Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
NEW YORK, June 5 (Xinhua) — Harvard University on Thursday appealed in federal court a ban on foreign students entering the United States who plan to study there.
The lawsuit was filed less than 24 hours after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a proclamation banning foreign nationals from entering Harvard. The university argues that the administration’s actions are intended to circumvent an earlier court ruling that stripped the Department of Homeland Security of the ability to bar Harvard from admitting foreign students.
“Thus, the President’s actions are not taken to protect the ‘interests of the United States,’ but to further the government’s vendetta against Harvard,” the lawsuit says.
“The special treatment given to our institution in terms of admitting international students and collaborating with other educational institutions around the world is yet another illegal step taken by the administration to get even with Harvard,” Harvard University President Alan Garber said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed.
He added that the university is developing “contingency plans” to ensure that international students and scholars can continue their studies and work at Harvard this summer and into the next academic year. –0–
The kimono garment, the national dress of Japan, carries within itself all of the magic and traditions of Japanese culture.
The basic features of the kimono are fairly simple. It is a wrapped front garment with square sleeves that has a rectangular body where the left side is wrapped over the right, except in funerary use.
The garment may be traced back to the Heian period as a distinctive style of dress for the nobility. In the Edo period (1603–1867) it came to a glorious culmination with colourful and expensive fabrics.
The great poet Matsuo Bashō once wrote “Spring passes by / again and again in layers / of blossom-kimono”. Since childhood I’ve loved the mystical image “blossom-kimono”.
In 2020, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London staged their epic exhibition Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, where hundreds of garments, accessories, prints and photographs charted the history of the kimono from the 17th century through to the present.
A new exhibition from the National Gallery of Victoria is similarly ambitious. Over 70 fabulous garments of exquisite craftsmanship – some made of silk with gold and silver embroidery and dazzling designs – have been assembled within a context of over 150 paintings, posters, wood block prints, magazines and decorative arts.
Although many of the items have never been previously exhibited in Australia, most are now in the collection of the NGV, with many specifically acquired for this exhibition.
Exquisite production
There are seven newly acquired Edo-period silk and ramie kimonos, richly decorated with leaves, tendrils and falling snow. They provide us with a glimpse at the wealth and sophistication of the samurai and merchant classes of the 18th and 19th centuries.
One of the highlights is the Uchikake Furisode wedding kimono with pine, bamboo, plum and cranes, from the early to mid-19th century.
It is a display of exquisite taste with satin silk, shibori tie dyeing, and embroidery with gold thread. The birds and the vegetation seem to float on the surface and must have created an amazing sight when worn.
Uchikake Furisode wedding kimono with pine, bamboo, plum, and cranes early–mid 19th century. Satin silk, shibori tie dyeing, embroidery, gold thread, 177.5 cm (centre back) 131.0 cm (cuff to cuff). National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased with funds donated by Michael and Emily Tong, 2024
The garment is simple and functional and, despite the exquisiteness of its production, it is also restrained in contrast to the conspicuous exuberance of some examples of 19th century European courtly dress.
Some of these Edo period kimonos can become quite narrative-driven in their design, as with the Hitoe kosode kimono with themes alluding to eight Noh theatre plays of the late Edo period. Slightly smaller than the wedding kimono, that was 177.5 cm long as opposed to 167 cm, this one revels in a blue background on gauze satin silk with a multiplicity of little narrative scenes like an assembly of diverse stage sets.
Hitoe kosode, kimono with themes alluding to eight Noh theatre plays late Edo period. Gauze satin silk, paste resist dye, embroidery, gold thread, 167.0 cm (centre back) 124.0 cm (cuff to cuff). National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased with funds donated by Jennifer Lempriere and Michael Pithie, 2024
The exhibition also includes the work of contemporary Japanese kimono designers including Hiroko Takahashi, Jotaro Saito, Modern Antenna, Tamao Shigemune, Y&SONS, Rumi Rock and Robe Japonica.
The kimono as a concept
The kimono is more than an historic artefact, one where ideas and methods of production were to remain constant for centuries. It is also an idea that inspires designers working in international fashion houses.
The NGV exhibition includes kimono-inspired works of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, John Galliano, Comme des Garçon, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Zambesi and Rudi Gernreich.
Alexander McQueen’s Gown, belt and sandals (Dégradé) (2007) is one of the takeaway memories from this exhibition. The humble functional kimono has been totally transfigured.
To the silk-satin shell there have been added leather, metal and rubber accessories and synthetic shoulder pads. The purple and pink colour scheme and the sweeping sleeves that trail along the ground create a mesmerising and dominant phantom-like character that owns and dominates the space.
It is difficult not to be impressed by McQueen’s vision, but we have now moved quite a long way from the kimono.
The kimono is a wonderful concept – an armature on which to hang many different ideas. The beauty of this exhibition is that it frees the idea of a garment from a static piece of cloth, at best to be displayed on a dummy, to something approaching a concept in design that artists will clasp and from which they will create their own work.
There are many rich nuances in the show, for example the superb almost monochrome and somewhat gothic Men’s undergarment (nagajuban) with graveyard, skulls and crescent moon (c.1930).
Men’s undergarment (nagajuban) with graveyard, skulls and crescent moon c. 1930. Silk, wool, cotton 127.0 cm (centre back) 130.5 cm (cuff to cuff). National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Maureen Morrisey Bequest, 2018
At the same time, we have Women’s kimono with geometric design and accessories (c.1930) with its polychrome exuberance with reds, blacks and greys combining geometric motifs with soft organic feather-like forms.
Bashō’s “blossom-kimono” was a meditation on the passing of time and the hope that a young girl will live to experience wrinkles that come with old age. The kimono in this exhibition celebrates the passing of time and generational change within the life of an immortal idea about function, form and ideas of beauty.
Kimono is at the National Gallery of Victoria until October 5.
Sasha Grishin 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.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 6, 2025.
Defections are fairly common in Australian politics. But history shows they are rarely a good career move Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University For many years now, Australian political scientists have pointed out that that established partisan allegiance is in decline. In 1967, 36% of Coalition supporters and 32% of Labor voters reported lifetime voting
Spit or swallow? What’s the best way to deal with phlegm? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niall Johnston, Conjoint Associate Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney Pop Paul-Catalin/Shutterstock A spitting pot I consider as an essential part of the bed-room apparatus. That’s what French physician René Laennec wrote in 1821. Laennec, who invented the stethoscope, spent his days gazing at his patients’ phlegm.
Australia is in the firing line of Trump’s looming ‘revenge tax’. It’s a fight we’re unlikely to win Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Cooper, Professor of Taxation Law, University of Sydney Alexey_Arz/Shutterstock The Australian Labor Party just won an election victory for the ages. Now, it may be forced to walk back one of the key achievements of its first term. Here’s why: United States President Donald Trump is
‘HIV shouldn’t be death sentence in Fiji’ – call for testing amid outbreak By Christina Persico, RNZ Pacific bulletin editor Fiji’s Minister for Health and Medical Services has revealed the latest HIV numbers in the country to a development partner roundtable discussing the national response. The minister reported 490 new HIV cases between October and December last year, bringing the 2024 total to 1583. “Included in this number
E-bikes and e-scooters are popular – but dangerous. A transport expert explains how to make them safer Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Rose, Professor in Transport Engineering, Monash Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University nazar_ab/Getty Last weekend a pedestrian in Perth tragically died after being struck by an e-scooter. This followed the death of another person in Victoria last month who was hit and killed by a modified
‘There are too many unpleasant things in life without creating more’: why Impressionism is the world’s favourite art movement Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University Installation view of French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on display from June 6 to October 5, at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy Impressionism is the world’s favourite art movement. Impressionist paintings create
‘Deadly’ sports diplomacy: why Australia’s Indigenous people must be a part of our sports strategy Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stuart Murray, Associate Professor, International Relations and Diplomacy, Bond University Sean Garnsworthy/ALLSPORT Since coming to power in 2022, the Albanese government has focused strongly on the Indo-Pacific. The prime minister’s recent trip to Indonesia was the latest high-level bilateral summit as Australia seeks to recalibrate relationships, enhance
Making it easier to build a granny flat makes sense – but it’s no solution to a housing crisis Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau RyanJLane/Getty Images As part of its resource management reforms, the government will soon allow “super-sized granny flats” to be built without consent – potentially adding 13,000 dwellings over the next decade to provide “families
Is black mould really as bad for us as we think? A toxicologist explains Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Peeradontax/Shutterstock Mould in houses is unsightly and may cause unpleasant odours. More important though, mould has been linked to a range of health effects – especially triggering asthma. However, is mould exposure linked to a serious lung disease
Resident-to-resident aggression is common in nursing homes. Here’s how we can improve residents’ safety Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joseph Ibrahim, Professor, Aged Care Medical Research Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University Wbmul/Shutterstock The Coroners Court of Victoria is undertaking an inquest into the deaths of eight aged care residents across six facilities, over a nine-month period in 2021. Each death occurred
We tracked 13,000 giants of the ocean over 30 years, to uncover their hidden highways Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ana M. M. Sequeira, Associate Professor, Research School of Biology, Australian National University Alexandra Vautin, Shutterstock Big animals of the ocean go about their days mostly hidden from view. Scientists know this marine megafauna – such as whales, sharks, seal, turtles and birds – travel vast distances
‘No one knew what was happening’: new research shows how domestic violence harms young people’s schooling Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Roberts, Professor of Education and Social Justice, Monash University Taiki Ishikawa/ Unsplash, CC BY Every school around Australia is almost certain to have students who are victim-survivors of family and domestic violence. The 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study found neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse
Internal tensions throw PNG anti-corruption body into crisis By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent Three staffers from Papua New Guinea’s peak anti-corruption body are embroiled in a standoff that has brought into question the integrity of the organisation. Police Commissioner David Manning has confirmed that he received a formal complaint. Commissioner Manning said that initial inquiries were underway to inform the “sensitive
Tasmania could go to an election just 16 months after its last one. What’s going on? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hortle, Deputy Director, Tasmanian Policy Exchange, University of Tasmania Tasmania’s Liberal government and its premier, Jeremy Rockliff, have come under huge pressure since the state budget was handed down last week. It’s culminated in the Tasmanian House of Assembly voting to pass a motion of no
Grattan on Friday: Albanese will need some nuance in facing a female opposition leader Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various “captain’s pick” candidates – good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter
Punishment for Te Pāti Māori over Treaty haka stands – but MPs ‘will not be silenced’ RNZ News Aotearoa New Zealand’s Parliament has confirmed the unprecedented punishments proposed for opposition indigenous Te Pāti Māori MPs who performed a haka in protest against the Treaty Principles Bill. Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi will be suspended for 21 days, and MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for seven days, taking effect
Virgin Australia is coming back to the share market. Here’s what this new chapter could mean Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rico Merkert, Professor in Transport and Supply Chain Management and Deputy Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS), University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney Petr Podrouzek/Shutterstock It is finally happening. After five years of being a private company, Virgin Australia will relist on the
GPs asking men about their behaviour in relationships could help reduce domestic violence Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelsey Hegarty, Professor of Family Violence Prevention, The University of Melbourne Domestic violence is increasing in Australia. A new report shows one in three men have ever made a partner feel frightened or anxious. One in 11 have used physical violence when angry. And one in 50
The Top End’s tropical savannas are a natural wonder – but weak environment laws mean their future is uncertain Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University François Brassard The Top End of Australia’s Northern Territory contains an extensive, awe-inspiring expanse of tropical savanna landscapes. It includes well-known and much-loved regions such as Darwin, Kakadu National Park, Arnhem
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that that Joseph Geer, 40, of Caledonia, NY, who was convicted of theft of funds related to a federal program, was sentenced to serve two years’ probation by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas M. Testani, who handled the case, stated that in 2022, the Avon Central School District and the Village of Avon entered into a School Resource Officer Contract, in which the Village of Avon agreed to provide an off-duty member of the Avon Police Department to provide various services to the district. In exchange, the School Resource Officer (SRO) would be paid an hourly wage by the district. Between September 2023, and January 2024, Geer was employed as the Avon Police Chief and an SRO under the contract. During that time, Geer billed the district for hours during which he did not perform duties under the contract. Geer assigned an on-duty subordinate officer to “cover” his obligations, thus depriving the Village of Avon of a patrolling on-duty police officer. Geer knew that by assigning an on-duty officer to cover his duties, the Village of Avon was being charged for a police officer’s wages who was not performing all of his police officer duties.
The value of police services for the Village of Avon that were lost while officers covered Geer’s SRO duties was approximately $6,866.84.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm, and the New York State Comptroller’s Office, under the direction of Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
Big animals of the ocean go about their days mostly hidden from view. Scientists know this marine megafauna – such as whales, sharks, seal, turtles and birds – travel vast distances to feed and breed.
But almost a third are now at risk of extinction due largely to fishing, shipping, pollution and global warming.
Protecting them can be difficult, because we don’t often know where these animals are.
New research I led sought to shed light on the issue. My colleagues and I gathered 30 years of satellite tracking data to map hotspots of megafauna activity around the globe.
We tracked 12,794 animals from 111 species to find out where they go. The results reveal underwater “highways” where megafauna crisscross the global Ocean. They also show where megafauna dwell for feeding and breeding. Now we know where these special places are, we have a better chance of protecting them.
Satellite tracking reveals marine megafauna migration pathways and places of residence. Sequeira et al (2025) Science
Pulling all the data together: a mega task
For more than 30 years, marine biologists have tagged large animals in the sea with electronic devices and tracked their movements via satellite. The trackers capture data on everything from speed of travel, to direction of movement and where the animals spend most of their time.
I put a call out to the global research community to bring together the tracking data. I hoped it would help scientists better understand the animals’ movements and identify their favourite places.
Some 378 scientists from 50 countries responded. We assembled the world’s largest tracking dataset of marine megafauna. It includes species of flying birds, whales, fishes (mostly sharks), penguins, polar bears, seals, dugongs, manatees and turtles. They were tracked between 1985 and 2018, throughout the world’s oceans.
Ana Sequeira swimming with a whale shark in Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, to collect samples. Australian Institute of Marine Science
Mapping reveals a lack of protection
When we started analysing the data, it showed the tagged animals used some parts of the ocean more frequently than others. Most of them travelled to the central Indian Ocean, northeast Pacific Ocean, Atlantic north, and waters around Mozambique and South Africa.
It’s likely this reflects a lack of data from elsewhere. However, these species are known to go to places where they are most likely to find food, so we expect some areas to be used more than others (including the areas we detected).
Currently only about 8% of the global ocean is protected. And only 5% of the important marine megafauna areas we identified occur within these existing marine protected areas.
This leaves all of the other important marine megafauna areas we identified unprotected. In other words, the species using those areas are likely to suffer harm from human activities taking place at sea.
More than 90% of the important marine megafauna areas we identified are exposed to high plastic pollution, shipping traffic or to intensifying global warming. And about 75% are exposed to industrial fishing.
We also found marine megafauna tend to spend most of their time within exclusive economic zones. This area lies beyond the territorial sea or belt of water 12 nautical miles from the coast of each country, extending 200 nautical miles from shore. The presence of megafauna in these exclusive economic zones means individual countries could increase the protection afforded within their jurisdictions.
About 40% of the important marine megafauna areas were located in these zones. But about 60% were on the high seas.
The future of marine megafauna conservation
The High Seas Treaty, recently adopted by the United Nations and signed by 115 countries, governs the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological biodiversity on the open ocean.
Working alongside this treaty, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030. This presents an opportunity to ensure important marine megafauna areas are well represented.
We used an optimisation algorithm to identify the best areas to protect, when it comes to marine megafauna. We gave priority to areas that are potentially used for feeding, breeding, resting and migrating across all the different species.
But even if important marine megafauna areas are selected when 30% of the ocean is protected, about 60% of these areas would still stay unprotected.
Significant risks from human activities will remain. Management efforts must also focus on reducing harm from fishing and shipping. Fighting climate change and cutting down noise and plastic pollution should also be key priorities.
Like for most megafauna on land, the reign of marine megafauna might come to an end if humanity does not afford these species greater protection.
Ana M. M. Sequeira receives funding from the Australian Research Council and a Pew Marine Fellowship from the Pew Charitable Trusts. She is also affiliated with the University of Western Australia.
Mould in houses is unsightly and may cause unpleasant odours. More important though, mould has been linked to a range of health effects – especially triggering asthma.
However, is mould exposure linked to a serious lung disease in children, unrelated to asthma? As we’ll see, this link may not be real, or if it is, it’s so rare to not be a meaningful risk. Yet we still hear mould in damp homes described as “toxic”.
Indeed, mouldy homes can harm people’s health, but not necessarily how you might think.
What is mould?
Mould is the general term for a variety of fungi. The mould that people have focused on in damp homes is “black mould”. This forms unsightly black patches on walls and other parts of damp-affected buildings.
Black mould is not a single fungus. But when people talk about black mould, they generally mean the fungus Stachybotrys chartarum or S. chartarum for short. It’s one of experts’ top ten feared fungi.
The focus on this species comes from a report in the 1990s on cases of haemorrhagic lung disease in a number of infants. This is a rare disease where blood leaks into the lungs, and can be fatal. The report suggested chemicals known as mycotoxins associated with this species of fungus were responsible for the outbreak.
Hundreds of different chemicals are listed as myocytoxins. These include ones in poisonous mushrooms, and ones associated with the soil fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus.
The fungus typically associated with black mould S. chartarum can produce several mycotoxins. These include roridin, which inhibits protein synthesis in humans and animals, and satratoxins, which have numerous toxic effects including bleeding in the lungs.
While the satratoxins, in particular, were mentioned in the report from the 90s in children, there are some problems when we look at the evidence.
The amount of mycotoxins S. chartarum makes can vary considerably. Even if significant amounts of mycotoxin are present, getting them into the body in the required amount to cause damage is another thing.
Inhaling spores in contaminated (mouldy) homes is the most probable way mycotoxins enter the body. For instance, we know mycotoxins can be found in S. chartarumspores. We also know direct injection of high concentrations of mycotoxin-bearing spores directly in the noses of mice can cause some lung bleeding.
Stachybotrys chartarum mycotoxins have been blamed for lung issues after exposure to black mould. Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock
But just because inhaling spores is the probable route of contamination doesn’t mean this is very likely.
Moulds can affect human health in ways unrelated to mycotoxins, typically through allergic reactions. Moulds including black moulds can trigger or worsen asthma attacks in people with mould allergies.
People with impaired immune systems (such as people taking immune-suppressant medications) may also be prone to mould infections.
In a nutshell
There is sufficient evidence that household mould is associated with respiratory issues attributable to their allergic effects.
However, there is no strong evidence mycotoxins from household mould – and in particular black mould – are associated with substantial health issues.
Ian Musgrave has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council to study adverse reactions to herbal medicines and has previously been funded by the Australian Research Council to study potential natural product treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. He is currently a member of one of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s statutory councils.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, attends the “Youth Responsibility in a Shared Future: Islamic-Confucian Dialogue and New Horizons for Malaysia-China Cooperation” forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 5, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
Openness for dialogue between Malaysia and China plays a key role in strengthening civilizational exchanges and enhancing people-to-people relations by bridging differences, according to academics and experts at a forum in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
The Global Civilization Initiative, proposed by China, holds significant theoretical and practical value in promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, building a just and equitable international order, and enhancing mutual understanding, Shao Liang, counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia, told the “Youth Responsibility in a Shared Future: Islamic-Confucian Dialogue and New Horizons for Malaysia-China Cooperation” forum.
“We are living in a time of tremendous global uncertainty,” said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, noting that in response to global challenges, there is an urgent need to embrace civilizational dialogue.
Majid also called on young people to bravely shoulder the responsibilities of the times, promote the ideals of peace, and commit themselves to building an inclusive and harmonious global future.
For his part, Osman Bakar, rector of International Islamic University Malaysia, said that in today’s increasingly diverse world, cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Malaysia and China are more important than ever.
He stated that through dialogue and cooperation, young people can become bridges that connect different civilizations, resolve differences, and promote shared values.
The participating youth representatives generally agreed that young people should contribute to cultural exchange and civilizational dialogue between Malaysia and China.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (C, Front) and Philemon Yang (L, Front), president of the UN General Assembly, light a candle during an annual memorial service at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 5, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
The United Nations (UN) on Thursday paid tribute to 168 of its personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2024.
“We honor those who gave everything in the pursuit of peace, justice, and human dignity,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the annual memorial service held at the UN Headquarters in New York.
The fallen included military, police, and civilian personnel from 31 countries. Among them were 125 staff members from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), some of whom were killed along with their families.
Speaking to reporters earlier Thursday, Guterres noted that more than one in every 50 UNRWA staff members in Gaza had been killed in the conflict, marking the highest staff death toll in UN history.
“Recent years have been devastating for the UN family. We have suffered unspeakable and unprecedented losses in Gaza,” he said at the memorial.
The UN chief renewed his call for “full accountability” for the deaths.
“The women and men we honor today embodied the very essence of our mission. They were driven by the cause of peace, by the need to alleviate human suffering, and to ensure dignity for all,” he said. “They were teachers, engineers, doctors, and administrators. They were military, police and civilian personnel. They were humanitarians, peacekeepers, and peacemakers and so much more.”
When conflict erupted, they worked for peace. When violence and disasters hit, they provided life-saving assistance. When human rights were trampled, they lifted people up. And when the vulnerable needed help, they worked to ensure no one was left behind, he said.
“Our work is far more than just a job. It is a calling. All our fallen colleagues answered the call to serve humanity. They did so in their own ways — without fanfare — and with determination,” he said. “They represented humanity in action. At a time when some may question international cooperation or the very notion of multilateralism, we would all do well to remember these lives taken far too soon.”
The Australian Labor Party just won an election victory for the ages. Now, it may be forced to walk back one of the key achievements of its first term.
Here’s why: United States President Donald Trump is about to declare an income tax war on much of the world – and we Australians are not on the same side.
Over in the US, the “One Big Beautiful Bill act” – a tax and spending package worth trillions of dollars – has been passed by the House of Representatives. It’s now before the Senate for consideration.
Within it lies a new and highly controversial provision: Section 899. This increases various US tax rates payable by taxpayers from any country the US claims is maintaining an “unfair foreign tax” by five percentage points each year, up to an additional 20% loading.
Having been an integral part of an international effort to create a global 15% minimum tax, Australia now finds itself in the firing line of Trump’s “revenge tax” warfare – and it’s a fight we’re unlikely to win.
A global minimum tax rate
The origins of the looming income tax war started in 2013, when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its plan to stamp out “base erosion and profit shifting”.
This refers to a range of strategies often used by multinational companies to minimise the tax they pay, exploiting differences and gaps in the tax rules of different countries.
The OECD’s first attempt to tackle the problem was a collection of disparate measures directed not only at corporate tax avoidance, but also controlling tax poaching by national governments and “sweetheart deals” negotiated by tax officials.
Under both Labor and the Coalition, Australia was initially an enthusiastic backer of these attempts.
However, the project was not a widespread success. Many countries endorsed the final reports but, unlike Australia, few countries acted on them.
After the failure of this first project, the OECD tried again in 2019. This evolved to encompass two “pillars” to change the global tax rules.
Pillar one would give more tax to countries where a company’s customers are located. Pillar two is a minimum tax of 15% on (a version of) the accounting profits of the largest multinationals earned in each country where the multinational operates.
Labor picked up this project for the 2022 election, promising to support both pillars – and they honoured that promise.
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22. The Washington Post/Getty
Mixed success
Around the world, the two pillar project had mixed success. Pillar one was dead-on-arrival: most countries did nothing. But Australia and several other countries, mostly in Europe, implemented pillar two – the global minimum tax.
The OECD has always maintained the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project was a coalition of the willing, meant to rebalance the way income tax is allocated between producer and consumer countries, and rid the world of tax havens.
In the US, Republicans did not share that view. For them, BEPS was simply another attempt by foreign countries to get more tax from US companies.
This Republican dissatisfaction with the OECD is now on full display. On the first day of his second term, Trump issued an executive order, formally repudiating any OECD commitments the Biden administration might have given.
He also directed his officials to report on options for retaliatory measures the US could take against any foreign countries with income tax rules that are “extraterritorial” or “disproportionately affect American companies”.
Why Australia is so exposed
Australia could find itself in the firing line of Trump’s tax warfare on many fronts. And the US doesn’t lack firepower. Section 899 adds to a number of retaliatory tax provisions the US already had at its disposal.
The increased tax rates would affect Australian super funds and other investors earning dividends, rent, interest, royalties and other income from US companies.
Australian super funds in particular are heavily invested in US markets, which have outperformed local stocks in recent years.
It would also affect Australian managed funds owning land and infrastructure assets in the US, as well as Australian entities such as banks that carry on business in the US.
And there are other measures that would expose US subsidiaries of Australian companies to US higher tax.
The bill would even remove the doctrine of sovereign immunity for the governments of “offending” countries. Sovereign immunity refers to a tax exemption on returns that usually applies to governments. This means the Australian government itself could have to pay tax to the US.
There are concerns on Wall Street this will dampen demand for US government bonds from foreign governments, which are big buyers of US Treasuries. The argument may sway some in the Senate – but how many remains to be seen.
What Australia may need to do next
We may be incredulous that anyone would consider our tax system combative, but enacting the OECD pillar two was always known to be risky.
There are other, homegrown Australian tax measures that have drawn American ire.
In 2015, Australia enacted an income tax measure (commonly called the “Google tax”) specifically directed at US tech companies. In 2017, we followed this up with a diverted profits tax. Trump’s bill specifically targets both measures.
Tying ourselves to the OECD’s global minimum tax project might have seemed like a good idea in 2019. In 2025, it looks decidedly unappealing, and not just because of Trump.
First, there is not actually any serious revenue in pillar two for Australia. Treasury’s revenue estimate totalled only $360 million after four years, just slightly more than a rounding error in the federal budget.
Second, we are increasingly alone and vulnerable in this battle. It might feel emotionally satisfying to stand up to the US. If there was a sizeable coalition alongside us, there might be some point.
If Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill act does pass through the US Senate, the Australian government and business will be left exposed to much higher costs.
Since abandoning the US market is not really an option, it might be time to surrender quietly and gracefully – by reversing, at the very least, the contentious bits of pillar two.
Graeme Cooper 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.
Infants born very preterm spend weeks or even months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) while their immature brains are still developing.
During this time, they receive up to 16 painful procedures every day. The most common is a routine heel prick used to collect a blood sample. Suctioning of the infant’s airways is also common.
While many of these procedures provide critical care, we know they are acutely painful. Even tearing tape off the skin can be painful.
The commonest strategy to manage acute pain in preterm babies is to give them sucrose, a sugar solution. But my recent research with Canadian colleagues shows this doesn’t stop these long-term impacts.
In New Zealand, there is no requirement to document all procedures or pain treatments. But as the findings from our Canadian study show, we urgently need research to improve long-term health outcomes for children born prematurely.
Long-term effects of pain in early life
We collected data on the number of procedures, clinical exposures and sucrose doses from three NICUs across Canada.
One of these sites does not use sucrose for acute pain management. This meant we were able to compare outcomes for children who received sucrose during their NICU stay and those who did not, without having to randomly assign infants to different care as you would in a randomised controlled trial – the gold standard approach.
At 18 months of age, when children born preterm are typically seen for a follow-up, parents report on their child’s behaviour. Our findings replicate earlier research: very preterm babies who were exposed to painful procedures early in life showed more anxiety and depressive symptoms by toddlerhood.
Our findings are similar regarding a child’s cognition and language, backing results from other studies. We found no link between preterm babies’ later behaviour and how much sucrose they were given to manage pain.
The sweet taste of sucrose is thought to alleviate pain because it leads to the release of endorphins. It has become the worldwide standard of care for acute neonatal pain, but it doesn’t seem to be helping in the long term.
As is the case internationally, sucrose is used widely in New Zealand, but there is considerable variation in protocols of use across hospitals. No national guidelines for best practice exist.
Pain management guidelines also help, but whether these changes improve outcomes in the long term, we don’t know yet.
We do know there are other ways of treating neonatal pain and minimising long-term impacts. Placing a newborn on a parent’s bare chest, skin-to-skin, effectively reduces short and long-term effects of neonatal pain.
For times when whānau are not able to be in the NICU, we have limited evidence that other pain management strategies, such as expressed breast milk, are effective. Our recent research cements this: sucrose isn’t helping as we thought.
Understanding which pain management strategies should be used for short and long-term benefits of this vulnerable population could make a big difference in the lives of these babies.
This requires additional research and a different approach, while considering what is culturally acceptable in Aotearoa New Zealand. If the strategies we are currently using aren’t working, we need to think creatively about how to limit the impact of pain on children born prematurely.
Mia Mclean does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University
For many years now, Australian political scientists have pointed out that that established partisan allegiance is in decline. In 1967, 36% of Coalition supporters and 32% of Labor voters reported lifetime voting for their side. At the 2022 election, the Australian Election Study found the figures to be 16% and 12%.
These changes help to explain the rising support for independents and minor parties at federal elections; they now take about a third of the primary vote.
So much for voters. What about for politicians? Of course, there have always been plenty of parliamentarians who had an earlier stint as a member of some other party before landing in the one that sent them into parliament. Brendan Nelson was in the Labor Party before he was Liberal. John Gorton was Country Party before he was Liberal. Adam Bandt was Labor before he was Green. And so on. We are all entitled to change our minds, even if switching political parties was once closer to changing football teams – a habit that immediately arouses suspicion in a sports-loving nation.
Senator Dorinda Cox’s switch from the Greens to the Labor Party was apparently a homecoming, according to Cox. She was once a Labor Party member, she said. Last week, she was criticising the party over its approval of Woodside’s Northwest Shelf gas project. This week, she finds Labor’s values aligned with her own.
Of course, her defection has been accompanied by a steady leaking of little details of her Greens career, such as an excoriation of the Labor Party, in her application to run for the Greens, when she said the ALP patronised “women and people of colour” and cared more about its donors than members.
That’s politics, but it’s a democratic deficit that senators elected as part of a Senate team, in a system that has facilitated above-the-line voting since 1984, can sit for years afterwards in the parliament as a member of another party.
But good luck in getting up a constitutional change, via referendum, to change that.
Still, it is easy to understand how such nimbleness breeds cynicism about political parties. Another perspective might be that the fluidity of allegiance out in the electorate has come to inhabit the political class itself.
All the same, defections from one party to another are quite rare these days in federal politics, at least after one is sitting in parliament. But defections from a party to sit as an independent are not and some, such as Bob Katter, have managed to build successful political careers outside the parties.
One who did not was was Julia Banks, the Liberal member for Chisholm, who announced she would not be seeking re-election and then left the party for the crossbench in the wake of Scott Morrison’s ascension to the leadership in 2018. Banks complained of bullying and intimidation within the Liberal Party and the wider parliament, and wrote a book on her experiences. She subsequently failed to gain election as an independent in another seat.
There were several defectors in the last parliament. A House of Representatives crossbench that began at 16 had reached 19 by the end, with the defections of two Liberals (Russell Broadbent and Ian Goodenough, both after losing preselection) and one National, Andrew Gee, the latter over his party’s opposition to the Voice. Only Gee has lived politically to tell the tale, winning Calare as an Independent, as Peter Andren did before him.
Defections from minor and microparties are especially common, based as they often are on a high-profile leader and lacking traditions of party discipline or solid structures of organisational governance. Jacqui Lambie began as a Palmer United Party senator. Tammy Tyrrell began as a Jacqui Lambie Network senator.
The biggest “defection” in modern Australian politics was that of Cheryl Kernot from the Australian Democrats to the Labor Party in 1997. It is easy, over a quarter of a century on, and with the Australian Democrats no longer in the Australian parliament, to underestimate what a big deal this was at the time.
Kernot was a rock star of a politician, leader of the Australian Democrats, and a national celebrity. But there are significant differences with Cox beyond Kernot’s greater eminence. She resigned her Senate seat immediately and would win the marginal Brisbane seat of Dickson in the following year’s election. Then, in 2001, she would lose it to a young and ambitious former policeman named Peter Dutton.
The experience was ultimately an unhappy one for Kernot: she believed that having recruited her into the ranks, the Labor Party – and its leader, Kim Beazley, did not know how to make the best use of her. She was also on the receiving end of some relentlessly negative and sometimes intrusive media coverage. And by her own admission, she made mistakes. The story of her career’s unravelling is not straightforward. The role that gender played in it remains contentious.
Perhaps Kernot’s experience would alone be sufficient to prompt second thoughts in anyone seeking to jump ship. There are, of course, older prohibitions. In the Labor Party, a defector was known as a “rat”. Billy Hughes, the prime minister whose effort to introduce conscription in the first world war split the party, is the most famous of them.
“Rat” is not a word much heard these days, but it was thrown around a bit when Senator Fatima Payman defected in 2024, and applied more seriously in 1996 to Labor Senator Mal Colston when he resigned from the Labor Party in exchange for the deputy presidency of the Senate.
The best historical example of a defection being good for your career is that of Joe Lyons, who ratted on Labor in 1931 to lead a new party called the United Australia Party, a switch engineered by a small group of influential businessmen.
The circumstances – the Great Depression, real fear of civil violence, and the disintegration of a federal Labor government – were highly unusual.
More commonly, defection is a bad career move. Most of the Labor politicians who went over to the breakaway anti-communist Democratic Labor Party (DLP) in the mid-1950s found themselves out of parliament and looking for a new job. Stan Keon, one of those flying high ahead of the split, even occasionally mentioned – unrealistically – as a possible future prime minister, would run a Melbourne wine shop. Others, such as Vince Gair, Queensland Labor premier, lived to fight another day as a DLP senator (and ambassador to Ireland).
Cox has three years left of her senate term. After that, she will be at the mercy of the Labor Party. Labor won three Senate seats at the 2022 half-Senate election in Western Australia and perhaps it could do so again. On that occasion, in a surprise victory, the third place went to the young up-and-coming union organiser, Fatima Payman.
Frank Bongiorno 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.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Kevin Burns, 45, of Irondequoit, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with receipt and possession of child pornography, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 20 years, and a $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, in October 2023, the New York State Police received a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual living in Rochester uploaded an image of child pornography from the internet. Subsequent investigation traced the images to Burns, a teacher employed by a school in Monroe County. In November 2024, investigators executed a search warrant at Burns’ residence, during which they seized his computer. A forensic review of the device recovered more than 450 images of child pornography, to include children engaged in sexual acts with adults, children that are restrained, blind-folded or masked, and infants and toddler-age children.
Burns made an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Colleen D. Holland and was held pending a detention hearing.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Kevin Sucher and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Installation view of French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on display from June 6 to October 5, at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy
Impressionism is the world’s favourite art movement.
Impressionist paintings create an oasis of beauty into which a viewer can escape from a sometimes dark and troubling world, or simply from the mundane boredom of urban living.
The Impressionist master, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, once famously observed:
To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty. Yes, pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.
The new Impressionism exhibition at the National Gallery of Victory brings together over a 100 of these pleasant, cheerful and pretty paintings and graphics. It features some of the greatest names in French Impressionism, including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Paul Signac and Alfred Sisley.
Initially, the Impressionist painters had difficulty in selling their work amid the torrent of negative criticism.
But then their Parisian art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel established a gallery in New York City, and the American artist Mary Cassatt – who worked with the Impressionists in Paris – found increasing popularity. By the 1880s and 1890s, American collectors started to buy Impressionist paintings by many of the top French artists.
This explains why the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston possesses such an outstanding collection of Impressionist paintings. Yet, unlike the museums in New York, the Boston museum is less well known and Australians are seeing many of these paintings for the first time.
To say that most works in this exhibition have never been previously seen in Australia is only partially true. Four years ago, just before Melbourne was locked down for COVID, the NGV launched a similar show. Apart from a handful of art lovers posing as media, that show expired under lockdown and was packed up and returned to Boston without being widely exposed to Australian audiences.
The new reiteration is supplemented with six additional paintings, including the early and deeply moving painting by Degas of Degas’s Father Listening to Lorenzo Pagans Playing the Guitar (1869–72).
Edgar Degas, French, 1834–1917, Degas’s Father Listening to Lorenzo Pagans Playing the Guitar, about 1869–72. Museum of Fine Arts Boston
The whole exhibition has been totally reimagined as part of an immersive interior design. It moves far away from the clinical white cube of a modern exhibition space and closer to the 19th century posh domestic interiors in which the paintings first appeared.
An extensive and in-depth exhibition
Chronologically, the exhibition charts the development of French Impressionism from the mid-19th century and the so-called Barbizon school and realism, through to late Impressionism in the early 20th century.
It includes the great paintings by Cézanne and Manet, and memorable paintings from early to late Impressionism. There is an abundance of important works by the main Impressionist masters including Monet (16 of his canvases in one room), Degas, Sisley, Renoir, Pissarro, Cassatt and Morisot, and a few unexpected gems by van Gogh and Signac.
Installation view of French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on display from June 6 to October 5, at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy
It is an extensive and in-depth exhibition.
The depth of the Boston collection enables rare insights. For example, when we see Édouard Manet’s Street Singer (1862), we may be aware that he employed his favourite model Victorine Meurent. Apart from being a model, Meurent was also an artist in her own right and in the same exhibition there is a self-portrait of her from 1876.
Strictly speaking, perhaps neither painting can be described as “Impressionist”. But it is a wonderful encounter of a woman being observed and, in the same exhibition, this woman looking out of the picture space and doing the observing. The self-portrait is one of those additions that was not in the original show.
If we glance at a handful of some of the outstanding paintings in the show – including Monet’s Grainstack (snow effect) (1891), The water lily pond (1900), or Water lilies (1905); Renoir’s Dance at Bougival (1883) or The Seine at Chatou (1881); Pissarro’s Spring pasture (1889); Degas’s Racehorses at Longchamp (1871/1874); and Morisot’s Embroidery (1889) – we have all of the beloved features of French Impressionism.
While the French Impressionists were not a monolithic group, their art was generally characterised by three things.
Firstly, a lighter and brighter palette with a conscious move to the ultraviolet end of the colour spectrum.
Secondly, a divisionist application of colour with juxtaposed dabs of pigment allowing for colour to blend in the eye rather than on a mirror-smooth surface of the canvas.
Finally, a move to a more democratic subject matter with landscapes, gardens, drinking parties, picnics and street scenes easily outnumbering images of pagan gods in complicated embraces.
Australian audiences never seem to tire of French Impressionism. This exhibition brings a fresh crop of rarely seen major paintings and graphics of the highest order.
If you love Impressionism, French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is a must-see exhibition. This new exhibition will change the history of Australian art exhibitions from Australia’s greatest Impressionist show that no one had seen, to Australia’s greatest Impressionist exhibition that everyone has seen.
French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is at the National Gallery of Victoria until October 5.
Sasha Grishin 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.
This followed the death of another person in Victoria last month who was hit and killed by a modified e-bike which police alleged could travel at 90 kilometres per hour.
A study published earlier this week also found nearly 180 e-scooter injuries in young people aged five to 15 at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in 2023 and 2024. One in ten injuries were life-threatening or potentially life-threatening.
For these risks to be properly addressed, an overhaul of regulations covering e-bikes and e-scooters is urgently needed.
All to do with power
E-bikes have a battery-powered motor to assist the rider. The key word there is “assist”: to be legal the rider has to be pedalling to get the power assistance.
E-scooters are a new variant of the once humble children’s kick scooter. They are more sturdy to support an adult rider, and the battery-powered motor provides all the power.
Some e-bikes and e-scooters have throttles, which enable riders to accelerate to higher speeds without pedalling. Technically, these are illegal.
These new forms of urban transport are surging in popularity. This year alone, about 150,000 e-bikes are forecast to be sold across the country. An estimated 350,000 Australians – about 1.3% of the population – owned an e-scooter in 2024.
Regulations governing e-bikes and e-scooters were historically designed with reference to the power required to ride a regular bicycle.
A person needs to provide power equal to 220 watts to propel a regular bicycle at 32km/h on a flat road without a headwind.
The figure of 250 watts emerged as the baseline in Europe for the power limit on e-bikes. It is 500 watts in Canada and 750 watts in the United States.
The regulations specify that power-assisted e-bikes can have a motor up to 250 watts. But the rider must pedal to get the power assistance and it must cut out above 25km/h.
E-bikes can travel faster than 25km/h. But the rider has to be providing all the power above that speed.
The same power limit was applied to e-scooters. But given their design and smaller wheels, regulators in Australia were more conservative, specifying a 20km/h maximum speed.
There are two main problems with the existing system of regulations. First, there is nothing to stop the import of high-performance e-bikes and e-scooters from overseas. Second, enforcement is difficult and rarely occurs, because the police don’t have the equipment to easily test motor power.
The federal government has a clear role to play in stemming the import of e-bikes and e-scooters that exceed the legal limits for public use in Australia.
However there is no evidence the government has engaged with the issue. This is inconsistent with its commitment to the National Road Safety Strategy and the approach taken to the management of vehicle safety and import regulations which apply to motor vehicles.
State and territory governments must revise and simplify their e-bike and e-scooter regulations.
Tasmania is on the front foot with its review of e-bike regulations. But e-scooter regulations also need reform – to make them easier for the public to understand, to ensure these devices offer a viable travel option for people and, importantly, to enable efficient enforcement.
Local government and road authorities should have the power to set speed limits for e-bike and e-scooter riders on shared paths. Cromo Digital/Shutterstock
A few changes to the rules could then make a big difference.
For a start, references to motor power should be removed because the severity of a crash depends on speed not the power of the device. Having the regulations framed in terms of power is a complication for enforcement and we don’t use it to regulate motor vehicles.
Then we need to focus on where, and how fast, these vehicles can be ridden.
A good first step would be to follow the lead of Queensland and Tasmania and legalise footpath riding, subject to a 12km/h or 15km/h speed limit as is the case in those states.
Restricting e-scooters to low-speed roads (up to 50km/h), and with a lower speed limit when ridden on the footpath, would minimise the risk of dangerous collisions with pedestrians and reduce the risk of dangerous collisions with cars on high-speed roads.
Specifying a max speed under power assistance for e-bikes of 32km/h would bring us in line with the regulations for countries that have cities similar to Australia’s such as Canada and New Zealand.
This would open our market to more models from overseas. It would also ensure e-bikes are better able to keep up with traffic when ridden on roads and are more competitive in terms of travel time relative to the car, to help further reduce car use.
When it comes to e-scooters, moving to a 25km/h speed limit (as is the case in Queensland), combined with restricting their use to roads of up to 50km/h, would improve their compatibility with the flow of motor vehicles on local streets.
Local government and road authorities should also have the power to declare areas where footpath riding is not permitted – for example, inner-city footpaths with heavy pedestrian activity. They should also have the power to set speed limits for riders on shared paths and bicycle lanes where there is likely to be interaction with pedestrians.
With those changes in place, police would be able to enforce displayed speed limits for e-bikes and e-scooters using radar guns, as is already done in Queensland, and issue fines where appropriate.
Geoff Rose has received in-kind support for his research, in the form of data, from shared e-scooter operating companies; he has served on the oversight panel for the Victorian Government’s shared e-scooter trial and he has consulted to the Tasmanian Department of State Growth on e-bike regulations.
It’s not every day a TV icon and one of Aotearoa’s most loved scientist personalities turns your local park into a lab – but that’s exactly what happened when Ruud Kleinpaste, a.k.a the Bug Man, hit Kohuora Park in Papatoetoe.
Ruud is a naturalist, entomologist (a scientist who studies insects) and host of the Animal Planet series Buggin’ with Ruud.
On 2 May, over 120 students, teachers, and the Sustainable Schools team gathered at Kohuora Park for a day of discovery, connection, and environmental action, made possible with funding from Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board.
Board chair Apulu Reece Autagavaia says, “We need to care for and protect our public green spaces so that flora and fauna can thrive – so we don’t have to visit a zoo or head deep into the bush to experience wildlife right here in our urban areas.”
Thumbs up and all hands on deck! Photo credit: Sustainable Schools.
From kindergartens to colleges, schools across Puhinui came together in one of Papatoetoe’s best-kept secrets – Kohuora Park, a 34-million-year-old volcanic crater turned thriving wetland. Teeming with native wildlife, rich history, and cultural stories, Kohuora – meaning “mist of life”, honours the giant god Matāoho, whose footsteps shaped Tāmaki Makaurau’s volcanic landscape.
A young scientist marvels at what he has discovered with Ruud.
Ruud shares why, if we truly care about the planet, we need to ask ourselves some honest questions: How do the other species we share Earth with see us? Are we kind, generous, and respectful – or are we falling short?
“Over the years, I’ve come to believe that true environmental education is the foundation for becoming nature-literate. And it starts with empowering our teachers to teach outdoors. When we do that, we create generation after generation of children who not only understand nature but learn from it.
Bug Man in action! Ruud inspires curious minds at Kohuora Park. Photo credit: Sustainable Schools.
“Because that’s the heart of it: we don’t just learn about nature or in nature – we learn from nature. We begin to see the connections in everything. Nature runs on sunlight, uses only what it needs, and wastes nothing. It thrives on diversity, local wisdom, and life-friendly chemistry. It’s humbling and inspiring. What an incredible planet – and what an extraordinary outdoor classroom we have right at our feet,” says Ruud.
The day began with a warm welcome from Ngāti Tahinga Wilson of Ngāti Te Ahiwaru, who share the park’s cultural importance as a historic portage site. Image: Sustainable Schools.
Guided by Mātātahi Taiao – a Māori-led youth climate initiative in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland Council Rangatahi Advisors, and leading scientists like fungi expert Dr. Peter Buchanan, students explored ecosystems through a Māori lens and hands-on science stations covering insects, birds, trees, fungi, pest control, and water quality.
Kohuora Park, Papatoetoe. A thriving natural habitat.
Why It Matters
Sustainable school’s advisor Cate Jessep says, “It was a valuable hands-on opportunity for teachers, students, and the wider community to connect with this special local place during Saturday’s community day. This work is more than just science, it’s about identity, guardianship, real world learning, inclusion and future leadership. As tamariki (children) engage with their local environment, they discover that they are part of it, and that they can protect it.”
Throughout the day, they learned new kupu (words), deepened their connection to nature, and strengthened their understanding of how to care for te taiao (the environment).
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Prices will increase across Northland’s public transport network from Friday 01 August with authorities saying they have been left with little choice in the matter.
Northland Regional Council member Joe Carr, who chairs the Northland Regional Transport Committee, says fares on Whangārei’s CityLink service will revert to their 2018 level of $3 for adults and $2 for children, an increase of $1 per journey on the present fares.
Fares on the rural BusLink services will rise by 50 cents per journey from Friday 01 August.
Infants up to four years of age will continue to travel free of charge. Concessions for Community Service Card and Gold Card holders remain in place for CityLink and BusLink routes.
From 01 August these concessions will also apply for the first time to BusLink’s Bream Bay Link and Hikurangi Link, which had not previously been able to offer these discounts.
“Council recognises that cost of living pressures are impacting on Northlanders and has for many years made every effort to keep bus fares as low as possible,” Chair Carr says.
However, he says the council – which administers the services – had been left with very little option, but to review fares.
“Regional councils nationwide are having to find additional forms of funding to cover bus operational, infrastructure and administration costs in keeping with the Government Policy on Land Transport 2024.”.
During Covid and to assist with the cost-of-living crisis, the government had funded several fare reduction schemes across the country, but this funding had ceased in 2023.
Chair Carr says even with the increased fares, Northland’s charges are still largely in line with other parts of New Zealand.
He says over the past two years CityLink has also made several improvements to the service, including the introduction of the SchoolLink service and extension to Route 3, an online bus tracking system, and the Rose Street bus hub redevelopment currently underway with Whangarei District Council.
The council will run an awareness campaign shortly to inform passengers of the intended increases.
A specialized training program at UConn Health is now responsible for helping more than 60 adults overcome barriers to independent employment since 2016.
Favarh’s Project SEARCH, which works with employers to provide structured work experiences for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities, has graduated its 10th cohort at UConn Health, which is the first employer in Connecticut to serve as a host site.
The milestone bridge ceremony at UConn Health Wednesday celebrated the accomplishment of the five interns who completed a 10-month program that included daily hands-on work experiences in a variety of departments and settings. One of them, Ryan Cook, drew cheers (and some tears of happiness) when he announced from the podium, “We are proud to share that we are all employed.”
Graduates of Favarh’s Project SEARCH at UConn Health from years past celebrate with the Class of 2025 as the training program celebrates its 10th cohort at UConn Health. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
Cook, from Terryville, already is working at the Walgreens in Thomaston, as a cashier. He spent part of his internship as a cashier in the cafeteria in UConn Health’s main building, as well as in the pharmacy and the linen department.
“We were not sure where our path would take us before Project SEARCH, but now we are profoundly grateful for being able to experience such amazing internships and met so many wonderful people along the way,” Cook said before accepting his certificate.
Scott Masson, of Canton, interned in the mailroom, UConn Center on Aging, and central receiving, and is employed as a utility worker at Naples Pizza and the neighboring Fork and Fire Restaurant in Farmington.
“We are glad to have all of you in our corners,” Masson told the audience, which included mentors, department representatives, and Project SEARCH graduates from previous years, in addition to family members. “You encourage us at every step of our employment journey. We could not ask for better leaders to have assisted us. It has been a life-changing experience. Our self-confidence as never been higher.”
The ceremony also included a video about Favarh’s Project SEARCH at UConn Health, featuring this year’s interns:
[embedded content]
Meghan Dyer, from Bristol, interned in dental finance, the psoriasis center, and dental telecommunications. Reflecting on the bridge ceremony, she says, “It was definitely emotional. There’s a lot of people that I just don’t know, but it’s nice to see almost like the history of this program walking the halls, because I’m part of it now. I can say that I’m a graduating member of Project SEARCH’s 10 years.”
Meghan Dyer is newly employed at UConn Health in dental telecommunications following completing of an internship with Favarh’s Project SEARCH at UConn Health. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
Dyer had interviewed for a paid position in dental telecom. She described a call she had while on duty there about two weeks before graduating.
“It’s almost like a sitcom,” she says. “Completely mundane day, the out of the blue, the phone that never takes inbound calls magically gets an inbound call, and it’s Pamela Rucker from HR, telling me I got the job… It was like a pipe dream – I wasn’t expecting it to happen, would have loved it to happen. I wanted to be in the medical field.”
The bridge ceremony included an open forum, where attendees spoke about their connection to the program. George Moses is the operations manager for housekeeping and linens, both areas where interns have been rotating through from the program’s start.
“It’s been amazing,” Moses said. “They have taught our staff some great skills too, how to communicate and communicate with each other very well. It’s just been a pleasure.”
Then he addressed Logan Haynes, who interned in custodial, housekeeping, and central receiving:
Logan Haynes is among five young adults who completed a 10-month internship with Favarh’s Project SEARCH at UConn Health. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
“And Logan, you are an amazing young man!”
Haynes, from Canton, is employed as a dishwasher at Beanz & Co., a coffee shop in Avon.
Beanz & Co. also hired Chloe Roberts, who interned in the kitchen, the dermatology clinic, and the psoriasis center.
“It was a bit scary for a couple weeks, and then the staff was really nice and kind and it helped me get through my experience and job skills,” Roberts says. “I used to be shy, talking to the patients, but now my confidence went up a little bit.”
Over its 10 years at UConn Health, 98% of Favarh’s Project SEARCH interns have found successful independent employment, working a minimum of 16 hours a week in a nonseasonal position with market wages. The National Project SEARCH placement rate is 72%.
“I think the mentors here at UConn really understand the program and the purpose, and that is a big part of why we’re so successful,” says Sandy Finnimore, Favarh’s competitive employment coordinator. “The mentors understand that this is not just something to fill the interns’ day, it’s going to change their life. They have to be held accountable and teach them their skills, or they’re not going to be successful, and the mentors understand that. We’ve been very lucky, because all of our mentors have been amazing.”
Finnimore has been involved in the program at UConn Health since Day 1.
“[Ten years ago] I wouldn’t be able to fathom that this many people would have come into my life and I would have been a part of teaching them,” she says. “It’s just unbelievable.”
For Favarh assistant manager Keegan Riley, this was the first cohort she worked with at UConn Health.
Sandy Finnimore of Favarh directs Ryan Cook toward a camara at the bridge ceremony for Project SEARCH at UConn Health. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
“They did so well,” Riley says. “They came in so nervous and excited and driven. I mean, they didn’t’ stop, they just kept trying, kept trying, kept trying. Any feedback we gave them, anything that the mentor said they need to work on, we told them, and they applied it. They were hungry for that position and that job.”
After the ceremony, Cook reflected on his biggest takeaway from his Project SEARCH experience.
“Learning about who I wanted to become and changing my life around,” Cook says.
The 11th cohort, which starts at UConn Health in August, has eight interns.
Favarh is based in Canton and is a chapter of the Arc, a worldwide organization that supports people with disabilities. In partnership with UConn Health Human Resources and the Connecticut Departments of Developmental Services and Rehabilitative Services, Favarh brought Project SEARCH to UConn Health in 2015.
POST GRAD Act comes as Congressional Republicans push to make higher education more unaffordable through their billionaire-first budget bill
Washington D.C.—U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said today he has joined colleagues in introducing legislation that would help students afford advanced education by restoring graduate students’ eligibility for receiving subsidized federal loans.
The Protecting Our Students by Terminating Graduate Rates That Add to DebtAct would prevent graduate students from accruing interest on their subsidized graduate loans while in school, just like their undergraduate counterparts.
“There is a huge demand for professionals that need a graduate degree whether they are doctors, lawyers, social workers or mental health professionals,” Wyden said. “While Republicans have been clear that their priority is to limit access to these high paying professional jobs to the wealthy, I am committed to making higher education within reach for everyday folks in Oregon and across the nation.”
Many professions, such as mental health clinicians, school administrators, nurse practitioners, and physical therapists, often require a graduate degree, but high borrowing costs can dissuade potential students from seeking these advanced degrees. Instead of addressing the higher education affordability crisis, congressional Republicans recently passed a billionaire-first budget bill that, among other harmful provisions, would eliminate the Grad PLUS loan program, a vital source of federal support for graduate students.
Nationally, more than 1.6 million student loan borrowers have Grad PLUS loans, amounting to $91 billion in debt. The Budget Control Act of 2011 stripped graduate students of eligibility for Federal Direct Subsidized Loans, which they had access to from 1994-2012, costing students thousands of dollars, particularly as interest rates on graduate loans are now at their highest rate since 2006. The Protecting Our Students by Terminating Graduate Rates That Add to Debt Act would reverse the harmful provision of the Budget Control Act and restore the eligibility of graduate students to receive Federal Direct Subsidized Loans. Furthermore, it would prevent graduate and professional students who fall into deferment due to economic hardship from accruing interest on their Federal Direct Subsidized Loans.
The legislation was led by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and U.S. Representative Judy Chu, D-Calif. In addition to Wyden, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Cory Booker, D-N.J., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
The bill is endorsed by the following organizations: American Psychological Association, National Association of School Psychologists, National Education Association, AccessLex, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, American Physical Therapy Association, American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, American Occupational Therapy Association, Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions, Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, Physician Assistant Education Association, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Council on Social Work Education, American Dental Education Association, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, American Association of the Colleges of Podiatric Medicine, and the University of California System.
HARRISBURG, Pa., June 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Orrstown Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Orrstown Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORRF), is pleased to announce the promotion of Zachary Khuri to Chief Revenue Officer and Joshua Hocker to Market President for the Central Pennsylvania Region, effective immediately.
Zachary Khuri, who most recently served as Market President for Orrstown Bank’s Central Pennsylvania Region, brings more than 20 years of banking experience to his new role. Since joining Orrstown Bank in 2019, Khuri has played a pivotal role in expanding the Bank’s market share and strengthening relationships throughout the region. As Chief Revenue Officer, he will lead the Bank’s revenue-generating lines of business across its entire footprint. Khuri holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Shippensburg University, an MBA from Penn State Harrisburg, and is a graduate of the Duke University Fuqua School of Business Executive Leadership Program.
“Zack’s strategic mindset, deep understanding of our markets, and proven leadership make him the ideal person to help guide Orrstown Bank’s continued growth,” said Thomas R. Quinn, Jr., President and CEO of Orrstown Bank. “He embodies our culture of collaboration and client focus, and we are thrilled to welcome him to this role.”
In conjunction with Khuri’s promotion, Joshua Hocker has been named Market President for the Central Pennsylvania Region, succeeding Khuri in the role. Hocker, who most recently served as Director of Middle Market Lending for Orrstown Bank, brings a strong track record of commercial banking success and deep knowledge of the Central Pennsylvania market to his new position. Mr. Hocker holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from West Virginia University and an MBA from Penn State University.
“Josh has consistently demonstrated an ability to build strong client relationships and deliver meaningful results,” said Adam L. Metz, Chief Operating Officer at Orrstown Bank. “His leadership will ensure we continue delivering exceptional value to our clients and communities across the Central Pennsylvania Region.”
About Orrstown
With $5.4 billion in assets, Orrstown Financial Services, Inc. (the “Company”) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Orrstown Bank, provide a wide range of consumer and business financial services in Adams, Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Perry, and York Counties, Pennsylvania and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, and Washington Counties, Maryland, as well as Baltimore City, Maryland. The Company’s lending area also includes counties in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia within a 75-mile radius of the Company’s executive and administrative offices as well as the District of Columbia. Orrstown Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and its deposits are insured up to the legal maximum by the FDIC. Orrstown Financial Services, Inc.’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “ORRF.” For more information about Orrstown Financial Services, Inc. and Orrstown Bank, visit www.orrstown.com.
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Company’s management with respect to, among other things, future events and the Company’s financial performance. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “predict,” “potential,” “believe,” “will likely result,” “expect,” “continue,” “will,” “anticipate,” “seek,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “goal,” “target,” “would” and “outlook,” or the negative variations of those words or other comparable words of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based on current expectations, estimates, predictions or projections about events or the Company’s industry, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond the Company’s control. Accordingly, the Company cautions you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and the Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. All forward-looking statements, expressed or implied, included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. This cautionary statement should also be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that the Company or persons acting on the Company’s behalf may issue. For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
John Moss SVP, Director of Marketing and Client Experience, Orrstown Bank 717-747-1520 jmoss@orrstown.com
Source: United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) confronted University of Pennsylvania law professor Kate Shaw on referring to conservative United States Supreme Court justices as “evil colleagues” as Supreme Court justices have faced threats of intimidation at their homes by those seeking to influence their decisions. Professor Shaw denied these comments despite being under oath and her comments being on tape. Senator Blackburn also pressed Professor Shaw on whether she supports the Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act to deter intimidation of justices.
Click here to download video of Senator Blackburn’s remarks during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
On Shaw’s comments about Supreme Court justices:
Blackburn: “Would you like to provide explanation about why you think conservative justices are evil? Do you care to explain yourself?”
Shaw: “I would have to look at the transcript senator. I think that the dismissive approach to sex equality arguments in the Dobbs case was deeply concerning. One paragraph in the opinion suggests that there’s no sex equality problem with abortion restrictions or prohibitions. I think that’s deeply wrong, and in the more colloquial sort of mode of a podcast conversation. That is probably what I intended to convey, that he discounted very serious sex equality concerns.”
On Blackburn’s Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act:
Blackburn: “I’ve got a bill, the Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act, and it would deter intimidation of Supreme Court Justices. It would increase the maximum term of imprisonment for violation of Section 1507 from one year to five years… Increasing the maximum time jail time for a protester under 1507 is, I think, an effective way to deter this intimidation of our justices. So, I’d like to hear from each of you on this.”
Shaw: “…I would need to take a look. I’m not prepared to take a position… If we’re talking about increasing penalties for violence, I would absolutely support that.”
RELATED
The 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study found neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children is widespread. Among Australians aged 16–65 years, 32% experienced physical abuse, 28.5% experienced sexual abuse, 39% experienced emotional abuse and 9% had been neglected during their childhoods.
As the place where children spend the bulk of their time outside home, schools could be an important source of help and support. But are they equipped to do this?
Our research, published in the Australian Journal of Social Issues, explores the impact of domestic and family violence on young people’s education. Our findings show just how significant the disruption to a young person’s education can be, including how safe or supported they feel at school.
Our study
Our study draws on data from the Adolescent Family Violence in Australia project. This is a national survey of more than 5,000 young Australians aged 16–20 years old. We focused on a subset of 1,651 respondents who had experienced domestic and family violence, either by experiencing violence between other family members or being directly subjected to it.
The survey asked both structured and open-ended questions to explore the impacts of domestic and family violence.
Family violence disrupts school attendance and participation
Our study showed family violence has a significant impact on school attendance. Young people told us they missed classes or dropped out of school during their experiences of violence.
For some young people, attending school while coping with trauma, fear and instability at home was too overwhelming.
A 19-year-old woman shared how she became so anxious in the presence of teachers and other authority figures she could only manage one day of school per week in a secluded setting.
Another young woman described missing classes regularly to care for her mother after violent episodes, while a 20-year-old man said he stayed home to protect his mother.
Even when young victims did attend school, the emotional toll of family violence often meant they were socially withdrawn. Some spoke about losing friends due to frequent house moves and school shifts, while others withdrew socially because of anxiety and trauma. One 17-year-old explained:
I don’t talk a lot to male teachers and don’t really have close friendships with girls at my school, so I tend to stay home.
Some participants described school as a safe haven away from their abusive home. But even in these cases, learning was often still difficult. One young person commented:
Yes, I wanted to go to school to get away from home, but felt very alone and isolated because no one knew what was happening.
Family violence and homework
The effects of family violence extend beyond the classroom. Many young people told us how the chaos, fear and emotional exhaustion of life at home made it difficult, if not impossible, to complete homework or study for exams. One young woman remarked:
I can’t do any homework at home because it’s not a safe environment for me.
Another young person described being kept up late listening to fighting or because of police visits, leaving them physically and emotionally exhausted in the morning.
In some cases, abusive parents directly prevented their child from attending school or doing homework. Other young people described not having access to the tools they needed, like a working computer or internet connection – sometimes withheld deliberately by a parent.
These accounts show how for some children experiencing family violence, learning at home is not just difficult, it is fundamentally unsafe.
Young people spoke of how domestic violence made it impossible to study at home. C.T.PHAT/Shutterstock, CC BY
A missed opportunity
It can be difficult for schools to fully understand and appreciate what’s happening for students at home.
Few of the young people we surveyed proactively disclosed their experiences to school staff, including teachers and counsellors. Disclosure rates ranged from just 12% to 17%, depending on the type of violence the young person reported experiencing.
For those young people who did disclose, their experiences varied. Some young people described school staff as a lifeline – listening without judgement, offering helpful information and taking action where needed.
Others described being ignored, dismissed or harmed further by insensitive responses. As one young person said, the “school counsellor told me I needed to understand dad’s behaviour and keep my head down”.
The help students received seemed to depend on the individual teacher or school counsellor, their knowledge and training. This inconsistency represents a major barrier to effective and early intervention.
What needs to change
As well as learning, schools can also provide safety, stability and healing. We need schools to be supported to provide more effective and consistent care for students experiencing family violence.
As other research has similarly found, responses need to be trauma-informed (recognising the impact of trauma on students) and student-centred (focusing on individuals’ needs). This involves:
providing trauma and domestic violence-informed training to all school staff
ensuring schools have clear processes to follow if a student disclosures domestic violence, including referrals to appropriate external supports
adopting flexible attendance and academic policies for young people impacted by domestic violence
building collaborative partnerships with community-based domestic violence and mental health services.
The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault. The Men’s Referral Service (1300 766 491) offers advice and counselling to men looking to change their behaviour.
Steven Roberts receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Government and ANROWS, among others. He is a Board Director at Respect Victoria, but this article is written wholly separate from and does not represent that role.
Kate has received funding for research on violence against women and children from a range of federal and state government and non-government sources. Currently, Kate receives funding from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), the South Australian government, Safe Steps, Australian Childhood Foundation and 54 Reasons. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her role at Monash University and Sequre Consulting, and is wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as chair of Respect Victoria and membership on the Victorian Children’s Council.
Rebecca Stewart is a project officer at No to Violence. The views expressed in this article are her own.
Big animals of the ocean go about their days mostly hidden from view. Scientists know this marine megafauna – such as whales, sharks, seal, turtles and birds – travel vast distances to feed and breed.
But almost a third are now at risk of extinction due largely to fishing, shipping, pollution and global warming.
Protecting them can be difficult, because we don’t often know where these animals are.
New research I led sought to shed light on the issue. My colleagues and I gathered 30 years of satellite tracking data to map hotspots of megafauna activity around the globe.
We tracked 12,794 animals from 111 species to find out where they go. The results reveal underwater “highways” where megafauna crisscross the global Ocean. They also show where megafauna dwell for feeding and breeding. Now we know where these special places are, we have a better chance of protecting them.
Satellite tracking reveals marine megafauna migration pathways and places of residence. Sequeira et al (2025) Science
Pulling all the data together: a mega task
For more than 30 years, marine biologists have tagged large animals in the sea with electronic devices and tracked their movements via satellite. The trackers capture data on everything from speed of travel, to direction of movement and where the animals spend most of their time.
I put a call out to the global research community to bring together the tracking data. I hoped it would help scientists better understand the animals’ movements and identify their favourite places.
Some 378 scientists from 50 countries responded. We assembled the world’s largest tracking dataset of marine megafauna. It includes species of flying birds, whales, fishes (mostly sharks), penguins, polar bears, seals, dugongs, manatees and turtles. They were tracked between 1985 and 2018, throughout the world’s oceans.
Ana Sequeira swimming with a whale shark in Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, to collect samples. Australian Institute of Marine Science
Mapping reveals a lack of protection
When we started analysing the data, it showed the tagged animals used some parts of the ocean more frequently than others. Most of them travelled to the central Indian Ocean, northeast Pacific Ocean, Atlantic north, and waters around Mozambique and South Africa.
It’s likely this reflects a lack of data from elsewhere. However, these species are known to go to places where they are most likely to find food, so we expect some areas to be used more than others (including the areas we detected).
Currently only about 8% of the global ocean is protected. And only 5% of the important marine megafauna areas we identified occur within these existing marine protected areas.
This leaves all of the other important marine megafauna areas we identified unprotected. In other words, the species using those areas are likely to suffer harm from human activities taking place at sea.
More than 90% of the important marine megafauna areas we identified are exposed to high plastic pollution, shipping traffic or to intensifying global warming. And about 75% are exposed to industrial fishing.
We also found marine megafauna tend to spend most of their time within exclusive economic zones. This area lies beyond the territorial sea or belt of water 12 nautical miles from the coast of each country, extending 200 nautical miles from shore. The presence of megafauna in these exclusive economic zones means individual countries could increase the protection afforded within their jurisdictions.
About 40% of the important marine megafauna areas were located in these zones. But about 60% were on the high seas.
The future of marine megafauna conservation
The High Seas Treaty, recently adopted by the United Nations and signed by 115 countries, governs the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological biodiversity on the open ocean.
Working alongside this treaty, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030. This presents an opportunity to ensure important marine megafauna areas are well represented.
We used an optimisation algorithm to identify the best areas to protect, when it comes to marine megafauna. We gave priority to areas that are potentially used for feeding, breeding, resting and migrating across all the different species.
But even if important marine megafauna areas are selected when 30% of the ocean is protected, about 60% of these areas would still stay unprotected.
Significant risks from human activities will remain. Management efforts must also focus on reducing harm from fishing and shipping. Fighting climate change and cutting down noise and plastic pollution should also be key priorities.
Like for most megafauna on land, the reign of marine megafauna might come to an end if humanity does not afford these species greater protection.
Ana M. M. Sequeira receives funding from the Australian Research Council and a Pew Marine Fellowship from the Pew Charitable Trusts. She is also affiliated with the University of Western Australia.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joseph Ibrahim, Professor, Aged Care Medical Research Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University
The Coroners Court of Victoria is undertaking an inquest into the deaths of eight aged care residents across six facilities, over a nine-month period in 2021.
Each death occurred after an interaction between residents, known as resident-to-resident aggression.
If your loved one is living in aged care, it’s natural to be distressed and concerned for their safety after hearing about these deaths.
Here’s what we know about when and where it’s more likely to happen, how relatives can safeguard their loved ones, and what’s happening across the system to reduce the risk of it occurring.
What does it look like?
Resident-to-resident aggression refers to aggressive and intrusive interactions between long-term care residents that would likely be unwelcome and potentially cause the recipient physical or psychological distress or harm. It includes physical, sexual and verbal aggression.
However, the term “aggression” is potentially misleading. In most cases, the residents involved are not consciously intending to cause harm.
The prevalence of resident-to-resident aggression in aged care has been estimated at 20%, but is likely under-reported. This means that over a month, 20% of aged care residents are likely to experience an incident of resident-to-resident aggression. This is usually verbal abuse or an invasion of privacy.
The variation in reported prevalence rates makes it hard to know if the rate is increasing.
The consequences of resident-to-resident aggression range in seriousness from functional decline, to psychological or physical injury, to death.
In 2017, we published a national study of deaths from resident-to-resident aggression in nursing home residents in Australia. Over 14 years, we identified 28 deaths.
Almost 90% of residents involved – either as an “exhibitor” (often referred to as the aggressor) or a target – had dementia. Three-quarters of those diagnosed with dementia had a history of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, including wandering and physical aggression.
Exhibitors of aggressive behaviour were mostly male (85.7%), often younger, and more recently admitted to the aged care facility than the target.
Resident-to-resident aggression leading to death was most likely to occur between two male residents.
Half of all incidents leading to death involved a resident pushing and the target falling, leading to injuries such as hip fracture and head injury. This underscores the vulnerabilities posed by physical frailty among aged care residents.
Incidents resulting in death occurred mostly in communal areas, reflecting the ongoing challenges of an aged care system that relies on residents living together.
Learning from past incidents
Resident-to-resident aggression was previously brought to national attention by the death of a resident at the Oakden facility in South Australia. This led to a coronial inquest and the facility closed in 2017.
The case raised issues including the need for residents exhibiting potentially aggressive behaviour to have regular clinical reviews, accurate and detailed documentation, and adequate escalation and reporting of any incidents of aggression.
Since 2021, facilities have been required to report incidents of “unreasonable use of force”. The Australian Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission monitors these events through the Serious Incident Response Scheme.
The last report, from March 2023, provides a series of case studies and highlights the need for better approaches to behaviour support and risk assessment.
However, prevention requires a broader systems-based approach to better understand the problem, and generate and evaluate interventions. This should include reviewing trends at the facility, provider and national level.
Approaching individual situations
Resident-to-resident aggression is expected to become more common as more people are diagnosed with dementia.
Cognitive impairment in both the exhibitor of aggressive behaviour and targets makes this more complex, as a resident could become either one, depending on the precipitating circumstances.
In one-third of the cases we analysed, the exhibitor of aggressive behaviour and the target had been involved in an earlier incident together in the past 12 months. This suggests there are opportunities for intervention.
Are police involved?
When serious injury or death occurs, it is the role of police to investigate the incident and refer to the Office of Public Prosecutions, if appropriate.
Attributing legal responsibility is problematic and criminal charges are rarely filed. This may be because the residents involved are unfit for police interview or unfit to stand trial.
Alternatively, prosecution may not be deemed in the public interest.
Managing symptoms of dementia
Dementia may impair a person’s ability to reason, express their needs and manage their emotions. It can also impair their ability to respond, in a socially acceptable way, to interpersonal conflict.
Behaviour-management strategies to support the person with dementia include having a calm environment with a familiar routine and clear communication.
Over the past decade, more formal services have become available to help manage behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.
Managing dementia symptoms requires multidisciplinary expertise spanning the aged care, disability and mental health sectors. Yet integrating these services remains a challenge.
The federal government has committed to addressing the sub-optimal management of residents living with dementia.
Supporting your loved one
If you’re worried about your loved one, the first step is to express these concerns directly to the facility staff, as you would with any other matter. Open communication helps the facility staff to get to know your loved one and provide more tailored support.
The Older Persons Advocacy Network is available to residents for free, independent and confidential support. They can advocate for you if you feel your concerns aren’t being heard or your loved one’s care is compromised.
What happens next with the inquest?
The Coroners Court will investigate this important and distressing issue and aims to reduce the number of preventable deaths.
The coroner will hear the evidence, and may make formal recommendations about how to improve resident safety. Government agencies are required to consider and respond to these recommendations.
It’s clear we have a long way to go to safeguard the rights of older people living in residential care.
Joseph Ibrahim is a medical specialist in geriatrics and an academic with over 30 years of clinical experience. He is a Professor with the Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University and an Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University. He previously received funding from state and national government for research into the safety and quality of aged care homes and resident-on-resident aggression. He has also been an expert witness for criminal and coroners court cases as well as the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Amelia Grossi 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.
Mould in houses is unsightly and may cause unpleasant odours. More important though, mould has been linked to a range of health effects – especially triggering asthma.
However, is mould exposure linked to a serious lung disease in children, unrelated to asthma? As we’ll see, this link may not be real, or if it is, it’s so rare to not be a meaningful risk. Yet we still hear mould in damp homes described as “toxic”.
Indeed, mouldy homes can harm people’s health, but not necessarily how you might think.
What is mould?
Mould is the general term for a variety of fungi. The mould that people have focused on in damp homes is “black mould”. This forms unsightly black patches on walls and other parts of damp-affected buildings.
Black mould is not a single fungus. But when people talk about black mould, they generally mean the fungus Stachybotrys chartarum or S. chartarum for short. It’s one of experts’ top ten feared fungi.
The focus on this species comes from a report in the 1990s on cases of haemorrhagic lung disease in a number of infants. This is a rare disease where blood leaks into the lungs, and can be fatal. The report suggested chemicals known as mycotoxins associated with this species of fungus were responsible for the outbreak.
Hundreds of different chemicals are listed as myocytoxins. These include ones in poisonous mushrooms, and ones associated with the soil fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus.
The fungus typically associated with black mould S. chartarum can produce several mycotoxins. These include roridin, which inhibits protein synthesis in humans and animals, and satratoxins, which have numerous toxic effects including bleeding in the lungs.
While the satratoxins, in particular, were mentioned in the report from the 90s in children, there are some problems when we look at the evidence.
The amount of mycotoxins S. chartarum makes can vary considerably. Even if significant amounts of mycotoxin are present, getting them into the body in the required amount to cause damage is another thing.
Inhaling spores in contaminated (mouldy) homes is the most probable way mycotoxins enter the body. For instance, we know mycotoxins can be found in S. chartarumspores. We also know direct injection of high concentrations of mycotoxin-bearing spores directly in the noses of mice can cause some lung bleeding.
Stachybotrys chartarum mycotoxins have been blamed for lung issues after exposure to black mould. Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock
But just because inhaling spores is the probable route of contamination doesn’t mean this is very likely.
Moulds can affect human health in ways unrelated to mycotoxins, typically through allergic reactions. Moulds including black moulds can trigger or worsen asthma attacks in people with mould allergies.
People with impaired immune systems (such as people taking immune-suppressant medications) may also be prone to mould infections.
In a nutshell
There is sufficient evidence that household mould is associated with respiratory issues attributable to their allergic effects.
However, there is no strong evidence mycotoxins from household mould – and in particular black mould – are associated with substantial health issues.
Ian Musgrave has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council to study adverse reactions to herbal medicines and has previously been funded by the Australian Research Council to study potential natural product treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. He is currently a member of one of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s statutory councils.
As part of its resource management reforms, the government will soon allow “super-sized granny flats” to be built without consent – potentially adding 13,000 dwellings over the next decade to provide “families with more housing options”.
This represents genuine progress in reducing regulatory barriers. But the scale of the housing crisis means we have to ask whether incremental reforms can deliver meaningful change.
The numbers provide important context. Against current consenting rates of 40,000 to 50,000 new dwellings per year, those projected 70-square-metre granny flats represent a 2.6% increase in housing supply.
In Auckland, where housing pressure is most acute, 300 additional units might be built annually. For some, that’s likely to be useful. But for a country already facing a housing crunch, it’s insignificant.
The costs of a granny flat
The numbers also reveal who can participate in this proposed solution. Building a basic 70-square-metre granny flat will cost between NZ$200,000 and $300,000. Add site works, utility connections and mandatory licensed building practitioner supervision, and total project costs will be closer to the upper end of that range.
At current interest rates, financing $250,000 requires approximately $480 weekly in loan payments. While rents of $500-$600 per week are achievable in urban markets, these thin margins assume optimal conditions.
For property owners with existing equity, this presents a viable investment. For those seeking affordable housing – young families, essential workers, recent immigrants – the benefits remain largely theoretical.
This dynamic illustrates a persistent challenge in market-based housing solutions: policies intended to improve affordability often primarily benefit those with capital to deploy.
Pressure on the pipes
Each granny flat requires full residential infrastructure – water, wastewater and stormwater connections. The development contributions – fees councils charge on new builds to fund infrastructure – will help fund network upgrades. But New Zealand already faces a $120-185 billion water infrastructure deficit over the next 30 years, just to fix existing systems.
The challenge is particularly acute in established suburbs where these units are most likely to appear. Parts of Christchurch serviced by vacuum sewers already operate at capacity. Auckland’s combined sewer areas face overflow risks during heavy rainfall. Wellington’s ageing pipes struggle with current demand.
Adding thousands of dispersed infill units to stressed networks poses genuine engineering challenges that funding alone cannot solve.
Transport infrastructure faces similar pressures. With minimum parking requirements axed across the nation, these new granny flats will likely increase on-street parking demand and local traffic.
While some granny flat residents may rely on public transport or active modes, New Zealand’s car ownership rates – 837 vehicles per 1,000 people – suggest most will own vehicles.
Auckland’s sewer systems are already under pressure. New granny flats will add strain on the infrastructure. Janice Chen/Getty Images
Approved but not always built
International experience offers instructive parallels. California’s 2017 Accessory Dwelling Unit legislation provides the closest comparison. After removing similar regulatory barriers, California saw permits increase from 1,000 in 2016 to 13,000 in 2019.
However, construction costs and infrastructure constraints limited actual completions to roughly 60% of approved units.
Australian cities report similar patterns. Despite permissive regulations in many areas, only 13-23% of suitable properties actually added secondary dwellings. High construction costs and infrastructure limitations proved more binding than regulatory constraints.
Closer to home, Auckland’s experience with minor dwellings under the Unitary Plan suggests cautious optimism. Since 2016, the city has averaged 300-400 secondary dwelling consents annually where permitted. The number of units actually constructed is unknown.
Allowing one-storey detached 70-square-metre units without building consent may increase this modestly. But they are unlikely to dramatically accelerate production given persistent cost and capacity constraints.
Another form of wealth transfer
The policy’s benefits flow primarily to existing property owners. They will gain new development rights without competitive tender or public process. While perhaps justified by broader housing benefits, it’s worth acknowledging this is a form of wealth transfer.
For renters, benefits depend on how many units actually materialise and at what price point. Secondary units often rent at 20-30% below comparable standalone houses due to their size and backyard location.
This could meaningfully expand options for singles and couples. But families requiring larger accommodation will see limited benefits.
The policy’s design constraints also tell us what kind of urban density is acceptable. Single-storey height limits, two-metre boundary setbacks and standalone requirements essentially mandate the least efficient form of intensification.
Units could share walls and services, and two-storey designs that use less land could be permitted. Instead, the granny flat exemption favours the one configuration that maintains suburban aesthetics while delivering minimal extra housing.
A modest response to the housing crisis
The granny flat exemption exemplifies New Zealand’s approach to housing challenges: acknowledging a crisis while implementing modest responses.
Despite severe shortfalls in housing supply, the medium-density development common in comparable countries remains largely unrealised. An estimated 180,000 households could be accommodated through comprehensive densification.
There are genuine benefits worth acknowledging, of course. The exemption reduces bureaucratic barriers, enables some additional housing and gives property owners new options.
The question isn’t so much whether the new policy should be embraced. But rather whether the government is willing to complement it with larger changes the housing crisis demands.
Timothy Welch 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.
Since coming to power in 2022, the Albanese government has focused strongly on the Indo-Pacific.
The prime minister’s recent trip to Indonesia was the latest high-level bilateral summit as Australia seeks to recalibrate relationships, enhance security and, where possible, win the battle for hearts and minds in the region.
In a world slipping further into “strategic atrophy,” art, music, food, culture, sport and other forms of soft power are no longer peripheral.
In the foreword to the recently launched Australian Sports Diplomacy 2032+ strategy, for example, Labor MP Tim Watts stated:
Sport is an important tool for Australia’s diplomatic engagement at a time when Australia needs to use every dimension of our national power to advance our interests.
The First Nations of Australia are mentioned in this strategy but it fails to reflect the depth, power and influence Indigenous sports diplomats could bring.
Arguably, our sports diplomacy would be more authentic, unique and effective (especially in the Pacific) if First Nations people, perspectives and programs were genuinely integrated from the outset – baked in, not bolted on.
The epic history of First Nations sport
Indigenous Australians were the first people to play sport on this land.
Though sometimes hostile, these communities shared a common language: sport.
Physical pursuits served, and still serve, many purposes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: fostering communication, preserving lore, teaching youth to be effective providers and most importantly, practising survival skills.
Sport was also a civilising force used for social, cultural and diplomatic ends. Games and carnivals increased contact between clans, easing tension, division, xenophobia and misunderstandings that could spark violence.
Battendi (spear-throwing), Marngrook (football), Koolchee (ball games), and Prun (mock war) are examples of diplomatic games that predate the ancient Greek Olympics by tens of thousands of years.
Sport became central to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture, identity and diplomacy.
“Deadly” – a term meaning excellent – sports diplomacy is a more fitting way to describe this unique form of diplomacy. Done well, it offers a more accurate, authentic brand of Australia to the region and beyond.
The battle for the Blue Pacific
The “Blue Pacific” – a term describing a shared Pacific culture, identity and collective diplomatic strategy – offers an opportunity to harness the power of deadly sports diplomacy.
If Australia hopes to win Pacific hearts and minds, it should send more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sports diplomats and teams to countries such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and New Zealand, because the nations of the Blue Pacific deeply respect the old, wise First Peoples of Australia.
These relationships are built on shared values: culture, family, spirituality and sport.
The Black Swans – Australia’s First Nations netball team, which debuted at the PacificAus Sports netball series in 2024 – are included as a case study in Sports Diplomacy 2032+. However, it’s the government’s A$600 million NRL project in PNG that has dominated headlines.
The Albanese government’s backing of this initiative has sparked criticism among supporters of other codes in Australia with strong ties to Pacific nations – especially rugby union, which until recently was the code of choice in Fiji and throughout Polynesia.
A rise in Pacific Island interest in rugby league may impact rugby union, some argue.
However, rugby league may be a more effective sports diplomacy tool. It enjoys growing popularity in those locations and has undisputed national sport status in PNG, the most populous Pacific nation by far.
It’s also arguably more “deadly,” with its Indigenous All Stars team and an Indigenous Round.
In the NRL, 48% of players have Pasifika heritage, and 12% identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, compared to 3% across the Australian population.
Should rugby union receive similar support? Perhaps, but first, it must address the absence of Indigenous players.
Since Rugby Australia’s founding in 1949, only 15 Aboriginal men have played Test rugby for Australia.
What about similar funding for soccer, the national obsession of strategically important near neighbours Solomon Islands and Vanuatu?
It too has had a relative absence of Indigenous players at Australia’s highest levels, notwithstanding the pioneering careers of Charlie Perkins, John Moriarty, Archie Thompson and recent Matildas Lydia Williams and Mackenzie Arnold.
Extra time
Integrating the world’s oldest living culture in Australia’s sports diplomacy program can only enhance our relationships, diplomacy and national brand.
Established in 2020, it connects elite First Nations athletes with respected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mentors.
Throughout the year, athletes and mentors meet online, attend monthly storytelling sessions and attend an annual cultural connection camp at the AIS campus.
Mainstream sport can be challenging but having the unwavering support of mob keeps me grounded and focused on my goals.
The fact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have practised sports diplomacy for more than 60,000 years is a powerful story. It is one that should be celebrated at every international sporting event we attend, bid for, or host.
Including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, programs and perspectives would strengthen and innovate our strategies, add vital cultural iconography, inspire like-minded nations and help win hearts and minds from Honiara to Hawaii.
The authors would like to thank Kombumerri woman Emily Pugin (DFAT) and Butchulla/Goreng Goreng Paul Martin for their contribution, teaching and help in commissioning and drafting the report that informs this article.
Stuart Murray receives funding from The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Narelle Bedford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Charles Kurzman, Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Taliban fighters guard the former U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on June 5, 2025.AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
The Trump administration on June 4, 2025, announced travel restrictions targeting 19 countries in Africa and Asia, including many of the world’s poorest nations. All travel is banned from 12 of these countries, with partial restrictions on travel from the rest.
The presidential proclamation, entitled “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” is aimed at “countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a full or partial suspension on the entry or admission of nationals from those countries.”
The latest travel ban reimposes restrictions on many of the countries that were included on travel bans in Trump’s first term, along with several new countries.
But this travel ban, like the earlier ones, will not significantly improve national security and public safety in the United States. That’s because migrants account for a minuscule portion of violence in the U.S. And migrants from the latest travel ban countries account for an even smaller portion, according to data that I have collected. The suspect in Colorado, for example, is from Egypt, which is not on the travel ban list.
As a scholar of political sociology, I don’t believe Trump’s latest travel ban is about national security. Rather, I’d argue, it’s primarily about using national security as an excuse to deny visas to nonwhite applicants.
The Trump administration says the U.S. cannot appropriately vet visa applicants in countries with uncooperative governments or underdeveloped security systems. That claim is false.
The State Department and other government agencies do a thorough job of vetting visa applicants, even in countries where there is no U.S. embassy, according to an analysis by the CATO Institute.
The U.S. government has sophisticated methods for identifying potential threats. They include detailed documentation requirements, interviews with consular officers and clearance by national security agencies. And it rejects more than 1 in 6 visa applications, with ever-increasing procedures for detecting fraud.
Members of the Yemeni community and others wave American and Yemeni flags as they gather on the steps of Brooklyn’s Borough Hall to protest President Donald Trump’s first travel ban on Feb. 2, 2017, in New York. AP Photo/Kathy Willens
The thoroughness of the visa review process is evident in the numbers.
Authorized foreign-born residents of the U.S. are far less likely than U.S.-born residents to engage in criminal activity. And unauthorized migrants are even less likely to commit crimes. Communities with more migrants – authorized and unauthorized – have similar or slightly lower crime rates than communities with fewer migrants.
If vetting were as deficient as Trump’s executive order claims, we would expect to see a significant number of terrorist plots from countries on the travel ban list. But we don’t.
Two of them were arrested after plotting with undercover law enforcement agents. One was found to have lied on his asylum application. One was an Afghan man who killed three Pakistani Shiite Muslim immigrants in New Mexico in 2022.
Such a handful of zealots with rifles or homemade explosives can be life-altering for victims and their families, but they do not represent a threat to U.S. national security.
Degrading the concept of national security
Trump has been trying for years to turn immigration into a national security issue.
In his first major speech on national security in 2016, Trump focused on the “dysfunctional immigration system which does not permit us to know who we let into our country.”
His primary example was an act of terrorism by a man who was born in the U.S.
The first Trump administration’s national security strategy, issued in December 2017, prioritized jihadist terrorist organizations that “radicalize isolated individuals” as “the most dangerous threat to the Nation” – not armies, not another 9/11, but isolated individuals.
If the travel ban is not really going to improve national security or public safety, then what is it about?
Protesters wave signs during a demonstration against President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban on May 15, 2017, in Seattle. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Second, invoking national security allows Trump to pursue this goal without the need for accountability, since Congress and the courts have traditionally deferred to the executive branch on national security issues.
ANDOVER, Mass., June 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Byrna Technologies Inc.(“Byrna” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: BYRN), a technology company, specializing in the development, manufacture, and sale of innovative less-lethal personal security solutions, today announced select preliminary financial results for the fiscal second quarter ended May 31, 2025.
Preliminary Second Quarter Results Based on preliminary unaudited results, Byrna expects total revenue for the fiscal second quarter of 2025 to be $28.5 million, representing a 41% increase from $20.3 million in the fiscal second quarter of 2024. The record Q2 performance was driven by strong early demand for the new Byrna Compact Launcher (CL), which launched on May 1, along with meaningful channel expansion.
E-commerce sales grew 15% year-over-year, supported by growing brand recognition and an increasingly balanced channel mix.
Dealer sales rose 106% year-over-year to $7.5 million, driven by early success in the Company’s partnership with Sportsman’s Warehouse, which soft-launched Byrna products in select stores during the second quarter. As of quarter-end, the program had rolled out an initial group of stores featuring shop-in-shop formats, with in-store ‘Byrna Genius’ installations expected to begin in July to support continued growth and deepen in-store engagement. Growth in the dealer channel also reflected continued momentum from Byrna’s traditional distributor network.
International sales rose 86%, including approximately $800,000 in royalty revenue from Byrna LATAM, which is up from a negligible base in the prior year period.
To ensure sufficient supply for the CL launch and build inventory across product lines, Byrna produced 38,237 Compact Launchers in the quarter, contributing to a total of 63,835 launchers manufactured.
Management Commentary “We are continuing to raise the bar at Byrna and are encouraged with our ability to generate a record $28.5 million in revenue for the second quarter,” said Byrna CEO Bryan Ganz. “While we saw softness in overall consumer spending throughout the quarter, the launch of the CL and sustained expansion of our total addressable market helped drive a 41% year-over-year increase in revenue. This success is a testament to the growing strength of our brand and the innovation behind the CL.
“Over the past six months, we’ve steadily ramped production to support a successful launch of the CL. With the rollout now underway and a healthy inventory of SD and LE launchers in place, we are transitioning to a steady-state production cadence of 15,000 launchers per month. Combined with the ramping Sportsman’s Warehouse partnership and an expanded influencer roster—including the recent addition of Tucker Carlson—we’re well positioned to maintain momentum through the second half of 2025 and beyond.”
Preliminary Fiscal Second Quarter 2025 Sales Breakdown:
Sales Channel ($ in millions)
Q2 2025
Q2 2024
% Change
Web
16.6
14.4
15%
Byrna Dedicated Dealers
7.5
3.6
106%
Law Enforcement / Schools / Pvt Security
0.1
0.0
120%
Retail Stores
0.8
0.2
223%
International
3.6
1.9
86%
Total Sales
28.5
20.3
41%
Conference Call Byrna plans to report its full financial results for the fiscal second quarter in July, which will be accompanied by a conference call to discuss the results and address questions from investors and analysts. The conference call details will be announced prior to the event.
About Byrna Technologies Inc. Byrna is a technology company specializing in the development, manufacture, and sale of innovative non-lethal personal security solutions. For more information on the Company, please visit the corporate website here or the Company’s investor relations site here. The Company is the manufacturer of the Byrna® SD personal security device, a state-of-the-art handheld CO2 powered launcher designed to provide a non-lethal alternative to a firearm for the consumer, private security, and law enforcement markets. To purchase Byrna products, visit the Company’s e-commerce store.
Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the securities laws. All statements contained in this news release, other than statements of current and historical fact, are forward-looking. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” and “believes” and statements that certain actions, events or results “may,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “might,” “occur,” “be achieved,” or “will be taken.” Forward-looking statements include descriptions of currently occurring matters which may continue in the future. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, our statements related to preliminary revenue results for the second fiscal quarter 2025, the timing of the release of full financial results for the quarter, expectations for future sales growth and demand trends, the impact of marketing strategies, the anticipated performance of new products and retail store expansion, and the Company’s ability to sustain momentum throughout 2025. Forward-looking statements are not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events. Forward-looking statements are based on, among other things, opinions, assumptions, estimates, and analyses that, while considered reasonable by the Company at the date the forward-looking information is provided, inherently are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, contingencies, and other factors that may cause actual results and events to be materially different from those expressed or implied.
Any number of risk factors could affect our actual results and cause them to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this news release, including, but not limited to, disappointing market responses to current or future products or services; prolonged, new, or exacerbated disruption of the Company’s supply chain; the further or prolonged disruption of new product development; production or distribution or delays in entry or penetration of sales channels due to inventory constraints, competitive factors, increased shipping costs or freight interruptions; prototype, parts and material shortages, particularly of parts sourced from limited or sole source providers; determinations by third party controlled distribution channels not to carry or reduce inventory of the Company’s products; determinations by advertisers to prohibit marketing of some or all Byrna products; the loss of marketing partners or endorsers; potential cancellations of existing or future orders including as a result of any fulfillment delays, introduction of competing products, negative publicity, or other factors; product design defects or recalls; litigation, enforcement proceedings or other regulatory or legal developments; changes in consumer or political sentiment affecting product demand; regulatory factors including the impact of commerce and trade laws and regulations; import-export related matters or tariffs, sanctions or embargos that could affect the Company’s supply chain or markets; delays in planned operations related to licensing, registration or permit requirements; and future restrictions on the Company’s cash resources, increased costs and other events that could potentially reduce demand for the Company’s products or result in order cancellations. The order in which these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their relative importance or priority. We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive; accordingly, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Investors should carefully consider these and other relevant factors, including those risk factors in Part I, Item 1A, (“Risk Factors”) in the Company’s most recent Form 10-K, should understand it is impossible to predict or identify all such factors or risks, should not consider the foregoing list, or the risks identified in the Company’s SEC filings, to be a complete discussion of all potential risks or uncertainties, and should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.
Investor Contact: Tom Colton and Alec Wilson Gateway Group, Inc. 949-574-3860 BYRN@gateway-grp.com
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
At the Government Coordination Centre, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko presented the results of the selection of the third wave of research centres in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The winning universities and research organisations will receive grants to conduct research and create breakthrough world-class industry solutions.
Dmitry Chernyshenko reported that the winners were HSE University, Innopolis, ISP RAS, ITMO University, MIPT, Skoltech, and for the first time, Lomonosov Moscow State University will be involved in the research.
“Each of the seven selected third wave centers will receive 676 million rubles for two years – until 2026 – to conduct fundamental research in the field of strong, trusted, multi-agent AI. The total amount of budget funding will be 4.7 billion rubles for all centers,” he added.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin set the task of focusing on fundamental areas in the field of AI and conducting research in other areas, but with the mandatory use of AI technologies. Within the framework of the federal project “Artificial Intelligence”, the operator of which is the Ministry of Economic Development, a grant competition is being held for research centers.
“Investments in AI research centers have already proven their effectiveness. The first wave of centers dealt with issues of strong, trusted, ethical artificial intelligence. The second wave is dedicated to industry research for medicine, transport, industry and smart cities. These centers create almost half of all Russian scientific groundwork in AI. President Vladimir Putin set the task of publishing at least 450 papers at top-level conferences in the field of AI in the world by 2030 – A*. We see that investments are achieving results, so the Government continues to develop such support programs,” Dmitry Chernyshenko emphasized.
He added that an important foresight session on fundamental and exploratory research in the field of AI was held in 2024. At it, leading Russian scientists with a global reputation identified 10 priority areas for the development of science in the field of artificial intelligence in the coming years.
“These areas are a strategic benchmark for public investment, which, as a rule, also attracts off-budget investment. The selection of the third wave was carried out taking into account these priorities, and we plan to conduct further research in Russia in relation to them. The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Education and Science are also preparing a unified research program in the field of AI, which will consolidate this logic,” concluded Dmitry Chernyshenko.
He asked the selected centers to support the winners and prize winners of the AI Olympiads, who also took part in the event.
A total of 19 applications from centers from 10 regions of Russia were submitted for selection. The centers’ programs state the key areas of foresight in fundamental and exploratory research in the field of AI, conducted in 2024: agent/multi-agent systems, elements of strong AI, fundamental and generative AI models.
“Artificial intelligence today has a significant impact on the development of many sectors of the economy. On the instructions of the President, the national strategy for the development of AI until 2030 is being implemented. Support for the activities of research centers in this area is a critically important tool that allows us to create a research base for the comprehensive development of sovereign AI in the country,” said First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Maxim Kolesnikov.
Grigory Bokov, Director of the Research Center for Artificial Intelligence at Lomonosov Moscow State University, said that the goal of their center is to develop modern artificial intelligence technologies, including in the direction of so-called general artificial intelligence, capable of solving a wide range of problems, just as humans do.
“We combine deep scientific research with applied developments that can already be in demand in the economy, industry, medicine and education. The project involves specialists from seven departments of Moscow State University, including leading Russian and foreign scientists,” he said.
Expert support for the competitive selection and subsequent support for the implementation of research center activity programs is provided by the Strategic Agency for Support and Formation of AI Developments (SAPFIR), a project office created on the basis of the Skolkovo Foundation.
“In the next two years, SAPFIR will focus on supporting research centers to achieve all their goals in both the scientific and commercial parts. Their activities will contribute to the creation of a technological reserve for Russia in the field of artificial intelligence, as well as attracting and developing the best personnel in the country,” said SAPFIR Director Tatyana Soyuznova.
Let us recall that in 2021, the first wave of research centers in the field of AI was selected as part of the federal project “Artificial Intelligence” (national program “Digital Economy”). Six scientific and educational organizations received state support totaling more than 8 billion rubles. Their work resulted in 165 articles in leading scientific journals, 206 publications at top-level conferences, as well as the creation and support of 15 frameworks. Together with 36 industrial partners, including Sber, Yandex, MTS and other large companies, the centers have already implemented about 50 applied solutions.
As part of the second selection wave, support was received by industry AI centers based at leading universities and research centers, such as the N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, S.P. Korolev Samara University, and others. These centers focus on training industry specialists, creating databases, and supporting specialized frameworks. RUB 3.8 billion from the federal budget has been allocated to finance their activities in 2023–2026.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Thanks to the national project “Infrastructure for Life”, large-scale work is being carried out in the regions of the country not only to update the road network, but also to equip facilities with safety elements.
“Improving the safety of all road users is one of the key objectives of the national project “Infrastructure for Life”, especially with the growing level of motorization, traffic intensity and population mobility. To implement it, large-scale work is being carried out in the regions participating in the national project not only to update the road network, but also to equip facilities with safety elements. Every repaired kilometer of road, traffic light and illuminated section is a contribution to preventing accidents and protecting Russians. In 2025, more than 700 traffic lights, almost 219 thousand meters of street lighting lines, over 700 thousand meters of barriers and 123 thousand meters of pedestrian fences will be installed in the participating regions. Specialists will equip more than 485 thousand meters of sidewalks and 14.5 thousand meters of pedestrian paths, 4.4 thousand meters of rumble strips, and install almost 96.1 thousand road signs,” he said. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.
On the instructions of the President of Russia, the mortality rate from road accidents must be reduced by 1.5 times by 2030 and by 2 times by 2036 compared to the 2023 figure.
“The solution to these problems will require the expansion of interdepartmental cooperation in all key positions in the field of road safety. We have positive experience in implementing the previous national project. Its distinctive feature was that road works were carried out in a comprehensive manner. The current pace must be maintained in the new national project “Infrastructure for Life”. This year, to achieve its indicators, road works will be carried out on almost 26 thousand km of the federal, regional and local road network. Accordingly, measures will be taken to ensure road safety at the sites,” said Transport Minister Roman Starovoit.
Particular attention is paid to routes to socially significant facilities, where infrastructure elements are designed taking into account increased pedestrian traffic.
“This year, we plan to bring almost 3,000 km of regional and local roads leading to educational institutions, more than 2,000 km of roads to tourist attractions, and the same number to medical institutions into compliance with the regulations. Each facility must be served by a high-quality road with the necessary elements to ensure the safety of road users,” emphasized Igor Kostyuchenko, Deputy Head of the Federal Road Agency.
Such work is actively carried out in the Republic of Ingushetia. Particular attention is paid to those routes that are most in demand by children during the summer holidays: these are approaches to summer and health camps, sports facilities, and playgrounds. This year, the republic plans to install almost 380 road signs, 33 pedestrian crossings, 8 speed bumps, 18,000 linear meters of sidewalks, and 196 linear meters of pedestrian fencing.
In Krasnoyarsk Krai, about 20 km of sidewalks will be installed under the national project. In addition, new lighting lines with a length of almost 30 km will be installed within the boundaries of populated areas. It will become lighter this year in the village of Sizaya in Shushensky District, the city of Lesosibirsk in Yenisei District, the settlement of Novoangarsk in Motyginsky District, and the village of Bol’shiye Knyshi in Idrinsky District. About 64.5 km of metal barrier fencing will also be installed.
Sidewalk construction is actively underway in the Moscow Region. In total, it is planned to build more than 60 km of sidewalks on 70 sites. In particular, in Serpukhov, work is being carried out on several sections of the Serpukhov-Glazovo-Kuzmenki highway at once: from the Sudimlya stop to the intersection with the A-108 highway and further to the Ryblovo stop, on the approach to the stops in the village of Novaya. In the Odintsovo District, a sidewalk is being built along the Zvenigorodskoye Highway in Golitsyno – it will provide residents with convenient access to the railway station and nearby infrastructure. In the Ramensky District, work is being carried out in the village of Ryleevo near the Ganusovskaya School, this will allow students to safely get to the educational institution. The new sidewalk will also make the path to the kindergarten, sports ground and Memory Alley comfortable.
The installation of cable barriers is another effective measure to reduce accidents: by separating traffic flows, the probability of driving into the oncoming lane is reduced and head-on collisions are prevented. Road workers have already completed more than half of the planned volume of work on installing such barriers – about 15 km out of the planned 30 km. In eight municipal and urban districts, the installation of cables has been fully completed: in Istra, Kashira, Kolomna, Krasnogorsk, Solnechnogorsk, Shchyolkovo, Sergiev Posad and Leninsky districts.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
