“President Trump’s America First Economic Agenda has created a BOOMING economy — jobs are up, unemployment is down, wages are increasing, and inflation is dead. More than 139,000 good jobs were added to the private sector in May, all accounted for by American-born workers. Americans should continue to trust in President Trump, who continues to beat expectations.” — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
President Donald J. Trump’s America First agenda is making its mark on the American economy — with explosive private sector growth, job gains, and wage increases for American workers.
Look no further than today’s jobs report for proof:
Construction: +4,000 new jobs — the fourth straight month of job increases
Wages for everyday Americans continue to rise, with real average hourly earnings up by nearly 4% over the past year — far higher than economists’ expectations.
Since President Trump took office, real disposable personal income has risen at a 7.5% annualized pace — more than three times the pace than the final year of the Biden Administration.
Native-born American workers now account for ALL job gains since President Trump took office in January — reversing the opposite trend from the past two years.
Since President Trump took office, 99.8% of job gains have been in the private sector. During the final two years of the Biden Administration, one in four jobs created were in government.
Here’s what they’re saying:
Council of Economic Advisers Chair Steve Miran: “The President is succeeding in creating hundreds of thousands of jobs since he came into office — more than half a million jobs since he came into office — and they’re all going to native-born Americans.”
Economist Steve Moore: “This is a blockbuster economy we’re seeing … 4.5% GDP for the second quarter, low inflation — this is telling us right now the jobs are out there for people who want them.”
Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz: “The small business economy is growing and the private economy is growing. This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted to do for reversing everything that Biden had done … It’s so good to see that we’re actually creating private economy jobs again.”
Fox Business Network’s Cheryl Casone: “The markets might be encouraged by the fact that you aren’t seeing job losses … that means that people are maybe going to start spend this summer. They might go actually take a trip they weren’t planning to take — and look, gas prices are lower right now. We’ve got great gas prices, so I think this could be a really good economic story.”
ERShares CEO Joel Shulman, Ph.D.: “There’s optimism here on the horizon … CPI last month was a catalyst. I think we’re going to see another catalyst on June 11, coupled with this better-than-expected jobs report — so I think things are looking more optimistic.”
The Government of Saskatchewan’s Crown oil and natural gas public offering, held on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, raised $9,128,114.78 for the province, with the Estevan area generating the bulk of the bids and revenue.
Seventy-one parcels received acceptable bids, covering a total area of 12,586.646 hectares.
The Estevan area in the southeast brought in $6,533,373.21 for 34 leases totalling 3,631.861 hectares.
In the northwest, the Lloydminster area generated $1,983,553.17 in revenue for 17 leases and one exploration licence totalling 4,830.780 hectares.
Bids in the Kindersley area brought in $547,467.36, while offers in the Swift Current area brought in $63,721.04.
Elk Run Resources Ltd. made the highest bid and dollars-per-hectare bid, offering $2,361,846.93 for a 291.486 hectare lease southeast of Lampman in the Estevan area. The bid works out to an average of $8,102.78 per hectare.
This is the second of six oil and gas public offerings for the 2025-26 fiscal year, over which time the Government of Saskatchewan has raised $21,111,246.03
Several factors affect public offering activity, including changes in oil and gas prices, land availability, geological and technological constraints and various market conditions.
For more information about oil and gas public offerings in Saskatchewan, please visit: Schedule of Public Offerings webpage on saskatchewan.ca.
As part of the annual compliance audit, SMSF auditors must confirm that trustees have properly signed and stored their trustee declarations. Auditors must verify this for anyone who:
became a trustee or director of a corporate trustee after 30 June 2007, or
completed an education direction.
Trustees must keep their signed declarations for as long as the declaration remains relevant to the fund or 10 years – whichever period is longer. A declaration remains relevant while the individual serves as a trustee or director of the fund’s corporate trustee.
Auditors can confirm trustee declarations are signed and stored correctly by:
sighting a signed trustee declaration for each person required to sign one and keeping a copy in the audit file, and
receiving written confirmation from trustees that they have signed and stored the declarations in line with record keeping requirements.
Some auditors miss checking whether trustees have signed and kept declarations as required under section 104A of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 and this mistake can lead to compliance action.
Compliance audit of an SMSF has further information on our expectations of auditors when conducting the compliance audit.
Looking for the latest news for SMSFs? You can stay up to date by visiting our SMSF newsroom and subscribingExternal Link to our monthly SMSF newsletter.
Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
SPC AC 061214
Day 1 Convective Outlook NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 0714 AM CDT Fri Jun 06 2025
Valid 061300Z – 071200Z
…THERE IS AN ENHANCED RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER PARTS OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS…
…THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER PORTIONS OF THE MID MS AND TN VALLEYS…AND OVER SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND….
…SUMMARY… Scattered severe thunderstorms are expected across portions of the central and southern High Plains. Very large hail, damaging winds, and a tornado threat is anticipated. Isolated severe thunderstorms are also possible extending into the Tennessee/Ohio Valleys, and over parts of southern New England. Damaging winds are the primary concern in these areas.
…Mid MS and TN Valleys… Morning radar loop shows a mature quasi-linear MCS over eastern OK tracking into western AR. This system has produced sporadic severe wind reports overnight, and may continue to pose that risk for a few more hours. Some weakening is expected through late morning, with eventual rejuvenation of storms as they spread across parts of KY/TN and vicinity. Model guidance varies on extent of severe storm coverage. However, favorable westerly flow aloft, dewpoints in the 70s, and pockets of strong daytime heating will encourage intense thunderstorm re-development.
…High Plains… The forecast scenario for today is similar to yesterday, with two areas of focus for severe thunderstorm activity. One is along the CO foothills, where moist/southeasterly low-level winds and moderately steep mid-level lapse rates will yield afternoon MLCAPE of 1000-2000 J/kg. Storms are expected to intensify by mid-late afternoon along the foothills and spread southeastward into the adjacent plains. Forecast soundings show generally straight-line hodographs, which will promote splitting supercells capable of very large hail and a few tornadoes. Activity may organize upscale during the evening over southwest KS and spread across OK overnight.
Farther south, yesterday’s and last night’s convection has reinforced a surface outflow boundary which will extend across west TX. Similar to yesterday, intense supercells are expected to form in vicinity of this boundary during the late afternoon, posing another risk of very large hail and a few tornadoes.
..Southern New England… A plume of seasonally high PW values extends across the OH Valley into southern New England. Modest air mass destabilization is expected by mid day with an axis of 1000-2000 J/kg SBCAPE expected to extend across southern New England by 18z. While deep layer shear is not forecast to be that strong, adequate flow should exist for at least some organization. Locally damaging winds are the primary concern with storms that form along this instability axis.
..Hart/Bentley.. 06/06/2025
CLICK TO GET WUUS01 PTSDY1 PRODUCT
NOTE: THE NEXT DAY 1 OUTLOOK IS SCHEDULED BY 1630Z
Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Current Convective Watches (View What is a Watch? clip)Updated: Fri Jun 6 15:16:05 UTC 2025 No watches are currently valid
Archived Convective ProductsTo view convective products for a previous day, type in the date you wish to retrieve (e.g. 20040529 for May 29, 2004). Data available since January 1, 2004.
EL PASO, Texas – A federal jury in El Paso convicted a Venezuelan national for conspiracy to harbor aliens.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Marcel Eliezer Zapata-Colmenarez, 26, opened the door of his residence on Jan. 30 to find agents from the U.S. Border Patrol and other federal law enforcement agencies present. With Zapata-Colmenarez’s consent, the agents entered and searched the residence, finding piles of clothes on the floor, wet and muddy clothing hanging in a closet, and other signs consistent with harboring and smuggling illegal aliens. Zapata-Colmenarez also granted consent for agents to search his cell phone, leading to the discovery of proof-of-life videos—videos sent by recently-crossed illegal aliens acknowledging that they had been smuggled with the assistance of a smuggling network. Zapata-Colmenarez later admitted that he accepted an offer to harbor illegal aliens in his apartment and was paid $50 per alien.
Zapata-Colmenarez was arrested Jan. 30 and indicted on Feb. 26 for one count of conspiracy to harbor aliens and one count of harboring aliens for financial gain. His sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for Aug. 26, 2025, and he faces up to 10 years in federal prison along with a fine of up to $250,000.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.
The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case with assistance from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Wisniewski and Mathew Engelbaum are prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the 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).
Since the end of the cold war, the relevance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) has regularly been questioned, even by its most prominent leaders. Its members, therefore, find it necessary to remind each other and the world of its value from time to time.
The latest example of this is the UK government’s new strategic defence review, which announces a “Nato-first” posture.
Nato has long been a cornerstone of UK foreign, defence and security policies. But this marks a particularly strident prioritisation of the organisation. It comes just a few years after Boris Johnson’s government began moving the country’s foreign and defence policy priorities towards the Indo-Pacific.
It tells us much about how Keir Starmer’s administration sees the UK’s place in the world in an unsettled era: as both an influential ally of the US and a reliable partner to European powers, eager to maintain regional and global influence.
Signed in 1949, the North Atlantic treaty committed its original 12 members to collective security: an attack on one would be an attack on all. In the shadow of the second world war, Nato went further than the nascent United Nations in its defence and security commitments. It brought together a somewhat eclectic mix of states straddling the Atlantic, from the North American behemoths of the US and Canada to tiny Iceland and Luxembourg, the dictatorship of Salazar’s Portugal and the democracies of Norway and Belgium.
The UK’s participation was largely heralded across an enthusiastic parliament. Winston Churchill, then leader of the opposition, praised this new “fraternal association”. The foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, celebrated the community of interest [and] cooperation with like-minded people”. UK politicians saw Nato as a means to connect with the US and Canada in particular.
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The language at the time also reflected the casting of the Soviet Union as a threat to European security. Although the UK welcomed Nato as a liberal democratic organisation dominated by English-speaking peoples, its primary purpose was always to act as a strategic counterweight to the influence and encroachment of the Soviet Union in Europe. Hence the claimed irrelevance of Nato in the 1990s after the cold war, and its renewed importance today in the face of Russian aggression.
As always with UK foreign and defence policies, the relationship with the US is paramount. The UK’s Nato-first position is no exception. Starmer clearly believes he can forge a working relationship with the US president. Although seemingly far from natural bedfellows (although neither were John F. Kennedy and Harold Macmillan or even, politics aside, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher), Donald Trump appears unthreatened by the sober, understated Starmer.
The thought within Starmer’s foreign policy circle may well be that a loud and unequivocal statement of the UK’s commitment to Nato could help persuade Trump to stay the course with an organisation that he has often threatened to pull the US out of.
If, on the other hand, Starmer et al are more pessimistic and fear Trump making good on his threats, Nato clearly remains an attractive proposition in terms of the UK’s defence policy. While it does commit the UK to the defence of, say, the Baltic States and Finland, by the same token, Nato puts the UK in lockstep with fellow nuclear power, France, as well as the growing military power of Germany and significant others such as Turkey. In uncertain times, such allies are to be valued.
Global influence
Even before Brexit, a fear of losing global and regional influence has stalked every British government since 1945.
Questioning the wisdom of the departure from the EU remains a Westminster taboo. Yet one might forgive the incoming Labour government for feeling the chill of isolation while Trump occupies the White House and Russia threatens the continent. Nato thus also represents a valuable opportunity to retain regional and global influence. Note the language in Starmer’s introduction to the report when he refers to a desire to “lead in Nato”.
While the other defenestrated European colonial powers found post-1945 influence through the Francophonie or becoming leading civilian forces in what became the EU, the UK had the Commonwealth and Nato. These were the prime proxies for the lost colonial influence, even during the long EU interregnum.
Without the EU and with a more restive Commonwealth, Nato is of even greater importance. Although France’s president Emmanuel Macron is generally enthusiastic about Nato, there is a history of French ambivalence. The UK could well make the claim to be the most steadfastly committed of all the larger European members.
This renewed commitment to Nato from the UK government is consistent with the historic prioritisation of the organisation by successive administrations. The difference here is the urgency of the context: Europe faces an unprecedented military threat, while the US president is unpredictable and dubious in his attitude towards continental defence.
The Nato-first stance is a recognition of grim, strategic realities and also a “Hail Mary”, both pragmatic and hopeful. The UK is not alone in desperately hoping to keep the US commitment to European security alive. The strategic review’s commitment to a Nato-first policy may help – at the very least, it signals a UK administration keen to maximise its influence and retain robust ties with European allies.
Nick Whittaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The UK is facing a security crisis. Great power competition has returned, and the threat of hostility from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea is increasing. The west can no longer assume military superiority, and the UK can no longer depend unconditionally on the US. The character of war itself is changing as new technology is introduced.
This is the situation laid out in the latest strategic defence review. The implications for the UK are clear: the country must prepare for high-intensity, protracted war, not counter-insurgency operations like Iraq or Afghanistan.
In order to address these challenges, the review says, “the UK must pivot to a new way of war.” Nuclear weapons are important here, and will be renewed and expanded. But the recommendations in the review focus on conventional weaponry and, above all, new remote and autonomous technology.
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The ongoing Ukraine war underpins much of the thinking about the military changes the UK needs to make. That conflict has demonstrated a significant change in the character of 21st-century warfare. Most obviously, it has involved a proliferation of cheap, expendable remote systems, some of which have autonomous capabilities.
Remote first-person-view drones, and drones controlled by unjammable fibre-optic cables, have become ubiquitous on the frontline – reconnoitring, targeting and striking troops on both sides. They have made conventional strategic manoeuvres at the front almost impossible, while also striking civilian and military targets deep in Russia and Ukraine.
At sea, uncrewed naval drones have struck Russian shipping and infrastructure in Crimea. The Ukrainian armed forces have also developed a digital battle management system and live-data, AI-enabled targeting system, drawing together information from satellite, open-source, ground-sensor and signal intelligence. This has allowed Ukrainian commanders to see deeply across the battlespace, and target Russian forces with an unprecedented depth and precision.
As a result of remote systems enabled by digitised targeting, military forces have become exponentially more lethal in close battle – and also in the deep.
The strategic defence review aims for the UK to incorporate these two elements into its war-fighting capabilities, recommending massive investment in remotely controlled and autonomous systems.
It calls for the UK to create a “leading, tech-enabled defence power”. Part of this involves integrating UK forces and the construction of a unified “digital targeting web”. This would be fed by sensors from every domain (land, air and sea) so that all forces have access to the same intelligence and a common operating picture. The idea is that a target identified in one domain might be prosecuted by forces in another, to “enhance the Armed Forces’ precision and lethality at scale and reach”.
In order to achieve this, the review also calls for improved and more innovative relationships between British defence, tech and industry. Once again, a lot has been learnt from Ukraine, whose industrial and tech sectors have been integrated into the war from the start.
The missing link
The review’s authors – three external experts led by former defence secretary and Nato chief, Lord Robertson – are correct to highlight the increasing importance of remote (and sometimes autonomous) systems in warfare. They are clear that military forces should increasingly draw on live data, processed by artificial intelligence, to help them understand the battlespace, plan and target. The UK must remain competitive with peer enemies who are developing these capabilities.
However, even assuming that all of this is affordable at 2.5% of the UK’s GDP from 2027 (a 0.2% rise from where defence spending is now), there is a serious gap in the review’s proposals.
As a scholar who has studied war in the 21st century, and has just completed a book on AI and war, I believe the document vastly overexaggerates the capability of AI and autonomy. For example, it states:
In modern warfare, simple metrics such as the number of people and platforms deployed are outdated and inadequate. It is through dynamic networks of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous assets and data flows that lethality and military effect are now created.
This analysis presumes that autonomy will be vital in the future, and implies it will displace the need for large numbers of human combatants. In fact, true autonomy is still rare in combat – and will remain so, according to my research.
Even if autonomous drone swarms appear, they will not eliminate the need for human programmers or operators behind the frontline. AI has limited military functions which require a huge amount of human input.
Defence secretary John Healey being shown unmanned and autonomous units on a demonstration. UK MOD Crown Copyright 2025
The review prioritises preparedness for protracted inter-state war. But it ignores the blindingly obvious from Ukraine: the imperative of mass.
The Ukrainian frontline combat forces have expanded to about 300,000 – Ukraine claims its whole force, including allied fighters, is around 1 million. There are about 400,000 Russian combat troops in Ukraine. Casualties have been eye-watering: the Russians have suffered about 800,000 casualties, the Ukrainians nearly 500,000.
In my view, the strategic defence review has been mesmerised by the prospect of new technology – and, perhaps, by some wishful thinking.
In 21st-century war, troop mass matters. Fleets of drones and the most sophisticated digital targeting will be irrelevant without human forces willing to fight and to operate them.
What is the review’s answer to this? While acknowledging that in the cold war, the British fielded forces of 311,000, UK regular armed forces are to remain the same size: 136,000, of which the army will consist of only 73,000 troops and staff.
The review proposes that active reserves (volunteer, part-time forces) will be increased by 20%, and that the strategic reserve (ex-regulars) “is central to military mobilisation and must be reinvigorated”.
It is not surprising that the review’s authors have offered such thin solutions to the question of mass. There has been profound resistance from successive governments, Whitehall and civil society to any expansion in the size of British military forces in the UK. But it is doubtful that an expanded reserve and a reinvigorated strategic reserve will be remotely enough for the UK to fight and win a war of any kind in the coming decade.
Anthony King 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.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
Consultation launched into permit ‘minded to’ decision
The Environment Agency has launched a consultation into its ‘minded to’ decision to issue a permit to a Bury landfill.
Valencia Waste Management applied for an environmental permit to increase the permitted quantities for treatment of mixed non-hazardous waste at its Pilsworth South waste management facility at Pilsworth Road.
After reviewing 291 responses from the original consultation last year the Environment Agency is ‘minded to’ issue the environmental permit.
This means after exploring the issues and concerns that have been raised, it can’t find any reason to refuse the application, but is yet to make a final decision.
The consultation into the ‘minded to’ decision documents will close at the end of Thursday 3 July 2025.
EA wants to ‘hear people’s views’
Nigel Glasgow, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in Greater Manchester,
We have carefully considered all the documents provided to us by Valencia Waste Management as well as the consultation comments and currently can’t find any reason to refuse the permit application.
We want to hear people’s views on the draft decision and those interested are encouraged to view the draft documents and provide comments.
We will make our final decision once we have reviewed the responses to this consultation.
The purpose of the treatment is to recover the metals, wood and plastic for recycling, and to prepare the combustible wastes for use in energy recovery off-site.
The residual waste will, where possible, be used in landfill engineering, otherwise it will be disposed of in the landfill.
The treatment will take place in a purpose-built building with specialised equipment capable of treating up to 250,000 tonnes per year.
Legal requirements
The original consultation into this application took place ended on 23 August 2024.
The Environment Agency may only refuse a permit application if it does not meet one or more of the legal requirements under environmental legislation, including if it will have an unacceptable impact on the environment or harm human health.
If all the requirements are met, it is legally obliged to issue a permit.
The draft decision document explains the Environment Agency’s decision-making and outlines how it has considered the comments from the original consultation. The draft permit outlines the conditions would need to meet if the permit is granted.
The Environment Agency will only issue the permit if it is satisfied the operator could comply with the permit conditions and has appropriate systems in place to operate the incinerator without causing harm to the environment, human health or wildlife.
Environmental permits set out strict legal conditions by which an operator must comply in order to protect people and the environment. Should an environmental permit be issued, the Environment Agency has responsibility for enforcing its conditions.
Our powers include enforcement notices, suspension and revocation of permits, fines and ultimately criminal sanctions, including prosecution.
We may only refuse a permit if it does not meet one or more of the legal requirements under environmental legislation, including if it will have a significant impact on the environment or harm human health. If all the requirements are met, we are legally required to issue a permit.
Consultation responses
Responses to the consultation can be made electronically.
Those unable to view the documents or make representation via the consultation website or by email should contact the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506.
Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –
Three groups, more than 100 students, successfully completed the MBA program. Over a year and a half, they completed 16 educational modules, including two on-site ones: to China and to Lake Baikal. The 2025 graduates include entrepreneurs, founders of successful businesses, and top managers of leading Russian companies: Sber, VTB, Rostelecom, NOVATEK, Rosatom, Yandex.Technologies, Almaz-Antey Concern, SKB Kontur, Belkacar, SONET Group, and others.
First Deputy Director of the Higher School of Business
“The MBA program not only provides knowledge, but also strong networking in the leadership community; for a modern entrepreneur and top manager, it is extremely important to remain in the educational environment and continue learning throughout life.”
The updated MBA program of the HSE Graduate School of Business covers key areas of modern management: from strategic management and corporate finance to marketing, operations management and innovation, including the use of AI in business.
All graduates note an important advantage of the HSE Graduate School of Business: a very strong team of teachers, which unites both practitioners, leaders of successful businesses, and outstanding representatives of academic science from across the HSE University.
Positioning itself as a first-choice business school, HSE has invested a lot of effort into developing its MBA program, including innovative educational formats: business simulations, interactive projects, group assignments to develop practical skills and networking among program students.
The hallmarks of the MBA program at the Higher School of Business at the National Research University Higher School of Economics are effective on-site modules. The leadership intensive is traditionally held on Lake Baikal and is aimed at developing team management skills, crisis management, and the ability to make decisions under stress and in situations of uncertainty.
And the recent overseas module was organized jointly with Fudan University, one of the leading centers of business education in Asia. The university is among the best universities in China and Asia, widely recognized for its high level of teaching, quality of scientific research and international programs in the field of economics and management. The overseas modules are the leaders in the most positive feedback from the program participants.
The final part of the program was the defense of final projects. Participants presented solutions for a wide range of industries: from energy and tourism to industrial production and digital services. Among the initiatives: development of a new data management product, launch and development of a business community, a service for generating income from excess energy capacity, a strategy for bringing self-propelled electric lifts to market.
The graduation ceremony took place at the HSE campus. The graduates were congratulated by the program teachers and the business school management.
Head of the MBA program at the Higher School of Business, National Research University Higher School of Economics
“Our program is an intensive path of personal and professional transformation. We see how students change over the course of a year and a half: their confidence grows, their horizons expand, their ability to make strategic decisions strengthens. It is especially valuable that they leave the program with a clear understanding of their role in business and with a readiness for new challenges.”
During their studies, participants not only expanded their professional horizons, but also built new strong horizontal connections—the alumni community remains one of the program’s key resources.
Ekaterina Artemenkova
Director of the Financial Department, Insurance Company “Guardia”
“I asked my classmates to name three associations with the program and collected them in a word cloud. The most frequent word turned out to be unexpected, but very accurate – “pleasure”. In the program, we learned to enjoy studying, communicating, challenges. And, perhaps, the main thing we learned was the ability to maintain inner calm in the most stressful situations and to see opportunities even in difficulties.”
Andrey Dementyev
Founder of the family project “Elephant Park” in Sochi
“Over these one and a half years, we have not only mastered the tools of strategic management, Agile and financial analysis – we have learned to see value in people, in the team, in the environment. We have learned from each other, admired, supported – and it is in this atmosphere that ideas, projects and a real team are born.”
Olga Komleva
Director of IT Solutions Department, SONET Group of Companies
“This morning, when I was driving to the airport, I was thinking that this is my last trip as part of the MBA program. It is a warm sadness and great pride at the same time. We have gained knowledge, found friends, and most importantly, made the right choice by coming here. I would like to wish everyone not to lose interest, to study and move forward.”
The graduation of the HSE Graduate School of Business MBA program has become a significant contribution to the preparation of innovative responsible leaders who change organizations and the world. Start of a new cohort MBA programs is scheduled for this fall and the admissions campaign has already begun.
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.
The Spanish economy has been performing strongly, supported by services exports and labor force growth. Growth is expected to remain significantly above the euro area average in the near term, before slowing gradually as its recent drivers normalize and demographic aging intensifies. Most risks are to the downside, including from a further escalation of trade measures and domestic political fragmentation.
The authorities should seize the growth momentum to more swiftly rebuild fiscal space and reduce sovereign debt risks through a clearer consolidation strategy grounded in well-identified tax increase and spending reduction priorities. Additional measures should also be taken to address fiscal pressures from rising future pension expenditures, and to improve the pension system’s safeguard clause.
Raising productivity is key to boosting income per capita gains, which have been modest since the pandemic. This should be achieved through a new wave of reforms to facilitate firms’ scaling-up and strengthen innovation.
Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the Article IV Consultation for Spain.[1] The authorities have consented to the publication of the Staff Report prepared for this consultation.[2]
With a growth rate of 3.2 percent in 2024, Spain has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the euro area. Growth has been fueled by robust services exports and labor force growth, including due to immigration. Because high GDP growth has been accompanied by high employment growth, GDP per capita gains have been more modest. Despite recent progress, Spain still has one of the lowest employment rates in Europe, and a persistent gap in (hourly labor) productivity vis-à-vis the euro area and—even more so—the US.
Growth is projected to reach 2.5 percent in 2025 before slowing to 1.8 percent in 2026 as export and working-age population gains normalize. Growth will be primarily supported by private domestic demand, including due to a decline in the household saving rate and a pickup in investment. Inflation is projected to decline further and return close to the ECB’s target by end-2025.
The Spanish economy has continued to outperform the euro area but per-capita income gains have been more modest. Two major drivers of Spain’s strong growth have been, on the supply side, labor force growth, and on the demand side, services exports. Labor force growth has particularly benefitted from recent migration inflows, which have risen sharply above pre-pandemic levels. Services exports have been fueled by the strong post-COVID recovery in tourism, but also by improvements in the performance of Spanish exporters in non-tourism services. Amid strong exports and still subdued imports, the external position in 2024 is preliminarily assessed to be stronger than implied by medium-term fundamentals and desirable policies. Because high GDP growth has been accompanied by high employment growth, GDP per capita gains have been more modest. Still, Spain reduced its per-capita income gap vis-à-vis the highest-income euro area economies by over 3 percentage points during 2022-24, helped by an acceleration in productivity growth. Despite recent progress in reducing the unemployment rate, it remains the highest in the euro area at about 11 percent. Looking through recent volatility, disinflation has continued to proceed steadily.
Growth is projected to remain robust in the near term and to slow gradually thereafter as its recent drivers normalize, with risks predominantly to the downside. Growth should remain strong at 2.5 percent in 2025 before declining to about 1.8 percent next year, close to its medium-term potential. On the demand side, tourism is expected to expand at a slower rate, while a weaker global environment—including elevated trade policy uncertainty and US tariffs—will also weigh on external demand. This drag is expected to be partly offset by robust domestic demand, including a pick-up in investment. On the supply side, a gradual slowdown in net migration and demographic aging will slowly weigh on labor force gains. Key downside risks include an escalation of trade measures, particularly those involving the EU, and domestic political fragmentation, which could hamper the response of fiscal policy in the event Spain’s deficit reduction fell short of its commitments or market concerns about sovereign risks were to emerge.
The authorities should seize upon the strong growth momentum to more swiftly rebuild fiscal space and reduce sovereign debt risks, in the context of an enhanced medium-term fiscal plan. Staff projects that, in the absence of further consolidation measures besides social security contribution increases from the 2021-2023 pension reforms and the non-indexation of PIT brackets (about 1 percent of GDP overall over 2025-29), the deficit would stabilize above 2 percent of GDP by 2030, while the debt-to-GDP ratio would remain above 90 percent before rising again in the longer term as fiscal pressures from aging intensify. Weighing fiscal risks on the one hand, and the economy’s strong cyclical position on the other, staff recommends frontloading the authorities’ planned 3 percent of GDP adjustment over 2025-2029 rather than 2025-2031. This effort, which would require about 2 percentage points of GDP in new measures, should be underpinned by an enhanced medium-term fiscal plan that lays out well-identified tax increase and spending reduction priorities. Harmonizing VAT and enhancing environmental taxation would deliver the recommended effort while reducing economic distortions. Given the widening projected gap between pension expenditures and social security contributions over the coming decades, pension reforms should also be undertaken, prioritizing employment-friendly options. Should downside risks materialize, fiscal policy should remain flexible, letting automatic stabilizers play out. Temporary discretionary support should be considered only in the event of a severe shock and provided sovereign funding costs remain low.
Systemic risks in the financial system remain low but ongoing efforts to further bolster its resilience should be maintained. Banks are well-capitalized, liquid, and profitable, though capital ratios are still somewhat below euro area peers. Household and corporate balance sheets are sound, supported by low debt and rising incomes. The rapid growth in house prices has eroded affordability and should be primarily addressed through measures that stimulate housing supply. While it does currently not raise financial stability risks, pre-emptive borrower-based measures should be considered if there were early signs of an easing in lending standards. Staff supports the ongoing phasing-in of the one-percent positive neutral CCyB and encourages continued implementation of other 2024 FSAP recommendations to further enhance resilience.
Fostering income-per-capita convergence toward higher-income advanced economies requires further raising the employment rate and boosting productivity. Despite recent progress, Spain still has one of the lowest employment rates in Europe, and its (hourly labor) productivity gap vis-à-vis the euro area—which has itself been falling behind the US—remains about as wide as it was 25 years ago. Enhancing activation policies and financial incentives for jobseekers is key to durably reducing unemployment to single digits. The planned reduction of the working week in the private sector should be carefully designed to mitigate adverse effects on output and workers’ incomes, with a major role for collective bargaining including in setting the level and remuneration of overtime. Closing the productivity gap will require reforms that facilitate firms’ scaling-up and innovation. These include completing both the Spanish and EU single markets for goods and services, streamlining firm size-related tax and regulatory thresholds, boosting venture capital through progress toward the CMU complemented by domestic incentives, and promoting excellence in higher education—including through greater autonomy and performance-based funding of universities.
Sources: IMF, World Economic Outlook; data provided by the authorities; and IMF staff estimates.
1/ The projections incorporate spending financed by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (including the grant and the loan component) amounting to about 0.7, 1.7, 1.3 and 0.3 percent of GDP from 2024 to 2027.
[1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.
[2] Under the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, publication of documents that pertain to member countries is voluntary and requires the member consent. The staff report will be shortly published on the www.imf.org/en/Countries/ESP page.
[3] At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here: http://www.IMF.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11)
This week, Chairman Pfluger (R-TX) and Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) also sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem requesting the alien file for the suspect, an Egyptian national named Mohamed Sabry Soliman, which will include information on his expired visa, work authorization, and asylum application.
HEARING DETAILS:
What: A Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence hearing entitled, “The Rise of Anti-Israel Extremist Groups and Their Threat to U.S. National Security”
When: Wednesday, June 11,at 10:30 AM EDT
Where:310 Cannon House Office Building
Watch: Witness testimony will be added here. The hearing will be livestreamed on YouTube and will be open to the public and press. Press must RSVP in advance.
WITNESSES:
Kerry Sleeper
Deputy Director, Intelligence and Information Sharing, Secure Community Network
Oren Segal
Senior Vice President, Counter-Extremism and Intelligence, Anti-Defamation League
Additional witnesses will be announced and are by invitation only.
BACKGROUND:
In 2024, Chairmen Pfluger and Green sent a letter to then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, requesting information and documents pertaining to any efforts by DHS and the FBI to assist law enforcement and other partners in response to anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas mobs on college campuses.
In 2023, the Subcommittee held a roundtable on the growing trend of antisemitism on U.S. college campuses in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks against Israel by Hamas terrorists.
In October 2024, an illegal alien who had been released into the country under the Biden-Harris administration shot and killed a Jewish man on his way to his Chicago Synagogue.
In February, Chairman Pfluger introduced the “Generative AI Terrorism Risk Assessment Act,” which would require DHS to conduct annual assessments on terrorism threats to the U.S. posed by terrorist organizations, like ISIS and al Qaeda, utilizing generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications for terroristic activity. Chairman Pfluger also reintroduced the “Countering Online Radicalization and Terrorism Act,” legislation requiring DHS to conduct annual assessments on terrorism threats posed to the United States by terrorist organizations like ISIS, al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and others, utilizing foreign cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging applications like Telegram.
Source: US House of Representatives – Democratic Caucus
The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI – June 04, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu held a press conference on Republicans telling the American people that “We all are going to die” in response to concerns that the Republican Budget, which will throw millions of Americans off their health insurance, may lead to unnecessary deaths.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. Let me begin by saying our Caucus heard an update on the situation in Boulder, Colorado and the horrendous attack that injured 12 innocent people. Antisemitism has no place in American life. We stand with the Jewish community in this difficult hour and always.
Republicans in Congress don’t care if your health care is too expensive. And they don’t care if you can’t afford your medical bills. They voted for what Elon Musk called a “disgusting abomination,” a Republican Budget that throws millions of Americans off of their health insurance. Republicans don’t care that their tariffs are raising your prices across the board and making it harder to make ends meet. They voted to take away food assistance for families, seniors and veterans. And they’ll continue to reward billionaire donors who keep them in office with tax breaks, so they can hold on to power. They’re getting rich off stock trades while working people worry about losing their jobs. When confronted with the truth, they often just lie. Or they show their true colors, like one Republican Senator did, by dismissing concerns that Medicaid cuts might lead to unnecessary deaths as a result of their “disgusting abomination,” kicking millions off their health care. “We all are going to die,” she said. That is the Republican health care plan in a nutshell. And that’s why Republicans can’t be trusted to make health care, or anything else, more affordable for working families. Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. I also condemn the horrific terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado. About a dozen people were burned, some critically, because of a terrorist who threw essentially Molotov cocktails at a group of Jewish Americans. And let me just be clear: Hamas is a genocidal, homicidal, extreme terrorist organization who attacked Israel, not the other way around. And now, Jewish Americans in America are fearing for their safety because of folks who are committing brazen acts of antisemitism. We need to call it out when we see it, and I urge that the person be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law who committed this heinous terrorist attack.
I’d like to now talk about Senator Joni Ernst’s statement that “we all are going to die.” She is correct that we all are going to die, but it shouldn’t be at the hands of Republican legislation, and the Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill is going to cause unnecessary death. So then, Senator Ernst doubled down on her statement, and did a video of herself walking through a cemetery, again, talking about what she said. And then she ended by citing Jesus. So I’m just a simple Catholic, but let me just tell you I actually read the Gospels, and Jesus goes around healing people. That’s what he does, right? He heals a woman who is blind, heals a person who had leprosy, he heals a person who is paralyzed, 41 acts of healing in the Gospel. That’s what Jesus did in terms of acts. So it’s exactly the opposite of what Senator Ernst is saying. And call me old-fashioned, but I think the goal of government is not to hasten the deaths of Americans, it is to make the lives of Americans better. And clearly, this Big Ugly Bill is not going to do that. And now we see some Republican Members who are opposed to it, because, guess what? They didn’t read the bill.
So Marjorie Taylor Greene, yesterday, opposes a provision which is a 10-year moratorium on states regulating artificial intelligence. So I agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene, once every 100 years, this is that time. I agree that this 10-year provision is extreme. It’s going to cause unnecessary harm. And look, I think the federal government is fine doing preemption when we preempt with something. You can’t just preempt with nothing. This is a bad provision, and I hope the Senate will take out this 10-year moratorium.
Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey on Friday announced she is tapping Cynthia Lee Almond to serve as president of the Public Service Commission. This fills the seat previously held by Twinkle Cavanaugh, who has taken a role with the Trump Administration.
“Cynthia has proven to be an extremely effective public servant and leader, and I am confident the people of Alabama will be even better served when she takes the helm at the Public Service Commission,” said Governor Ivey. “Since 2021, I have been able to count on Cynthia to get real, meaningful work done in the Legislature, and while I know the people of Tuscaloosa will miss her representation in the State House, every person across this state will now benefit from her leadership on the Public Service Commission.”
As president, Almond will lead the three-person board responsible for regulating utilities in Alabama. Almond is a seasoned attorney and currently works in the private practice of law. She also takes the helm at the Public Service Commission after serving as a Republican member of the Alabama House of Representatives for District 63.
Almond brings a wealth of experience to the Public Service Commission and has a solid track-record of serving the people she represents well, whether that be in the House of Representatives or as an attorney. She works directly with a variety of people through her legal work, which has largely concentrated on estate planning, as well as probate, business law and real estate. Additionally, she owns a title company. In the State House, she served as chair of the Tuscaloosa County Local Legislative Delegation and as a member of the Ways and Means Education Committee, Judiciary Committee, Rules Committee and as vice-chair of the Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee.
Throughout her tenure in the Legislature, Almond has been a partner to Governor Ivey on priorities like the governor’s Safe Alabama public safety package, the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences, and the Game Plan economic development legislation, among other areas.
Almond is a true public servant, well-respected and recognized as a strong leader by her peers. Previously, she served four terms on the Tuscaloosa City Council where she was elected president pro tem by her colleagues on the Council, as well as chair of the Finance committee.
“I am honored to have been asked by Governor Ivey to fill this important position. It is one I accept with great enthusiasm,” said Almond. “I know how important this commission is to the people of Alabama and to the industry sectors it regulates. I believe my training as an attorney and legislator will prove to be helpful in performing this role. I appreciate greatly the confidence shown in me by Governor Ivey, and I will work hard for her and for this great state of Alabama.”
Almond attended Vanderbilt University and is a graduate of both The University of Alabama and University of Alabama School of Law.
Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Almond gives much back to the community today. She is a graduate of Leadership Alabama and was co-chair for its West Alabama Regional Council. She serves as a Sunday School teacher at First United Methodist Church, has two children and enjoys a variety of activities from playing the piano and tennis to mountain bike riding and more.
Since 2021, she has represented the people of House District 63 effectively and plans to vacate her seat in the Legislature on Sunday, June 15 ahead of joining the Public Service Commission. The Public Service Commission appointment is effective Monday, June 16, which is when the governor will swear her in as president.
An official headshot of Cynthia Lee Almond is attached.
Headline: N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation Seeks Public Input on Equine State Trail Master Plan
N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation Seeks Public Input on Equine State Trail Master Plan jejohnson6
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Division of Parks and Recreation is seeking input on the Equine State Trail Master Plan. The master plan will be a 20-year plan that identifies a 10-mile-wide corridor for the trail.
Authorized in 2023 by the General Assembly, the Equine State Trail is the 14th state trail. It is envisioned to be an equestrian trail that loops through eight counties, including Chatham, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, and Richmond counties. The trail has opportunities to connect Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, Carvers Creek State Park, and Raven Rock State Park, and will offer a variety of equestrian recreation.
Two public open houses will be held — June 18 at Raven Rock State Park auditorium and June 25 at Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve auditorium. Both open houses will be from 5-7 p.m. and attendees can drop in any time. Members of the public are encouraged to attend and can expect to spend about 30 minutes to review, discuss and weigh in on their preferred recreational amenities for the trail.
Amenities that may be considered for the master plan include the trail surface type, campgrounds, trailheads, recreational user types, and connection opportunities within the eight identified counties.
An online public survey is available for those who cannot attend the public meetings. Take the survey at:http://www.trails.nc.gov/eqst-survey.
About North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation The Division of Parks and Recreation manages more than 264,000 acres of iconic landscape within North Carolina’s state parks, state recreation areas and state natural areas. It administers the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, including its local grants program, as well as a state trails program, North Carolina Natural and Scenic Rivers and more, all with a mission dedicated to conservation, recreation and education. The state parks system welcomes more than 19 million visitors annually.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
Headline: Dr. Craig Friend to Discuss New Book ‘Becoming Lunsford Lane’ on June 24 at N.C. Capitol
Dr. Craig Friend to Discuss New Book ‘Becoming Lunsford Lane’ on June 24 at N.C. Capitol jejohnson6
The North Carolina State Capitol will host a free lecture by Dr. Craig Friend about his new book “Becoming Lunsford Lane: The Lives of An American Aeneas” on June 24 at 6 p.m. The State Capitol is administered by the N.C. Division of State Historic Sites within the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
By challenging the rules of enslavement and, later, pushing the boundaries of free citizenship in North Carolina, Lunsford Lane (1803-79) became a folk hero to many enslaved Southerners, as well as a generation of abolitionists. Author of a unique “slave narrative” and a speaking partner with some of the era’s greatest orators, including William Lloyd Garrison, Henry Highland Garnett, William Wells Brown, and Frederick Douglass, Lane became a celebrity who watched as the persona he created gradually faltered and failed him and his family.
In the first biography of Lunsford Lane based on original and extensive research, Craig Thompson Friend portrays a man who dreamed beyond his enslavement, delivered himself and his family from bondage, and spun a story of his life that brought him lasting freedom and fleeting fame. Lane’s story is a biography for our times: a man searching to define life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in a changing American society scarred by contentious politics, economic challenges, class tensions, loss of political rights, and racial violence.
Craig Thompson Friend is a professor of history at North Carolina State University. He is the author of “Kentucke’s Frontiers,” winner of the 2011 Governor’s Award, and “Along the Maysville Road: The Early Republic in the Trans-Appalachian West.” For more information about the event, visit the site’s Eventbrite pageBecoming Lunsford Lane: Book Talk with Dr. Craig Friend Tickets, Tue, Jun 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite
The State Capitol’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history, architecture, and function of the 1840 building and Union Square. The Capitol is open to visitors Monday-Saturday and is located at1 E. Edenton St. in downtown Raleigh. For additional information please call 984-867-8340 or visithttps://historicsites.nc.gov/capitol.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
Headline: First Farm-Life School to be Featured on N.C. Highway Historical Marker
First Farm-Life School to be Featured on N.C. Highway Historical Marker jejohnson6
Schools built in the early 20th century to provide education in rural areas of the state soon will be recognized with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker. The N.C. Historical Marker Program is part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
The marker commemorating Craven County Farm Life School, the first farm life school, will be dedicated at the intersection of U.S. Hwy 17 and Farm Life Avenue in Vanceboro, N.C. on Thursday, June 12 at 4 p.m.
Authorized in 1911 by a General Assembly appropriation, farm life schools were promoted by state superintendent J.Y. Joyner and various farm groups. These schools were required to offer a standard high school education in addition to classes and practical experience in vocational agriculture and home economics.
If a local governmental unit provided facilities (including dormitories for boys and girls) for $25,000 and then pledged $2,500 for operating expenses each year, the state would match the latter amount. Almost immediately, five counties took advantage of the offer, and by 1916, 21 farm-life schools were in operation.
Craven County Farm Life School opened on Nov. 4, 1913, with an on-site celebration and 30 enrolled students.
A second school — Rowan Farm-Life School in China Grove — opened in 1914 and was such a success that in 1921 the regular China Grove High School merged with it and shared the farm campus.
In Nash County, local farmer Tom Jones donated 25 acres of land, and the community voted for an additional $10,000 in bonds for buildings for the Red Oak Farm-Life High School.
Students within walking or horse-riding distances paid no tuition, but boarding students paid $12.50 per month. The boys cut wood for fires, and the girls cooked and waited on tables. Crop rotation, contour plowing, selection of nutritious foods, and improved homemaking practices were emphasized along with the academic curriculum.
For more information about the historical marker, please visit https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2024/08/09/farm-life-schools-c-89, or call (919) 814-6625
The Highway Historical Marker Program is a collaboration between the N.C. departments of Natural and Cultural Resources and Transportation.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
Headline: Chimney Rock State Park to Reopen June 27
Chimney Rock State Park to Reopen June 27 jejohnson6
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and N.C. State Parks announced today that Chimney Rock State Park and the Chimney Rock attraction will reopen to visitors on Friday, June 27, exactly nine months after Hurricane Helene devastated the surrounding communities.
“Chimney Rock is a western North Carolina jewel,” said Governor Josh Stein. “Reopening the state park will draw tourists back to this area. I am pleased that DNCR, DOT, and local leaders in Chimney Rock were able to get this park open for people to enjoy and so local businesses can thrive.”
Access to the park has been limited since September 2024 due to the loss of the park entrance bridge. The N.C. Department of Transportation recently completed work on a temporary bridge and repairs to the park’s roads.
“The reopening of this iconic park is another positive step toward recovery in western North Carolina,” said N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Pamela B. Cashwell. “We could not reopen Chimney Rock without the swift work of the N.C. Department of Transportation and the leadership from Governor Josh Stein and his recovery team.”
“We are grateful for the strong partnership with the local communities and their leadership, along with Chimney Rock Management,” said State Parks Director Brian Strong. “We are so excited to welcome visitors back to Chimney Rock State Park.”
Park hours and additional details will be announced soon. Advance reservations will be required to access the Chimney Rock attraction; the ticketing reservation system atchimneyrockpark.comwill go live approximately one week prior to the reopening. Capacity will be limited due to ongoing recovery and rebuilding efforts in the area.
Located in Rutherford County, Chimney Rock State Park offers some of North Carolina’s most dramatic mountain scenery, overlooking Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure. For a fee, visitors can take an elevator or hike to the top of the park’s namesake, a 315-foot freestanding rock spire. James Ledgerwood is the park superintendent.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
Kevin Colantonio, 36, pleaded guilty in February 2025 to malicious damage by means of fire, obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs, and two counts of assault on a federal officer. He was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr., to more than six years in federal prison. He intentionally set multiple fires around the exterior of a predominantly black church in North Providence, RI, in February 2024, and assaulted two federal correctional officers while detained at a federal detention center following his arrest.
“This defendant acted with disdain against people of faith and complete disregard for law enforcement officers,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously prosecute anti-Christian bias in the United States and ensure Americans are free to worship without fear.”
Colantonio previously admitted to a federal judge that on Feb. 11, 2024, he used gasoline and a lighter he purchased minutes earlier at a gas station within walking distance of Shiloh Gospel Temple Ministries, to ignite five fires around the exterior of the church. The fires were quickly extinguished by North Providence officers, but not before the church sustained some damage.
During a Feb. 15, 2024, court-authorized search of Colantonio’s residence, an accelerant detection canine indicated a positive reaction on several items of seized clothing. These items matched the clothing Colantonio was wearing on the night of the arson, based upon surveillance footage. Colantonio admitted to setting the fires and assaulting the corrections officers.
Acting U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom for the District of Rhode Island and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter I. Roklan for the District of Rhode Island and Taylor Payne of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.
The fires set at the Shiloh Gospel Temple Ministries were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with members of the North Providence, RI, Police Department and the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal’s Office. The assault of the federal officers was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)
Issued by: on
VIRAC, Philippines (June 5, 2025) – Hawaii National Guardsmen and personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines instruct local emergency responders and civilian authorities on how to breach a simulated collapsed building in Virac, Philippines, June 5, 2025. This effort is part of a two-week urban rescue training exercise supporting the humanitarian assistance and disaster response objectives of Pacific Partnership 2025. Now in its 21st iteration, Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Jennings)
Date Taken:
06.05.2025
Date Posted:
06.06.2025 10:13
Photo ID:
9089135
VIRIN:
250605-N-YV347-1064
Resolution:
6823×4549
Size:
11.44 MB
Location:
VIRAC, PH
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Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)
Issued by: on
VIRAC, Philippines (June 5, 2025) – Hawaii National Guardsmen and personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines instruct local emergency responders and civilian authorities on how to perform a controlled descent in Virac, Philippines, June 5, 2025. This effort is part of a two-week urban rescue training exercise supporting the humanitarian assistance and disaster response objectives of Pacific Partnership 2025. Now in its 21st iteration, Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Jennings)
Date Taken:
06.05.2025
Date Posted:
06.06.2025 10:13
Photo ID:
9089138
VIRIN:
250605-N-YV347-1088
Resolution:
6893×4595
Size:
18.91 MB
Location:
VIRAC, PH
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Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)
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VIRAC, Philippines (June 6, 2025) – Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance representative Mike Wiley leads a Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Response workshop with Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel, local emergency responders, and civilian authorities in Virac, Philippines, June 6, 2025. This effort is part of a two-week urban rescue training exercise supporting the humanitarian assistance and disaster response objectives of Pacific Partnership 2025. Now in its 21st iteration, Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Jennings)
Date Taken:
06.06.2025
Date Posted:
06.06.2025 10:17
Photo ID:
9089153
VIRIN:
250606-N-YV347-1013
Resolution:
8256×5504
Size:
32 MB
Location:
VIRAC, PH
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PIERRE – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced a North Park, North Dakota, man and a Bismarck, North Dakota, woman who were convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. The sentencings took place on June 2, 2025.
Richard Rasmusson, age 44 , was sentenced to ten years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was further ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Leslie Apple, age 40, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. She was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Rasmusson and Apple were indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2024. Rasmusson pleaded guilty on November 4, 2024. Apple pleaded guilty on November 18, 2024.
These convictions stemmed from drug distribution activity that occurred between January 2024 and April 2024. During that time period, Rasmusson and Apple took methamphetamine from North Dakota to distribute in the Mobridge, South Dakota, area. On April 5, 2024, Rasmusson and Apple were arrested in Mobridge while possessing 104 grams of pure methamphetamine.
This case was investigated by the FBI Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Mobridge Police Department, and the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Dilges prosecuted the case.
Both Rasmusson and Apple were immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
SIOUX FALLS – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a jury has convicted David Fowler, age 49, of Aberdeen, South Dakota, of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance following a two-day jury trial in federal district court in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The verdict was returned on June 4, 2025.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in federal prison and/or a $1,000,000 fine, up to life on supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
David Fowler was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2024.
In March and April 2024, investigators with the Brown County Sheriff’s Office conducted three controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Fowler, in amounts ranging from 10-21 grams. Authorities then obtained a search warrant for Fowler’s home, where 56 grams of methamphetamine were located. Fowler’s supplier was also arrested en route to his residence with an additional 344 grams of methamphetamine. The investigation revealed the methamphetamine was being mailed from California to a local source in Aberdeen, where it was then sold to sub-distributors, including Fowler. In total, Fowler purchased five packages of methamphetamine, totaling 2.5 pounds.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, the Aberdeen Police Department, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Joyce prosecuted the case.
A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing will take place on September 8, 2025. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
ATLANTA – Juan Perez-Maldonado and Francisco Garcia Gomez, both illegal aliens from Mexico, appeared in federal court on June 4, 2025, following their arrests on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Garcia Gomez and a third illegal alien from Mexico, Filemon Hernandez-Jijon, were also charged with possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully present in the United States.
“Our law enforcement partners worked swiftly to disrupt a suburban drug lab, seize numerous firearms, and arrest two illegal aliens allegedly responsible for manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Criminals who traffic illegal drugs in our communities will be identified, found, and prosecuted with deliberate speed.”
“DEA remains focused on keeping America safe and protecting the homeland from by removing dangerous drugs from our communities and bringing criminals to justice,” said Jae W. Chung, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Atlanta Division. “Keeping our communities safe is our highest priority.”
According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: On June 3, 2025, DEA agents saw Filemon Hernandez-Jijon allegedly supply two kilograms of methamphetamine to a drug customer in the Smyrna, Georgia area. Law enforcement later observed Hernandez-Jijon traveling to and from a mobile home located in Marietta, Georgia.
Hours later, DEA agents executed a federal search warrant at the mobile home and encountered Juan Perez-Maldonado and Francisco Garcia Gomez there. A third person fled the scene. Inside the mobile home, agents discovered an active laboratory used to convert liquid methamphetamine into a crystal-like form, as well as at least 13 kilograms of what appeared to be the finished drug product. In addition, agents located two handguns, including one hidden in the tank of a toilet, and money remitter receipts bearing Garcia Gomez’s and Hernandez-Jijon’s names. Outside the home, agents recovered acetone, several empty coolers, and other materials commonly used to produce crystalized methamphetamine.
In connection with this investigation, agents executed another federal search warrant at an apartment in Smyrna. In a baby’s crib, agents located a bag containing a loaded Glock pistol, two additional loaded firearm magazines, and identification for Perez-Maldonado. Elsewhere in the apartment, agents found a Springfield XD firearm and a mechanical press used to press powder into kilogram bricks.
The investigation further revealed that Perez-Maldonado and Hernandez-Jijon had been previously deported and removed from the United States.
Hernandez-Jijon is currently a fugitive. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Hernandez-Jijon, please contact your local law enforcement agency.
Members of the public are reminded that the complaint only contains charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with valuable assistance provided from the Marietta-Cobb-Smyrna Narcotics Unit and the DeKalb County Police Department – HIDTA Task Force.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Schwarzl and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebeca M. Ojeda are prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the 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 U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6000. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 120 months of imprisonment, to be followed by eight years of supervised release, on his conviction of violating federal narcotics laws, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.
United States District Judge William S. Stickman IV imposed the sentence on Anthony Coker, 48, on June 4, 2025.
According to information presented to the Court, between July 2022 and June 2023, Coker supplied cocaine and crack cocaine to members of the Drizzy Gang, who then redistributed the drugs in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Stickman stated that the defendant’s crimes victimized addicts, their families, and the Hill District neighborhood, and encouraged the defendant to turn his life around following his sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Katherine C. Jordan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Coker.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
ALBUQUERQUE – A Shiprock man was charged by indictment with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, in the morning hours of May 15, 2025, Jay Ray Kelly, 39, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was seen walking in Shiprock, firing a handgun into the air. Concerned citizens called police. Later that morning, police arrested Kelly with a handgun and 155 rounds of ammunition in a backpack.
Kelly is charged federally with unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition. In 2006, Kelly was convicted in the District of New Mexico for possessing a firearm in a school zone. Because of this 2006 federal felony conviction, Kelly was prohibited from possessing all firearms and ammunition.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Philip Russell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office made the announcement today.
The Farmington Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary C. Jones is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
ALBUQUERQUE – A Sanostee man pleaded guilty to a violent assault that left a woman seriously injured.
According to court records, Nathan Mescale, 36, and enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, admitted that on December 2 and December 3, 2023, he assaulted Jane Doe, and the assault caused her serious bodily injury.
At sentencing, Mescale faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Upon his release from prison, Mescale will be subject to up to three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Philip Russell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.
The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with the assistance of the Navajo Police Department and Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mia Ulibarri-Rubin is prosecuting the case.
SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced in a federal court in San Antonio to 151 months in prison for firearms trafficking.
According to court documents, Joel Alejandro Martinez aka Bo Jackson, 26, was identified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as being a frequent seller of stolen firearms in online chat groups. On Jan. 10, 2024, Martinez posted two pistols for sale and agreed to sell them at a location in San Antonio. He stated that he did not have a car but his mother, codefendant Margarita Hernandez Martinez, would drive him. On Feb. 28, 2024, at the agreed upon time, Martinez arrived at the location, driven by his mother, and unloaded a black rifle case from the truck, placed it in the backseat of the purchaser’s vehicle, and got in the front seat of the purchaser’s car. The purchaser gave Martinez $1,100 in cash for the .308 caliber rifle.
Later that day, Martinez contacted the purchaser to ask what else they might be interested in purchasing. The purchaser, an undercover ATF agent, indicated that they purchase all sorts of firearms but also deal in “cheap throwaways stolen.” Martinez responded to the undercover agent, “I got you,” and indicated that he could supply AR-style rifles and pistols. He later told the undercover that he purchased stolen or crime-involved guns in large batches and agreed to sell four pistols to the undercover for $1,600. In another conversation, the agent told Martinez that he, “buys them for cheap and will move them to Mexico.”
The undercover agent met with Martinez—driven by his mother—three more times between March 5, 2024 and April 11, 2024, to conduct sales of firearms, at least one of which Martinez knew and had reasonable cause to believe was stolen.
Martinez’s mother, Hernandez Martinez, was sentenced on April 25 to 40 months in prison for aiding and abetting.
Federal District Court Judge Jason K. Pulliam sentenced both defendants.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.
The ATF investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zack Parsons prosecuted the case.
Source: ASEAN – Association of SouthEast Asian Nations
The 34th Meeting of the ASEAN Directors-General of Customs (DGs) was held on 3 – 5 June 2025 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. The Meeting was chaired by Mr. Azizil Hakim Brahim, Acting Controller of Customs, Royal Customs and Excise Department, Brunei Darussalam and attended by 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) and the ASEAN Secretariat.
We express concern over the recent introduction of unilateral tariffs by the U.S. This has caused uncertainty and will bring significant challenges to businesses, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as to global trade dynamics. The unprecedented imposition of tariffs by the U.S. will disrupt regional and global trade and investment flows, as well as supply chains, affecting businesses worldwide and hindering economic progress in ASEAN. We reaffirm our support for a predictable, transparent, free, fair, inclusive, sustainable, and rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core, and we acknowledge the critical role that the WTO has played in fostering global economic growth. ASEAN will remain steadfast in deepening our regional economic integration, leveraging on opportunities amidst global challenges. We will continue to work together more closely, with greater unity and solidarity and remain committed to ASEAN’s rule-based trade. This collective effort will enable ASEAN to cope with and overcome the global trade crisis, minimise the impact on our people, and continue to grow sustainably.
Download the full statement here
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