The dollar traded close to a 2-1/2-week high versus major peers on Wednesday while copper hit an all-time peak overnight after U.S. President Donald Trump broadened his global trade war by threatening a 50% tariff on the metal.
Trump also said levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were coming soon, weighing on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures indicating further weakness there on Wednesday.
However, stock markets around the Asia-Pacific were mixed, as investors digested Trump’s latest, shifting trade salvos. Japan and South Korea are among major U.S. trading partners in the region facing an August 1 deadline to reach a trade deal or be subjected to new tariff rates, although Trump has sent mixed signals on how flexible that date is.
On Monday, Trump said it was “firm, but not 100% firm,” reinforcing the view among some in markets that the deadlines are a negotiating tactic that the U.S. president will ultimately back away from. On Tuesday though, Trump appeared to harden his stance by saying, “No extensions will be granted.”
Japan’s Nikkei edged down 0.2%, shedding early small gains. Australia’s stock index declined 0.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9%.
At the same time, mainland Chinese blue chips rose 0.2%, and South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 0.5%.
U.S. S&P 500 futures ESCv1 eased 0.1%, following a 0.1% loss for the cash index .SPX on Tuesday that extended the 0.8% drop that started the week.
“The delay in the imposition of new tariffs on some of the U.S.’s major trading partners to August 1 has simultaneously kicked the proverbial can down the road and supported the notion that the loftier tariff rates are a negotiating ploy,” Kyle Rodda, senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com, wrote in a note.
“As a result, the markets have been left hanging, and waiting for a stronger catalyst to drive the next move.”
Trump said on Tuesday that trade talks have been going well with the European Union and China, though he added he is only days away from sending a tariff letter to the EU.
Only two U.S. agreements, with Britain and Vietnam, have been reached since Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs’ announcement roiled markets. In June, Washington and China agreed on a framework covering tariff rates.
METALS, CURRENCIES
U.S. copper futures jumped by more than 10% to a record high after Trump threatened new duties on the metal that is critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, the power grid and many consumer goods. They would join duties already in place for steel, aluminium and automobile imports.
By contrast, copper futures in London and Shanghai fell on Wednesday, as traders may not have sufficient time to ship much to the United States following Trump’s sudden tariff announcement.
Trump also threatened 200% tariffs on drug imports, which he said could be delayed by about a year.
The U.S. dollar continued its recent run of strength on Wednesday, pushing to the highest since June 20 at 147.02 Japanese yen.
The dollar index =USD, which measures the currency against the yen and five other major rivals, edged up to 97.573, after touching the highest since June 25 on Tuesday at 97.837.
The euro was steady at $1.1720 EUR=EBS, and sterling GBP=D3 was flat at $1.3585.
Gold XAU= found a floor at $3,301 per ounce, after slumping more than 1% on Tuesday.
Oil prices edged back from Tuesday’s two-week highs. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 20 cents at $69.95 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 fell 21 cents to $68.12 a barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. would “pretty soon” charge a 10% tariff on imports from BRICS countries, drawing another complaintfrom Brazil PresidentLuiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who just hosted the bloc’s annual summit.
Trump, who raised the tariff threat on Sunday, said in a Tuesday cabinet meeting at the White House that the duty was on the way: “Anybody that’s in BRICS is getting a 10% charge pretty soon … If they’re a member of BRICS, they’re going to have to pay a 10% tariff … and they won’t be a member long.”
The BRICS group expanded last year beyond Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to include members such as Iran and Indonesia. Leaders at the summit in Rio de Janeiro voiced indirect criticism of U.S. military and trade policies.
Asked about Trump‘s tariff threat, Lula told journalists at the BRICS summit on Monday that the world does not want an emperor. After a state visit from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lula on Tuesday expressed further disagreement.
“We will not accept any complaints about the BRICS summit. We do not agree with the U.S. president insinuating he’s going to put tariffs on BRICS countries,” he told journalists in Brasilia.
Trump gave no specific date for the BRICS tariff to kick in. On Monday, a source familiar with the matter said the Trump administration would charge the tariff only if countries adopted anti-American policies, differentiating actions from statements like the one adopted by the BRICS leaders on Sunday.
Trump claimed without evidence on Tuesday that the group was set up to hurt the United States and he U.S. dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency. He said he would not allow that to happen.
“BRICS was set up to degenerate our dollar and take our dollar … take it off as the standard,” he said. “And that’s okay if they want to play that game, but I can play that game too.”
Trump said losing the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency would be like “losing a war, a major world war. We would not be the same country any longer.”
Brazil in February nixed plans for a common currency agenda during its presidency year.
The death toll from the July Fourth flash flood that ravaged a swath of central Texas Hill Country rose on Tuesday to at least 109, many of them children, as search teams pressed on through mounds of mud-encrusted debris looking for scores of people still missing.
According to figures released by Governor Gregg Abbott, authorities were seeking more than 180 people whose fate remained unknown four days after one of the deadliest U.S. flood events in decades.
The bulk of fatalities and the search for additional victims were concentrated in Kerr County and the county seat of Kerrville, a town of 25,000 residents transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, flooding the Guadalupe River basin.
The bodies of 94 flood victims, about a third of them children, have been recovered in Kerr County alone as of Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said at a late-afternoon news conference after touring the area by air.
The Kerr County dead include 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe near the town of Hunt. The camp director also perished.
Five girls and a camp counselor were still unaccounted for on Tuesday, Abbott said, along with another child not associated with the camp.
As of Tuesday, 15 other flood-related fatalities had been confirmed across a swath of Texas Hill Country known as “flash flood alley,” the governor said, bringing the overall tally of lives lost to 109. Reports from local sheriffs’ and media have put the number of flood deaths outside Kerr County at 22.
But authorities have said they were bracing for the death toll to climb as flood waters recede and the search for more victims gains momentum.
Law enforcement agencies have compiled a list of 161 people “known to be missing” in Kerr County alone, Abbott said. The roster was checked against those who might be out of touch with loved ones or neighbors because they were away on vacation or out of town, according to the governor.
‘FIND EVERY SINGLE PERSON’
He said another 12 people were missing elsewhere across the flood zone as a whole, a sprawling area northwest of San Antonio.
“We need to find every single person who is missing. That’s job number one,” Abbott said.
On Tuesday, San Antonio-born country singer Pat Green disclosed on social media that his younger brother and sister-in-law and two of their children were among those “swept away in the Kerrville flood.”
Hindered by intermittent thunderstorms and showers, rescue teams from federal agencies, neighboring states and Mexico have joined local efforts to search for missing victims, though hopes of finding more survivors faded as time passed. The last victim found alive in Kerr County was last Friday.
“The work is extremely treacherous, time-consuming,” Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said at a press conference. “It’s dirty work. The water is still there.”
A water-soaked family photo album was among the personal belongings found in flood debris by Sandi Gilmer, 46, a U.S. Army veteran and certified chaplain volunteering in the search operation along the Guadalupe at Hunt.
“I don’t know how many people in this album are alive or deceased,” she said, flipping through images of two toddlers and a gray-haired man. “I didn’t have the heart to step over it without picking it up and hoping to return it to a family member.”
MAKINGS OF A DISASTER
More than a foot of rain fell in the region in less than an hour before dawn last Friday, sending a wall of water cascading down the Guadalupe that killed dozens of people and left mangled piles of debris, uprooted trees and overturned vehicles.
Public officials have faced days of questions about whether they could have alerted people in flood-prone areas sooner.
The state emergency management agency warned last Thursday, on the eve of the disaster, that parts of central Texas faced a flash floods threat, based on National Weather Service forecasts.
But twice as much rain as predicted ended up falling over two branches of the Guadalupe just upstream of the fork where they converge, sending all of that water racing into the single river channel where it slices through Kerrville, City Manager Dalton Rice said.
Rice has said the outcome was unforeseen and unfolded in a matter of two hours, leaving too little time to conduct a precautionary mass evacuation without the risk of placing more people in harm’s way.
Scientists have said extreme flood events are growing more common as climate change creates warmer, wetter weather patterns in Texas and other parts of the country.
At an earlier news briefing on Tuesday, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha rebuffed questions about the county’s emergency operations and preparedness and declined to say who was ultimately in charge of monitoring weather alerts and issuing flood warnings or evacuation orders.
He said his office began receiving emergency-911 calls between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday, several hours after the local National Weather Service station issued a flash-flood alert. “We’re in the process of trying to put (together) a timeline,” Leitha said.
Abbott said a special session of the Texas legislature would convene later this month to investigate the emergency response and provide funding for disaster relief.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday Britain and France must work together to counter the world’s many destabilising threats and protect Europe from “excessive dependencies” on the United States and China.
Macron, in a rare address to both houses of the British parliament, celebrated the return of closer ties between the two countries as he became the first European leader to be invited for a British state visit since Brexit.
Having been greeted earlier by the British royal family, Macron set out to parliament where he said the two countries needed to come together to strengthen Europe, including on defence, immigration, climate, and trade.
“The United Kingdom and France must once again show the world that our alliance can make all the difference,” he said.
“The only way to overcome the challenges we have, the challenges of our times, will be to go together hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.”
Listing the geopolitical threats the countries face, Macron argued they should also be wary of the “excessive dependencies of both the U.S. and China,” saying they needed to “de-risk our economies and our societies from this dual dependency.”
But he also set out the opportunities of a closer union, saying they should make it easier for students, researchers and artists to live in each other’s countries, and seek to work together on artificial intelligence and protect children online.
The speech symbolised the improvement in relations sought by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour Party, as part of a broader reset of ties with European allies following the rancour over Britain’s departure from the European Union.
‘ENTENTE AMICALE’
Macron, who enjoys a strong personal relationship with King Charles, was earlier greeted by the royal family, including heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Princess Catherine, before they travelled in horse-drawn carriages to Windsor Castle.
Charles used his speech at the evening’s opulent state banquet to christen a new era of friendly relations, upgrading the “entente cordiale” – an alliance dating from 1904 that ended centuries of military rivalries – to an “entente amicale.”
“As we dine here in this ancient place, redolent with our shared history, allow me to propose a toast to France and to our new entente. An entente not only past and present, but for the future – and no longer just cordiale, but now amicale,” he said.
The 76-year-old monarch, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, had a noticeably red right eye. A Buckingham Palace source said he had suffered a burst blood vessel that was unrelated to any other health condition.
Britain and France marked the three-day visit with an announcement that French nuclear energy utility EDF would invest £1.1 billion ($1.5 billion) in a nuclear power project in eastern England.
The two also said France would lend Britain the Bayeux Tapestry, allowing the 11th-century masterpiece to return for the first time in more than 900 years, in exchange for Britain loaning France Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasures.
The state visit comes 16 years after the late Queen Elizabeth hosted then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Despite tensions over post-Brexit ties and how to stop asylum seekers from crossing the Channel in small boats, Britain and France have been working closely to create a planned military force to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.
Starmer is hoping that will help persuade Macron to take a different approach to stopping people smuggling, with London wanting to try out an asylum seekers’ returns deal. This would involve Britain deporting one asylum seeker to France in exchange for another with a legitimate case to be in Britain.
A record number of asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats in the first six months of this year.
Starmer, whose party is trailing Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party in the polls, is under pressure to find a solution.
France has previously refused to sign such an agreement, saying Britain should negotiate an arrangement with all EU countries.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Scientists comment on a heat-related death attribution study released by the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London.
Dr Akshay Deoras, Research Scientist at the University of Reading, said:
“Robust techniques used in this study leave no doubt that climate change is already a deadly force in Europe. Think of the Earth like an oven. In the past, heatwaves were like turning the oven up for a short burst. But with climate change, it is as if we have permanently set the oven to a higher temperature. It takes much less to reach dangerous levels of heat that can be fatal.
“The June 2025 heatwave across parts of Europe and the UK was not simply a natural disaster—it was supercharged by fossil fuel emissions, costing countless lives in major cities. Heatwaves are now more frequent and intense because our planet’s baseline temperature is higher due to greenhouse gas emissions. Without urgent action to reduce fossil fuel emissions, these extreme heat events will become even more common and severe, putting greater pressure on health systems, disrupting daily life, and threatening the safety of communities across Europe.”
Prof Richard Allan, Professor of Climate Science at the University of Reading, said:
“A warming climate sure as hell makes heatwaves worse. This forensic analysis combining observations, simulations and health data has shown how much more dangerous the recent European heatwave was across several cities with the higher levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
“Even without these rapid attribution studies, it is blindingly obvious from the multiple lines of evidence that when weather conditions generate heatwaves, they are more intense, meaning that moderate heat becomes dangerous and record heat becomes unprecedented. The other side of the coin is that as one part of the globe bakes and burns, another region can suffer intense rainfall and catastrophic flooding as a warmer, thirstier atmosphere saps the moisture from one region and winds blow this excess moisture into storm systems elsewhere.
“Communities need to adapt to an increasingly dangerous world through more resilient infrastructure and improved warning systems, yet it is only with rapid and massive cuts in greenhouse gases through collaboration across all sectors of society that worsening of weather extremes can be reined in.”
Dr Chloe Brimicombe, climate scientist at the Royal Meteorological Society, said:
“The study quickly shows how 65% of heatwave deaths in the last European heatwave can be linked to human-induced climate change in different cities. This is important because it shows that reducing emissions, which would stop an increase in heatwaves, could save lives.
“We are facing more heatwaves this summer across Europe, with many regions also moving towards drought which increases heat and risk of wildfires increase too. We could see more deaths in heatwaves this summer. Research like this is important and being used more in climate litigation cases where groups take countries and companies to court over climate change.
“It’s possible this study has even underestimated deaths slightly because it’s not taking into account the built environment and we know that often poorer parts of cities are more impacted because they are less “green” which means they heat up even more.
“The results are a model summary of an increase in deaths over populations of cities during a heat period. But in reality the realisation of the risk of cardiac arrest is different to someone drowning. And that is why it’s important to issue heat warnings to everyone because there are a lot of different ways someone dies during a heatwave.
“We need to talk about other heatwave impacts like pressure on transport, energy and food supplies. And we quickly need to think about how heat impacts economies as part of loss and damage. We also need to consider the rise in people attending hospital. We don’t really know enough about how heat impacts breastfeeding women and newborns, for example.
“Heatwaves silently pressure our society. For some individuals this is now from before birth to the day they die.”
‘Climate change tripled heat-related deaths in early summer European Heatwave’ by Ben Clarke et al. is an unpublished ‘rapid heat death attribution study’ led by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The embargo lifted at 5am UK time on Wednesday 9 July 2025.
Declared interests
Richard Allan: “No conflicting interests”
Chloe Brimicombe: “No disclosures”
For all other experts, no reply for our request for DOIs was received.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
JERUSALEM, July 9 (Xinhua) — Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 others were wounded in an explosion in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said Tuesday.
Five soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Kfir Brigade were killed when an explosive device detonated in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, the military said in a statement.
During the evacuation, the rescuers came under fire from an ambush set by Palestinian militants, after which the wounded were evacuated to the hospital.
At least 6,964 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed its military offensive on Gaza on March 18, 2025, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 57,523, according to Gaza health authorities. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
CAIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) — At least four people were killed and 27 others were injured in a major fire that broke out at the Telecom Egypt building in central Cairo on Monday, Egypt’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, while several others were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, the ministry said in a statement.
A fire that started on Monday afternoon at a key telecommunications facility owned by Telecom Egypt in Cairo’s Ramses district has caused temporary disruptions to telephone and internet service in parts of the capital and other regions.
Egypt’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Amr Talaat said on Tuesday that services would be gradually restored within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry announced that flights at Cairo International Airport had resumed in full following overnight delays caused by communication disruptions.
“All affected flights have departed and operations at all Cairo airport terminals have returned to normal,” the ministry said in a statement.
A security source told the official MENA news agency that a preliminary investigation suggests the fire was caused by a short circuit, noting that forensic lab experts will collect evidence from the scene to determine the exact cause. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) — The 8th Cross-Strait Youth Development Forum will be held in east China’s Zhejiang Province from July 10 to 15, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said Wednesday.
Hong Xiuzhu, former chairman of the Kuomintang Party and chairman of the board of directors of the Taiwan-based China Qingyan Peace and Education Foundation, will attend the forum, Chen Binhua said. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
GAZA, July 9 (Xinhua) — At least 60 Palestinians, including six freed prisoners and a medical worker, were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shelling in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian sources said.
Six people were killed in Israeli shelling of two tents housing displaced persons in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and the town of Al-Zawayda in the central part of the enclave, Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bazal told Xinhua.
Hamas said in a press statement that the six were prisoners released from Israeli jails and deported from the West Bank to Gaza.
According to M. Bazal, in western Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian gathering in the Rimal area killed six people, including two children and two women, while an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Tal al-Hawa area killed four, including a baby.
Five people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in al-Tuffa in eastern Gaza City. Three others were killed when an Israeli drone bomb hit a residential neighborhood in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood in southern Gaza City, Bazal said. He said two people, including a child, were killed in Israeli bombing of the al-Tuffa and Sheikh Radwan neighborhoods.
A car bombing in the city of Deir el-Balah in the heart of the Palestinian enclave killed two more people, he added.
Meanwhile, the Nasser Medical Complex said in a brief press statement that 25 Palestinians had been killed since dawn on Tuesday in separate airstrikes on the al-Mawasi area in western Khan Younis.
According to Palestinian medical sources, a medical worker was also killed while on duty as a result of Israeli shelling in the same area.
Six Palestinians, including three children, were killed in Israeli shelling near a US-backed aid distribution centre in the northern town of Rafah in the southern enclave, sources said.
The Israeli side has not yet commented on these incidents. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
LOS ANGELES, July 8 (Xinhua) — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has approved sending additional weapons to Ukraine and is considering imposing new sanctions on Russia.
“We are sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I have approved that,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting at the White House.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I am not happy with Putin. I can tell you that right now,” Trump said, noting that Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are dying in the thousands.
Trump says he is considering supporting a bipartisan Senate bill that would impose sweeping sanctions on Russia. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) — China’s economic growth is estimated to exceed 35 trillion yuan (4.89 trillion U.S. dollars) during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at a press conference on Wednesday. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) — China’s consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, increased 0.1 percent year on year in June 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.
In particular, last month the CPI rose 0.1 percent year-on-year in urban areas but fell 0.2 percent year-on-year in rural areas.
On a monthly basis, June’s CPI fell by 0.1 percent, the data showed.
According to the State Statistical Service, in the first half of this year, the CPI in the country decreased by 0.1 percent compared to the same period last year. -0-
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Legislation amended in September 2021 requires non-government deductible gift recipients (DGRs) to be a registered charity from 14 December 2021.
Charity registration is an existing requirement for the majority of general DGR categories. The amendment extends this requirement to the remaining DGR categories, except for ancillary funds or DGRs that are specifically listed in tax law.
These changes form part of the Deductible gift recipient reform announced by the government in December 2017. They are designed to improve the consistency of regulation, governance and oversight of DGRs in order to uphold community confidence and trust in the sector.
DGRs that were already endorsed on 14 December 2021, as well as certain applicants with a DGR application pending, were eligible for transitional arrangements. Transitional arrangements provided additional time to meet the new requirements and included an:
automatic 12–month general transition period, giving DGRs until 14 December 2022 to become a registered charity
additional 3–year extension in limited circumstances – this application period has now closed.
Requirements for DGR endorsement
From 14 December 2021, a requirement for DGR endorsement is that a fund, authority or institution must be one of the following:
The requirement to be a registered charity or an Australian government agency does not apply for ancillary funds or DGRs specifically listed by name in tax law. See DGR categories.
Amended DGR categories
From 14 December 2021, the following updated general DGR categories require non-government organisations to be registered as a charity:
public fund for hospitals
public fund for public ambulance services
public fund for religious instruction in government schools
Roman Catholic public fund for religious instruction in government schools
school building fund
public fund for rural school hostel building
approved research institute
public fund for persons in necessitous circumstances
fire and emergency services fund
environmental organisation
cultural organisation.
Transitional arrangements
DGRs that were already endorsed on 14 December 2021, as well as certain applicants with a DGR application pending, were eligible for transitional arrangements. Transitional arrangements provided additional time to meet the new requirements and included an:
automatic 12–month general transition period, giving DGRs until 14 December 2022 to become a registered charity
additional 3–year extension in limited circumstances.
Three-year extension
Eligible organisations had to apply for a 3–year extension before 14 December 2022 if they needed more time.
Approved organisations have up to 14 December 2025 to meet the new eligibility requirements for DGR endorsement.
Applications for DGR endorsement made after 14 December 2021
Non-government organisations that apply for DGR endorsement after 14 December 2021 must register as a charity before we will consider their endorsement application.
Registering as a charity
Before applying to be registered as a charity, refer to the ACNC website for:
To apply for charityExternal Link registration, you need to log in to the ACNC Charity Portal and complete the application.
As part of your application, you will need to provide copies of your governing documents in either a Word or PDF file format. Image files may cause issues and may delay your application.
Other changes affecting your endorsement
If your organisation has changed its main purpose, activities or governing documents, you may no longer be entitled to DGR endorsement.
The form must be completed by an authorised contact listed on the account and must specify the date of cancellation. We may contact you to discuss the cancellation request.
We will cancel your organisation’s DGR endorsement and issue a written confirmation noting the cancellation date of effect.
After DGR cancellation, your organisation will:
no longer be entitled to receive tax-deductible donations or gifts
be required to remove tax-deductible status from your organisation’s website or other materials
need to arrange for surplus income or assets to be distributed to another eligible DGR.
Revocation of DGRs ineligible for endorsement
To maintain DGR endorsement, affected entities had to, before 14 December 2022, either:
register as a charity
be an Australian government agency
be operated by a registered charity or an Australian government agency.
If you didn’t register as a charity, or were not granted a 3–year extension, your DGR endorsement has been revoked. If revoked, your organisation is:
no longer entitled to receive tax-deductible donations or gifts
required to remove tax-deductible status from their website or other materials
required to distribute surplus gifts and donations to an eligible DGR.
If your DGR endorsement was revoked and you are dissatisfied with our decision, you can lodge an objection.
Next steps
Check your organisation’s continued eligibility to be endorsed as a DGR, by completing a review of your DGR endorsement.
If your DGR endorsement was revoked, you must register as a charity with the ACNC before re-applying for your endorsement. The ACNC page, Start a charityExternal Link, has useful information for charities.
If you have any questions about DGR endorsement, phone us on 1300 130 248 between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by Reverend Canon the Hon Peter Douglas Koon and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (July 9):
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Michael Tien and a written reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, in the Legislative Council today (July 9):
Question:
According to information from the Ocean Park Corporation, the total visitor numbers of Ocean Park (OP) in 2023-24 reached 3.14 million. It is learnt that the Cable Car is an immensely popular attraction that offers visitors the opportunity to relish scenic views during their journey. However, quite a number of members of the public have recently relayed to me that while the OP Cable Car is a two-lane ropeway system comprising two sets of round-trip cable cars with a total of four lanes, the OP only operates one set of two-lane ropeway for visitors on most weekends and public holidays, and as a result the waiting time for cable cars is at least half an hour, which has significantly undermined visitors’ experience and their image of Hong Kong. I have learnt that as cable car operators are required to have high-angle rescue skills and obtain a licence, the OP is unable to put all four cable car lanes into full operation on all weekends and public holidays throughout the year (approximately 120 days) due to limited manpower resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
The 2025 Fun Food Taiwan Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Industrial Development Administration (IDA), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), and organized by the Food Industry Research and Development Institute (FIRDI), took place on June 25 at the 7th floor of Hall 2, Nangang Exhibition Center, in conjunction with the Taipei International Food Show. The grand event drew enthusiastic participation from industry, government, academia, and media representatives.
During the ceremony, Secretary-General Mr. Kuo-Hsuan Chen of the Industrial Development Administration (IDA), MOEA, emphasized the vitality of innovation and transformation displayed by Taiwan’s food industry. The awarded entries reflect major trends, including health-focused processing, environmental sustainability, innovative packaging, the use of local ingredients, and lively demonstrating the diversity and competitiveness of Taiwan’s food industry. He expressed confidence that this award will serve as a launching point for enterprises to pursue excellence and strengthen their brands, opening up broader opportunities for Taiwan’s quality food products in global markets. IDA pledged continued collaboration across sectors to guide Taiwan’s food industry toward greater value creation, intelligence, and sustainability-allowing Taiwan’s food brands to shine internationally.
Launched in 2020, “Fun Food Taiwan” has focused on value-driven food innovation and international connections. Entering its 2.0 phase in 2025, the program introduces three new evaluation pillars: Evolution, Decarbonization, and Experience, supporting food companies in enhancing competitiveness and branding. Under the theme “Trend 2.0, Let the FUN Begin”, this year’s award attracted 119 companies and 264 product entries. Following a rigorous multi-stage review process-including qualification review, requirement checks, preliminary, semi-final, and final evaluations-90 products from 63 companies were recognized with the Fun Food Taiwan Award. Among them, 17 products received top honors including Gold Awards, Silver Awards, and Special Prizes under the three new pillars.
Award Highlights Baked Goods:
1.Gold Award: SHI FENG SHIANG 40th Anniversary Gift Box by SHI FENG SHIANG 1985 TAIWAN PASTRY. Merging artistic aesthetics with traditional cake molds; low-sugar, additive-free, trans-fat-free; recyclable and minimalist packaging showcasing sustainability.
2.Silver Award: Pineapple Financier by Cheese Duke Co., Ltd. Low-oil, low-sugar, additive-free; carbon footprint certified.
3.Silver Award: Jiachuan rice snack gift box by TONG BAE FOOD CO., LTD. Made with 100% Taiwanese rice; additive-free, trans-fat-free with rich texture.
4.Special Prize – Evolution: Layered Tofu Rock Handmade Pancakes by TSAI JI ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. Represents Keelung’s local spirit, blends cultural depth with eco-conscious design.
5.Special Prize – Decarbonization: red dragon fruit pastryby County Specialty Industry Co., Ltd. Targets carbon reductions in electricity and fuel use by 2026; implements green energy and energy-saving equipment.
6.Special Prize – Experience: Lace Rice Crisp-Hand Carved Wooden Gift Box by Joy Joy Golden Infuses marine flavors and culture, with traditional Taiwanese window frame wood boxes and floral tile designs.
Prepared Foods:
7.Gold Award: Fermented Pineapple Chili Sauce by Leezen Company Limited. Made with native Taiwanese pineapple and naturally fermented chili; additive-free, low-carbon processing.
8.Silver Award: Taro Pork Meatball (Additive Free) by ZHEN FANG CO., LTD. Made with contract-farmed pork and rich taro; 100% additive-free, user-friendly, aligned with modern health trends.
9.Special Prize – Evolution: Cold-Smoked Albacore Tuna Slices by Zheng Cheng Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. Rare cold-smoke technique with distinctive packaging conveying ocean identity and brand strength.
10.Special Prize – Decarbonization: Creamy Pumpkin Calendula Noodles by Yuan Yung Fong Foods. Co., Ltd. Clear decarbonization targets: 15-20% carbon emission reduction, over 15% energy savings.
11.Special Prize – Experience: Signature Collection – Black Truffle Tuna by Blaire & Claire Company. Rich truffle flavor with elegant minimal packaging and golden spoon detail creating a surprising unboxing moment.
Other Food Categories:
12.Gold Award: Mesona Tea by Yuanlin Food Co., Ltd. Uses local Taiwanese ingredients; reduced sugar, additive-free; chic packaging blends youthful visuals for market expansion.
13.Silver Award: Three-Time Roasted Bamboo Salt by DUO LI DUO FOODS CORPORATION. Pure, natural, sodium-reduced; artistic floral packaging conveys premium image, adheres to ISO 14067.
14.Silver Award: Amazake by RUHN CHAN INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. Alcohol-free, sugar-free, additive-free formula with multiple functional ingredients and eco-friendly Japanese minimal packaging.
15.Special Prize – Evolution: Fragrant Bloom – Taiwanese Blossom Tea by LuYuan Tea Rich flavor and layered taste using local spices; block print-style packaging tells tea-making stories.
16.Special Prize – Decarbonization: Taiwan Corn Snacksby Djulis International Food Company Limited. Made with local sweet corn; additive-free, low-burden; reusable packaging and clear decarbonization plan targeting 10% annual carbon reduction.
17.Special Prize – Experience: BalsaUme by BALSALIA INC. De-seeded aged plum blended with balsamic vinegar for a unique aroma; distinctive bottle shape with memorable minimalist packaging aligns with premium brand identity.
Award Showcase During the Taipei International Food Show During the Taipei International Food Show (June 25-28), a dedicated “Fun Food Taiwan” display area (Booth S0123) is set up on the 4th floor of Hall 2, Nangang Exhibition Center. It features physical exhibits of the award-winning products and invites both domestic and international visitors to experience the new charm and high quality of Taiwanese food-paving the way for future global collaboration.
The warning, issued jointly by UN agencies and the regional socio-economic bloc SAARC on Wednesday, underscores South Asia’s status as the “global epicentre” of anaemia among adolescent girls and women.
An estimated 259 million already suffer from the condition, which impairs the body’s ability to carry oxygen, contributing to chronic fatigue, poor maternal outcomes, and reduced educational and economic participation.
“This is a clarion call for action,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, Regional Director for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which together with the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and SAARC prepared the analysis.
“When half of all adolescent girls and women in South Asia are anaemic, it is not only a health issue – it is a signal that systems are failing them.”
A far-reaching but preventable condition
Anaemia doesn’t just affect women and girls – it contributes to 40% of the world’s low birth weight cases and affects child growth and learning, particularly in poorer households.
The economic toll is staggering: anaemia costs South Asia an estimated $32.5 billion annually, perpetuating cycles of poverty and poor health.
Yet, the condition is preventable and treatable. Proven solutions include iron and folic acid supplementation, iron- and vitamin-rich diets, better sanitation and infection control, and stronger maternal health services.
Experts stress that multi-sector collaboration is critical for sustained progress.
A nurse speaks to women about nutritious food in western India’s Sabarkantha district, were many women and girls suffer from iron deficiency.
Integrated efforts crucial
In nearly every country, progress hinges on strengthening health systems, expanding nutrition programmes, and reaching adolescent girls and women in marginalised communities.
Sri Lanka, where 18.5 per cent of women of reproductive age are anaemic, is scaling up its national nutrition initiative, focusing on the most affected districts.
India and Pakistan are also seeing encouraging signs. In India, high-burden states are integrating iron supplementation into school and maternal care programmes. Pakistan has piloted community-based nutrition initiatives linked to reproductive health services, enabling early detection and follow-up care.
In Bangladesh, school-based health initiatives are reaching adolescents with fortified meals and health education, coordinated across health, education, and agriculture ministries.
Community-driven action works
The Maldives and Bhutan are prioritising early prevention through childhood nutrition, food fortification, and public awareness campaigns. Though smaller in population, both are investing in anaemia surveillance and inter-ministerial collaboration.
Nepal stands out for its equitable results: since 2016, the country has cut anaemia among women of reproductive age by 7 per cent, with larger declines in poorer areas. Its female community health volunteers are key, providing counselling and referrals in remote regions and linking vulnerable households to public services.
Man Kumari Gurung, a public health nurse in Karnali Province, credits the achievements to a range of community-driven efforts.
“Pregnant women receive eggs, chicken and nutritious food through programmes like Sutkeri Poshan Koseli (Nutrition Gift for New Mothers),” she said. “Cash grants also help with transport to hospitals, supporting safer births and better nutrition.”
A nurse checks a pregnant woman’s weight and vital signs at a clinic in Galigamuwa, Sri Lanka.
Everyone has a role
Ending anaemia requires leadership and teamwork. Governments must lead, but communities, health workers, schools, and families all play a part.
Stronger health systems, better data, and coordinated action across sectors can help girls and women reach their full potential – building healthier communities and stronger economies.
“Young people and mothers are at the heart of South Asia’s development goals. Ensuring that they are healthy, nourished and empowered is not just a moral imperative, it is a strategic investment in the future of our societies,” said Md. Golam Sarwar, Secretary General of SAARC.
Prior to the Opening Ceremony of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, this morning joined the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and Timor-Leste in a Courtesy Call on The Honourable Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Chair of ASEAN in 2025 and Prime Minister of Malaysia. The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Malaysia’s chairmanship of ASEAN this year under the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability,” with a view to building a resilient, innovative, dynamic, and people-centred ASEAN, particularly following the adoption of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and its Strategic Plans at the 46th ASEAN Summit in May of this year.
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Predatory fish that evolved into the first terrestrial animals on Earth are still revealing insights into the origins of mammals – including new research into the eating habits of lobe-finned fish which inhabited an ancient reef in Australia.
In new research in iScience journal, an international study led by Flinders University reveals new insights into the lives of 380-million-year-old lungfish after a high-tech examination of ‘remarkable’ well-preserved jawbones found in the remote Gogo fossil field in northern Western Australia.
The 3D finite element model (FEM) analysis of the strength and features of fossilised mandible bones was used to evaluate how multiple species co-existed in the tropical prehistoric ecosystem during the Devonian ‘Age of Fishes’.
Dr Alice Clement, corresponding author of the new study, says lungfish are ‘sister taxa’ to the tetrapods – or all four-limbed animals with a backbone, including humans – “which means they are our closest ‘fishy’ relatives”.
“They have an extensive fossil history stretching back over 400 million years and still with living representatives today and their phylogenetic proximity to tetrapods giving insight into our long distant ancestors who first made the move from water to land,” she says.
The exceptional Gogo Formation has so far yielded the greatest diversity of lungfishes known from any time or space – with 11 described showing a remarkable diversity of morphologies, particular relating to skull and jaw shape.
Now for the first time the different biomechanical function has been reconstructed – to highlight the diet and predatory powers of the mysterious fish.
“We’re slowly teasing apart the details of how the bodies and lifestyles of these animals changed, as they moved from being fish that lived in water, to becoming tetrapods that moved about on land,” says Dr Clement.
With Australian and overseas colleagues, the Flinders team included honours palaeontology researcher Joshua Bland, Dr Clement, Professor John Long and biomedical experts in the US including Dr Olga Panagiotopoulou.
“Our comprehensive dataset offers the most detailed quantification of biting performance in any fossil fish thus far, providing biomechanical evidence for diverse feeding adaptations and niche partitioning within Gogo lungfishes,” says Dr Panagiotopoulou, from Touro University California.
Based on CT scans of exceptionally-preserved 3D fossils, seven taxa were examined to quantify shape disparity, with FEM used on five which were preserved with associated crania and lower jaws.
“We were then able to model the stress and strain experienced by these lower jaws during biting,” she says
The 3D virtual models are all available via Morphosource.
Strategic Professor of Palaeontology John Long says the new study features important information about the specialised way ‘gracile’ or ‘robust’ morphology and dentition of their jawbones allowed these fascinating fish to hunt, bite and eat.
“The results were somewhat surprising, with some ‘robust’-looking lower jaws appearing to not be all that well suited to biting stress, and some of the more gracile or slender jaws appeared to be able to with strand stress and strain very well,” says Professor Long, who previously described the slender long-snouted Griphognathus whitei (or ‘duck-billed’ lungfish) from the Gogo Formation area.
“This diversity of biomechanical function seen in the Gogo lungfishes suggest that there was niche partitioning and tropic differentiation among lungfishes, possibly accounting for their incredibly high species diversity at this site.”
Primitive forms of placoderm and other fish were the dominant predators around the world for about 60 million years before becoming extinct. Some fossil samples of lobe-finned fish found 50-100 years ago can now be studied in more detail with new techniques such as FEM, which is often used in engineering research.
Lead author, Flinders Palaeontology Lab researcher Joshua Bland, adds: “The Late Devonian reefs of the Gogo Formation were a truly unique lungfish community with species possessing a whole host of different behaviours and abilities.
“To capture parts of that story, hidden in the bone, was extremely rewarding. It felt like we lifted the veil on some real functions behind the form. It was impressive to see the more complex morphology perform better in our tests,” he says.
The latest research article – ‘Comparison of diverse mandibular mechanics during biting in Devonian lungfishes’ (2025) by Joshua Bland (Flinders University), Hugo Dutel (University of Bristol & Université de Bordeaux), John A Long (Flinders), Matteo Fabbri (Center of Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, US), Joseph Bevitt (Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, ANSTO), Kate Trinajstic (Curtin University & WA Museum), Olga Panagiotopoulou (Touro University California) and Alice M Clement (Flinders) – has been published in iScience. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112970
This work was funded by the Australian Research Council grant DP 220100825.
Acknowledgements: Researchers thank the Gooniyandi Peoples, the local station managers of Gogo and Mt Pierre Stations, those who facilitated specimen and museum collection access and the facilities and the scientific and technical assistance from multiple organisations and individuals.
Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
July 08, 2025
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today shared his condolences for the lives lost and those impacted by the flash floods that devastated Central Texas this past weekend and thanked the first responders and volunteers who have worked around the clock to save lives.
“I know I speak for millions of Americans when I say we are heartbroken over the flash floods that devastated Central Texas this past weekend. Early Friday morning, while most were fast asleep, a foot of rain fell onto Texas Hill Country. This deluge flowed into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise by 26 feet in 45 minutes,” Durbin said. “Near the Guadalupe, a girl’s sleepaway camp, Camp Mystic, which had been there for 99 years, was all but destroyed by the floods. Already, Camp Mystic has confirmed that 27 of their campers and counselors died in that flood. I send my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those campers and counselors.”
Durbin continued, “Tragically, the flooding in Texas continues to take lives. More than 100 people have perished, and that number is expected to grow, sadly, in the coming days. In the midst of this disaster, I am heartened by the kindness and courage shown by the first responders and volunteers. Twenty separate agencies, at every level of government, have come together to help save lives. At Camp Mystic, counselors, many of whom had just graduated from high school, risked their own lives to save younger campers. We will never forget their bravery.”
Durbin concluded, “This disaster has impacted people of both political [parties]—Republicans and Democrats and Independents as well… I would hope that the Senate and the House would stand together, Democrats and Republicans, and say we’re going to be there for the victims of this disaster. I pray that we find the missing loved ones and that we take the necessary steps to stop another tragedy like this from occurring.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
July 08, 2025
Durbin voted against final passage of the bill last week
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed the Republicans’ so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will slash Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, and Medicare coverage for 17 million Americans to provide massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. During his speech, Durbin underscored the dangers of this Republican bill, which was signed into law by President Trump on the Fourth of July.
“Americans across this nation overwhelmingly opposed this bill—and for good reason. This bill signed by the President on the Fourth of July was the largest cut to health care and the largest cut to nutrition assistance in history, slashing more than $1 trillion from health care programs like Medicaid and $200 billion from SNAP. Seventeen million Americans will lose their health insurance, health insurance premiums will rise for another 20 million families, and three million people will have food taken off the table, including kids, seniors, and veterans… Why would the government do these things to so many innocent people? In this case, very simply, to give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and big corporations with the richest Americans seeing $400,000 back in their pockets every year because of this legislation,” said Durbin.
More than 300 rural hospitals may be forced to close because the Republican bill cripples the Medicaid program that keep our rural hospitals and their communities afloat. Illinois hospitals at risk of closing includes HSHS St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield, Illinois, where Medicaid pays for 53 percent of hospitalizations; St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia, Illinois, where Medicaid pays for 42 percent of hospitalizations; and OSF St. Clare Hospital in Princeton, Illinois, where Medicaid covers 45 percent of hospitalizations.
Durbin continued, “Aside from hospitals, this bill will also have major consequences on American energy… This bill kills solar, wind, and EV tax credits enjoyed by companies and consumers alike, all but ceding the future of electricity to China and risking billions of dollars of investments in renewable energy, ironically mostly in Republican states. And while working families grapple with the consequences of these cuts, they’ll also see their family home expenses increase by $1,000 a year—utility bills are going up because of this bill.”
During his floor speech, Durbin highlighted a constituent, Isaiah Rogers, who will be impacted by the Republican bill. Isaiah is a 61-year-old man who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. As a result of his diagnosis, he has not been able to return to his job trimming trees and has been working small side jobs. Medicaid pays for Isaiah’s doctors’ visits and insulin. A single father without a high school degree, he’s concerned the bill’s cuts and changes to Medicaid will result in him losing his health coverage.
Durbin continued, “And if Isaiah loses Medicaid, he’ll no longer be able to afford his insulin and other medications, and he may face a diabetic complication or even suffer a stroke. What would that mean for his 12-year-old son? It’s unconscionable to think the other party would pull-the-plug on life-saving health coverage and deny food from our most needy children—but that’s exactly what they voted for.”
Durbin then highlighted Democrats’ efforts to push back on the bill. Over the course of 27 hours, Senate Democrats forced votes on a slew of amendments to put Republicans on-notice and show their constituents how they’re betraying them. It was the longest vote-a-rama in Senate history.
“It [the amendments] included Republicans voting against: Nursing home care and home health aides, food assistance for children and veterans, protections for Medicaid, clean energy jobs… and an expansion of the Child Tax Credit… all to give billionaires another tax cut instead. In the end, three sensible Senate Republicans looked at this ugly betrayal of a bill and agreed that they couldn’t be part of the process. I commend them, but sadly, it wasn’t enough. And who swooped in to cast the decisive vote? Vice President Vance… This Vice President cast the deciding vote that will be painful for so many families across America.”
Durbin concluded, “As the effects of this bill take shape and slither their way through our communities, my Republican colleagues will have to look their constituents in the eye and explain their votes. They will have to explain to the farmer who now must drive 50 miles to the nearest hospital why they voted to shut his community’s hospital doors. They will have to explain to the grandmother in a nursing home why her care is being slimmed down because of cuts to Medicaid, and they will have to explain to the young mother who is preparing to have a baby why there is no longer a maternity ward in her county. This bill flies in the face of American values that we celebrate on the Fourth of July. The other party has a lot of explaining to do and the American people are going to face the consequences.”
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that Senate Republicans’ proposal will cost $4.45 trillion, but despite the price tag, the legislation primarily helps billionaires at the expense of American working families. In fact, this legislation provides a huge, permanent tax cut of nearly $350,000 for multimillionaires and billionaires while people earning $40,000 a year will see a comparatively meager average tax decrease of $442 per year.
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available herefor TV Stations.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Donald Trump’s administration to pursue mass government job cuts and the sweeping downsizing of numerous agencies, a decision that could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs while dramatically reshaping the federal bureaucracy.
Tuesday’s ruling stemmed from an executive order Trump issued in February ordering agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. At Trump’s direction, the administration has come up with plans to reduce staff at the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and more than a dozen other agencies.
In a brief unsigned order, the court said the Trump administration was “likely to succeed” in its argument that his directives were legally within his power.
The decision is the latest win for Trump’s broader efforts to consolidate power in the executive branch. The Supreme Court has sided with Trump in several cases on an emergency basis since he returned to office in January, including clearing the way for implementation of some of his hardline immigration policies.
The Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday lifted San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Susan Illston’s order in May that temporarily blocked large-scale federal layoffs while the case proceeded.
Illston had ruled that Trump exceeded his authority in ordering the government downsizing without consulting Congress, which created and funded the agencies in question.
“As history demonstrates, the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” Illston wrote.
While Tuesday’s decision cleared one major legal obstacle for the White House, the court noted that it was not assessing the legality of any specific layoff plans at federal agencies.
Those layoff proposals, some of which were submitted earlier this year, could still face legal challenges on a variety of grounds, including union opposition, statutory restrictions and civil service protections.
The White House said in a statement that the decision is a “definitive victory for the president and his administration” that reinforced Trump’s authority to implement “efficiency across the federal government.”
However, two White House sources familiar with the matter, who asked to remain unidentified, said the ruling did not permit agencies to execute layoffs immediately. One of the sources said additional delays or legal hurdles “could alter the scope and timing of the cuts.”
A group of unions, nonprofits and local governments that sued to block the administration’s mass layoffs said the ruling “dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy” and vowed to continue fighting as the case proceeds.
The plaintiffs had warned in court filings that Trump’s plans, if allowed to proceed, would result in hundreds of thousands of layoffs.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll in April found that Americans narrowly favored Trump’s campaign to downsize the federal government, with about 56% saying they supported the effort and 40% opposed. Their views broke down along party lines, with 89% of Republicans but just 26% of Democrats supportive.
Some agencies whose downsizing plans had been put on hold said they would resume advancing those efforts.
“We will continue to move forward with our historic reorganization plan,” the State Department, which has proposed laying off nearly 2,000 employees, said on X.
DOGE CUTS
Upon taking office in January, Trump launched a massive campaign to cut the 2.3-million strong federal civilian workforce, led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk and his mostly young lieutenants immediately moved into key government agencies, fired workers, gained access to government computer systems and virtually shuttered two agencies – the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Trump and Musk said the bloated federal bureaucracy needed to be downsized. Federal workers’ unions and most Democrats say the cuts so far, and the plans for further mass layoffs, have been carried out haphazardly, leading to chaos inside many agencies and threatening important public services such as the processing of Social Security claims.
By late April, about 100 days into the effort, the government overhaul had resulted in the firing, resignations and early retirements of 260,000 civil servants, according to a Reuters tally.
Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole member of the nine-person court to publicly dissent from Tuesday’s decision, criticizing the “court’s demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this president’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.”
Tuesday’s decision extended Trump’s winning record at the Supreme Court since taking office. The court has let Trump’s administration resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms they could face and end temporary legal status previously granted on humanitarian grounds to hundreds of thousands of migrants.
In addition, it has allowed Trump to implement his ban on transgender people in the U.S. military, blocked a judge’s order that the administration rehire thousands of fired employees and curbed the power of federal judges to impose nationwide rulings impeding presidential policies.
Most of these decisions have been issued as emergency orders, known colloquially as the shadow docket, that respond to applications for immediate action from the court.
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Samantha Chan, Immunology and Allergy Lead, Snow Centre for Immune Health, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
As the number of people with allergies grows worldwide, scientists are trying to work out precisely how and why these conditions – such as asthma and eczema – develop.
One long-standing idea is the “hygiene hypothesis”. This suggests our modern indoor lifestyles are to blame, as they limit our early exposure to germs and allergens which help train the immune system.
But growing evidence suggests having a pet may counter this effect. As any pet owner knows, our furry friends bring a lot of mess, germs and fur into our homes – along with the cuddles.
So, does spending time with animals lower children’s risk of allergies? Here’s what we know.
How allergies develop
During early childhood, our immune systems learn what to attack and what to ignore to stop us getting sick.
Evidence suggests early exposure – to family members, food, germs, dust, dirt, pollen and pet dander (skin flakes) – shapes this immune response.
Allergic conditions develop when the immune system overreacts to harmless substances, such as dust, pollen or certain foods. These reactions can affect the skin, airways and gut.
Dogs bring both love and mess – which might be just what a developing immune system needs. Samantha Chan/Author provided, CC BY-NC-ND
However, we still don’t fully understand why some people develop allergies while others don’t.
Scientists have identified genes linked to allergic conditions. But most have subtle effects on the immune system and act as “risk factors” – they increase the chance of disease but don’t cause it outright.
Recent research suggests exposure to bacteria in our environment could be another major factor.
From birth, our bodies are colonised by bacteria, especially in the gut. This community of microorganisms is known as the microbiome.
Ongoing “crosstalk” between the microbiome and immune system is crucial for healthy immune function. When this balance is disturbed, it can contribute to inflammation and disease.
The effect of our early environment
In the last few decades, studies of children raised on farms gave us some of the first clues that early environments can affect allergy risk.
Compared to children raised in cities, children on farms are less likely to have allergic conditions such as eczema and asthma. This is especially true of those in close contact with animals.
Notably, farm-raised children tend to develop a more diverse microbiome than children raised in urban environments. This may help make their immune system more tolerant to foreign substances (such as bacteria and dirt) and less likely to develop allergies.
However, across the world children are increasingly living in urban areas.
This means a pet may be the closest contact they have with animals. So, does this still lower their risk of developing allergies?
Some studies indicate children with pets may be less likely to have allergies.
However this evidence hasn’t always been easy to interpret.
It can be difficult to tell whether lower allergy rates are due to the pets themselves or other factors, such as location, lifestyle or a family history of allergies.
A review of results from 23 studies found children exposed to dogs early in life were significantly less likely to develop eczema.
Another 2025 study analysed genetic data from more than 270,000 people. It found a gene linked to eczema only increased risk of eczema in children who hadn’t been exposed to dogs.
This suggests early dog exposure may help protect children who are genetically more likely to develop eczema.
What about asthma?
When it comes to asthma, the story gets trickier.
One 2001 study followed more than 1,000 children in the United States from birth to age 13. It found those living with dogs indoors were less likely to develop frequent wheezing – a common asthma symptom – but only if they didn’t have a family history of asthma.
A Korean study from 2021 found those who had dogs during childhood were less likely to develop allergies. But they had a slightly higher risk of non-allergic wheeze — a type of breathing difficulty usually caused by airway irritation or infections (not allergens).
This suggests while growing up with a dog may protect against allergic conditions, such as asthma, it may increase the chance of certain non-allergic respiratory symptoms.
What about cats?
It’s challenging to tease apart the specific effects of cats versus dogs, since many early studies grouped all furry pets together.
But in studies that have looked at them separately, living with cats didn’t seem to reduce allergy risk.
One potential reason is cats and dogs carry very different microbes, which may influence how they shape the household environment.
If you’re already thinking about getting a dog, there’s decent evidence early exposure could reduce your child’s risk of eczema, and possibly other allergic conditions too.
It’s not a guarantee, but a potential bonus – alongside companionship, joy and never having to worry about what to do with leftovers.
And if a dog’s not on the cards, don’t worry. Spending time outdoors, encouraging messy play, and avoiding overuse of disinfectants can all help build a more resilient immune response.
Samantha Chan has served on advisory boards for CSL Behring. She is in receipt of funding from the Allergy and Immunology Foundation Australia and Walter & Eliza Hall Institute. She is affiliated with the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. She is a physician for the Snow Centre for Immune Health, funded by the Snow Medical Research Foundation.
In the past five years, Jo Douglass has served on advisory boards, provided advice or undertaken presentations on behalf of Astra-Zeneca P/L, GSK, CSL, Stallergenes, Immunosis P/L , Novartis and Sanofi. She is in receipt of funding from the Medical Research Future Fund for studies in allergic asthma. She is a clinical co-director of the Snow Centre for Immune Health, funded by the Snow Medical Research Foundation.
Hundreds of years ago, it was common for married couples among the European upper classes to have separate bedrooms. Sleeping separately was a symbol of luxury and status historically reserved for royalty and the very wealthy.
Nowadays, it’s common for married couples and other couples in relationships to sleep in the same bed. But sometimes – for reasons from conflicting schedules to snoring to sleep talking – couples might choose to sleep separately in pursuit of a better night’s sleep.
This is known as “sleep divorce”. Though I prefer the term “sleep separation”, as this doesn’t have to be a permanent arrangement – but more on that later.
So why might couples choose to sleep separately? And what does the evidence say about the effects on sleep quality if you sleep alone versus with a partner?
Why do couples opt for a sleep separation?
Couples may choose to sleep apart if one partner’s sleep is disturbing the other’s, or both are disrupting one another. This can happen for a variety of reasons.
These include waking up frequently in the night, mismatched body clocks (for example, one person coming to bed later than the other), conflicting schedules (for example, shift workers), snoring, twitching legs or sleep talking.
Parents with babies and young children may choose to sleep separately to avoid both partners’ sleep being disturbed.
Those with conflicting preferences for sleeping environments, such as one partner liking a cool room with a fan and the other preferring warmth, may also decide to sleep apart.
What are the benefits of sleeping alone?
Many couples say they prefer to sleep – and sleep better – next to their partner.
But when scientists measure sleep objectively, such as via an electroencephalogram (EEG) to assess brain waves, the data actually shows poorer sleep quality when co-sleeping. So sleeping alone may, in fact, mean better quality and longer sleep.
Research also shows when one member of the couple has a sleep disorder, such as insomnia or sleep apnoea (where breathing is frequently interrupted during sleep), these people often inadvertently wake up their partnerwhen they wake in the night. So sleeping alone could be a good idea if your bed partner has a sleep disorder.
Finally, anyone who has struggled with their sleep will know anxiety around sleep is common. Many clients I have seen who experience insomnia report sleeping alone can alleviate some of their anxiety because at least they know they won’t disturb, or be disturbed by, their partner.
Are there any downsides to separate sleeping arrangements?
Some people dislike sleeping alone, reporting comfort, and feelings of safety and protection when sleeping alongside their partner – and loneliness when they don’t.
Sleeping separately also requires two rooms, or at least two beds. Many couples may not have these options available to them in their home.
Sleeping separately is often stigmatised, with some people seeing it as the death of a couple’s sex life. But while sleeping in separate beds may provide fewer opportunities for sex, this doesn’t necessarily mean the end of intimacy.
Sleeping apart could mean some couples actually have more sex. We know better sleep is linked to more positive feelings about relationships, so it’s possible the desire to be intimate could increase after a good night’s sleep in separate beds. Sleeping apart may even mean some couples have more energy to be intimate.
Nonetheless, if you choose to sleep separately from your partner, it’s important to have an open discussion and prioritise opportunities for connection and intimacy. One client I worked with referred to “visiting rights” where her partner came into her bed for a short period before sleep or in the morning.
Who should potentially consider a sleep separation?
You may wish to think about a “sleep separation” if you are disturbing each other’s sleep, have young children, or have different preferences in terms of temperature, light and noise, which are causing issues.
Ultimately, if sleeping in the same bed is leading to poor sleep then sleeping apart, if it’s possible, could help.
If you can’t sleep separately there may be other ways to reduce disturbance from a partner such as using an eye mask, white noise or earplugs.
If you decide to try a sleep separation, remember this can be a flexible arrangement or “re-set” and doesn’t have to be permanent, or every night. Some couples find sleeping separately during the working week but sharing a bed on the weekend works well for them.
Lastly, it’s important to talk to your GP about any persistent sleep problems, such as snoring, insomnia, or unusual behaviour during sleep (for example, shouting or walking around), as there may be an underlying sleep disorder which needs treating.
Alix Mellor works for the Monash University Healthy Sleep Clinic at the Turner Clinics as a provisional psychologist.
Imagine your friend hasn’t replied to a message in a few hours. Most people might think, “they are probably just busy”.
But someone with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might spiral into a flood of thoughts like, “they must hate me!” or “I’ve ruined the friendship!”
These intense emotional reactions to real or imagined rejection are part of what’s called rejection sensitive dysphoria.
The term isn’t a formal diagnosis, but it’s gaining traction in both research and clinical work, especially among adults seeking to understand themselves better.
So, what is rejection sensitive dysphoria, how does it relate to ADHD, and how can we handle it with more compassion?
It’s more than just disliking criticism
Everyone feels hurt when they’re criticised or left out. But rejection sensitivity dysphoria isn’t just about “not liking” feedback. The word dysphoria refers to intense emotional distress.
People with rejection sensitivity dysphoria describe overwhelming reactions to perceived rejection, even if no one actually said or did anything cruel.
A passing comment such as “I thought you were going to do it this way” can trigger feelings of shame, embarrassment or self-doubt.
The emotional pain often feels immediate and consuming, leading some people to withdraw, over-apologise or lash out to protect themselves.
The ADHD brain and emotional hypersensitivity
ADHD is often associated with attention or impulsivity, but one major (and often overlooked) component is emotional dysregulation: difficulty managing and recovering from strong emotional responses.
This isn’t a character flaw; it’s a neurological difference. Brain imaging studies show people with ADHD tend to have differences in how their amygdala (the brain’s emotional alarm system) and prefrontal cortex (which regulates impulses and emotions) work together.
The amygdala is the brain’s emotional alarm system. The prefrontal cortex regulates emotions. chaiyo12/Shutterstock
The result? Emotional experiences hit harder and take longer to settle.
A 2018 study highlights this imbalance in emotional control circuits in people with ADHD, explaining why intense feelings can seem to “take over” before logical thinking kicks in.
What does the research say?
Recent research from 2024 reports a strong link between ADHD symptoms and rejection sensitivity. It found students with higher ADHD symptom levels also reported significantly more rejection sensitivity, including a heightened fear of being negatively evaluated or criticised.
Further evidence comes from a 2018 study which showed adolescents with ADHD symptoms were far more sensitive to peer feedback than their peers. Their brain activity revealed they were more emotionally reactive to both praise and criticism, suggesting they may perceive neutral social cues as emotionally charged.
This reflects what I see daily in my clinic. One 13-year-old boy I work with is creative, empathetic and full of potential, yet social anxiety tied to a deep fear of rejection often holds him back. He once told me, “if I say no, they won’t like me anymore”. That fear drives him to go along with things he later regrets, simply to keep the peace and avoid losing connection.
This constant social hypervigilance is mentally draining. Without support, it can spiral into shame, low confidence and ongoing mental health struggles.
Adults with ADHD aren’t immune either. A 2022 study explored how adults with ADHD experience criticism and found many linked it to persistent feelings of failure, low self-worth and emotional reactivity – even when the criticism was constructive or mild.
One client I support – a high-achieving professional diagnosed in her 50s – described learning about rejection sensitive dysphoria as “finding the missing piece of the puzzle”.
Despite consistently excelling in every role, she had long felt anxious about how she was perceived by colleagues. When she received a minor, formal complaint at work, she spiralled into intense self-doubt and shame.
Instead of brushing it off, she thought: “I’m too much”. This belief
had been silently reinforced for years by her emotional sensitivity to feedback.
What helps?
If you experience rejection sensitivity dysphoria, you’re not alone, and you’re not broken.
Here are some tools that may help:
name it. Saying to yourself, “This feels like rejection sensitivity,” can give you distance from the emotional flood
pause before reacting. Taking slow breaths, counting backwards, or stepping outside are simple grounding strategies that help calm the body’s stress response and restore balance to your nervous system. Research shows slowing your breath and grounding your senses can help shift your body out of fight-or-flight mode, supporting clearer thinking and emotional regulation
challenge the story. Ask yourself, “What else could be true?” or “How would I speak to a friend feeling this way?”
consider therapy. Working with a psychologist who understands ADHD and rejection sensitivity dysphoria can help untangle these reactions and develop healthy, self-compassionate responses. The Australian Psychological Society has a Find a Psychologist service: you can search by location, areas of expertise (such as anxiety, ADHD, trauma) and the type of therapy you’re interested in
start early with kids. Helping children with ADHD learn emotional language, boundary-setting and resilience can prevent rejection sensitivity from becoming overwhelming. For parents, resources such as Raising Children Network and books like The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson offer practical ways to teach these skills at home
communicate gently. If you work or live with someone who has ADHD, try to give feedback clearly and kindly. Avoid sarcasm or vague phrasing. A little extra clarity can go a long way.
Rejection sensitivity dysphoria isn’t about being fragile or “weak”. It’s about how the ADHD brain processes emotional and social cues. With insight, tools and support, these experiences can become manageable.
Victoria Barclay-Timmis is a clinical psychologist and works in private practice.
To love and be loved is something most people want in their lives.
In the modern world, we often see stories about the difficulties of finding love and the trials of dating and marriage. Sometimes, the person we love doesn’t love us. Sometimes, we don’t love the person who loves us.
Ancient Greeks and Romans also had a lot to say about this subject. In fact, most of the issues people face today in their search for love are already mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature.
So, what did they say? And is the advice they put forward still relevant for modern people?
Advice for finding a lover
The Roman poet Ovid (43BCE–17CE) wrote a poem called The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria). In it, he offered advice for those who are still single.
First, Ovid says, you should make an effort to find someone you’re interested in. Your lover “will not come floating down to you through the tenuous air, she must be sought”.
As suitable places to find a lover, Ovid recommends walking in porticos and gardens, attending the theatre, or (surprisingly enough) lingering near law courts.
You need to catch someone’s eye and then invent an excuse to talk with them, he says.
Seek your lover in the daytime, says Ovid. Be careful of the night. You won’t choose the right person if you’re drunk. And you can’t see their face properly if it’s too dark – they might be uglier than you think.
Second, Ovid says you need to look presentable. Make sure your clothes are clean and you have a good haircut. Moreover, keep yourself groomed properly at all times:
Do not let your nails project, and let them be free of dirt; nor let any hair be in the hollow of your nostrils. Let not the breath of your mouth be sour and unpleasing.
Ovid’s The Art of Love may be regarded as a kind of love manual. But aside from making personal efforts to find a lover, people could also use matchmakers.
However, matchmaking was a difficult process. Sometimes matchmakers didn’t tell the truth about the situations of the parties involved. So the Athenian writer Xenophon (430–353 BCE) says people were sometimes “victims of deception” in the matchmaking process.
What if you’re not in love?
The ancients recognised that not being in love can be a problem. They thought it bad for your mental and physical health, but also for society more broadly.
For example, the Roman writer Claudius Aelian (2nd–3rd century CE) in his Historical Miscellany says soldiers who are in love will fight better than soldiers who are not in love:
In the heat of battle when war brings men into combat, a man who is not in love could not match one who is. The man untouched by love avoids and runs away from the man who loves, as if he were an outsider uninitiated into the god’s rites, and his bravery depends on his character and physical strength.
According to Aelian, the Spartans had a punishment for men who did not fall in love:
Any man of good appearance and character who did not fall in love with someone well-bred was also fined, because despite his excellence he did not love anyone […] lovers’ affection for their beloved has a remarkable power of stimulating the virtues.
So, when two people are in love, they can inspire each other and bring out the best in one another. Being in love can help a person become better and achieve more.
Fighting for and keeping a lover
If we are lucky, the person we love will also love us back, and we won’t have any love rivals.
But what happens when the person we love is also loved by someone else? We may need to put in more effort to win the affection of that person, but sometimes this brings us into conflicts.
For example, the Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE), in his On the Orator, tells how Gaius Memmius, Roman tribune of the year 111 BCE, apparently took a bite out of his love rival’s arm, “when he had a quarrel with him at Tarracina over a girlfriend”.
Some ways to keep one’s lover interested that are mentioned in ancient sources include showing off one’s wealth.
For example, in one of the plays of the poet Alexis (375–275 BCE) a young man who is in love puts on a large banquet to impress his girlfriend with a display of wealth. Engagements were at that time sometimes cancelled if it turned out the husband was too poor.
Of course, things did not always work out, and people had grievances against former lovers. One particularly famous invective was from the poet Martial (38–104 CE) to a woman called Manneia:
Manneia, your little dog licks your face and lips. Small wonder that a dog likes eating dung!
Timeless concerns
Today, we often see debates about whether it’s better to stay single or get into a relationship.
The same goes for antiquity. In the 4th-century BCE play Arrephoros or The Pipe Girl by poet Menander, one character says:
If you’ve got any sense, you won’t get married […] I’m married myself – which is why I’m advising you not to do it.
Others lamented that they missed their opportunity for love. So the poet Pindar (6th–5th century BCE) wrote a poem regretting that he could not make the much younger Theoxenus his boyfriend:
You should have picked love’s flowers at the right time, my heart, when you were young. But as for the sparkling rays from Theoxenus’ eyes, whoever looks on them and is not roiled with longing has a black heart forged with cold fire out of steel or iron.
Clearly, finding a lover was as difficult then as it is now.
Konstantine Panegyres 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.
Reunited twins Esther (left) and ShuangjieBarbara Demick
At the end of a long road trip through rural China in 2009, American journalist Barbara Demick had an encounter that would change the course of her life. In the previous days, she had interviewed several parents whose children had been forcibly removed from them by government officials. Demick suspected there may be a link between the missing children and China’s booming international adoption industry.
She had enough for her story, but some instinct compelled her to follow the next lead to remote Gaofeng Village, high in the mountains of Hunan Province.
Her driver could only take her so far. The dirt road ended at a stream, where she was met by local woman Zanhua Zeng and her daughter Shuangjie. They guided her across a makeshift bridge and into the village where “everything was in the process of falling down or going up”.
Zanhua Zeng and daughter Shuangjie, meeting Barbara Demick in a moment that would change all their lives. Barbara Demick
There, she learnt about two-year-old Fangfang, daughter of Zanhua and twin sister of Shuangjie, violently taken from her aunt’s care in 2002. Government officials had told the family they were in breach of China’s One Child Policy and were not allowed to keep the baby. They had no idea what had happened to their daughter and sister.
Zanhua’s parting words were: “Come back again and next time bring my daughter.”
Review: Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, A True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins – Barbara Demick (Text)
Extraordinary consequences
At the time, Demick had no premonition of the significance the Zeng family and their story would play in her life – and those of many others. But in writing a front-page report for the Los Angeles Times about the links between China’s stolen children and international adoptions, including a small piece about the missing twin Fangfang, she started a chain of events with extraordinary consequences.
Fangfang (renamed Esther), in the referral photo supplied by the orphanage.
For Zanhua and Shuangjie, it would eventually lead to a reunion with Fangfang, accompanied by Demick, who helped organise it. She was to develop an enduring connection with the family – and with Fangfang’s adoptive American family, too.
Daughters of the Bamboo Grove does what the best stories do: humanises a big issue. In this case, China’s one child policy and the international adoption industry it created.
Demick’s book is a story of China, and of incomprehensible government control. But as told through this case of the separated twins, it’s also a story of family, identity, loss and resilience.
It’s personal and moving, but also thoroughly researched, strengthened with compelling and confronting statistics and anecdotes.
The twins’ meeting as young women was documented by Barbara Demick for the Los Angeles Times.
Demick outlines the population growth that led to the introduction of the One Child Policy in 1979 and the rise of the State Family Planning Commission, set up to enforce the law limiting most Chinese families to one child.
“Family Planning morphed into a monstrous organization that dwarfed the police and military in manpower,” she writes. “By the 1990s, it was estimated that eighty-three million Chinese worked at least part-time for Family Planning.” (By comparison, China’s combined armed forces were estimated to number roughly three million at the time.)
The organisation was “intrusive in the extreme”, with female workers having to report when they had their periods and, in some cases, show their blood-stained sanitary pads. After giving birth to their first child, women were forced to have an IUD or were sterilised.
People who violated the law received fines of two to six times their annual income. If violators were civil servants, they could lose their jobs. In rural areas, where people were less reliant on government jobs, the policy was implemented with “brute force”.
People were beaten. Sometimes their homes were demolished or set on fire. “If you violate the policy, your family will be destroyed,” read a sign on a wall not far from the Zeng’s home. Family Planning officials regularly checked even the most remote villages, sometimes tipped off by neighbours.
If a woman was discovered to be pregnant after having a child, she would be forced to undergo an abortion. The methods were “crude, often barbaric,” Demick writes. “Doctors would sometimes induce labor and then kill the baby with an injection of formaldehyde into the cranium before the feet emerged.”
Although Chinese people, particularly those from rural communities, often wanted to have bigger families, they had no power to fight the authorities. Those who tried to quietly subvert the system were ruthlessly punished.
These practices were so common, they were generally accepted. But when government officials started to take babies from families who had defied the policy, resistance grew. Other families started reporting cases like what had happened to Fangfang. Family Planning had forcibly removed children, refusing to provide any details about their whereabouts.
Officials miscalculated in 2005 when they dared to take a boy, Demick writes. He lived in a town, attended school and was not as poor as some of the other affected families. The school made a complaint, which was supported by a local politician. The boy was returned to his family after 29 days.
Hearing about this case emboldened other families to mobilise and fight back. These were among the first families Demick met when she travelled to cover the story of the missing children in 2009.
Child trafficking by ‘good Samaritans’
In the meantime, news was starting to emerge about the child trafficking of children through Chinese orphanages, with “good Samaritans” who “rescued” babies being paid increasingly large amounts of money. “The orphanages were competing with one another to procure babies,” Demick writes.
Chinese babies were in high demand for international adoption, and it had become a lucrative business. One Hunan orphanage director later told police they started a service to allow foreigners to adopt babies in 2001; they were charged a US$3,000 cash donation per baby. In some cases, the babies genuinely needed homes and families, Demick writes, but the payment was “in effect a bounty that incentivised a wave of kidnapping of female babies and toddlers”.
Shaoyang Social Welfare Institute, where Esther spent the last six months of her life in China. Barbara Demick
It gradually became clear that many of the children removed by Family Planning officials were among the wave of Chinese babies and toddlers adopted by families from other countries, all of whom paid significant fees to do so, as well as donating to the orphanages. It was later revealed that orphanages routinely fabricated information about how and where the babies had been reportedly left.
By the time Demick’s reports were published in 2009, nearly 100,000 babies had been sent out of China, more than half to the US. The worldwide number would reach 160,000 by 2024, when China ended its international adoption program.
Demick’s story about stolen babies, plus other reports from within China and elsewhere, stunned the international adoption community and parents of Chinese adoptees around the world. Until then, China was perceived to be the most ethical choice for international adoption. For adoptive parents who now feared their adopted children could be taken from them, the revelations were terrifying, Demick says.
Marsha and Esther (background) in their Texas kitchen. Barbara Demick
One of these parents was a Texan women named Marsha. She and her husband Al had adopted two Chinese girls: Victoria in 1999 and Esther in 2002. Through developing connections among families who had adopted from China, Demick came across Marsha – and realised Esther may be Fangfang: the missing twin.
She was correct. However, the story was far from resolved, which explains, in part, why Demick had plenty of material for her book.
Reporter as dogged detective
Daughters of the Bamboo Grove is a testament to dogged reporting. Demick’s skills as a researcher, interviewer – and effectively, a detective – imbue the book with substance and credibility.
She handles difficult subject matter sensitively, portraying the Zeng family in China and adoptive mother Marsha in the US with empathy. She acknowledges the challenges they faced and recognises their devotion to their children.
Her descriptions of the twin sisters, Shuangjie and Esther, are perceptive and gentle. Restraint is a powerful writing tool and Demick uses it here to great effect.
This is the moment where the twins first meet, outside the Zeng family home in China:
When everybody was out of the van, the two of them stood next to each other, side by side, facing the photographer. Nobody embraced. Nobody spoke. I imagined the twins as bride and groom in an arranged marriage, meeting for the first time, willing to pose for the photographer but not yet able to engage in conversation.
Twins Esther (left) and Shaungjie, separated most of their lives, meet for the first time since babyhood. Barbara Demick
Demick came to this story with the perspectives and limitations of an American journalist, but has gone to remarkable lengths to hear and convey the voices of Chinese people impacted by the One Child Policy.
At the same time, she challenges Western paternalistic ideas around adoption, questioning the view expressed by many she encounters that the Chinese children adopted by Westerners were lucky, guaranteed to have better lives elsewhere.
China’s One Child Policy was not formally abolished until 2015. In its 35 years, it did almost unimaginable damage, concludes Demick:
the policy shattered marriages, led to the deaths of countless children and suicides of parents, and left China with a population expected to continue declining into the next century. It was all encompassing, leaving almost everyone a victim or perpetrator or both.
For the hundreds of thousands of children sent out of China during this period, the legacy of One Child endures. As Demick writes, they are
citizens of their adopted countries but tethered by blood to another family and country they struggle to comprehend. Living in this in-between space between worlds.
In dedicating Daughters of the Bamboo Grove to Chinese adoptees around the world, Demick says she hopes in some small way it helps them to understand where they came from, and how they got to where they are today.
Kathryn Shine 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.
As tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot and other generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems become part of everyday workflows, more companies are looking for employees who can answer “yes” to this question. In other words, people who can prompt effectively, think with AI, and use it to boost productivity.
In fact, in a growing number of roles, being “AI fluent” is quickly becoming as important as being proficient in office software once was.
But we’ve all had that moment when we’ve asked an AI chatbot a question and received what feels like the most generic, surface level answer. The problem isn’t the AI – you just haven’t given it enough to work with.
Think of it this way. During training, the AI will have “read” virtually everything on the internet. But because it makes predictions, it will give you the most probable, most common response. Without specific guidance, it’s like walking into a restaurant and asking for something good. You’ll likely get the chicken.
Your solution lies in understanding that AI systems excel at adapting to context, but you have to provide it. So how exactly do you do that?
Crafting better prompts
You may have heard the term “prompt engineering”. It might sound like you need to design some kind of technical script to get results.
To get the most out of your AI conversations, it’s important that you convey a few basics about what you want, and how you want it. Our approach follows the acronym CATS – context, angle, task and style.
Context means providing the setting and background information the AI needs. Instead of asking “How do I write a proposal?” try “I’m a nonprofit director writing a grant proposal to a foundation that funds environmental education programs for urban schools”. Upload relevant documents, explain your constraints, and describe your specific situation.
Angle (or attitude) leverages AI’s strength in role-playing and perspective-taking. Rather than getting a neutral response, specify the attitude you want. For example, “Act as a critical peer reviewer and identify weaknesses in my argument” or “Take the perspective of a supportive mentor helping me improve this draft”.
Task is specifically about what you actually want the AI to do. “Help me with my presentation” is vague. But “Give me three ways to make my opening slide more engaging for an audience of small business owners” is actionable.
Style harnesses AI’s ability to adapt to different formats and audiences. Specify whether you want a formal report, a casual email, bullet points for executives, or an explanation suitable for teenagers. Tell the AI what voice you want to use – for example, a formal academic style, technical, engaging or conversational.
In a growing number of roles, being able to use AI is quickly becoming as important as being proficient in office software once was. Shutterstock
Context is everything
Besides crafting a clear, effective prompt, you can also focus on managing the surrounding information – that is to say on “context engineering”. Context engineering refers to everything that surrounds the prompt.
That means thinking about the environment and information the AI has access to: its memory function, instructions leading up to the task, prior conversation history, documents you upload, or examples of what good output looks like.
You should think about prompting as a conversation. If you’re not happy with the first response, push for more, ask for changes, or provide more clarifying information.
Don’t expect the AI to give a ready-made response. Instead, use it to trigger your own thinking. If you feel the AI has produced a lot of good material but you get stuck, copy the best parts into a fresh session and ask it to summarise and continue from there.
Always retain your professional distance and remind yourself that you are the only thinking part in this relationship. And always make sure to check the accuracy of anything an AI produces – errors are increasingly common.
AI systems are remarkably capable, but they need you – and human intelligence – to bridge the gap between their vast generic knowledge and your particular situation. Give them enough context to work with, and they might surprise you with how helpful they can be.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
