollars is no longer needed for Washington state’s Howard Hanson Dam, nor should anyone believe that the most populous state in America–California–should receive exactly zero dollars for Army Corps construction work.
“Congress must rein Trump in—or he is going to keep trampling the powers of Congress and the communities we all came here to fight for. It may not be your state today, but all of my colleagues must push back now–and forcefully.”
Supporting the Howard Hanson Dam has been a longtime priority for Senator Murray, and she has pressed the Army Corps to prioritize funding for the Dam for years. Under the last administration, Senator Murray was able to secure critical funding boosts for Howard Hanson Dam, including $220 million in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $50 million to begin construction of the Fish Passage facility in the funding bills for Fiscal Year 2024 that Murray wrote as then-Chair of the Appropriations Committee. Back in 2010, Murray secured $44 million in badly needed emergency funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the Howard Hanson Dam. In the draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill she cleared unanimously out of Committee last year, Senator Murray secured $500 million for the fish passage project, which would also address flood risk and water supply issues for cities like Tacoma and Covington. $500 million was also included in the House’s draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill. The funding is needed to execute a construction option on the contract for the project, which would have allowed construction to begin in 2026 as scheduled.
Congress typically provides specific, detailed instructions in its annual appropriations bills on how the Army Corps (and so many other agencies) must spend funding provided by Congress. Annual appropriations bills note exactly what Army Corps projects must be funded and at what levels. But instead of working with Democrats to pass full-year appropriations bills that deliver for communities across America, Republicans in Congress put forth a yearlong continuing resolution (CR) that failed to include hundreds of specific directives on how funding must be spent. For months, Senator Murray warned of the dangers of passing Republicans’ slush fund CR, noting, for example, that it would allow the administration to zero out funding for Army Corps projects.
In a floor speech ahead of the Senate vote on House Republicans’ yearlong CR, Senator Murray warned about the consequences of passing the bill, stating:
“This bill is a green light for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to redirect funding to their own pet projects, force states and communities to abide by their directives, and slash, burn, and zero out programs that our families count on… This bill will let them pick which Army Corps, transit, and military construction projects move ahead—and which grind to a halt… That’s not how this should work. That’s not how this should work in America… If you ask Elon really nicely and you also don’t ask too many questions about his billions of dollars in conflicts of interest… maybe he won’t pull the plug on those critical dam repairs the Army Corps was working on. I mean what sort of deal is that? And what do they think is going to happen next?”
Senator Murray delivered the same warning in another floor speech just the day before:
“I really want to make sure all of my colleagues understand how bad this bill is… This is not a ‘clean’ CR as some Republicans claim—it cuts programs our communities rely on. That includes a major 44% cut to Army Corps projects that help mitigate against floods, hurricanes, and much else… It also lacks the basic guardrails we include in all of our funding bills—on a bipartisan basis each and every year—to make sure our states and communities are taken care of and not subject to the whims of the Trump administration to pick winners and losers.”
From Senator Murray’s March 9th, 2025, fact sheet on the yearlong CR:
“This full-year CR would hand vast discretion over spending decisions to President Trump and his administration to zero out programs and redirect funding as they see fit… ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Gives the Trump administration near-absolute discretion to select which Army Corps projects to fund, allowing President Trump to slow and stop particular projects for political reasons. Construction funding is cut by 44%, which will halt progress on some ongoing projects that mitigate the impacts of hurricanes, flooding, and more.”
