Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova held a meeting of the project committee for the national project “Personnel”. The meeting was attended by Minister of Labor and Social Protection Anton Kotyakov, head of the State Council commission on “Personnel”, Governor of the Kaluga Region Vladislav Shapsha, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and others. The meeting participants discussed the results of the national project implementation in the first half of 2025, as well as the federal projects included in it.
As noted by Tatyana Golikova, four federal projects are being implemented within the framework of the national project “Personnel”: “Labor Market Management”, “Active Measures to Promote Employment”, “Education for the Labor Market” and “The Labor Person”. Federal projects include measures to actively involve graduates of educational institutions in employment, synchronization of modern qualification requirements in the spheres of labor and education, which will allow for more efficient and high-quality training of personnel for the needs of the economy. In addition, vocational training and additional vocational education are provided for people experiencing difficulties in finding a job, as well as increasing the labor mobility of citizens and the popularity of blue-collar jobs.
As part of the “Labor Market Management” project, employment centers are being modernized into modern “Work of Russia” personnel centers. They are becoming full-fledged partners of employers in building teams and personal consultants for those wishing to build a career. In total, over 480 centers are planned to be modernized this year; the modernization of the center in Omsk Oblast has already been completed. By the end of 2028, the entire employment service system in the country will be updated. Over 2.5 thousand employees of the employment service have been trained; in total, about 6 thousand employees will be trained this year.
All regions have approved regional plans to combat illegal employment for the period 2025–2027.
As part of the implementation of the federal project “Education for the Labor Market”, national rankings of universities and colleges for graduate employment were published on June 15. Since the beginning of the year, a pilot test of methodological recommendations for organizing a system of professional orientation and routing of students and graduates has been conducted in 11 regions. The pilot experience will be replicated throughout the country.
Preparatory work is underway to modernize career centers. In total, 162 career centers aimed at facilitating graduate employment are planned to be modernized in 2025.
Under the federal project “Active measures to promote employment” within the framework of the implementation of the vocational training program for certain categories of citizens, 44.2 thousand applications were approved, and 20.7 thousand people were sent for training.
Within the framework of the federal project “Working Man”, events are planned for the competition “Best in Profession”, the All-Russian Employment Fair, and the All-Russian Competition of Best Practices in Youth Employment.
On June 27, the federal stage of the All-Russian Job Fair took place. 454 thousand people took part in it. In total, over 529 thousand vacancies were presented by almost 23 thousand employers.
The regional stages of the “Best in Profession” competition are coming to an end in the regions – a total of 210 regional stages are planned in 73 regions, 183 stages have already been held. The award ceremony will take place in Moscow in early December.
From June 23 to August 31, the application submission stage for the All-Russian competition of best youth employment practices is underway.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On the agenda: the results of a working trip to the Far Eastern and Siberian Federal Districts, writing off debt on budget loans to regions, and increasing the grace period for mortgage payments upon the birth of a second child.
Opening remarks by Mikhail Mishustin:
Good afternoon, dear colleagues!
Before we move on to the agenda of today’s Government meeting, I would like to talk about the results of the trip to Omsk Oblast, which became the final point of our major working trip to the Far Eastern and Siberian Federal Districts.
The region is developing. Significant infrastructure is being actively built, including transport infrastructure, which is part of the high-speed automobile route “Russia” – from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. It is necessary to complete all planned work within the established deadlines.
We visited several healthcare and educational facilities. We made a number of decisions on the hospital and clinic for war veterans so that participants in the special military operation could undergo treatment and recovery in comfortable conditions. Comprehensive support for our heroes is one of the key priorities of the Government.
We got acquainted with the course of the admission campaign at Omsk University. We will help with equipping its main building with educational equipment. We will allocate additional funds for major repairs of dormitories.
The region presented its initiative to create an inter-university campus. The modern educational space will become a point of attraction for talented young people. This will be decided within the framework of the competition of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
Participants of the meeting
List of participants of the Government meeting, July 31, 2025
In September, the first branch of a foreign university in our country, the Kazakh National University, will begin teaching students in Omsk. Almost everything is ready for its opening. We will continue to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the field of higher education and scientific research.
In the Amur Region, we inspected how the reconstruction of the airport complex is being carried out, the expansion of the road that leads to the airport – the most important objects for the region and residents. Here I would ask, Vitaly Gennadyevich (addressing V. Savelyev), you, the Ministry of Transport to monitor the timing and progress of the work.
We also visited the customs and logistics terminal and the checkpoint on the border with China – Kani-Kurgan. I know how Vitaly Gennadyevich was actively involved in this. This will be a model checkpoint, to which we distribute, among other things, technological solutions built on domestic software products.
Completion of its construction will increase the volume of transportation on the new bridge crossing over the Amur River. This is only part, I will say again, of the large work on developing cross-border logistics. Almost 180 billion rubles have been allocated for the modernization of points in the next three years, taking into account the prospective trade turnover and priority areas for the country.
The most important thing now is that plans for launching such facilities in the region and throughout the country as a whole are implemented clearly and on time.
In the Trans-Baikal Territory, in Chita, a separate meeting was held on issues of grain export development.
Our own production covers our domestic needs. Let me remind you that Russia is a world leader in wheat and barley supplies abroad. The potential is even higher. It is important to fully realize it. We will continue to support our farmers, expand port capacities, and create the necessary infrastructure for both storage and transportation of products.
Oksana Nikolaevna (addressing O. Lut), I would like to ask you to create additional opportunities for domestic agricultural producers to enter foreign markets.
I know there are a number of questions. I also want to tell the members of the Government that we need to help our exporters in this regard.
This is also necessary to increase the competitiveness of our economy and to fulfill the task approved by the President to increase exports of the Russian agricultural sector.
We also inspected the perinatal center in Chita. The national project “Family” provides for its re-equipment already this year. Equipment is being received so that both mothers and babies receive modern treatment.
This work continues throughout the country. In just six years, advanced equipment will be delivered to 142 perinatal centers, including nine federal ones.
In Transbaikalia, major repairs are also being carried out at medical institutions, and a number of new ones are being created.
Mikhail Albertovich (addressing M. Murashko), as we agreed, we need to monitor the construction deadlines to ensure their timely opening. This is very important for people. We need to interact more actively with colleagues from the region in this area.
Issues of improving healthcare infrastructure were also given attention during a working visit to the Altai Republic. There, under the national project “Long and Active Life”, a hospital admissions department was built using federal funds. High-tech medical care will become even more accessible to local residents. It is in demand there.
With the head of this Russian subject, Andrey Anatolyevich Turchak, we discussed in detail the progress of the implementation of the individual program of socio-economic development, which, by decision of the President, was formed until 2030.
We also looked separately at how projects that are important for people are being implemented, including those to strengthen transport connectivity. Roads, bridges, and crossings are being repaired. The airport is being modernized. This is also important given the significant growth in tourist flow to this region. Travelers come there from all over Russia and from abroad. In early July, a separate domestic terminal opened in Gorno-Altaisk, and last week, a new international one, in line with all standards. Its first visitors were guests of the International Environmental Conference, in which we took part.
Together with our colleagues – heads of government of a number of countries, during the plenary session we exchanged a vision of joint work to protect the environment in the interests of the present and future generations. We will strengthen cooperation in this important area.
In our country, environmental well-being has been approved by the President as one of the national goals. We will continue to do everything necessary to achieve it. First of all, if we list the priorities, this is the conservation of forests, water bodies, rare species of animals and plants, the development of protected areas. We will also continue to form a closed-loop economy.
The Ministry of Natural Resources needs to expand cooperation with foreign partners in all these areas. Establish an exchange of best practices, create conditions for ecotourism – all the colleagues who spoke spoke about this – so that more people could see pristine nature.
And I would also like to say that the topic of ecology and environmental protection is very important for our colleagues from the CIS countries.
This topic is also relevant for the Altai Territory. We discussed this in detail with Governor Viktor Petrovich Tomenko. In the region, with the support of the federal budget, transport accessibility is being improved, and the infrastructure needed for travelers is being formed. Without a doubt, this work should be continued.
Colleagues, I ask all area curators to constantly monitor how the implementation of projects is proceeding locally.
I would like to separately mention one important issue that I discussed with the governors of the Amur Region and the Zabaikalsky Krai – emergency situations caused by forest fires.
The situation has now stabilized. But the fight against the fire required the involvement of additional forces – specialists, heavy equipment, aviation. In connection with which, of course, the costs of the necessary measures have increased. An order has been prepared to provide almost 1.4 billion rubles to these regions, as well as to Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Republic of Buryatia. These funds will be used to compensate for the costs of extinguishing the fires.
It is difficult to predict fire situations and their intensity accurately, but I ask the leadership of regions where such cases are not uncommon to pay special attention to prevention. There should be no threats to people’s health and safety. And at the same time, of course, it is necessary to monitor the efficiency of spending budget funds.
The government continues to stimulate economic development in Russian regions. To do this, we are reducing the financial burden, primarily for those who actively attract investment and build infrastructure. For them, on the instructions of the President, we have provided the opportunity to write off two-thirds of the debt on budget loans. The corresponding rules were adopted in February.
Today, we will write off such loans for eight more regions in the amount of over 47.27 billion rubles. These are the republics of Kalmykia and Karelia, as well as the Voronezh, Kirov, Kemerovo, Moscow, Smolensk and Tver regions. They previously allocated funds for the implementation of national projects, improvement of housing and utilities, resettlement of citizens from dilapidated housing, support for industry and other purposes.
Such a decision on debts should have a positive impact on the budget system of these territories, on the dynamics of their development, which will contribute to the fulfillment of many tasks, including social issues.
And also – about supporting families with children. This is one of the key priorities of the Government’s work, which the head of state has repeatedly drawn attention to. A number of measures have been taken on his instructions. Today we will supplement them with another one.
A bill has been prepared that is intended to reduce the burden on parents paying off a mortgage. Currently, when a child is born, the borrower is entitled to a six-month credit holiday if his or her income has decreased by more than 20%, and the costs of servicing the loan exceed 40% of average monthly income.
Now, for those who have given birth to or adopted a second or subsequent child, the grace period will be increased to one and a half years. At the same time, interest on the principal debt will be charged only from the 7th to the 18th month. And they can be paid not immediately, but after the obligations under the current agreement are paid off. In equal parts and with the same frequency as before.
This will support families during the most difficult period, when one of the parents is caring for a child and is unable to go to work. And of course, we expect that together with other current measures, this will affect the demographic situation in the country as a whole.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Thanks to the national project “Infrastructure for Life”, work continues on upgrading roads leading to stadiums, clubs, youth schools and other sports facilities. In total, this year it is planned to upgrade about 700 km of such sections of regional and local roads, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin reported.
“Updating roads to sports facilities is an important part of creating a comfortable environment. This helps ensure convenient and unimpeded access to sports facilities for thousands of residents. First of all, this is important for popularizing a healthy lifestyle. Thanks to the national project “Infrastructure for Life”, in 2025 we plan to bring 225 sections of the regional and local road network leading to stadiums, clubs, children’s and youth schools and other sports facilities to a regulatory state – this is 695 km of regional and local roads,” said Marat Khusnullin.
Sporting events often attract large crowds. Good road conditions ensure safe traffic and pedestrian traffic, and reduce the risk of accidents and injuries.
“In 2024 alone, 270 road sections were updated under the already completed national project “Safe High-Quality Roads”. Their total length was more than 800 km. Sports facilities are visited by people of all ages, including children. Therefore, we pay special attention to safety elements: we equip the necessary signs, traffic lights, sidewalks and pedestrian crossings,” said Minister of Transport Andrei Nikitin.
In Bryansk, Menzhinsky Street is undergoing a major overhaul along its entire length – 2.3 km. This is the route to the Spartak stadium, which was renovated in 2020. The stadium is home to a sports school of the same name, where more than 200 young football players study. The road surface is being renovated, sidewalks and storm drains are being installed at the site. To ensure traffic safety, a pedestrian fence, outdoor electric lighting lines, speed bumps, bus stops, public transport access pockets and a new bus shelter will be installed, as well as new road signs, paint and thermoplastic markings with reflective elements.
In the Bolsheglushitsky District of the Samara Region, a 1.4 km section of the access road to the village of Bolshaya Glushitsa is being overhauled. The road leads to the Yubileiny sports complex, which houses a structural division of the children’s and youth sports school based at Secondary Comprehensive School No. 2. There are 10 sports sections here. The school is attended by more than 150 children aged 5 to 18.
Another significant “sports” route that is being repaired under the national project is a 9.2 km section of the Moscow Highway in Samara. This is part of the route to the Olympic Reserve Sports School No. 7 for Cycling named after Honored Coach of the USSR V.P. Petrov. More than 370 athletes undergo basic training here.
The road to the sports facility is also being renovated in the Bogatovsky District. A section of the Bogatoye – Samara – Orenburg highway, almost 10 km long, is being repaired here. The highway leads to the district center – the village of Bogatoye. A children’s and youth sports school is located here on the basis of a secondary comprehensive school. 550 children are involved in sections in several areas: football, volleyball and judo. In addition to local children, the school is attended by children from nearby villages, including Andreyevka and Vilovatoye.
In total, 10 road facilities leading to 25 sports facilities, with a total length of 80.87 km, will be renovated in the Samara Region under the national project “Infrastructure for Life” this year.
In Krasnoyarsk, a 3.3 km section of Partizana Zheleznyaka Street is being repaired this year under the national project “Infrastructure for Life”. The street leads to the Sokol Ice Palace. Children’s and youth teams of the sports school train here in hockey. In addition, sports matches and figure skating competitions are held, which are attended by thousands of spectators from all over the region.
Also this year, a 3.6 km section of Sverdlovskaya Street from Aleksandra Matrosova Street to house No. 73 was renovated. Now residents and guests of Krasnoyarsk can comfortably get to the Bobrovy Log ski resort, which includes trails of varying difficulty, a snowboard park, a cross-country ski route and other locations. This is a popular place for active winter recreation. More than 550 thousand residents and guests of the city visit it annually.
In total, 12 sections of roads to sports facilities with a total length of more than 20 km will be updated in Krasnoyarsk Krai under the national project “Infrastructure for Life” this year.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
Jointly presented by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the “Bank of China (Hong Kong) Presents: National Development and Achievements Series – Endless Exploration: The Journey of Chinese Aerospace, Aviation and Navigation” exhibition will be launched at the Hong Kong Science Museum (HKScM) from tomorrow (August 1) to September 7. This is the first time for Hong Kong to showcase the country’s achievements in these three major arenas in the same exhibition. Featuring a rich array of artefacts, models, graphics, videos and interactive exhibits, the exhibition not only presents important developments in relevant fields, but also aims to inspire the public, especially youngsters, with a passion for technological innovation while enhancing national confidence in science and technology.
Addressing the opening ceremony today (July 31), the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, said that the Chang’e-6’s successful return to earth bringing lunar soil samples from the far side of the Moon last year represents a global first, underscoring China’s leading position in lunar exploration. Hong Kong is proactively integrating into national development matters and making significant contributions, with local scientists having the opportunity to participate in major national scientific research projects. These achievements affirm Hong Kong’s unique advantages in contributing to national development with an international vision. He further said that this exhibition showcases the remarkable achievements of the Chang’e lunar exploration programme as well as the country’s remarkable accomplishments in aerospace, aviation and navigation. It also highlights Hong Kong’s role as a cultural hub connecting China with the world, telling the good story of China and promoting patriotism to the public.
Other officiating guests today included the Chief Engineer of the CNSA, Dr Li Guoping; the First-level Inspector of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Liu Maozhou; the Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Mr Sun Yu; the Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau; the Convenor of the Working Group on Patriotic Education under the Constitution and Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee, Legislative Council Member, Dr Starry Lee; the Chairperson of the Science Sub-committee of the Museum Advisory Committee, Professor Alexander Wai; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Manda Chan; and the Museum Director of the HKScM, Mr Patrick Lau.
This exhibition achieves several “firsts”, including the first concurrent display in Hong Kong of lunar soil samples collected from the far side and near side of the Moon by the Chang’e-6 and the Chang’e-5 respectively. Other exhibits debuting in Hong Kong include the Chang’e-6 returner and parachute, seawater samples collected from 10,000 metres under the sea, as well as models of the “three pearls” of the shipbuilding industry, namely an aircraft carrier, a luxury cruise ship and a liquefied natural gas carrier.
Moreover, the HKScM will display large-scale aerospace, aviation and maritime models concurrently, including an approximately 12m-tall 1:5 Long March-5 launch vehicle and a full-size Fendouzhe full-ocean-depth manned submersible with a length of approximately 10m displayed outdoors, as well as a 1:8 model of a Y-20 heavy lifter with a wingspan of approximately 6m displayed indoors for the first time.
Apart from the exhibits from the Mainland, the exhibition also presents Hong Kong’s significant contributions to the space and deep-sea exploration projects of the country. There are also interactive exhibits, namely the “Lunar Base”, the “Zhurong Rover Expedition” and more, for visitors to experience the challenges of building a lunar base and exploring Mars.
Fixed-point guided tours will be provided on Saturdays and Sundays from August 9 to September 7. A series of lectures will be conducted on August 1 and August 4 by experts invited from the Mainland, who will share their knowledge of aviation, aerospace and navigation, as well as the achievements and future plans of the country in related fields. Members of the public are welcome to participate in the tours and lectures on-site. Other activities include experiment classes, workshops and demonstrations for the public to explore the scientific principles behind aviation and deep-sea navigation.
The exhibition is jointly organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the News Center of the CNSA, as solely sponsored by the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited. It is one of the activities of the Chinese Culture Promotion Series. For details of the exhibition and activities, please visit the HKScM website at hk.science.museum/en/web/scm/exhibition/exploration2025.html.
Welcome to the Materials, Chemical, and Computational Science (MCCS) Early-Career Spotlight, a monthly feature showcasing NREL’s early-career researchers’ interests, motivations, and achievements. This month, features Hilary Egan, who has been a data scientist at NREL since 2020.
When not in the lab solving AI problems, Hilary Egan enjoys outdoor activities like paddleboarding, climbing, and biking. Photo by Hilary Egan, NREL
For Hilary Egan, a data scientist at NREL, a career in science was not a straight line but rather one shaped by curiosity, adaptability, and a deep interest in computational problem-solving.
“I was born in Germany to Canadian parents, and we moved around a lot throughout Canada and the United States,” Egan said. “When it came time for college, I landed at Michigan State University, majoring in physics with minors in math and computer science. I dabbled in experimental physics and worked in a laser lab early on, but honestly, I was a little too clumsy for it. I wanted something that connected all my interests.”
That desire to connect the dots led Egan to computational physics, where she found her stride.
“I started working at the high-performance computing center on campus and eventually joined an astronomy lab doing computational research—I absolutely loved it,” she said. That experience inspired her to pursue a Ph.D. in astrophysics and planetary science at the University of Colorado Boulder, with a strong focus on computation.
From Fellowship to National Laboratory Career
Egan’s graduate work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, a pivotal experience that introduced her to the national laboratory system.
“Through the fellowship, I had the opportunity to intern at NREL. I wanted to challenge myself and get outside my comfort zone, and NREL’s mission really resonated with me,” she said. “I was also curious about artificial intelligence (AI), which was just starting to gain momentum. During my internship, I worked on using AI to predict data center loads and align them with renewable energy availability. It was a great experience, and I was lucky to come back to NREL after finishing my Ph.D. I’ve been here ever since.”
Today, Egan applies her expertise in AI and computational science to a wide range of energy challenges.
“My work spans applied AI and computational methods across NREL’s mission space—from enhancing energy efficiency in data centers to using AI to accelerate building retrofits to developing autonomous laboratory systems,” she said.
This year, she is on detail to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, where she is helping coordinate an agencywide AI strategy.
Embracing Growth, in Science and Beyond
What Egan enjoys most about her work is the constant opportunity to learn.
“I love getting to be a bit of a scientific dilettante,” she said. “I wasn’t interested in narrowing my focus to one small corner of science for my entire career. At NREL, I get to explore new areas and work with incredibly smart, passionate people who care deeply about the mission. It’s really inspiring.”
Egan credits strong communication skills as one of the most valuable tools in her professional toolkit.
“To me, scientific communication means understanding your audience, writing clearly, and giving compelling presentations,” she said. “I’ve developed those skills through everything from taking writing-focused liberal arts courses in college to writing science blogs and even doing community theater. Getting feedback from different audiences is key—it teaches you where the message isn’t landing and why.”
Outside the lab, Egan brings the same curiosity and enthusiasm to her free time.
“I’m definitely a serial hobby picker-upper,” she said. “I love climbing, mountain biking, birding, and paddleboarding. I also read constantly, and I’ve spent years playing and coaching competitive ultimate frisbee. Lately, I’ve been sewing and just started pottery classes. I kind of run my free time like a kid at summer camp!”
From astrophysics to AI-driven energy solutions, Egan exemplifies the spirit of scientific exploration and innovation that drives NREL forward.
Learn more about NREL’s computational science and AI research.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Juan Ciscomani (Arizona)
SIERRA VISTA, AZ – In a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, Congressman Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) and two of his House colleagues say there is no better place for this U.S. Space Force mission than Fort Huachuca.
The lawmakers are urging the Department of the Air Force to select Fort Huachuca in Cochise County, Arizona, as the site of a new U.S. Space Force mission aimed at enhancing space domain awareness and early threat detection.
Ciscomani is joined on the letter by Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05) and Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08).
“Fort Huachuca provides a strategically sound, operationally ready, and cost-effective location for this critical Space Force capability,” they wrote in the letter. “Unlike other locations, the Fort already has the supporting infrastructure, quality of life, with the opportunity for joint operations. We respectfully urge your full consideration as the Department moves forward with its basing process.”
Community leaders echoed Ciscomani’s call for a new Space Force mission.
“Bringing a new U.S. Space Force mission to Fort Huachuca would be a game-changer for Sierra Vista and our surrounding region. This mission would not only strengthen our national defense posture but also create high-quality jobs, attract new talent, and reinforce our city’s long-standing partnership with the Department of Defense. I appreciate Congressman Ciscomani’s advocacy and leadership in championing Fort Huachuca as the right place for this important investment for our future.”
— Clea McCaa, Mayor of Sierra Vista
Congressman Ciscomani’s leadership in advocating for Fort Huachuca as a site for a new U.S. Space Force mission reflects a clear understanding of Arizona’s strategic value to our nation’s defense. Fort Huachuca’s unique capabilities, geographic advantages, and history of supporting joint operations make it an ideal choice. The University of Arizona has long collaborated with Fort Huachuca and is recognized nationally for its expertise in space science and astronomy, optics, and space domain awareness. Together with the unique advantages Southern Arizona offers for innovation in astronomy and space science, this initiative aligns directly with our research strengths and our commitment to advancing U.S. leadership in space security.”
— Dr. Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation at The University ofArizona
View full letter here.
On July 15, 2025, Ciscomani announced his strong support for Fort Huachuca’s selection as the U.S. Department of the Air Force considers basing a new space mission at one of four installations nationwide.
Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
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Click here or on the image above to watch Senator Capito’s remarks.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered remarks at a full Appropriations Committee markup on the FY26 Labor-HHS funding bill.
Below is the opening statement of Chairman Capito as prepared for delivery:
“Thank you, Chair Collins and Vice Chair Murray.
“I applaud your steadfast commitment to returning to regular order, and I hope that our work continues to the Senate floor.
“As we near the end of these subcommittee markups, I’d like to thank all my fellow committee members for their input.
“We received 12,548 total member requests for the Labor-H appropriations bill. This bill is always one of the most difficult appropriations bills to negotiate.
“This is the third year Senator Baldwin and I have been at the helm of the Labor-H Subcommittee, and I’m pleased to once again present a bipartisan bill to the Full Committee.
“The Labor-H bill allocates limited taxpayer resources to key bipartisan priorities at a lower level than fiscal year 2025.
“The bill includes a number of bipartisan member priorities such as greater investments in America’s biomedical research, child care, education, mental and rural health, and continued efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.
“As we work to right-size the federal government, the bill also includes careful, targeted decreases, while ensuring that agencies have appropriate staffing levels to carry out their statutory responsibilities.
“The bill also maintains long-standing riders and excludes any new controversial riders.
“I have heard from many West Virginians throughout this process about questions they have regarding funding for programs throughout the state. I am proud that this bill provides critical funding for those worthy initiatives.
“Our legislation seeks to provide more certainty and support for the work being done in my home state that help improve the lives of so many West Virginians.
“Our bill provides an increase for the National Institutes of Health to continue prioritizing biomedical research in the United States.
“This investment includes targeted increases for research in specific areas such as Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Parkinson’s, women’s health, maternal health, rare diseases, and cancer.
“We have also maintained funding for NIH’s IDeA program, that provides funding to 23 states that historically had lower levels of NIH funding, including my state of West Virginia.
“The IDeA state program has been so important for research at West Virginia institutions like WVU and Marshall University.
“Today’s bill also builds on our efforts to combat substance abuse, which remains a serious problem in West Virginia, by providing funding for addiction treatment, prevention, research, and recovery programs.
“This bill also provides resources to support our health workforce, including nurses, geriatric providers, and professionals to respond to the addiction crisis, which will help providers in West Virginia.
“The Labor-HHS bill again prioritizes our children starting with early childhood all the way through postsecondary education to make sure our students are prepared for jobs today and in the future.
“The bill also makes critical investments in our workforce toimprove outcomes for workers looking to upskill and advance in their careers.
“The bill includes funding for apprenticeship grants, including those designed to boost the utility sector workforce, to support the administration’s goal of creating 1 million active apprenticeships.
“The bill maintains important funding to support workers’ rights and ensure the safety of our workplaces.
“I’ve just described several bipartisan programs we have included to improve the lives of Americans, and I encourage my colleagues to support this Labor-H bill.
“I want to briefly thank all the staff that worked to put this product together.
“On Senator Baldwin’s staff: Mike Gentile, Mark Laisch, Meghan Mott, Kathryn Toomajian, Erin Dugan, Amanda Beaumont, and Janie Dulaney.
“On my Labor-HHS staff: Emily Slack, Catherine Knowles, Elizabeth Joseph, Heather Wadyka, and Jordan Lawlor.
“And, I’d like to thank those on the Full Committee staff that help all of our subcommittees: Clint Trocchio, Ben Hammond, and the wonderful GPO team led by Valerie Hutton.
“Thank you again Chair Collins and Vice Chair Murray.”
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On July 31, the final stage of the Big Break competition for schoolchildren in grades 5–7 was held at the Artek International Children’s Center. More than 700 students from 67 regions of Russia took part in it.
First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office of Russia Sergei Kiriyenko and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko took part in the closing ceremony of the competition and congratulated the winners.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a welcoming address to the participants of the “Big Change”, in which the head of state, in particular, noted: “The legendary “Artek” is once again becoming a center of attraction for gifted, active, generous with extraordinary ideas children from different regions of our country and foreign countries. At all stages of the competition, you fully demonstrated your talents and abilities, learned to work in a team, found true friends. And today, in a fair fight with worthy opponents, strive to become the leaders of the “Big Change”.
“You have an opportunity to realize the dream with which you came to the “Big Change” competition. This year our competition is dedicated to a dream, and it, just like the friendship that is born in “Artek”, only becomes stronger over the years. I want to wish that the dream with which you came here, to “Artek”, and which appeared in you here, also becomes stronger. And that you yourself become stronger and can not only dream, but also realize your dream,” said Sergei Kiriyenko.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko also addressed the children: “Dear children! The Big Change competition, launched on the initiative of President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, is coming to an end. This competition is truly a huge change, because this year it has become part of the national project Youth and Children. It has already united 7 million participants from all over the country. You must understand that you are not just winners here – you have a mission: everything that you have seen and learned here, you must implement in life.”
300 winners of the Big Change competition among schoolchildren in grades 5–7 will receive the main prize – a Dream Trip on the Big Change train from Moscow to Vladivostok and back.
“This year we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, and the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland is being held at the initiative of the President of Russia. Servicemen of the special military operation, participants of the presidential program “Time of Heroes” handed over the Eternal Flame, lit for the first time in history at the North Pole, to the youth of Russia in memory of the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War. And now it is here, in “Artek”, at the final of the competition “Big Change”. We want every Artek child to share the feeling of pride in our country and preserve the memory of our heroes,” said the head of Rosmolodezh Grigory Gurov.
Dmitry Chernyshenko also talked to the finalists of the Big Change competition. Among them are young scientists, media professionals, musicians, winners and prize winners of Olympiads at various levels, and activists of the Movement of the First.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that Russia has all the opportunities to realize the potential of children and adolescents, largely thanks to the national project “Youth and Children”.
The guys told Dmitry Chernyshenko about their projects and ideas, covering topics from an inclusive environment to developments to improve the agricultural sector, and also read a poem of their own composition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory.
An interesting example of the use of artificial intelligence was the project of Semyon Veretennikov from the Belgorod region. Developed for his grandfather, a beekeeper, an interactive hive with AI allows remote monitoring of the condition of bees and control of the hive via messenger.
The Deputy Prime Minister suggested integrating Semyon’s idea into the “Berloga” project – a series of useful video games about the world of bear engineers, which teaches schoolchildren to think like programmers, introduces them to technologies and helps them become participants in next-level technology clubs.
Dmitry Chernyshenko also spoke with the first “ambassador of peace” of the USSR, Ekaterina Lycheva, who is often called the Soviet Samantha Smith. In the 1980s, she, like Samantha Smith, became a symbol of children’s diplomacy and the desire for peace between the USSR and the USA.
Ekaterina Lycheva spoke about the international children’s program “The World of BRICS – the World of the Future”, which is currently taking place in Artek. As a result of the program, more than 3,200 Artek children from more than 69 countries will adopt a joint declaration-appeal to all heads of state “For Peace” and invite five children from each country to the International Children’s Center “Artek” in 2026.
The Deputy Prime Minister also visited the DNA Isolation laboratory, where technology is used to isolate DNA from various living objects for further genetic research.
The All-Russian competition “Big Change” is the flagship project of the “Movement of the First”. The competition is held with the support of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
PISCATAWAY, N.J., July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The AR Alliance a program of the ISTO federation that is dedicated to advancing open and interoperable augmented reality (AR) ecosystem standards, proudly announces the addition of four influential members: Magic Leap, Tekscend Photomask, and University of California San Diego.
These new members reflect the global diversity and strength of the AR hardware development ecosystem, bringing expertise across foundational research, advanced optics, semiconductor tooling, and spatial computing platforms. Their participation reinforces the Alliance’s collaborative mission to accelerate innovation, support open standards, and unify the AR industry through concrete action and shared success.
The AR Alliance provides a supportive and neutral environment for organizations of all sizes to take an active role in advancing and strengthening the augmented reality hardware development ecosystem. Diverse organizations across the expanding, global AR ecosystem work together through The AR Alliance to speed innovation and breakthrough technologies and processes for building AR wearables and devices that create meaningful and positive experiences for users.
“We are building AR together” said Dr. Bharath Rajagopalan, Chair of The AR Alliance and Director of Strategic Marketing, STMicroelectronics. “The promise of AR and its potential market are so vast that there is ample room for all our member companies, and stakeholders, to succeed together. The AR Alliance is the place where concrete work takes place to harmonize approaches for advancing, unifying, and growing the global AR supply chain as well as accelerating innovation. We are pleased to welcome these new members to the AR Alliance and to join us in this important work and bring their deep technology experience, manufacturing capabilities, product leadership and research to help enable the AR market.”
Magic Leap is a leader in transparent optics technology and scalable optics manufacturing for Augmented Reality (AR) experiences. They build proprietary manufacturing equipment and processes to produce highly precise eyepieces, with their flagship AR product, Magic Leap 2, featuring patented optics and a lightweight design.
UC San Diego has been named the No. 8 university worldwide in powering global innovation, according to Clarivate’s latest report. The university ranked third among U.S. public institutions, reflecting its deep impact on industry and society through cutting-edge research and breakthrough patents.
The unique collaboration between UC San Diego’s Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience and the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination has given rise to an interdisciplinary team of neuroscientists, computer scientists and artists working together to pose problems in new ways and advance scientific methods and knowledge with full STEAM ahead. Their combined methods leverage recent advances in lightweight biometric sensors, virtual reality, eye tracking, EEG, as well as state of the art immersive Virtual Reality. Their lab (located at the Supercomputer Center for Neuroscience, UCSD) has a wide variety of neuroscientists. The lab is also renowned for the use of the MoBI lab, a research space dedicated to virtual reality experiments.
Tekscend Photomask Corp is the world’s premier provider of photomasks for semiconductors, and a group company of TOPPAN Holdings Inc. Tekscend Photomask was previously known as Toppan Photomask. Headquartered in Tokyo, Tekscend Photomask leverages its worldwide customer service network and eight manufacturing facilities in key geographic locations to offer the worlds most advanced lithography technology. Tekscend Photomask is also expanding into nanoimprint molds and other nano-fabricated products.
About The AR Alliance
The AR Alliance Founding Board Members comprise STMicroelectronics, META, Essilor Luxottica, Corning, Dispelix, Optofidelity, MICROOLED, Google, and Qualcomm.
Organizations of every size and in any sector of the ecosystem are respected, heard, and supported in The AR Alliance’s non-competitive, collaborative environment. Flexible membership levels remove barriers to access enabling companies of varying stages of maturity and resources to engage.
To learn more about membership in The AR Alliance, please visit www.thearalliance.org.
Media Contact: Brianna Rich Program Manager brianna.rich@isto.org
What you need to know:With nearly all National Guard soldiers demobilizing, Governor Gavin Newsom is calling on the President to allow the 300 remaining National Guard soldiers to go home now.
Los Angeles, California – Nearly two months after the unlawful federalization of units of the California National Guard, and deployment of almost 5,000 soldiers in the Los Angeles area, all but 300 National Guard members are able to go home. So far, 4,700 soldiers have begun demobilizing. The President should allow the remaining soldiers to go back to their families, communities, and civilian professions as doctors, law enforcement and teachers.
President Trump is realizing that his political theater backfired. This militarization was always unnecessary and deeply unpopular. The President must do the right thing to end this illegal militarization now because the economic and societal impacts are dire. The women and men of our military deserve more than to be used as props in the federal government’s propaganda machine.
Governor Gavin Newsom
Although it is unclear whether the National Guard has received formalized orders to begin additional demobilizations, an estimated 300 guardsmembers will continue to be stationed at Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos without a clear mission, direction, or a timeline for returning to their communities. California urges Trump and the Department of Defense to end this theatrical deployment and send all remaining guardsmembers home immediately.
Earlier this month, 2,000 federalized National Guard members and 700 Marines were called off their mission in Los Angeles. However, nearly 2,000 soldiers remained at Los Alamitos.
Economic impact of this political theater
After the federal government deployed the military unlawfully and began ramping up immigration raids statewide, the number of people reporting towork in the private sector in California decreasedby 3.1% — a downturn only recently matched by the period when people stayed home from work during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Governor Newsomrecently metwith local restaurant owners in the City of Bell and faith leaders in Downey to discuss the economic impact these indiscriminate immigration actions have had on their small business.
Trump’s actions have a ripple effect – the state’s economy is likely to contract later this year due to fallout from global tariffs and immigration raids in Los Angeles and other cities that have rattled key sectors, including construction, hospitality, and agriculture, according to a UCLA Anderson forecast.
Massarrests, detentions and deportationsin California could slash $275 billion from the state’s economy and eliminate $23 billion in annual tax revenue. The loss of immigrant workers, undocumented and those losing lawful status under the Trump administration, would delay projects (including rebuilding Los Angeles after the wildfires), reduce food supply, and drive up costs.Undocumentedimmigrants contributed $8.5 billion in state and local taxes in 2022 — a number that would rise to $10.3 billion if these taxpayers could apply to work lawfully.
Drugs arriving at the border, fewer soldiers to stop them
Typically, under the Governor’s command, nearly 450 servicemembers are deployed statewide, including at ports of entry, to combat transnational criminal organizations and seize illegal narcotics.CalGuard’s servicemembersdedicated to the state’s Counterdrug Task Force have been reassigned by President Trump to militarize Los Angeles. The consequences are dire – CalGuard’s efforts help ensure the public safety of communities statewide.
Police off the streets, teachers out of classrooms
Of the 4,000 National Guard members sent to Los Angeles under Trump’s order, their servicemembers have been pulled fromessential civilian dutiessuch as medical and first responders, service workers, building trades contractors, law enforcement personnel, corrections officers, civil service and government workers, technology specialists, educators and teachers, and agriculture workers.
End the power grab now
Community leaders, public officials, veterans and others agree – the federal government’s actions in California not only have a chilling effect on the state’s society and economy, but also continue to undermine the valuable contributions from members of the military while in and out of uniform.
Republican and Democratic former governors agree—Trump’s federalization violates the critical balance between state and federal government. Recently, abipartisan group of 25 former governorsfiled a brief in support ofNewsom v. Trump, urging the court to enforce state sovereignty and block the unprecedented federalization of the National Guard.
Retiredfour-star admirals and generalsand former secretaries of the Army and Navy filed another amicus brief outlining the grave risks of Trump’s illegal takeover of the CalGuard.Several veterans and veteran rights’ groupscame together to decry Trump’s militarization of California.
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Headline: Governor Stein Announces District Attorney Appointment
Governor Stein Announces District Attorney Appointment lsaito
Raleigh, NC
Today Governor Josh Stein announced the following District Attorney appointment:
Matthew T. Wareham as District Attorney in Prosecutorial District 4, serving Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico counties. Wareham is filling the vacancy created after the Honorable Scott Thomas retired.
Wareham currently serves as the Chief Assistant District Attorney in Prosecutorial District 4. From 2017 to 2024, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in the same office. He also served for almost three years as an Assistant District Attorney in Alamance County. Wareham received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees from East Carolina University and his Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
“Matt has spent his entire career in public service, serving as a prosecutor for more than a decade in Alamance, Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico counties,” said Governor Josh Stein. “I look forward to seeing all he accomplishes in his new role.”
Simple things like avoiding chemical pesticides and leaving leaves where they fall can help make your garden a more welcoming environment for wildlife and support biodiversity. (Jeffrey Hamilton/Unsplash)
Biodiversity is essential to mitigating and adapting to climate change, enhancing the resilience of ecosystems and safeguarding the ecological functions that all living beings depend on for survival.
Cultivating a garden for biodiversity is not an all-in or nothing task. In fact, there is a wide range of simple actions anyone can take to regenerate and conserve biodiversity right at home.
We are currently organizing a biodiversity public literacy campaign at the National Environmental Treasure, a people’s trust fund devoted to funding Canadian environmental organizations.
Educational, ecologically informed signage can help interpret the garden for visitors. These signs serve as a practical tool to share gardening practices and highlight the garden’s environmental benefits with the community. (Nina Marie Lister)
Together, we’ve created a series of free, fact-based guides to help people learn how to cultivate biodiversity and support for wildlife habitat in private gardens.
This series currently includes four comprehensive booklets, each focusing on key aspects of biodiversity gardening:
While there are plenty of great garden practices out there, these are five easy and impactful ways to boost biodiversity and cultivate a garden safe for urban wildlife, taken directly from our booklets.
Use alternatives to pesticides
Pesticides in your garden can harm beneficial insects and can be detrimental to the environment, wildlife and human health. Instead of using chemical-based pesticides, try natural alternatives like biopesticides, horticultural oils and insecticidal soaps that can be just as effective.
Likewise, attracting predatory insects and wildlife into your garden who will actively feed on the harmful pest is also an effective starting point as this is a process of pest-control that occurs naturally in healthy ecosystems.
There are also DIY pesticides, such as sea salt spray, water-vinegar mixtures and coffee grounds.
A rewilded habitat meadow featuring a selection of native wildflowers and habitat logs left to enrich the soil, support pollinators and offer seating for visitors. (Nina Marie Lister)
Leave the leaves
Decomposing plant litter, like fallen dead leaves, tree bark, needles and twigs, is an important component of maintaining soil health, nutrient cycling and biodiversity.
By choosing to leave the leaves in your garden, you will support the variety of species who overwinter in them, from bees and caterpillars, to butterflies, spiders and more.
Prioritize pollinator-attractive plants
In addition to pollination, insects are beneficial for a variety of other reasons including for pest control, seed dispersal and decomposition.
The best way to attract insects largely depends on which insect you are trying to attract. But as a general rule, it is always a good practice to source plants locally and prioritize native species.
Next best to native plants are benign ornamentals and non-natives. Cultivating a diverse range of flowers, especially native plants and herbs, promotes a resilient ecosystem. It also helps natives out-compete invasive species and to reverse the downward trends of mass species decline.
Birds contribute to healthy ecosystems: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds and prey on insects. Unfortunately, North American bird populations are experiencing a rapid decline due to habitat loss, degradation and other global pressures.
Organic gardening without pesticides or herbicides, keeping cats indoors, removing potential entanglement hazards and using bird-collision prevention markers on reflective surfaces can not only attract birds, but also ensure their safety as well.
Birds contribute to healthy ecosystems: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds and prey on insects. (Unsplash/Richard Bell)
These disputes over the scope and application of bylaws have brought attention to various legal contradictions and outcomes that negatively impact progress on biodiversity recovery, all the while undermining and negating related environmental objectives on private land.
By advocating and encouraging your municipal leaders to adopt science-based biodiversity-supportive bylaws, you help to establish the legal frameworks and political agendas that directly impact long-term ecological health and promote sustainable development and the regeneration of biodiversity.
Ann Dale receives funding from the CRC Secretariat, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Hewlett Foundation.
Sabrina Careri 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.
Summer is popularly imagined as bringing joy to all young people. Yet it is not an equal break or of the same quality for all students.
Learning loss is the decline in academic skills and knowledge that can occur when students are not engaged in structured learning, especially during extended breaks like summer.
Black families face challenges in accessing culturally relevant and affirming summer opportunities. As work by education researcher Obianuju Juliet Bushi and others has documented, for many Black families, the question isn’t just “what will my child do this summer?” It’s “where can my child go to be safe, affirmed and supported?”
As the manager of research with the charitable, Black-led non-profit organization Youth Association for Academics, Athletics and Character Education (YAAACE) in the Jane Finch area of Toronto, I share insights about how culturally responsive community programs can address opportunity gaps, and how parents in Black families can support their kids’ successful transition back to school.
This article draws on insights from conversations I have had with various YAAACE program participants, parents and educators, as well as leadership, including Devon Jones, Nene, and Dave Mitchell.
The opportunity gap refers to the unequal access to resources, supports and learning experiences that affect students’ ability to succeed, often based on race, income and geography.
While these experiences shape the mental health and academic outcomes of students, schools often lack culturally relevant supports or trauma-informed responses.
Summer programs are one important part of countering anti-Black racism in schools. These can support student transitions by mitigating learning loss and helping to close the opportunity gap.
Programs that centre Africentricity and Black excellence led by staff with lived experiences provide culturally responsive and emotionally supportive environments that affirm Black identities.
This builds confidence in Black students and ensures students return to school in the fall better prepared to thrive academically, socially, emotionally and culturally.
YAAACE’s seven-week Summer Institute offers a model that affirms identity, cultivates belonging and accelerates achievement. Each summer, approximately 300 students from grades 3 through 12 attend the institute, which blends literacy and numeracy instruction with culturally responsive learning, arts-based programming, robotics, mentorship and athletics.
Students are taught by Ontario certified teachers and supported by Black staff and practitioners trained in trauma-informed care. For families who can’t afford camp fees, the program is free or subsidized.
YAAACE’s Inspire Academy Mathematics Program provides early access to high school math courses. Grade 8 graduates earn a high school math credit through an intensive summer course led by a team of teachers and teacher assistants in a supportive, inclusive environment. In cases where students are behind provincial standards, they receive additional supports with low staff-to-student ratios.
Summer is a crucial time to support children’s learning and well-being, especially for Black families navigating systems that often overlook their strengths.
Below are three practical ways to support your child during the summer break and when school starts in September.
Create routines that balance learning and Black joy: Set daily routines that include reading, writing or problem solving but just as much make space for rest, play, creativity and movement rooted in Black joy. Learning should be holistic and joyful. It’s important as parents, guardians and community leaders that we not only talk about this but more importantly model it.
‘Refresh, Revive, Thrive: Black Joy in Education’ with Andrew B. Campbell, assistant professor at the University of Toronto.
Stay engaged and be an advocate: Get to know your child’s teachers and school administrators, review school policies to be familiar with how to navigate them (for example, getting accommodations for your child’s needs) and request culturally affirming resources. Don’t hesitate to raise concerns, as your advocacy helps create more supportive learning environments and shows your child that their success is worth fighting for.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)
U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA), Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Members Grace Meng (D-NY) and Lois Frankel (D-FL), and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus’s Contraception, Family Planning, and Education Task Force, today led 79 Representatives in demanding an investigation into the U.S. Department of State’s decision to spend an additional $300,000 in taxpayer dollars to destroy nearly 500 metric tons of life-saving emergency food aid and $9.7 million worth of contraceptives, rather than distributing the aid as intended or working with another trusted partner willing to take over distribution. In the letter addressed to Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of State Arne B. Baker, the lawmakers condemned the State Department’s decision as financial mismanagement that squanders taxpayer dollars and a moral failure, abandoning vulnerable populations who depend on U.S. aid to survive.
They wrote to Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of State Arne B. Baker:
“We write to request an investigation into waste and mismanagement on the part of the U.S. Department of State, which has reportedly chosen to destroy nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food aid and $9.7 million worth of contraceptives rather than delivering the much-needed aid as intended.
“According to reporting, the State Department intends to destroy roughly $800,000 worth of high-energy biscuits intended to feed children under five years of age. That comes after alleged severe mismanagement of the food aid, including multiple officials failing to respond to memos regarding future plans for the biscuits for months. After that failure of leadership, the Department now plans to spend $130,000 – on top of the original $800,000 – to incinerate the planned food aid.
“Following a similar pattern, the State Department also reportedly still intends to destroy $9.7 million of contraceptives, including IUDs and birth control implants, at the cost of $167,000 to the American taxpayer. Concerningly, the reporting found that these contraceptives are perfectly viable for delivery; they are long-lasting, with an expiration date of 2027, and most do not include USAID labels that would require rebranding. Incinerating contraceptives that are viable, with no rush and clear demand, is the equivalent of lighting U.S. taxpayer dollars on fire.
“This pattern of intentional incineration at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer is financially wasteful, morally bankrupt, and an attack on the American humanitarian tradition. These actions place ideological beliefs and politics above a faithful commitment to U.S. law, contracts, and humanitarian agreements. Given that these officials have given no indication that they will place the law over their personal vendettas against our humanitarian tradition, external oversight is necessary.
“We therefore request that your office immediately open an investigation into this documented waste of existing State Department supplies and waste of additional taxpayer funds to destroy those supplies, as well as the Department’s refusal to use these commodities for their intended purposes or partner with organizations or countries willing to take on responsibility for these commodities. Please provide an update on the status of such investigation by August 8, 2025.”
The letter to Acting Inspector General Baker was sent by U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (VA), Grace Meng (NY), Lois Frankel (FL), Judy Chu (CA), Robert Garcia (CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL), Betty McCollum (MN), Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Sarah Elfreth (MD), Nikema Williams (GA), Brendan Boyle (PA), Yassamin Ansari (AZ), Jonathan Jackson (IL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Mike Quigley (IL), Greg Landsman (OH), Stephen Lynch (MA), Dave Min (CA), Maxine Waters (CA), Lateefah Simon (CA), Nanette Barragán (CA), Lloyd Doggett (CA), Debbie Dingell (MI), Sylvia Garcia (TX), Sarah McBride (DE), Seth Moulton (MA), Deborah Ross (NC), Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Mike Thompson (CA), Maggie Goodlander (NH), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA), Sean Casten (IL), Ami Bera (CA), Dina Titus (NV), Troy Carter (LA), Mark DeSaulnier (CA), Chellie Pingree (ME), Steve Cohen (TN), Dwight Evans (PA), Nydia Velázquez (NY), Haley Stevens (MI), Marc Veasey (TX), Darren Soto (FL), Danny Davis (IL), Mike Levin (CA), Mark Takano (CA), Suzan DelBene (WA), Julia Brownley (CA), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Adam Smith (WA), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Norma Torres (CA), Laura Friedman (CA), Rashida Tlaib (MI), John Garamendi (CA), Wesley Bell (MO), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL), Kelly Morrison (MN), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL), Hank Johnson (GA), Frederica Wilson (FL), Chrissy Houlahan (PA), Yvette Clarke (NY), Val Hoyle (OR), Kweisi Mfume (MD), Lori Trahan (MA), Jennifer McClellan (VA), Ed Case (HI), Brittany Pettersen (CO), Eric Swalwell (CA), Julie Johnson (TX), Paul Tonko (NY), André Carson (IN), Jerry Nadler (NY), Eugene Vindman (VA), Jill Tokuda (HI), Robin Kelly (IL), Bill Keating (MA), Madeleine Dean (PA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC).
WILMINGTON, Del., July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Farmers of Salem (FOS), a regional mutual insurance company specializing in insurance for home and business owners, is pleased to announce Avery Prendergast’s successful participation in their internship program. Graduating from Levittown’s Neshaminy High School, Ms. Prendergast is completing a degree in both Legal Studies and Risk Management & Insurance with Temple University of Philadelphia. She is looking forward to a December 2025 graduation. When asked how her interest in RMI came about, Avery said, “I became interested in RMI when I took the Introduction to Risk Management class at Temple. It reminded me of torts, which was something I had studied at Bucks County Community College while in the Paralegal program. It mixed well with my Legal Studies major, so I decided to take both majors.”
Of the Intern Delaware program, Ms. Prendergast said, “ID has introduced me to industries, and people that I would never have gotten the opportunity to meet. It is a great program that shows you how easy it is to get involved and get things done in this wonderful state. ID has provided unique opportunities like visiting Legislative Hall, meeting past and present senators, networking with other interns in a variety of industries, and learning from senior executives and other professionals firsthand.” With only one more semester left, Avery is excited to settle into a career and is making the most out of her summer with Farmers. In her free time, she enjoys reading novels, watching movies with friends, and camping with her family.
When asked “Why Farmers?”, Ms. Prendergast said, “I have had an amazing time working at Farmers of Salem this summer. Transitioning from working retail and being a student, to working a 9-5 was daunting, but everyone was so welcoming and kind that it became an easier process. FOS has a great environment where my voice matters. I am seen as a person and not just an employee. I have been tasked with real projects and work that make each day feel productive and meaningful.” Avery added, “With the rotational internship, I have been able to go through multiple departments and learn the ins and outs of the business. There have been so many lightbulb moments when I am learning something new and connecting the dots to something else in another department. I have learned so much that will help me with my final college courses and my future career.”
Temple University uniquely hosts Actuarial Science and Risk Management & Insurance degree programs. Dr. Drennan, Chair of Risk, Actuarial Science, and Legal Studies at Temple University, along with his team, challenge students through thought-provoking course work while setting the bar quite high.
Elizabeth Dean, Human Resources Director for Farmers of Salem said, “The difference with Farmers of Salem’s internship program, compared to other insurance companies, is that we ask interns to roll up their sleeves and get to work alongside our tenured team members. This job-shadowing approach has allowed interns to gain first-hand experiences as they rotate through the various departments of the organization. Our employees enjoy mentoring the interns, not only to share their knowledge, but to learn from interns that have been so well prepared by Temple.” Added by Jim Reagan, CPCU, Vice President Product & Regulatory Compliance, “Asking our interns to get down to business and work alongside our valued employees is precisely what sets our internship experience apart. This process has been validated by our intern feedback.”
About Farmers of Salem Founded in 1851, and located on the Riverfront in Wilmington DE, Farmers of Salem provides insurance coverage to homeowners and businesses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland through a network of independent agents. Rated A- Excellent by A.M. Best Company and a Financial Stability Rating of A Exceptional by Demotech, Inc. “We pride ourselves in providing Superior Service with Personal Attention,” says Kim Lorenzini, Vice President, Marketing & Business Development.
For more information about Farmers of Salem, visit www.farmersofsalem.com
As a mutual corporation, fundamentally rooted in serving our community, we engage in corporate philanthropy, giving annually to an array of organizations and causes. Through our giving, in local markets where we have a presence, Farmers of Salem has supported educational development, physical education, and health and wellness programs that provide communities in most need with essential services, opportunities to improve the quality of their lives and provide them with assets to create a better future.
A partial list of events and organizations that Farmers of Salem supports annually:
Autism Delaware
Serviam Girls Academy
Vehicles for Veterans
Salem County Humane Society
Habitat for Humanity
VFW Post #253
Operation Legacy
Keeping Hope Alive, Inc.
Temple University
Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts
Holiday Service Project – Thanksgiving Food Baskets – Salvation Army
Headline: ‘STEM for ALL’ : Thales Joins the Singapore-Industry Scholarship (SgIS) Programme
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As a Sponsoring Organisation with SgIS, Thales will provide Singaporean undergraduate students scholarships in a comprehensive programme that includes internship, mentoring and a starting career with Thales.
With this initiative, Thales is extending its ‘STEM for ALL’ programme to Singapore, the first launch outside Europe, with its dedicated mission to advance STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education amongst youth.
In its inaugural intake, four nominated scholars will undertake engineering or research roles in strategic sectors including air traffic management, public security, cybersecurity and digital identity, working within Thales businesses and research labs like the Thales Digital Factory.
With engineers comprising one-third of Thales Singapore’s 2000+ employees, the Group has a strong interest in promoting STEM education and growing the next generation of engineering talent. On 29thJuly, Thales was proud to join SgIS as a Sponsorship Organisation at its launch event and to present awards to the scholars, aligning with the government’s mandate to develop young talent in Singapore’s strategic sectors.
Established in 2012, SgIS is an initiative which partners government and industries to nurture a strong core of Singaporean talent in 16 strategic industries which include Aerospace & Aviation and Engineering. It is the only government-led, multi-industry scholarship under the Ministry of Education which provides talented Singaporean students access to close to 150 Sponsoring Organisations, giving them development opportunities as they further their studies and begin their professional careers.
Throughout May and June, over 100 potential candidates with diverse skillsets were introduced to Thales by SgIS and invited to an Open Day to get to know Thales’ businesses. From this, over 40 were taken through rigorous technical assessments, following which 12 were further shortlisted for panel interviews with Thales experts and business leaders to further assess their technical expertise and leadership attributes.
Four talented candidates from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) were the final recipients of the Thales award. Currently at different stages in their university education, the four students will progressively join the cybersecurity and digital identity, public security, air traffic management and Thales Digital Factory teams over the next 2 years.
Expanding the Thales Group’s STEM for ALL Programme to Singapore
In early 2025, Thales, through its endowment fund Thales Solidarity, launched its STEM for ALL programme in France and Belgium to foster vocation in scientific fields to remarkable young students.
By partnering the SgIS programme, Thales is extending the Group’s ambition in endorsing STEM education worldwide by reinforcing academic excellence. Singapore is the first country outside of Europe to have a STEM scholarship programme under the STEM for ALL umbrella.
“Thales recognises the essential role that science and technology play in furthering human progress and creating a world that is safer, greener and more sustainable. Many of the younger generation are passionate about making an impact and we are constantly looking for talented individuals, skilled in STEM, to help bring this ambition to life.”said Emily TAN, Country Director & Chief Executive, Thales in Singapore.“The scholars we selected have strong technical skills which we hope to nurture when they join the Thales family. I believe that their enthusiasm to learn, coupled with the mentorship opportunities and experiences within Thales, will provide a good starting point for their careers.”
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services addresses several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.
The Group invests more than €4 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum and cloud technologies.
Thales has more than 83,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2024, the Group generated sales of €20.6 billion.
About Thales in Singapore
Thales established its presence in Singapore in 1973 to support the growth of aerospace activities in Asia. Since then, it has grown to be a leading deep-tech company operating in the Aeronautics (including avionics and air traffic management), Defence, Public Security, Cybersecurity & Digital Identity sectors.
Thales in Singapore runs global industrial operations for avionics and digital identity solutions and has a strong commitment to Research, Technology and Innovation, with Centres of Excellence for radars, naval drones, space, avionics, public security and defence. With over 2000 employees across four locations, Thales is actively supporting Singapore in driving its digital transformation and Smart Nation ambitions.
Headline: Discover the potential of agentic AI in higher education
Discover how Azure AI Foundry in education helps institutions build tailored, scalable AI solutions to drive innovation and digital transformation.
At Microsoft Build 2025, we unveiled a new wave of agentic innovations that are reshaping how higher education institutions use AI. From intelligent agents to unified data platforms, these advancements empower higher education leaders to confidently accelerate digital transformation. A key part of this evolution is the role of Azure AI Foundry in education, which helps institutions build secure, scalable AI solutions tailored to their academic goals.
With these advances in AI, institutions now have a powerful new opportunity: to use agents that can automate routine tasks, assist faculty and staff, and provide real-time, contextual insights to support teaching and learning. As more institutions begin their journey to this next frontier, AI agents will support individuals and teams by automating tasks and delivering instant, contextual insights.
This means that with data-focused AI tools from Microsoft, your institution can:
Develop scalable, intelligent agents using Azure AI Foundry, trusted by enterprises and customized for higher education compliance and innovation.
Turn data insights into action with AI-powered analytics, addressing challenges in student success, research productivity, and operational agility.
Accelerate agentic AI with Azure AI Foundry
Azure AI Foundry Agent Service empowers institutions to securely design, deploy, and scale agents with ease. Enhance your team’s efficiency with agents that simplify academic and operational workflows with robust security and trust features built in. This provides key tools and resources to help you:
Create domain-specific agents to automate complex tasks.
Use enterprise-grade identity for agents and built-in trustworthy AI.
Deploy and scale agents quickly with managed infrastructure.
Get started with Azure AI Foundry Agent Service
Create and scale domain-specific agents
With Azure AI Foundry Agent Service, your team can create domain-specific agents tailored to your unique needs. It helps you design, deploy, and scale agents that are ready for real-world use. This fully managed service handles infrastructure and orchestration. It includes ready-to-use templates, actions, and connectors for more than 1,400 enterprise data sources, including SharePoint, Microsoft Fabric, and third-party systems. For instance, you can design and deploy agents to help onboard new students with personalized guidance and support administrative teams with instant responses to common questions.
Institutions like Stanford Medicine are already using the healthcare agent orchestrator in Azure AI Foundry alongside Microsoft Copilot Studio. This integration enhances the efficiency of tumor board meetings through customized clinical workflows.
Secure and manage your agents
Creating agents is just the beginning—managing them responsibly plays a critical role in their effective use. With Microsoft Entra Agent ID, you can:
Gain complete visibility and control over agents’ actions.
Assign unique identities for each agent.
Share identity management with your team members.
Define access controls and permissions for each agent.
Learn about Microsoft Entra Agent ID
Trustworthy AI is a foundational commitment for Microsoft and for our customers. We’ve introduced new capabilities to help institutions discover, protect, and govern AI systems from the start.
On the security side, Azure AI Foundry integrates with Microsoft Defender for Cloud to provide real-time alerts and insights when threats arise. For compliance, out-of-the box integration with governance tools like Credo AI, Saidot, and Microsoft Purview, helps institutions monitor model performance, assess fairness, and track regulatory requirements.
By using Azure AI Foundry’s built-in tools for safety, security, and governance, institutions can design and deploy AI systems with greater reliability from the start.
Powering the next AI frontier with Microsoft Fabric
Strong data is foundational to effective AI. Microsoft Fabric helps unify your data to power analytics and agents—without the burden of managing complex infrastructure. As a SaaS solution, Fabric offers seamless integration of data tools and can reduce the need for manual service connections.
Try Microsoft Fabric for free
At its core is Microsoft OneLake, an open and unified data lake that supports any format, from any cloud. This flexibility allows developers to access and analyze all types of data efficiently.
Fabric also transforms how you manage and interact with data. With natural language capabilities, you can explore insights that drive student success, enhance research, and boost operational agility—empowering everyone to make informed, data-driven decisions.
Find the right data when you need it
Education leaders need tools that turn insights into action. That’s why we’re focused on making data more accessible through conversational experiences. With Copilot in Power BI, users can now ask questions in natural language and receive instant insights—no technical training needed to get started. Whether it’s enrollment trends, retention risks, or alumni giving, faculty and staff can explore data directly within Microsoft Teams to streamline their workflow.
Empower everyone to interact with their data
With enhanced interaction capabilities in Power BI and Copilot Studio, transforming data into actionable insights can now be faster and more intuitive. You can explore data through natural, conversational experiences, removing complexity, and making analysis more accessible. This shift empowers you and your teams to break down data silos and uncover valuable insights with ease. Power BI chat simplifies the exploration of complex datasets, offering quicker, more confident decision-making.
Uncover deeper insights with data agents
Finally, connecting Fabric data agents to Copilot Studio can help uncover deeper insights. These agents expertly analyze complex datasets, uncovering valuable insights from OneLake and driving informed action. By automating tasks like email sending and workflow triggering, they streamline your interactions with enterprise data, enabling confident decision-making.
Embrace the future of data-driven higher education with Microsoft Azure and Azure AI Foundry. Discover how innovative data agents and AI-powered insights can enhance your approach to learning and operations. Start your journey today and uncover the limitless possibilities that await you.
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s opening remarks***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following opening remarks as the committee meets to consider the draft fiscal year 2026 Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations acts.
Senator Murray’s opening remarks, as delivered, are below:
“As I have said, these are not the bills I would have written on my own—but they nevertheless represent serious bipartisan work to make some truly critical investments in families and our country’s future.
“From defense funding that supports our military and keeps our country safe to funding for health care, child care, schools, seniors, medical research, public health, workforce training and safety—and many other programs that keep our communities strong.
“The priorities laid out in both of these bills are fundamental to our nation’s security and Americans’ livelihoods and health.
“So I’m glad this Committee was able to deliver and reach a bipartisan compromise to write these bills that deliver essential funds to help people, solve problems, and reject many of the absolutely devastating cuts and much of the chaos that President Trump was pushing for.
“It remains clear as ever to me that we cannot afford to go down the path Trump and Russ Vought want to push us down. Their vision is one where this Committee becomes less bipartisan and less powerful. Where the president and the OMB director call the shots and some Republicans in Congress spend their time cutting what they are told to cut, even at the expense of their own constituents. Where instead of securing new investments for folks back home through bipartisan agreements, lawmakers have to plead their case to this administration to unlock funds we have already delivered or secure special exceptions for spending cuts. Where biomedical research and education funding gets held up for no reason at all. Where we gut investments in working families while letting Trump’s corruption run rampant.
“That’s what Trump and Vought want.
“We can—and we must—reject it.
“Because, there is no comparison between having a bipartisan process, that gives our constituents a say in how their tax dollars are spent. Or another slush fund CR that forfeits our power and lets Trump rob some states, and pick winners and losers regardless of what our communities actually need or the law says.
“The bills we are voting on today really show how big of a difference there is here. Anyone who has doubts about that, can just look at the LHHS bill.
“It rejects Trump’s cuts that would have devastated our work to fight substance use disorders, HIV, and pandemics, eliminate women’s health investments like Title X funding and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program and essentially saw the CDC cut in half.
“It rejects backward proposals from Trump that would hurt our students and workers—like eliminating preschool grants, or slashing PELL, gutting public school funding, or ending Job Corps and AmeriCorps.
“It rejects efforts to gut agencies that protect the rights of patients, students, and workers.
“And, I’m especially pleased to note it rejects Trump’s 40% cut to lifesaving medical research—and increases the NIH budget by $400 million so we continue to make progress against cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and so much more.
“To the scientists wondering if there will even be an NIH by the end of this administration: this committee’s resounding message is ‘yes.’
“Congress has your back—we’re not going to give up the fight against cancer, Alzheimer’s, or rare diseases.
“We support you and we need you to stay here and keep this research going.
“But I want to be clear—at the end of the day, this isn’t about rejecting Trump, it is about investing in our families.
“Investing in our schools, in medical research, in workforce training, and community health.
“In fact, this bill even increases funding for crucial programs with new investments to allow the Social Security Administration to actually help people and undo some of the damage that Trump and DOGE have recklessly caused and increased investments in child care—something I will never stop fighting to make more progress on.
“Now, one thing this bill does not do, unfortunately, is fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“As everyone knows, Republicans rescinded bipartisan funding we provided for CPB in the first ever partisan rescissions package.
“It is a shameful reality—and now communities across the country will suffer the consequences as over 1,500 stations lose critical funding.
“I really hope Republicans will join us to restore this funding down the line—and I want you to know I am going to keep pushing to do that.
“Before I close, I want to say: I am clear-eyed: the investments we make in these bills today are really only half of the equation.
“Because the fact of the matter is we have an administration right now that is intent on ignoring Congress, breaking the law, and doing everything it can without any transparency to dismantle programs and agencies that help families.
“There is no magic bullet that will change that unfortunate reality.
“Our bills reject devastating cuts—and reject many of this administration’s absurd proposals—like dismantling the Department of Education, like destroying HHS, and more.
“But I still want to see us to do much more when it comes to demanding accountability, demanding transparency, and demanding the administration actually follow our laws.
“We all know President Trump cannot dismantle the Department of Education or ship education programs to other agencies. Authorizing laws prevent that. Appropriations laws prevent that. Yet, that has not stopped him from shipping CTE and adult education programs to DOL in violation of our laws.
“And Secretary McMahon says she wants to do the same for Title I and IDEA.
“So I am very glad our LHHS bill takes new steps to ensure she cannot do that, and Title I and IDEA programs students depend on do not get dismantled or moved out of ED.
“But I’d like this bill to also do the same for every other education program that states administer, to prevent states from having to deal with the chaos of these dismantling efforts, and I’m disappointed there was not bipartisan support to do that. Still, I am going to keep making the case for more accountability and transparency.
“We need more members across the aisle to not only reject the cuts but to speak up and speak out against what this administration is already doing to defy our laws and hurt the people we represent.
“Because, as we speak now, Trump and Vought are holding up billions of dollars we have secured on a bipartisan basis. They are on course to impound billions of taxpayer dollars while agencies fail to meet basic requirements of law.
“Right now, they are illegally hiding apportionments data that would let us know whether funds we passed are being spent as intended and help us strengthen the bills we are in the middle of writing on. It is absurd we have to mark up bills—while being kept in the dark. And just this week, we learned Russ Vought—through a footnote—paused $15 billion in NIH funding.
“One footnote, from an unelected bureaucrat—overruling Congress and even NIH, to block $15 billion in funding for things like cancer research.
“That is not transparency. It is not what Congress intended. And it is not acceptable.
“We need our Republican colleagues to join us in insisting that all blocked funding gets out—not just the programs most important to them.
“So, in sum: these are critical, solid bills we are considering today that deliver vital funds for families and reject many devastating proposals.
“And of course I would have liked to do even more, and I will not stop discussing how we make that happen with my colleagues, I will be voting yes to advance both of these bills today.
“And I am glad we are on track to continue making progress on bipartisan bills that reject devastating cuts and invest in our communities and in our global strength.”
Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) announced he secured $70,286,000.00 in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) in the latest Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Appropriations bills advanced by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. These projects, included in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) and Interior & Environment bills, fund critical infrastructure improvements across Louisiana.
“To make Louisiana even better, we must fix outdated sewer systems, congested roadways, and aging infrastructure,” said Dr. Cassidy. “I worked to return our federal tax dollars, supporting communities in 14 different parishes with better roads, better sewer systems, and stronger infrastructure.”
Since taking office, Cassidy has been one of the most effective U.S. Senators at directing federal dollars home to Louisiana, despite not serving on the Appropriations Committee. In FY2024, Roll Call reported Cassidy was one of the top 20 senators in total funding secured for his state—and one of only five in that group who does not sit on the committee. That year, he secured a record $1.3 billion for Louisiana, the highest of any member of the state’s congressional delegation.
This latest round of $70 million builds on the $49 million Cassidy announced earlier this month, bringing the total secured so far in FY2026 to over $115 million with more expected in the coming weeks.See below for a list of the funding secured by Senator Cassidy.
Funding Amount
Recipient
Project Description
$8,000,000.00
Jefferson Parish
This funding will support the West Bank Rail Alignment Project.
$7,500,000.00
City of Lafayette
This funding will support Johnston Street Safety Mitigation and Enhancements.
$7,000,000.00
City of Kenner
This funding will support stabilization and improvements to the city’s sewer and wastewater treatment plant.
$6,500,000.00
Nicholls State University
This funding will support the Engineering Workforce Development Center in Thibodaux.
$5,000,000.00
Tangipahoa Parish
This funding will support the Airport Road and Highway 3158 Roundabout Project.
$5,000,000.00
Livingston Parish
This funding will support the Browns Road Improvement Project.
$5,000,000.00
City of Covington
This funding will support the US 190 Widening Project.
$5,000,000.00
Baton Rouge
This funding will support the McKinley Diversion Canal Retrofit Project.
$5,000,000.00
Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District
This funding will support harbor and terminal district improvements.
$5,000,000.00
Ascension Parish
This funding will support the Airline Highway Raising Project.
$4,500,000.00
City of Monroe
This funding will support improvements to the Benoit Community Center.
$2,000,000.00
City of St. George
This funding will support safety improvements along Burbank Drive.
$1,700,000.00
Chennault International Airport
This funding will support their Hangar and Apron Development Project.
$1,500,000.00
University of New Orleans
This funding will support upgrades to the Shea Penland Coastal Research Educational Facility.
$1,500,000.00
City of Lake Charles
This funding will support the North Lake Charles Water Rehabilitation Project.
$86,000.00
Kisatchie National Forest
This funding will support cooperative law enforcement in adjacent parishes (Grant, Vernon, Winn).
NANCHANG, China, July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ruanyun Edai Technology Inc. (“Ruanyun” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: RYET), a leading AI-powered education technology company in China, today announced its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025.
Key Financial Performance Highlights
Revenue decreased by 27.0% to $6.7 million in FY2025, primarily due to declines in SmartHomework® platform development and digitalization services, despite significant increases in revenues from SmartHomework® software customization and content development, and licensing sales, which rose by 3117% and 5492%, respectively, along with a 70.4% growth in SmartExam® services driven by international expansion after the IPO.
Gross profit rose 29.1% to $3.8 million, with gross margin improving from 32.1% to 56.7%, driven by a shift to higher-margin software services.
As a result, net loss narrowed to $0.5 million from $2.1 million.
Yan Fu, Founder and CEO of Ruanyun, commented: “In FY2025, despite our decrease in total revenue, our software customization and content development segment saw strong growth. As policy changes in China impacted revenue from some of our services, we’re strategically shifting towards higher-margin software and AI-based services like AI-OCR for greater efficiency and customer diversification.”
“Aggressive cost management significantly strengthened our financials. Cost of revenue dropped by more than 50% to approximately $2.9 million. This led to a substantial 29.1% gross profit increase to approximately $3.8 million, expanding our gross margin by 24.6% to 56.7%. Consequently, our net loss narrowed significantly to approximately $0.5 million in FY2025 from approximately $2.1 million a year earlier.”
“Looking ahead, our U.S. IPO has already enabled the international replication of our business model, demonstrated by services provided to Lorpzenst Innovations LLC in the United States. Furthermore, our advancements in AI-based digital technology services, particularly with AI-OCR, present broad applicability beyond our current focus. In Saudi Arabia our innovative Chinese language learning platform, HanLink, has already established local partnerships and we are structured to keep expanding in the Middle Eastern region. We believe that this technological foundation and our proven operational model position us well for potential expansion into vocational, postgraduate, and adult education sectors, as well as broader geographic markets. Ruanyun believes that these strategic shifts, combined with improved profitability and efficient cost management, lay the groundwork for sustainable long-term growth and enhanced value for our shareholders.”
Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results
For fiscal years ended March 31
In USD Millions, except %, differences due to rounding.
2025
2024
Variances %
Total revenues
6.7
9.2
(27.0)
Cost of revenues
2.9
6.2
(53.5)
Gross profit
3.8
2.9
29.1
Loss from operations
(0.5)
(2.1)
(77.1)
Net loss
(0.5)
(2.1)
(75.3)
Revenue The Company’s revenue has primarily come from two main product lines: SmartExam® solution and SmartHomework® solution. These solutions generate revenue through six core streams: platform development, other testing services, software customization and content development, licensing, personalized exercise books and MOTK Pro, and digitalization services.
Revenue decreased by approximately $2.5 million, or 27.0%, from approximately $9.2 million in fiscal year 2024 to approximately $6.7 million in fiscal year 2025. The decrease in revenue primarily reflects a decrease in SmartHomework® solution digitalization services and SmartHomework® solution platform development, which was partially offset by an increase in SmartHomework® solution software customization and content development sales, as explained in details below.
The following table presents our revenue breakdown for the years indicated in absolute amounts:
For the years ended March 31
USD million, except %, differences due to rounding
2025
2024
Variances %
SmartExam® solution
0.7
0.6
15.5
SmartHomework® solution
6.0
8.6
(29.8)
Total revenues
6.7
9.2
(27.0)
SmartExam® Solution
Platform Development revenue decreased by $97,758, or 31.5%, to $212,377 in FY2025 from $310,135 in FY2024, due to a smaller project scale, despite completing one project each year. Future growth hinges on capturing market share in China’s computerized testing sector.
Other Services revenue jumped 70.4%, from $265,707 in FY2024 to $452,881 in FY2025. This growth is largely due to our U.S. IPO enabling international business replication, notably with Lorpzenst Innovations LLC in the United States.
SmartHomework® Solution
Platform Development revenue decreased significantly by approximately $2.6 million, or 81.8%, to $571,658 in FY2025 from approximately $3.1 million in FY2024. This decline was primarily due to the high capital risk of upfront hardware investments and extended repayment cycles for domestic government projects, leading us to reduce these constructions.
Software Customization and Content Development revenue soared by 3117%, from $74,138 in FY2024 to approximately $2.4 million in FY2025. This surge was driven by standardized, rapidly replicable software products meeting customer needs and enabling robust market expansion in China.
Licensing revenue increased by 5492%, from $2,748 to $153,666, despite a decrease from two subscribers in FY2024 to one in FY2025. This significant growth is attributable to our standardized question bank’s broad applicability, extending our reach to higher-paying vocational education.
Personalized Exercise Book and MOTK Pro revenue decreased by $55,040, or 62%, from $88,815 in FY2024 to $33,775 in FY2025. The drop was primarily due to changes in Chinese education policies prohibiting direct value-added service fees to students/parents, an impact we couldn’t fully offset despite seeking new collaborations such as with telecom operators.
Digitalization Services revenue decreased by approximately $2.4 million, or 45.5%, from approximately $5.3 million in FY2024 to approximately $2.9 million in FY2025. This was largely due to Chinese education policies limiting supplementary materials. However, this service is no longer a core focus of Ruanyun as the Company transitions to AI-based digital technology services using proprietary AI Optical Character Recognition (AI-OCR). This technology efficiently processes and converts various documents and images, enabling intelligent recognition, automated data collection and processing, automated data entry and verification, and customized OCR solutions.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue decreased by approximately $3.3 million, or 53.5%, from approximately $6.2 million in FY2024 to approximately $2.9 million in FY2025. The decrease was primarily attributable to the Company’s plan to discontinue businesses with significant hardware investment, reduce cost input, and increase gross profit.
Gross Profit and Margin
Gross profit increased by $855,732, or 29.1%, from approximately $2.9 million in FY2024 to approximately $3.8 million in FY2025. Gross margin increased by 24.6% from 32.1% in FY2024 to 56.7% in FY2025.
This increase was primarily due to personnel optimization and a strategic shift towards higher-margin software development and service businesses, boosting overall gross profit.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses decreased by $779,212, or 15.4%, from approximately $5.1 million in FY2024 to $4.3 million in FY2025. The decrease was primarily due to reductions in selling expenses and research and development expenses, partially offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses.
Selling Expenses
Selling expenses decreased by $583,900, or 24.7%, from approximately $2.4 million in FY2024 to approximately $1.8 million in FY2025. This decrease was primarily due to a reduction of $787,847 digital publishing expense, partially offset by an increase in consulting services. The decline in digital publishing expense aligns with the decrease in digitization service revenue.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses increased by $125,377, or 8.7%, from approximately $1.4 million in FY2024 to approximately $1.6 million in FY2025, while core administrative expenses remained flat.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses decreased by $320,689, or 25.6%, from approximately $1.3 million in FY2024 to approximately $0.9 million in FY2025. This decrease primarily resulted from lower employee compensation and benefits for early-stage research, reduced rent expense and other R&D expense reductions.
Net loss
Net losses for FY2025 and FY2024 were approximately $0.5 million and approximately $2.1 million, respectively. This was primarily attributable to the decrease in revenue not being able to cover costs and operating expenses.
Cash balances
As of March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024, cash balances were approximately $0.7 million and $1.1 million, respectively.
Recent Developments
On July 11, 2025, Ruanyun announced partnership with the Confucius Institute at Prince Sultan University to bring its AI-powered HanLink platform to Saudi Arabia’s first national online Confucius Institute.
On May 20, 2025, Ruanyun announced the successful launch and pilot of its innovative Chinese language learning platform, HanLink via a four-week trial at Riyadh’s Education & Skills International School in Saudi Arabia.
On April 09, 2025, Ruanyun completed its initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, raising total gross proceeds of approximately $15 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and other offering expenses.
About Ruanyun Edai Technology Inc.
Ruanyun Edai Technology Inc. is an innovative AI-driven education technology company dedicated to transforming the K-12 education landscape in China. By leveraging proprietary AI-powered solutions, the Company provides intelligent learning tools, assessment platforms, and adaptive learning systems that enhance academic performance and streamline educational processes. Committed to modernizing education, the Company empowers schools, teachers, and students with cutting-edge teaching, learning, and evaluation tools through the integration of AI and the internet, fostering a more efficient and effective learning model. For more information, please visit: http://www.ruanyun.net/, https://investors.ruanyun.net/.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. When the Company uses words such as “may, “will, “intend,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate” or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the uncertainties related to market conditions and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the registration statement filed with the SEC. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.
Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, called on Arielle Roth, the recently confirmed Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), to fulfill her responsibility to fully implement programs authorized and funded by Congress – specifically, the Digital Equity Act and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Senator Luján urged Roth to make her first act as Administrator the immediate restoration of suspended digital equity grants and the release of approved federal funding to connect all New Mexicans to broadband.
“Now that you have been confirmed as Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), I urge you to fulfill your commitments to Congress that you will ‘follow the law,’ ‘act impartially,’ and ‘deliver the best broadband service possible for all Americans,’” said Senator Luján. “Your first act as Administrator should be to immediately restore the suspended digital equity grants and swiftly approve and release BEAD funding to states like New Mexico.”
“Congressionally appropriated funds for the Digital Equity Act and the BEAD program are not optional – they are essential. They represent not only a historic investment in our infrastructure, but a statutory obligation to the people of New Mexico and every unserved and underserved community across this country,” concluded Senator Luján.
As Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, Senator Luján is a strong champion for 100% broadband connectivity. Senator Luján has pressed Commerce Secretary Lutnick multiple times and called on President Trump directly to release funding for the BEAD program.
In the 118th Congress, Senator Luján introduced the bipartisan Tribal Connect Act to make it easier for Tribes to secure high-speed internet access at Tribal Essential Community-Serving Institutions through the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Universal Service Fund (USF) Schools and Libraries Program, or E-Rate program.
In the 117th Congress, Senator Luján introduced legislation to help close the homework gap by equipping school buses with Wi-Fi technology and improving financing options for broadband deployment.
The full letter can be found here or below:
Dear Ms. Roth:
Now that you have been confirmed as Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), I urge you to fulfill your commitments to Congress that you will “follow the law,” “act impartially,” and “deliver the best broadband service possible for all Americans.”
This responsibility includes fully implementing programs authorized and funded by Congress under the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), specifically the Digital Equity Act and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Your first act as Administrator should be to immediately restore the suspended digital equity grants and swiftly approve and release BEAD funding to states like New Mexico.
The Digital Equity Act represents a Congressionally mandated $2.75 billion investment to advance digital inclusion for historically underserved populations across this county. New Mexico, a state with deep rural divides, Tribal lands, and persistent poverty, was awarded more than $8 million to launch programs such as digital navigators, workforce development, and cybersecurity training. These funds were designed to reach nearly two million residents who still face significant barriers that prevent them from fully participating in the digital world.
As you noted, “[m]aking sure Americans have the resources and skills they need to participate in the digital economy was part of the IIJA and I will follow the law.” 2 You also stated that once confirmed you would “commit to implementing NTIA’s statutory requirements, including with respect to the Digital Equity Act.” 3 Distribution of these digital equity funds is not a discretionary choice, it is a statutory obligation. You must uphold your commitment to follow the law by immediately reinstating and resuming the disbursement of funds awarded under the Digital Equity Act.
Congress also created the $42.45 billion BEAD Program to finish the job of connecting nearly 25 million Americans that continue to wait for affordable, high-speed, reliable internet service. The BEAD program is our once-in-a-century opportunity to finish closing the digital divide and states have already invested years in developing implementation plans tailored to local needs, technical realities, and the bipartisan intent of Congress.
As NTIA Administrator you must uphold the statutory flexibility given to the states. This includes:
No new delays. The BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice should not be used to further delay approvals or revisit established allocations—such as the over $675 million allocated to New Mexico.
A meaningful low-cost service option. Internet service providers that win BEAD funding must offer a low-cost service option that is affordable and high-speed, not just a box checking exercise.
Deference for local expertise. States are best suited to determine what technology is appropriate for their terrain and therefore must be afforded deference on priority project determinations, so long as they meet the speed, latency and scalability requirements of IIJA.
Failing to adhere to these statutory requirements and current approval timeline risks setting broadband deployment back by years.
Moreover, Congress also explicitly authorized states to use BEAD funding for a variety of uses beyond deployment. These uses include data collection, broadband mapping, planning, installation of Internet connections within multifamily residential buildings where low-income residents live, broadband adoption efforts, including programs to provide affordable internet-capable devices, and other uses as determined by the Assistant Secretary. It is important to follow the law and release non-deployment guidance as soon as possible.
I request that you respond to these questions by August 15, 2025.
The IIJA included $2.75 billion to support three grant programs under the Digital Equity Act to equip individuals and communities with the skills and tools needed for full participation in all aspects of society. Earlier this year, the states’ Capacity Grants were wrongfully terminated as were the Competitive Grant grantees and the others recommended for an award. In accordance with the law, when will you reinstate the grant programs under the Digital Equity Act? Please provide a specific date.
States would already have shovels in the ground if not for the delays this administration introduced with the initial 90 day extension and subsequent June 6th Public Notice. Will you commit to no further delays and approve States’ BEAD Plans within 90 days of submission?
Congress authorized BEAD funds for non-deployment uses, including affordability and adoption. Further guidance from NTIA should not hinder states’ ability to exercise discretion granted by statute to use funds for non-deployment. When will you release the updated guidance for these uses? Please provide a specific date.
We share the goals of connecting every American to broadband and ensuring that broadband is affordable to low-income Americans. Congressionally appropriated funds for the Digital Equity Act and the BEAD program are not optional – they are essential. They represent not only a historic investment in our infrastructure, but a statutory obligation to the people of New Mexico and every unserved and underserved community across this country.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Toledo, OH — Today, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a decision finding that the Department of Energy violated the Impoundment Control Act. After investigating delayed awards for the Department of Energy’s Renew America’s Schools Program, GAO confirmed what we already knew: President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought’s theft of appropriated funds violates the Impoundment Control Act.
This decision respects Congress’s constitutional primacy over appropriations and the Congress’s role in passing annual appropriations Acts, including appropriations to provide funding for schools to help schools decrease energy costs, improve indoor air quality, and foster healthier learning environments.
“GAO’s legal determination confirms the illegality of DOE’s wider pattern of freezing appropriated funds for energy programs. DOE’s delays of critical energy funding for policy reasons lay bare an appalling betrayal of working families,” said Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur (OH-09). “These program freezes cede our global clean energy leadership to Communist China and force Americans to pay higher energy bills. DOE’s partisan overreach must end now. They must release the funds immediately so communities and families can drive down costs, improve our infrastructure, and secure America’s energy independence in perpetuity.”
“President Trump, Russ Vought, and Secretary Wright continue to steal from Americans to concentrate absolute power in the executive branch. This time, they are stealing from our nation’s schoolchildren, who deserve a healthy environment to learn in – and from school districts looking to lower their energy costs. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), our government’s preeminent nonpartisan watchdog, has yet again plainly demonstrated that the Department of Energy is engaged in a broad pattern of unlawfully freezing critical energy investments, forcing Americans to pay higher energy bills,” said House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (CT-03). “Their unlawful impoundments are not limited to Renew America’s Schools; they are threatening vital clean energy and efficiency initiatives that help drive down costs and modernize our infrastructure. I will continue to say it: Russ Vought is behind the lawless destruction and upheaval of our government and must be removed from his position. Russ Vought is an unelected bureaucrat, much like those he professes to detest, and he has decided that his views, and his priorities, are superior to the priorities, directives, and decisions of the Democratic and Republican representatives in the United States Congress. He has shown time and again that he is willing to break the law and hurt Americans in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. He must be stopped.”
The US Department of Energy (DOE) launched the $500 Million Renew America’s Schools Program to promote the implementation of energy improvements at K-12 public schools across the country. This first-of-its-kind investment aims to help school communities make energy upgrades that will decrease energy use and costs, improve indoor air quality, and foster healthier learning environments. To date, the Renew America’s Schools Program has invested hundreds of millions in public school districts across America, supporting capacity-building initiatives for energy management at over two dozen Local Educational Agencies (LEAs), and funding improvement projects at more than 400 facilities across 36 states – directly benefitting over 197,000 students and 14,000 teachers.
In April, Ranking Member DeLauro and Vice Chair Murrayfirst released a joint trackeron the funds President Trump and Russ Vought are stealing from American communities. This tracker — the first of its kind — puts a spotlight on the frozen funds across our government, including the $77 Billion for Department of Energy programs. See the updated trackerhere.
Ranking Member DeLauro has been sounding the alarm on impoundment since President Trump was reelected. In December 2024, she released thisfact sheetlaying the groundwork on President Trump’s uninformed and unconstitutional impoundment plan.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF), the technology leader powering the future of the real estate industry, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Tim Eaton as the Chief Financial Officer of AppFolio, effective July 30, 2025.
Eaton’s appointment follows a distinguished tenure at AppFolio, where he most recently served as Interim Chief Financial Officer since October 2024. Since joining AppFolio in 2020, he has also held other key positions including Chief of Staff to the CEO and various other leadership roles. Before joining AppFolio, Eaton built a strong foundation through his work in financial, strategic, and operational positions at Visa, Google, and Goldman Sachs. He earned his M.B.A. in finance and entrepreneurship from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a B.S. in Business Management from Brigham Young University, and is a CFA charterholder.
“Tim’s appointment reflects his impactful leadership in positioning AppFolio for long-term growth and success,” said Shane Trigg, CEO of AppFolio. “I look forward to continuing to partner with Tim as we drive AppFolio’s path forward, focused on creating even greater value for our customers, our people, and our shareholders.”
“AppFolio’s future is bright, and I am deeply proud to be part of an organization that values continuous innovation, close customer partnerships, and building trust every day,” said Eaton. “We are building the platform where the real estate industry comes to do business, and I am honored to fully embrace the CFO role and help lead our exceptional team as we power the future of the real estate industry.”
About AppFolio AppFolio is the technology leader powering the future of the real estate industry. Our innovative platform and trusted partnership enable our customers to connect communities, increase operational efficiency, and grow their business. For more information about AppFolio, visit appfolio.com.
For more information, please contact: Stephanie Mitchell pr@appfolio.com
Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements are subject to considerable risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not statements of historical fact contained in this press release, and can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “future’” “predicts, “projects,” “target,” “seeks,” “contemplates,” “should,” “will,” “would” or similar expressions and the negatives of those expressions. In particular, forward-looking statements contained in this press release relate to future operating results and financial position, including the Company’s fiscal year 2025 financial outlook, anticipated future expenses and investments, the Company’s business opportunities, the impact of the Company’s strategic actions and initiatives, the effect of the Company’s 2025 Share Repurchase Program, the potential benefits and effect of the Company’s resident experience related services, including FolioSpace, and their impact on the Company’s plans, objectives, expectations and capabilities.
Forward-looking statements represent AppFolio’s current beliefs and expectations based on information currently available and speak only as of the date the statement is made. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. The risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to materially differ from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements include those risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, which was filed with the SEC on February 6, 2025, as such risk factors may be updated from time to time in our subsequent filings with the SEC, and the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as well as in the Company’s other filings with the SEC. You should read this press release with the understanding that the Company’s actual future results may be materially different from the results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
Thirty-five research labs at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta will receive more than $8.4 million in grants through the Research Capacity Program to help researchers get the essential equipment they need to expand their work.
With a strong focus on health innovation and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and quantum science, this round of funding will support high-impact economic projects, including AI-powered health diagnostics, energy, quantum computing and wildfire management, furthering Alberta’s global competitiveness in AI, advanced manufacturing and health innovation.
“Our province has a strong history of being on the leading edge of science. Programs like the Small Equipment Grant help ensure Alberta’s world-class institutions and their researchers can continue to make groundbreaking discoveries, commercialize their work for the benefit of all Albertans and Canadians, and compete for talent on the world stage.”
Providing Alberta researchers with the equipment they need strengthens the province’s globally competitive position, and helps post-secondary institutions attract and retain top-tier talent from around the world, supporting economic diversification and technological growth in Alberta.
“Alberta’s universities are at the leading edge of research and innovation, developing solutions to many of the most pressing issues we face today. Research and commercialization are essential to fostering economic growth and addressing productivity challenges, and this investment will help Alberta remain globally competitive in a rapidly changing innovation landscape.”
“This investment is a catalyst for innovation at the University of Calgary. It enables our researchers to access the specialized tools they need to accelerate discovery and tackle real-world challenges. From health innovation to quantum science, this funding strengthens our ability to deliver research that drives meaningful impact for Albertans.”
The Research Capacity Program is a competitive, multi-stream funding program designed to help Alberta post-secondary institutions expand their research capacity. Its Small Equipment Grant stream covers up to 40 per cent of the costs and enables researchers to buy specialized lab equipment.
Successful applicants are selected through a rigorous, multi-disciplinary review process that assesses each proposal for its innovation, feasibility and potential for real-world impact to ensure that only the best solutions are chosen for funding.
Quick facts
Alberta’s government has invested more than $570 million into post-secondary research through the Research Capacity Program since it was established in 2000.
More than 70 per cent (7,250 of 10,000) of the skilled professionals recruited or trained by a lab funded through the Research Capacity Program stay in Alberta.
Funding decisions for the Research Capacity Program grants are recommended by an external Multidisciplinary Review Panel, which independently assesses proposals based on academic excellence, alignment with Alberta’s priorities and potential impact.
This process ensures impartiality, as the panel’s expert peer review is independent and adheres to best practices used by leading research bodies like the Canada Foundation for Innovation and National Institutes of Health.
The Research Capacity Program has multiple competition streams, including the College-Industry Innovation Grant, Research Infrastructure Grant and Small Equipment Grant.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Duncan Caillard, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology
Jason Momoa’s historical epic Chief of War, launching August 1 on Apple TV+, is a triumph of Hawaiians telling their own stories – despite the fact their film and TV production industry now struggles to be viable.
The series stars Momoa (Aquaman, Game of Thrones) as Kaʻaina, an ali’i (chief) who fights for – and later rises against – King Kamehameha I during the bloody reunification of Hawaii.
Already receiving advance praise, the nine-episode first season co-stars New Zealand actors Temeura Morrison, Cliff Curtis and Luciane Buchanan, alongside Hawaiian actors Kaina Makua, Brandon Finn and Moses Goods.
A passion project for Momoa, the Hawaiian star co-created the series with writer Thomas Pa’a Sibbett after years in development. With a reported budget of US$340 million, it is one of the most expensive television series ever produced.
It is also a milestone in Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) representation onscreen. Controversially, however, the production only spent a month in Hawaiʻi, and was mostly shot in New Zealand with non-Hawaiian crews.
Momoa has even expressed an interest in New Zealand citizenship, but the choice of location is more a reflection of the troubled state of the film industry in Hawaiʻi. On the other hand, it is a measure of the success of the New Zealand screen industry, with potential lessons for other countries in the Pacific.
Ea o Moʻolelo – story sovereignty
Set at the turn of the 19th century, Chief of War tells the moʻolelo (story, history) of King Kamehameha I’s conquest of the archipelago.
Hawaiʻi was historically governed by aliʻi nui (high chiefs), and each island was ruled independently. Motivated by the threat of European colonisation and empowered by Western weaponry, Kamehameha established the Hawaiian Kingdom, culminating in full unification in 1810.
The series is an important example of what authors Dean Hamer and Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu have called “Ea o Moʻolelo”, or story sovereignty, which emphasises Indigenous peoples’ right to control their own narrative by respecting the “the inalienable right of a story to its own unique contents, style and purpose”.
Chief of War is also the biggest Hawaiian television series ever produced. Although Hawaiʻi remains a popular setting onscreen, these productions have rarely involved Hawaiians in key decision-making roles.
Sea of troubles
The series hits screens at a time of major disruption in Hollywood, with streaming services upending established business models.
“Linear” network television faces declining viewership and advertising revenue. Movie studios struggle to draw audiences to theatres. The consequences for workers in the the industry have been severe, as the 2023 writers strike showed.
Those changes have had a catastrophic impact on the Hawaiʻi film industry, too.
Long a popular location – Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980, 2010-2020), Magnum P.I. (1980-1988, 2018-2024) and Lost (2004-2010) were all shot on location in Hawaiʻi – it is an expensive place to film.
Actors, crew and production equipment often have to be flown in from the continental United States, and producers compete with tourism for costly accommodation.
Kaina Makua as King Kamehameha and New Zealand actor Luciane Buchanan as Ka’ahumanu in Chief of War. Apple TV+
An industry in transition
These are not uncommon problems in distant locations, and many governments try to attract screen productions through tax incentives and rebates on portions of the production costs.
New Zealand, for example, offers a 20-25% rebate for international productions and 40% for local productions. Hawaiʻi offers a 22-27% rebate.
But this is less than other US states offer, such as Georgia (30%), Louisiana (40%) and New Mexico (40%). Hawaiʻi also has an annual cap of US$50 million on rebates.
To make things even harder, Hawaiʻi offers only limited support for Indigenous filmmakers. Governments in Australia and New Zealand provide targeted funding and support for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori filmmakers.
By contrast, the Hawaiʻi Film Commission doesn’t provide direct grants to local filmmakers or producers (Indigenous or otherwise). Small amounts of government funding have been administered through the Public Broadcasting Service, but this is now in jeopardy after US President Donald Trump recently cut federal funding.
The Hawaiʻi screen industry faces a perfect storm. For the first time since 2004, film and TV production has ground to a halt. Many workers now doubt the long-term sustainability of their careers.
Lessons from Aotearoa NZ
While there are lessons Hawaiʻi legislators and industry leaders could learn from New Zealand’s example, there should also be a measure of caution.
The Hawaiʻi tax credit system is out of date. But despite industry lobbying, legislation to update it failed to reach the floor of the legislature earlier this year. New tax settings would help make local production viable again.
Secondly, decades of investment in Māori cinema have seen it become diverse, engaging and creatively accomplished. Hawaiʻi could benefit from greater direct investment in Hawaiian storytelling, respecting its cultural value even if it doesn’t turn a commercial profit.
On the other hand, New Zealand has a favourable currency exchange rate with the US which can’t be replicated in Hawaiʻi. And New Zealand film production workers have seen their rights to unionise watered down compared to their American peers.
But if Hawaiʻi can get its settings right, a possible second season of Chief of War may yet be filmed there, which could mark a genuine rejuvenation of its own film industry.
Duncan Caillard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
As the cool nights continue, it’s the perfect time to cozy up with a new batch of captivating films and series.
This month’s streaming highlights bring a little bit of everything, from gripping true crime, to thought-provoking political drama, and a nostalgic music documentary on the life and times of piano man Billy Joel.
So grab a blanket (and maybe a snack or two). Your next binge-watch awaits.
One Night in Idaho: The College Murders
Prime Video
I remember seeing the gruesome 2022 murder of four college students in Moscow, Idaho, splashed all over the news in Australia. The world seemed momentarily gripped by the brutality of the killings, which happened in off-campus housing, while two other roommates slept downstairs.
The ensuing investigation was given significantly less attention, though. So when Prime Video dropped this four-episode limited series, well, that was my weekend sorted.
The docuseries features exclusive interviews with the friends and families of the victims, so it doesn’t feel gratuitous. It respectfully recounts the tragedy and explores its continued impact, while honouring the victims. It also builds the kind of tension and disquiet that is so beloved in the true crime genre, but not in a way that makes you feel gross watching it.
Notably, legal proceedings for the case were still underway when One Night in Idaho was released. And the series made it clear there was more to the story which couldn’t be shared with, or by, the producers.
However, the trial has since concluded, with more information now available for anyone wanting to dive deeper into the case. This makes the series an absorbing watch.
– Alexa Scarlata
The Night of the Hunter
Various platforms
In 1955, director Charles Laughton crafted The Night of the Hunter: one of the darkest, strangest fairy tales ever to come out of Hollywood.
Shortly before Ben Harper is hanged for robbing a bank and killing two men, he hides the $10,000 loot in the toy doll of his young daughter Pearl. Only Pearl and her brother John know the secret – until the deranged serial killer-priest Harry Powell hears about the money and sets out to recover it.
Harry marries Willa, Harper’s widow, and then, after killing her, pursues John and Pearl relentlessly across West Virginia.
Robert Mitchum’s depiction of pure evil is one of cinema’s most vivid creations, with LOVE and HATE tattooed on the fingers of each hand.
The film did not align with the mainstream tastes of the era. Audiences and reviewers didn’t know what to make of this abnormal mix of fairy tale logic, nightmarish imagery and biblical allegory.
Successive generations of critics and filmmakers have caught on to its brilliance. Critic Roger Ebert said it was “one of the greatest of all American films”. In 2008, French film magazine Cahiers du cinémavoted it as the second-best film of all time, behind only Citizen Kane (1941).
The Night of the Hunter remains unsettlingly modern, 70 years on.
The highest point in Denmark, Mollehoj, is 171 metres above sea level, so it is plausible to imagine the whole country being overrun by water due to rising sea levels, leading to mass evacuation. This is the basic premise of the Danish series Families Like Ours.
The cleverness of this premise is that it turns comfortable middle-class Danes into refugees, facing hostility, poverty and violence as they seek to resettle. Given Denmark’s hard line on refugees, this makes the series politically powerful, equally so for us in Australia.
The central figure is a young woman, Laura (Amaryllis August), who creates disaster for her family through what she believes is an act of huge empathy. The same is true of Henrik (Magnus Millang), who shoots an innocent man in what he believes is an act of self-defence.
Families Like Ours is not a comfortable series to watch, but it manages to raise central issues of our time, without ever seeming didactic or preachy. It succeeds in combining the personal and the political in a six-part show that is powerful – and leaves enough loose ends for a potential second season.
– Dennis Altman
The Man from Hong Kong
Various platforms
A cinematic firecracker of a film exploded onto international screens 50 years ago, blending martial arts mayhem, Bond-esque set pieces, casual racism – and a distinctly Australian swagger.
From its audacious visual style; to its complex, life-threatening stunts; to its pioneering status as an international co-production, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s The Man from Hong Kong has solidified its place as a cult classic.
A Sydney-based crime lord’s activities come under the scrutiny of a determined Hong Kong detective, Inspector Fang Sing Leng. A fiery East-meets-West martial arts showdown explodes across the Australian landscape, pushing both sides to their limits.
The movie is a playful pastiche that confidently combines martial arts action, police procedurals, spy thrillers, and Westerns, all filtered through a distinctly Australian “crash-zoom” lens.
The film was an influence to Quentin Tarantino and paved the way for films such as Mad Max (1979), particularly in what Trenchard-Smith and his partner in film, stunt legend Grant Page, might call its “cunning stunts”.
The elaborate car chases and explosive stunt setups in The Man from Hong Kong served as prototypes for iconic sequences that would inspire the Mad Max films, among others, a testament to a bygone era of practical effects and thrill seeking audacity.
The Man from Hong Kong remains an exhilarating piece of pure cinema, despite its relatively small budget. It’s an exemplar (and occasional cautionary tale) for filmmakers in terms of international co-production, its cunning stunts, and genre blending.
Based on the book series by Jussi Adler-Olsen, Dept Q is a gripping television adaptation for fans of Nordic noir and British crime drama.
In Edinburgh, Scotland, Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) has returned to work after a shooting which left him physically and psychologically wounded, his colleague partially paralysed, and another colleague dead.
With the dregs of a budget assigned to cold cases, and a team of misfit officers, Morck sets out to solve the four-year-old case of missing Crown prosecutor, Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie).
We follow Merritt’s story across various stages of her life. We see her as a teenager in the lead-up to a devastating crime that left her brother with a traumatic brain injury, as well as later in life, when she loses a major case involving a wealthy man on trial for his wife’s death.
Shortly after the devastating verdict, Merritt went missing on a ferry ride to her childhood home, on the fictionalised island of Mhòr. Returning to the present, we see she has been held captive inside a hyperbaric chamber for the past four years.
The pressure under which Merritt is kept makes Morck’s investigation high stakes from the start, while the movement between past and present highlights the impacts of past traumatic events on both characters.
Dept Q is a fast-paced, breathless thriller which will leave viewers craving its rumoured second season.
– Jessica Gildersleeve
Billy Joel: And So It Goes
HBO Max
Produced by Tom Hanks, this two-part documentary about singer/songwriter Billy Joel covers more than five decades of music. Created very much from Joel’s perspective, who is also the main narrator, the archival content is fascinating, and the music difficult to deny.
Discussion of Joel’s early suicide attempts are a shocking and terrible reminder of how different things might have been. From here, the role of the women in his life – his wives, daughters, and mother (“his champion”) – becomes vital. Beyond the headlines (particularly with his second wife Christie Brinkley), are partners who were muses, business supporters and emotional support pillars – some of whom gave Joel ultimatums when the time came to battle his alcohol addiction.
Brinkley, as well as Joel’s first wife, Elizabeth Weber, are particularly moving interviewees. They would wait at home, or stand nervously backstage as Joel “went to work” to earn, repair and rebuild against the odds. No spoilers, but let’s just say Joel ended up in trouble more than once.
On the other hand, the men in Joel’s life are often distant: Jewish grandparents who escaped Nazi Germany; a father who left when Joel was small; a half-brother discovered later in life. These losses are never really healed.
Billy Joel: And So It Goes is a five-hour epic, a story of survival and ultimately, of peace. It is, of course, also a reminder of an incredible catalogue of music – joyful, ordinary and wonderful – and the extraordinary life behind it.
– Liz Giuffre
If you or someone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
Gardening Australia, season 36
ABC iView
Since it first aired in 1990, Gardening Australia has offered tips and inspiration from every state and territory on a weekly basis. A perennial favourite, the show seems to possess perpetual appeal for world-weary viewers open to slowing down by growing plants.
The no-nonsense host Peter Cundall helmed the series until 2008 (Cundall died in 2021 at the age of 94). The honour of “King of Compost” now rests with the gregarious Costa Georgiadis, and a wider cast of presenters that has expanded to be more diverse and engaging. One stalwart from the start, Jane Edmanson, is still flourishing in season 36: her episode 4 segment titled “Fronds with Benefits” certainly caught my eye.
Topics covered this season range from small-space innovation and passion projects, to Indigenous knowledge and bush foods, through to permaculture and climate change. Episodes 6 and 20 – specials on native plants and NAIDOC Week, respectively – are both worth a watch.
While the series can distance renters, and might not be edgy enough for younger audiences, it has managed to stake out ground in the digital realm – with a blooming online presence for budding green thumbs.
One of the longest-running Australian shows still on air, it doesn’t look as though Gardening Australia will be pulling up roots anytime soon.
– Phoebe Hart
The Buccaneers, season two
Apple TV
Loosen your corsets, The Buccaneers is back for a second season of feminist sisterhood and fabulous gowns.
Adapted from Edith Wharton’s unfinished final novel, the series follows a group of outspoken young American women navigating the marriage market in 1870s Victorian England. Gleefully anachronistic with feisty girl power speeches and a contemporary pop music soundtrack, The Buccaneers is equal parts Bridgerton and Gossip Girl (complete with a character played by Leighton Meester).
Season two picks up where the first left off, with Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) and Guy (Matthew Broome) fleeing the country to escape Jinny’s violent husband Lord James Seadown (Barney Fishwick).
Meanwhile, sister Nan (Kristine Froseth) is busy back home leveraging her position as Duchess of Tintagel to help facilitate Jinny’s return – a campaign that includes wearing a showstopping red gown to a black and white ball. In keeping with the series’ M.O., this might be narrative nonsense, but it looks exquisite.
While trysts and love triangles continue to provide escapist entertainment, Jinny’s abusive marriage dominates later episodes. If season one sought to expose the isolation and entrapment Jinny endured in her marriage, season two foregrounds her resistance in the face of it, intent on highlighting how perpetrators of violence manipulate legal and medical systems to tighten the noose around victims’ necks.
Season two’s veering between frothy excess and melodrama arguably results in some tonal patchiness. Nonetheless, it should be commended for its careful treatment of the corrosive impacts and dangers of coercive control. This – more than the downloadable soundtrack and dazzling costumes – makes it good viewing.
– Rachel Williamson
Dangerous Animals
Prime Video
Dangerous Animals is perhaps the most original and entertaining shark horror film we have seen since Jaws – incorporating traditional elements of the shark thriller genre, while challenging them at the same time.
The film starts with the primal fear of being eaten alive by monstrous sharks, with gruesome shock-thrill scenes of tourists being torn apart in a blood red ocean.
But later, the narrative reminds us it is the boat captain, not the great white, who is the real sadistic killer. Predictably, we see a young bikini-clad woman who gets horribly dismembered (just like the first unforgettable victim in Jaws).
However, it is also a fearless bikini-clad woman, Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) who turns the tables on the boat captain, outwits him, rescues her boyfriend and even makes friends with the shark.
Dangerous Animals includes some interesting subtext and commentary, such as when it compares women to fish – creatures hunted for sport – and when it highlights the inherent cruelty of fishing, and the hook that impales the prey.
The film delivers sophisticated special effects and gruesome eco-horror entertainment. It is a fun, self-aware and postmodern watch that will leave you thinking.
The Australian influence is delightfully evident in the irreverent humour. And for anyone who has been to the Gold Coast, there is much pleasure in seeing the film play out across its iconic locations.
This film will trigger your childhood fear of Jaws – but with a twist.
– Susan Hopkins
Shark Whisperer
Netflix
In Shark Whisperer, the great white shark gets an image makeover – from Jaws villain to misunderstood friend and admirer.
However the star of the documentary is not so much the shark, but the model and marine conservationist Ocean Ramsey (yes, that’s her real name).
The film centres on Ramsey’s self-growth journey, with the shark co-starring as a quasi-spiritual medium for finding meaning and purpose (not to mention celebrity status).
Whisperer and the Ocean Ramsey website tap into the collective fascination with dangerous sharks fuelled by popular culture. Many online images show Ramsey in a bikini or touching sharks – she’s small, and vulnerable in the face of great whites. As with forms of celebrity humanitarianism, what I have dubbed “sexy conservationism” leaves itself open to criticism about its methods – even if its intentions are good.
Globally at least 80 million sharks are killed every year. Thanks in part to the hashtag activism of Ocean Ramsey and her millions of fans and followers, Hawaii was the first state in the United States to outlaw shark fishing.
So, Ramsey may be right to argue her ends justify the means.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlee Bower, Senior Research Fellow, Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney
Without even realising it, your world sometimes gradually gets smaller: less walking, fewer days in the office, cancelling on friends. Watching plans disintegrate on the chat as friends struggle to settle on a date or place for a catch-up.
You might start to feel a bit flat or disconnected. Subtle changes in habit and mood take hold. Could you be … lonely?
It’s not a label many of us identify with easily, especially if you know you’ve got friends, or are in a happy relationship.
But loneliness can happen to us all from time to time – and identifying it is the first step to fixing it.
So, what is loneliness?
Loneliness is the distress we feel when our relationships don’t meet our needs – in quality or quantity.
It’s not the same as being objectively alone (otherwise known as “social isolation”).
You can feel deeply lonely even while surrounded by friends, or totally content on your own.
Loneliness is subjective; many people don’t realise they’re lonely until the feeling becomes persistent.
What are some of the signs to look for?
You may feel a physicalcoldness, emptiness or hollowness (I’ve heard it described as feeling like you are missing an organ). Some research shows social pain is experienced similarly in the brain to physical pain.
In the past, being separated from your tribe meant danger and risk from predators, so our brains developed a way to push us back towards connection.
The pain of loneliness is designed to keep us connected and safe.
Why is it often hard to recognise loneliness?
Sadly, there’s still a lot of stigma around admitting loneliness, especially for men.
Many people resist identifying as lonely, or feel this marks them as a “loser”.
But this silence can make the problem worse.
When no one talks about it, it becomes harder to break the cycle of loneliness, and the stigma remains.
While passing loneliness is normal, chronic or persistent loneliness can hurt our health.
Research shows chronic loneliness is associated with:
depression
anxiety
weakened immunity
heart disease
earlier death.
Loneliness can also become self-reinforcing. When loneliness feels normal, it can start to shape how you see the world: you expect rejection, withdraw more and the cycle deepens.
The earlier you notice you’re lonely, the easier it is to break.
But I’m in a relationship, have loads of friends and a rewarding job
Yes, but you can still be lonely.
Most of us need different kinds of relationships to thrive. It’s not about how many people you know, but whether you feel connected and have a meaningful role in these relationships.
You may feel lonely even with strong friendships if you are lacking deeper connection, shared identity or a sense of community.
This doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful, or a bad friend.
It just means you need more or different kinds of connection.
OK, I’ve realised I am lonely. Now what?
Start by asking yourself: what kind of connection am I missing?
Is it one-to-one friendships? A partner? Casual social interactions? A shared purpose or community?
Then reflect on what’s helped you feel more connected in the past. For some, it’s joining a choir, a book club or a sports group. For others, it may be volunteering or just saying “yes” to small social moments, like chatting with your local barista or learning the name of the local butcher.
If you’re still struggling, a psychologist can help with tailored strategies for building connection.
The structural causes of loneliness
It’s also important to remember loneliness is often not because of personal failings or overall mental health.
We are also learning more about how climate change can disrupt social connection and worsen loneliness due to, for example, higher temperatures or bushfires.
Loneliness is normal, common, human and completely solvable.
Start by noticing it in yourself and reach out if you can.
Let’s start talking about it more, so others can feel less alone too.
Marlee Bower receives funding from the Henry Halloran Urban and Regional Research Initiative, the BHP Foundation, AHURI and NHMRC. She is affiliated with the University of Sydney Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank.
Imagine an area larger than the Australian Capital Territory, nearly twice the size of London and four times that of New York City covered in coca plantations.
Colombia produces an estimated 2,664 metric tonnes of cocaine annually. That is enough to fill 20 Boeing 747 cargo planes per year.
Not even during the darkest days of Pablo Escobar’s infamous empire did Colombia cultivate as much coca or produce as much cocaine as it does today.
In the past year alone, coca crops expanded by 10% and production capacity soared more than 50%.
So how did it come to this?
A worrying mix
Colombia did not arrive at this point overnight, nor by chance. A complex mix of radical and failed policy shifts, scientific innovation and global demand, among other factors, has shaped this trajectory.
For example, in 2015, Colombia’s Constitutional Court suspended aerial fumigation and banned the use of glyphosate. Despite the herbicide’s effectiveness in killing coca plants, the court cited concerns over its health risks and environmental impact.
Aerial spraying had allowed the government to reduce the risk that manual eradication brigades were exposed to over large areas.
In 2016, then-president Juan Manuel Santos introduced a scheme to substitute coca with non-illicit plants. Incentives were offered to farmers. However, it ended up encouraging many peasants who had never grown coca before to begin cultivating it, simply to qualify for the new subsidies.
It is no surprise that during Santos’ second term (2014–18), Colombia’s coca crops nearly doubled, from 96,000 hectares to more than 170,000.
More recently, in 2022, President Gustavo Petro announced his Paz Total (Total Peace) policy. This was designed to bring trafficking organisations – including Colombia’s second largest narco-terrorist group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) – to the negotiation table.
What happens in Colombia matters to Australia because criminal innovation is fuelling greater cocaine volumes and higher purity. This means more is flowing towards Australian shores.
Colombia’s coca production is being reshaped by enhanced cultivation techniques, more secure and autonomous smuggling methods, and an increasingly fragmented criminal landscape.
Production is now more efficient and profitable than ever. Growers are planting improved coca leaf varieties and achieve more harvest cycles per year with higher alkaloid yields per kilo.
Some networks are also transitioning from manned to unmanned operations.
Also, the growing presence and operational influence of Mexican cartels in Colombia has amplified the scope and scale of alliances between transnational organised crime groups across Europe, Asia and Oceania. International police investigations are even more complex.
Despite record-high seizure numbers and total volumes intercepted, Australia is still among the most attractive destination markets for drug trafficking organisations because of the high price users pay for the drugs.
Unless something radically changes in Colombia, Australia continues to face growing risks from maritime trafficking routes. There is also an increased threat of being used as a transit and money laundering hub in the global drug economy.
Some possible solutions
Even if conditions in Colombia were to change swiftly and drastically, supply-focused strategies alone are insufficient to mitigate the risks facing Australia.
After all, Colombia cannot simply fumigate its way out of this cocaine crisis, just as Australia cannot arrest its way out of it.
However, continued collaboration between the Australian Federal Police and the National Police of Colombia remains essential to keep drugs at bay.
The appointment of Colombia’s first police attaché to Australia will be a welcome and meaningful step forward. (While not yet formally announced, the Colombian embassy in Australia has informed me and several other experts the country is appointing the attaché.)
Both countries must deepen this relationship and collectively engage meaningfully and frequently to help solve the problem.
Cesar Alvarez 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.
In 2024, the problem of deepfakes became a crisis in South Korea: more than 500 schools and universities were targeted in a coordinated wave of deepfake sexual abuse.
AI-generated sexualised images of students — mostly girls — were circulated in encrypted Telegram groups. The perpetrators were often classmates of the victims.
A new report from global child-protection group ECPAT with funding from the UK-based Churchill Fellowship takes a close look at what happened in Korea, so other countries can understand and avoid similar crises. Here’s what Australia can learn.
A glimpse into our future?
The events in South Korea were not just about deepfake technology. They were about how the technology was used.
Perpetrators created groups on the Telegram messaging platform to identify mutual acquaintances in local schools or universities. They then formed “Humiliation Rooms” to gather victims’ photos and personal information so they could create deepfake sexual images.
Rooms for more than 500 schools and universities have been identified, often with thousands of members. The rooms were filled with deepfake imagery, created from photos on social media and the school yearbook.
Bots within the app allowed users to generate AI nudes in seconds. One such bot had more than 220,000 subscribers. The bot gave users two deepfake images for free, with additional images available for the equivalent of one Australian dollar.
Telegram screenshots show an automated deepfake bot that charges users to produce images. Telegram
This wasn’t the dark web. It was happening on a mainstream platform, used by millions.
And it wasn’t just adult predators. More than 80% of those arrested were teenagers. Many were described as “normal boys” by their teachers — students who had never shown signs of violent behaviour before.
The abuse was gamified. Users earned rewards for inviting friends, sharing images, and escalating the harm. It was social, yet anonymous.
Could this happen in Australia?
We have already seen smaller, less organised deepfake incidents in Australian schools. However, the huge scale and ease of use of the Korean abuse system should be cause for alarm.
The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation recorded 58,503 reports of pictures and videos of online child abuse in the 2023–24 financial year. This is an average of 160 reports per day (4,875 reports a month), a 45% increase from the previous year.
This increase is likely to continue. In response to these risks, the Australian government, through the eSafety Commissioner, is applying the existing Basic Online Safety Expectations to generative AI services. This creates a clear expectation these services must work proactively to prevent the creation of harmful deepfake content.
Internationally, the European Union’s AI Act has set a precedent for regulating high-risk AI applications, including those that affect children. In the United States, the proposed Take It Down Act aims to criminalise the publication of non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes.
These are a start, but a lot more work remains to be done to provide a safe online environment for young people. The Korean experience shows how easily things can escalate when these tools are used at scale, especially in peer-to-peer abuse among adolescents.
5 lessons from Korea
The South Korean crisis holds several lessons for Australia.
1. Prevention must start early. Korea’s crisis involved children as young as 12 (and even younger in some primary schools targeted). We need comprehensive digital ethics and consent education in primary schools, not just in high schools.
2. Law enforcement needs AI tools of their own to keep up. Just as offenders are using AI to scale up abuse, police must be equipped with AI to detect and investigate it. This may include facial recognition, content detection, and automated triage systems, all governed by strict privacy protocols.
3. Platforms must also be held accountable. Telegram only began cooperating with South Korean authorities after immense public pressure. Australia must enforce safety-by-design principles and ensure encrypted platforms are not safe havens for abuse.
4. Support services must be scaled up. Korea’s crisis caused trauma for entire communities. Victims often had to continuing going to school with perpetrators in the same classrooms. Australia must invest in trauma-informed support systems that can respond to both individual and collective harm.
5. We must listen to victims and survivors. Policy must be shaped by those who have experienced digital abuse. Their insights are crucial to designing effective and compassionate responses.
Joel Scanlan 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.
Today, the Government of Saskatchewan provided an update about more than $53 million of highway investments this year in the southwest and area that keep Saskatchewan’s export-based economy moving.
“These projects are a snapshot of our provincial government’s ongoing commitment and investment to maintain, improve and upgrade our highways,” Education Minister and Swift Current MLA Everett Hindley said on behalf of Highways Minister David Marit. “Our road network is a key link in getting Saskatchewan goods and products throughout the province, across Canada and around the world to support our economy to maintain our quality of life. We appreciate the patience and understanding of all motorists during road construction. Drivers are reminded to be cautious, alert and obey all signage and flag persons when approaching work zones as highway crews and contractors do this important work. We want everyone to get home safely.”
Provincial highway work includes paving, culvert replacements, grading and various maintenance.
“The Swift Current and District Chamber of Commerce sincerely appreciates the provincial government’s investment in highways and related infrastructure in the southwest,” Swift Current and District Chamber of Commerce CEO Corla Rokochy said. “Continued investment in our transportation network helps local businesses grow, supports tourism and ensures that communities across southwest Saskatchewan remain connected. We value the Government of Saskatchewan’s ongoing commitment to building and maintaining the infrastructure that drives economic opportunity in our region.”
“Infrastructure investments like those being made in southwest Saskatchewan are vital to the success of our industry,” Saskatchewan Trucking Association Executive Director Susan Ewart said. “Enhancing key trade routes, such as the Trans-Canada Highway, strengthens supply chains, supports innovation through modern vehicle configurations and ensures goods move safely and efficiently. The Saskatchewan Trucking Association welcomes these improvements and the continued commitment to growing our province’s economic backbone.”
Some of the projects in the southwest in the Swift Current and Kindersley areas include:
An estimated $12.2 million toward Trans-Canada Highway 1 east of Swift Current to pave about 25 km and to upgrade five culverts. The culverts are under Highway 1 eastbound between Waldeck and 7 km west. The paving portions are in the westbound lanes of Highway 1 from west of the Herbert Access Road to about 3 km east of its junction with Highway 4. Work began in April and was completed in July.
About $4.5 million to micro-surface more than 95 km of Highway 1 west of Swift Current. Work is expected to begin around mid-August and be completed this fall.
An estimated $14 million for daily routine maintenance from spring to fall this year in the southwest. Examples of that maintenance work, which can occur over a day or two include: shoulder work on Highway 37 from its junction with Highway 18 north to Shaunavon and spot sealing west of Cadillac on Highway 13 earlier this year.
An estimated $15.9 million to grade and replace culverts toward upgrading work on more than 24 km of Highway 51 west of Biggar. Work began in July and is expected to be finished by late 2026. Paving for the project has yet to be tendered.
An estimated $3.4 million toward improving the driving surface of about a 4.5 km segment of Highway 44 between Glidden and Eston. Work began in May and will be completed this summer.
About $3.5 million for surface mixing and paving on approximately 10 km of Highway 13 west of Cadillac. The work is anticipated to start in summer of 2025.
The start and completion dates of all projects are subject to weather.
Motorists are reminded to check the Highway Hotline before heading out. Saskatchewan’s provincial road information service provides details about construction zones, ferry crossings, closures and incidents related to wildfires.
Since 2008, the Government of Saskatchewan has invested more than $13.8 billion in transportation infrastructure, improving over 21,800 kilometres of highways across the province.
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For more information, contact:
Dan Palmer Highways Regina Phone: 306-787-3179 Email: dan.palmer@gov.sk.ca
