The safeguard provision in the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement is an effective tool to protect any EU sector affected by the Agreement in case it suffers serious injury due to increased imports. Under this provision, the Parties can suspend preferences for up to two years.
A request for a safeguard investigation could be made by one or several Member States on behalf of the EU sector or at the request of the domestic industry.
The Commission will make proposals for the signature and conclusion of the agreement in accordance with the Treaties. In that context, the Commission will present its proposal for the legal basis and architecture of the deal.
Any food product placed on the EU market, being domestically produced or imported from Mercosur countries, must comply with EU’s sanitary requirements. These requirements are not negotiable and apply regardless of trade agreements concluded with third countries.
Official controls at EU borders are intended to verify whether EU food safety rules are respected. These controls are performed by the competent authorities of the Member States.
The Commission carries out audits in third countries to ensure that their control systems provide enough guarantees as to ensure that exports to the EU take place in conformity with EU safety standards. In case of non-compliances, trade-restrictive measures may be imposed, both by the trade partner or the EU.
In the framework of the communication on ‘A Vision for Agriculture and Food Shaping together an attractive farming and agri-food sector for future generations’[1], the Commission announced a dedicated task force to be established, which will pull expertise and forces from the Commission and Member States together to further strengthen the control on imports.
Seattle – A 33-year-old former Tacoma resident was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month for conspiracy to destroy energy facilities and six counts of destruction or attempted destruction of an energy facility, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Zachary Rosenthal, who is currently incarcerated in the Washington State Department of Corrections for vehicular assault, was indicted in Oregon last July for damaging two energy facilities in Portland. The Oregon case is scheduled for trial on November 3, 2025.
According to the Western Washington indictment, between June and December 2022, Rosenthal conspired with others to damage six different power substations in western Washington: the Toledo substation in Lewis County on August 5, 2022; the Woodland 1 substation in Cowlitz County on November 17, 2022; the Woodland 2 substation on November 18, 2022; the Puyallup substation in Pierce County on November 20, 2022; and the Tumwater substation in Thurston County on November 22, 2022; and the attempted destruction to the Oakville substation in Grays Harbor County on December 5, 2022. The indictment charges five counts of destruction of an energy facility, and one count of attempted destruction of an energy facility for the Oakville substation attack.
The indictment calls for forfeiture of proceeds of the criminal scheme which appears to have been an attempt to burglarize businesses and ATMs when the power was out, and alarm systems might be down.
The attacks on the power stations resulted in power outages ranging from about 1,000 customers to 6,000 customers per substation.
Rosenthal and his coconspirators damaged the substations through a variety of means including gunshots, smashing equipment, or using heavy chains to cause short circuits.
The Oregon substation attacks occurred in the same timeframe as the Washington attacks, on November 24 and 28, 2022.
Damaging an energy facility with intent to cause a significant interruption and impairment of the function of the facility is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and three years’ supervised release.
The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.
Innovate BC’s new IP Hub is a one-stop-shop for innovators to access tailored education and resources that will help them protect and leverage their intellectual property
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Launched today, Innovate BC’s new IP Hub digital platform supports B.C. entrepreneurs in developing their understanding of intellectual property (IP) to support the building and implementing of an effective IP strategy to help grow their business.
Developed as part of the Province of British Columbia’s Intellectual Property Strategy, the free-to-use IP Hub offers a tailored experience that will connect users with information and resources based on an assessment of their current IP competency.
“B.C.’s Intellectual Property Strategy is about supporting our local businesses by giving them the tools they need to protect, grow and profit from what they create,” said Diana Gibson, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation. “The launch of the IP Hub is a key part of that—helping entrepreneurs, researchers, startups and our high potential businesses fully understand their IP, scale their businesses, and keep their talent right here at home in British Columbia.”
The strategic management of IP is essential for companies developing innovative products or solutions, playing a crucial role in commercialization, increasing revenue, and competitiveness. The IP Hub offers relevant and timely resources that meet the user’s current level of IP comprehension and will provide them with ongoing support to build, implement and expand their own IP strategy.
Once assessed, users will have access to a wide range of supports that are available within B.C. and across Canada, aligned to their business stage, sector, size, and other characteristics that inform IP strategy. Resources include access to localized IP programming, a calendar of relevant and upcoming IP-focussed events, education materials, and more.
“Having a clear and proactive intellectual property strategy isn’t just a competitive advantage — it’s a necessity,” said Peter Cowan, President and CEO of Innovate BC. “For innovators and tech companies, IP is often their most valuable asset, protecting innovation, attracting investment, and enabling growth. By bolstering IP capacities here in British Columbia, we’re empowering our startups and scale-ups to thrive, strengthening our innovation ecosystem, and unlocking long-term economic prosperity for communities and industries across the province.”
The IP Hub is a part of Innovate BC’s suite of IP programs and resources for B.C. companies, which includes AccelerateIP, a program delivered by New Ventures BC that provides innovators with IP-related education, funding, and strategy development.
To learn more about the IP Hub and to access the platform, visit https://bcip.ca/
Additional Quotes
Faisal Khan, Founder + CEO, FMRK Diagnostic Technologies
“A dynamic IP strategy is the life blood of any 21st century business. It allows you to secure investment capital, protect yourself in the market, recoup your R&D investments and so much more. Companies can never reach their full potential without one.”
Annie Dahan, Founder at Seacork Studio
“Developing a robust and actionable IP strategy has been essential to our growth, credibility and our ability to navigate the market.”
About Innovate BC
A Crown Agency of British Columbia, Innovate BC works to foster innovation across the province and bolster the growth of the local economy through delivering a wide range of programs that help companies start and scale, access talent and encourage technology development, commercialization, and adoption. Innovate BC also harnesses crucial data collection and research, and works to forge strategic industry and community partnerships that create more opportunities for B.C. innovators.
In the sweltering summer of AD18, a desperate chant echoed across China’s sun-scorched plains: “Heaven has gone blind!” Thousands of starving farmers, their faces smeared with ox blood, marched toward the opulent vaults held by the Han dynasty’s elite rulers.
As recorded in the ancient text Han Shu (the book of Han), these farmers’ calloused hands held bamboo scrolls – ancient “tweets” accusing the bureaucrats of hoarding grain while the farmers’ children gnawed tree bark. The rebellion’s firebrand warlord leader, Chong Fan, roared: “Drain the paddies!”
Within weeks, the Red Eyebrows, as the protesters became known, had toppled local regimes, raided granaries and – for a fleeting moment – shattered the empire’s rigid hierarchy.
The Han dynasty of China (202BC-AD220) was one of the most developed civilisations of its time, alongside the Roman empire. Its development of cheaper and sharper iron ploughs enabled the gathering of unprecedented harvests of grain.
But instead of uplifting the farmers, this technological revolution gave rise to agrarian oligarchs who hired ever-more officials to govern their expanding empire. Soon, bureaucrats earned 30 times more than those tilling the soil.
And when droughts struck, the farmers and their families starved while the empire’s elites maintained their opulence. As a famous poem from the subsequent Tang dynasty put it: “While meat and wine go to waste behind vermilion gates, the bones of the frozen dead lie by the roadside.”
Two millennia later, the role of technology in increasing inequality around the world remains a major political and societal issue. AI-driven “technology panic” – exacerbated by the disruptive efforts of Donald Trump’s new administration in the US – gives the feeling that everything has been upended. New tech is destroying old certainties; populist revolt is shredding the political consensus.
And yet, as we stand at the edge of this technological cliff, seemingly peering into a future of AI-induced job apocalypses, history whispers: “Calm down. You’ve been here before.”
The link between technology and inequality
Technology is humanity’s cheat code to break free from scarcity. The Han dynasty’s iron plough didn’t just till soil; it doubled crop yields, enriching landlords and swelling tax coffers for emperors while – initially, at least – leaving peasants further behind. Similarly, Britain’s steam engine didn’t just spin cotton; it built coal barons and factory slums. Today, AI isn’t just automating tasks; it’s creating trillion-dollar tech fiefdoms while destroying myriads of routine jobs.
Technology amplifies productivity by doing more with less. Over centuries, these gains compound, raising economic output and increasing incomes and lifespans. But each innovation reshapes who holds power, who gets rich – and who gets left behind.
As the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter warned during the second world war, technological progress is never a benign rising tide that lifts all boats. It’s more like a tsunami that drowns some and deposits others on golden shores, amid a process he called “creative destruction”.
A decade later, Russian-born US economist Simon Kuznets proposed his “inverted-U of inequality”, the Kuznets curve. For decades, this offered a reassuring narrative for citizens of democratic nations seeking greater fairness: inequality was an inevitable – but temporary – price of technological progress and the economic growth that comes with it.
In recent years, however, this analysis has been sharply questioned. Most notably, French economist Thomas Piketty, in a reappraisal of more than three centuries of data, argued in 2013 that Kuznets had been misled by historical fluke. The postwar fall in inequality he had observed was not a general law of capitalism, but a product of exceptional events: two world wars, economic depression, and massive political reforms.
In normal times, Piketty warned, the forces of capitalism will always tend to make the rich richer, pushing inequality ever higher unless checked by aggressive redistribution.
So, who’s correct? And where does this leave us as we ponder the future in this latest, AI-driven industrial revolution? In fact, both Kuznets and Piketty were working off quite narrow timeframes in modern human history. Another country, China, offers the chance to chart patterns of growth and inequality over a much longer period – due to its historical continuity, cultural stability, and ethnic uniformity.
The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.
Unlike other ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians and Mayans, China has maintained a unified identity and unique language for more than 5,000 years, allowing modern scholars to trace thousand-year-old economic records. So, with colleagues Qiang Wu and Guangyu Tong, I set out to reconcile the ideas of Kuznets and Piketty by studying technological growth and wage inequality in imperial China over 2,000 years – back beyond the birth of Jesus.
To do this, we scoured China’s extraordinarily detailed dynastic archives, including the Book of Han (AD111) and Tang Huiyao (AD961), in which meticulous scribes recorded the salaries of different ranking officials. And here is what we learned about the forces – good and bad, corrupt and selfless – that most influenced the rise and fall of inequality in China over the past two millennia.
Chinese dynasties and their most influential technologies:
Black text denotes historical events in the west; grey text denotes important interactions between China and the west. Peng Zhou, CC BY-NC-SA
China’s cycles of growth and inequality
One of the challenges of assessing wage inequality over thousands of years is that people were paid different things at different times – such as grain, silk, silver and even labourers.
The Book of Han records that “a governor’s annual grain salary could fill 20 oxcarts”. Another entry describes how a mid-ranking Han official’s salary included ten servants tasked solely with polishing his ceremonial armour. Ming dynasty officials had their meagre wages supplemented with gifts of silver, while Qing elites hid their wealth in land deals.
To enable comparison over two millennia, we invented a “rice standard” – akin to the gold standard that was the basis of the international monetary system for a century from the 1870s. Rice is not just a staple of Chinese diets, it has been a stable measure of economic life for thousands of years.
While rice’s dominion began around 7,000BC in the Yangtze river’s fertile marshes, it was not until the Han dynasty that it became the soul of Chinese life. Farmers prayed to the “Divine Farmer” for bountiful harvests, and emperors performed elaborate ploughing rituals to ensure cosmic harmony. A Tang dynasty proverb warned: “No rice in the bowl, bones in the soil.”
Using price records, we converted every recorded salary – whether paid in silk, silver, rent or servants – into its rice equivalent. We could then compare the “real rice wages” of two categories of people we called either “officials” or “peasants” (including farmers), as a way of tracking levels of inequality over the two millennia since the start of the Han dynasty in 202BC. This chart shows how real-wage inequality in China rose and fell over the past 2,000 years, according to our rice-based analysis.
Official-peasant wage ratio in imperial China over 2,000 years:
The ratio describes the multiple by which the ‘real rice wage’ of the average ‘official’ exceeds that of the average ‘peasant’, giving an indication of changing inequality levels over two millennia. Peng Zhou, CC BY-SA
The chart’s black line describes a tug-of-war between growth and inequality over the past two millennia. We found that, across each major dynasty, there were four key factors driving levels of inequality in China: technology (T), institutions (I), politics (P), and social norms (S). These followed the following cycle with remarkable regularity.
1. Technology triggers an explosion of growth and inequality
During the Han dynasty, new iron-working techniques led to better ploughs and irrigation tools. Harvests boomed, enabling the Chinese empire to balloon in both territory and population. But this bounty mostly went to those at the top of society. Landlords grabbed fields, bureaucrats gained privileges, while ordinary farmers saw precious little reward. The empire grew richer – but so did the gap between high officials and the peasant majority.
Even when the Han fell around AD220, the rise of wage inequality was barely interrupted. By the time of the Tang dynasty (AD618–907), China was enjoying a golden age. Silk Road trade flourished as two more technological leaps had a profound impact on the country’s fortunes: block printing and refined steelmaking.
Block printing enabled the mass production of books – Buddhist texts, imperial exam guides, poetry anthologies – at unprecedented speed and scale. This helped spread literacy and standardise administration, as well as sparking a bustling market in bookselling.
Meanwhile, refined steelmaking boosted everything from agricultural tools to weaponry and architectural hardware, lowering costs and raising productivity. With a more literate populace and an abundance of stronger metal goods, China’s economy hit new heights. Chang’an, then China’s cosmopolitan capital, boasted exotic markets, lavish temples, and a swirl of foreign merchants enjoying the Tang dynasty’s prosperity.
While the Tang dynasty marked the high-water mark for levels of inequality in Chinese history, subsequent dynasties would continue to wrestle with the same core dilemma: how do you reap the benefits of growth without allowing an overly privileged – and increasingly corrupt – bureaucratic class to push everyone else into peril?
2. Institutions slow the rise of inequality
Throughout the two millennia, some institutions played an important role in stabilising the empire after each burst of growth. For example, to alleviate tensions between emperors, officials and peasants, imperial exams known as “Ke Ju” were introduced during the Sui dynasty (AD581-618). And by the time of the Song dynasty (AD960-1279) that followed the demise of the Tang, these exams played a dominant role in society.
They addressed high levels of inequality by promoting social mobility: ordinary civilians were granted greater opportunities to ascend the income ladder by achieving top marks. This induced greater competition among officials – and strengthened emperors’ authority over them in the later dynasties. As a result, both the wages of officials and wage inequality went down as their bargaining power gradually diminished.
However, the rise of each new dynasty was also marked by a growth of bureaucracy that led to inefficiencies, favouritism and bribery. Over time, corrupt practices took root, eroding trust in officialdom and heightening wage inequality as many officials commanded informal fees or outright bribes to sustain their lifestyles.
As a result, while the emergence of certain institutions was able to put a break on rising inequality, it typically took another powerful – and sometimes highly destructive – factor to start reducing it.
3. Political infighting and external wars reduce inequality
Eventually, the rampant rise in inequality seen in almost every major Chinese dynasty bred deep tensions – not only between the upper and lower classes, but even between the emperor and their officials.
These pressures were heightened by the pressures of external conflict, as each dynasty waged wars in pursuit of further growth. The Tang’s three century-rule featured conflicts such as the Eastern Turkic-Tang war (AD626), the Baekje-Goguryeo-Silla war (666), and the Arab-Tang battle of Talas (751).
The resulting demand for more military spending drained imperial coffers, forcing salary cuts for soldiers and tax hikes on the peasants – breeding resentment among both that sometimes led to popular uprisings. In a desperate bid for survival, the imperial court then slashed officials’ pay and stripped away their bureaucratic perks.
The result? Inequality plummeted during these times of war and rebellion – but so did stability. Famine was rife, frontier garrisons mutinied, and for decades, warlords carved out territories while the imperial centre floundered.
So, this shrinking wage gap cannot be said to have resulted in a happier, more stable society. Rather, it reflected the fact that everyone – rich and poor – was worse off in the chaos. During the final imperial dynasty, the Qing (from the end of the 17th century), real-terms GDP per person was dropping to levels that had last been seen at the start of the Han dynasty, 2,000 years earlier.
4. Social norms emphasise harmony, preserve privilege
One other common factor influencing the rise and fall of inequality across China’s dynasties was the shared rules and expectations that developed within each society.
A striking example is the social norms rooted in the philosophy of Neo-Confucianism, which emerged in the Song dynasty at the end of the first millennium – a period sometimes described as China’s version of the Renaissance. It blended the moral philosophy of classical Confucianism – created by the philosopher and political theorist Confucius during the Zhou dynasty (1046-256BC) – with metaphysical elements drawn from both Buddhism and Daoism.
Neo-Confucianism emphasised social harmony, hierarchical order and personal virtue – values that reinforced imperial authority and bureaucratic discipline. Unsurprisingly, it quickly gained the support of emperors keen to ensure control of their people, and became the mainstream school of thought in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
However, Neo-Confucianist thinking proved a double-edged sword. Local gentry hijacked this moral authority to fortify their own power. Clan leaders set up Confucian schools and performed elaborate ancestral rites, projecting themselves as guardians of tradition.
Over time, these social norms became rigid. What had once fostered order and legitimacy became brittle dogma, more useful for preserving privilege than guiding reform. Neo-Confucian ideals evolved into a protective veil for entrenched elites. When the weight of crisis eventually came, they offered little resilience.
The last dynasty
China’s final imperial dynasty, the Qing, collapsed under the weight of multiple uprisings both from within and without. Despite achieving impressive economic growth during the 18th century – fuelled by agricultural innovation, a population boom, and the roaring global trade in tea and porcelain – levels of inequality exploded, in part due to widespread corruption.
The infamous government official Heshen, widely regarded as the most corrupt figure in the Qing dynasty, amassed a personal fortune reckoned to exceed the empire’s entire annual revenue (one estimate suggests he amassed 1.1 billion taels of silver, equivalent to around US$270 billion (£200bn), during his lucrative career).
Imperial institutions failed to restrain the inequality and moral decay that the Qing’s growth had initially masked. The mechanisms that once spurred prosperity – technological advances, centralised bureaucracy and Confucian moral authority – eventually ossified, serving entrenched power rather than adaptive reform.
When shocks like natural disasters and foreign invasions struck, the system could no longer respond. The collapse of the empire became inevitable – and this time there was no groundbreaking technology to enable a new dynasty to take the Qing’s place. Nor were there fresh social ideals or revitalised institutions capable of rebooting the imperial model. As foreign powers surged ahead with their own technological breakthroughs, China’s imperial system collapsed under its own weight. The age of emperors was over.
The world had turned. As China embarked on two centuries of technological and economic stagnation – and political humiliation at the hands of Great Britain and Japan – other nations, led first by Britain and then the US, would step up to build global empires on the back of new technological leaps.
In these modern empires, we see the same four key influences on their cycles of growth and inequality – technology, institutions, politics and social norms – but playing out at an ever-faster rate. As the saying goes: history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
Rule Britannia
If imperial China’s inequality saga was written in rice and rebellions, Britain’s industrial revolution featured steam and strikes. In Lancashire’s “satanic mills”, steam engines and mechanised looms created industrialists so rich that their fortunes dwarfed small nations.
In 1835, social observer Andrew Ure enthused: “Machinery is the grand agent of civilisation.” Yet for many decades, the steam engines, spinning jennies and railways disproportionately enriched the new industrial class, just as in the Han dynasty of China 2,000 years earlier. The workers? They inhaled soot, lived in slums – and staged Europe’s first symbolic protest when the Luddites began smashing their looms in 1811.
During the 19th century, Britain’s richest 1% hoarded as much as 70% of the nation’s wealth, while labourers toiled 16-hour days in mills. In cities like Manchester, child workers earned pennies while industrialists built palaces.
But as inequality peaked in Britain, the backlash brewed. Trade unions formed (and became legal in 1824) to demand fair wages. Reforms such as the Factory Acts (1833–1878) banned child labour and capped working hours.
Although government forces intervened to suppress the uprisings, unrest such as the 1830 Swing Riots and 1842 General Strike exposed deep social and economic inequalities. By 1900, child labour was banned and pensions had been introduced. The 1900 Labour Representation Committee (later the Labour Party) vowed to “promote legislation in the direct interests of labour” – a striking echo of how China’s imperial exams had attempted to open paths to power.
Slowly, the working class saw some improvement: real wages for Britain’s poorest workers gradually increased over the latter half of the 19th century, as mass production lowered the cost of goods and expanding factory employment provided a more stable livelihood than subsistence farming.
And then, two world wars flattened Britain’s elite – the Blitz didn’t discriminate between rich and poor neighbourhoods. When peace finally returned, the Beveridge Report gave rise to the welfare state: the NHS, social housing, and pensions.
Income inequality plummeted as a result. The top 1%’s share fell from 70% to 15% by 1979. While China’s inequality fell via dynastic collapse, Britain’s decline resulted from war-driven destruction, progressive taxation, and expansive social reforms.
Wealth share of top 1% in the UK
Evidence for UK inequality before 1895 is not well documented; dotted curve is conjectured based on Kuznets curve. Sources: Alvaredo et al (2018), World Inequality Database. Peng Zhou, CC BY-SA
However, from the 1980s onwards, inequality in Britain has begun to rise again. This new cycle of inequality has coincided with another technological revolution: the emergence of personal computers and information technology — innovations that fundamentally transformed how wealth was created and distributed.
The era was accelerated by deregulation, deindustrialisation and privatisation — policies associated with former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, that favoured capital over labour. Trade unions were weakened, income taxes on the highest earners were slashed, and financial markets were unleashed. Today, the richest 1% of UK adults own more 20% of the country’s total wealth.
The UK now appears to be in the worst of both worlds – wrestling with low growth and rising inequality. Yet renewal is still within reach. The current UK government’s pledge to streamline regulation and harness AI could spark fresh growth – provided it is coupled with serious investment in skills, modern infrastructure, and inclusive institutions geared to benefit all workers.
At the same time, history reminds us that technology is a lever, not a panacea. Sustained prosperity comes only when institutional reform and social attitudes evolve in step with innovation.
The American century
While China’s growth-and-inequality cycles unfolded over millennia and Britain’s over centuries, America’s story is a fast-forward drama of cycles lasting mere decades. In the early 20th century, several waves of new technology widened the gap between rich and poor dramatically.
By 1929, as the world teetered on the edge of the Great Depression, John D. Rockefeller had amassed such a vast fortune – valued at roughly 1.5% of America’s entire GDP – that newspapers hailed him the world’s first billionaire. His wealth stemmed largely from pioneering petroleum and petrochemical ventures including Standard Oil, which dominated oil refining in an age when cars and mechanised transport were exploding in popularity.
Yet this period of unprecedented riches for a handful of magnates coincided with severe imbalances in the broader US economy. The “roaring Twenties” had boosted consumerism and stock speculation, but wage growth for many workers lagged behind skyrocketing corporate profits. By 1929, the top 1% of Americans owned more than a third of the nation’s income, creating a precariously narrow base of prosperity.
When the US stock market crashed in October 1929, it laid bare how vulnerable the system was to the fortunes of a tiny elite. Millions of everyday Americans – living without adequate savings or safeguards – faced immediate hardship, ushering in the Great Depression. Breadlines snaked through city streets, and banks collapsed under waves of withdrawals they could not meet.
In response, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal reshaped American institutions. It introduced unemployment insurance, minimum wages, and public works programmes to support struggling workers, while progressive taxation – with top rates exceeding 90% during the second world war. Roosevelt declared: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much – it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
In a different way to the UK, the second world war proved a great leveller for the US – generating millions of jobs and drawing women and minorities into industries they’d long been excluded from. After 1945, the GI Bill expanded education and home ownership for veterans, helping to build a robust middle class. Although access remained unequal, especially along racial lines, the era marked a shift toward the norm that prosperity should be shared.
Meanwhile, grassroots movements led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. reshaped social norms about justice. In his lesser-quoted speeches, King warned that “a dream deferred is a dream denied” and launched the Poor People’s Campaign, which demanded jobs, healthcare and housing for all Americans. This narrowing of income distribution during the post-war era was dubbed the “Great Compression” – but it did not last.
As oil crises of the 1970s marked the end of the preceding cycle of inequality, another cycle began with the full-scale emergence of the third industrial revolution, powered by computers, digital networks and information technology.
As digitalisation transformed business models and labour markets, wealth flowed to those who owned the algorithms, patents and platforms – not those operating the machines. Hi-tech entrepreneurs and Wall Street financiers became the new oligarchs. Stock options replaced salaries as the true measure of success, and companies increasingly rewarded capital over labour.
By the 2000s, the wealth share of the richest 1% climbed to 30% in the US. The gap between the elite minority and working majority widened with every company stock market launch, hedge fund bonus and quarterly report tailored to shareholder returns.
But this wasn’t just a market phenomenon – it was institutionally engineered. The 1980s ushered in the age of (Ronald) Reaganomics, driven by the conviction that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem”. Following this neoliberalist philosophy, taxes on high incomes were slashed, capital gains were shielded, and labour unions were weakened.
Deregulation gave Wall Street free rein to innovate and speculate, while public investment in housing, healthcare and education was curtailed. The consequences came to a head in 2008 when the US housing market collapsed and the financial system imploded.
The Global Financial Crisis that followed exposed the fragility of a deregulated economy built on credit bubbles and concentrated risk. Millions of people lost their homes and jobs, while banks were rescued with public money. It marked an economic rupture and a moral reckoning – proof that decades of pro-market policies had produced a system that privatised gain and socialised loss.
Inequality, long growing in the background, now became a glaring, undeniable fault line in American life – and it has remained that way ever since.
Fig 5. Wealth share and income share of top 1% in the US
Sources: wealth inequality: World Inequality Database; income share: Picketty & Saez (2003). Dotted curves are conjectured based on Kuznets curve. Peng Zhou, CC BY-SA
So is the US proof that the Kuznets model of inequality is indeed wrong? While the chart above shows inequality has flattened in the US since the 2008 financial crisis, there is little evidence of it actually declining. And in the short term, while Donald Trump’s tariffs are unlikely to do much for growth in the US, his low-tax policies won’t do anything to raise working-class incomes either.
The story of “the American century” is a dizzying sequence of technological revolutions – from transport and manufacturing to the internet and now AI – crashing one atop the other before institutions, politics or social norms could catch up. In my view, the result is not a broken cycle but an interrupted one. Like a wheel that never completes its turn, inequality rises, reform stutters – and a new wave of disruption begins.
Our unequal AI future?
Like any technological explosion, AI’s potential is dual-edged. Like the Tang dynasty’s bureaucrats hoarding grain, today’s tech giants monopolise data, algorithms and computing power. Management consultant firm McKinsey has predicted that algorithms could automate 30% of jobs by 2030, from lorry drivers to radiologists.
The rise of AI isn’t just a technological revolution – it’s a political battleground. History’s empires collapsed when elites hoarded power; today’s fight over AI mirrors the same stakes. Will it become a tool for collective uplift like Britain’s post-war welfare state? Or a weapon of control akin to Han China’s grain-hoarding bureaucrats?
The answer hinges on who wins these political battles. In 19th-century Britain, factory owners bribed MPs to block child labour laws. Today, Big Tech spends billions lobbying to neuter AI regulation.
Meanwhile, grassroots movements like the Algorithmic Justice League demand bans on facial recognition in policing, echoing the Luddites who smashed looms not out of technophobia but to protest exploitation. The question is not if AI will be regulated but who will write the rules: corporate lobbyists or citizen coalitions.
The real threat has never been the technology itself, but the concentration of its spoils. When elites hoard tech-driven wealth, social fault-lines crack wide open – as happened more than 2,000 years ago when the Red Eyebrows marched against Han China’s agricultural monopolies.
To be human is to grow – and to innovate. Technological progress raises inequality faster than incomes, but the response depends on how people band together. Initiatives like “Responsible AI” and “Data for All” reframe digital ethics as a civil right, much like Occupy Wall Street exposed wealth gaps. Even memes – like TikTok skits mocking ChatGPT’s biases – shape public sentiment.
There is no simple path between growth and inequality. But history shows our AI future isn’t preordained in code: it’s written, as always, by us.
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Peng Zhou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Monica De La Cruz (TX-15)
PHOTOS: De La Cruz Tours Rio Grande Valley Food Bank, Hosts Roundtable for South Texas Farmers
Washington, April 16, 2025
PHOTOS: De La Cruz Tours Rio Grande Valley Food Bank, Hosts Roundtable for South Texas Farmers
WASHINGTON –This week,Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz (TX-15) toured the Rio Grande Valley Food Bank and hosted a roundtable with South Texas farmers to discuss the impacts and challenges of the H-2A visa program.
Congresswoman De La Cruz toured the Rio Grande Valley Food Bank – the 7th largest food bank in Texas – and met with their team to discuss their work to help South Texans through food assistance, nutrition education, and access to community services.
De La Cruz hosted a roundtable for South Texas farmers and producers to discuss the H-2A visa program which allowsU.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs.On the House Agriculture Committee, De La Cruz is committed to supportingpolicies that are critical to supporting farmers, farmworkers, ranchers, and South Texas communities.
n celebration of Earth Week, Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that, since 2020, New York has dedicated nearly $125 million to on-farm projects that conserve natural resources, combat climate change, and protect soil and water quality. The projects have been awarded to more than 6,500 farms in every corner of New York through the Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Climate Resilient Farming Grant Program, Agricultural NonPoint Source Abatement and Control (Ag NonPoint) program, and Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) program. Together, through the implementation of the best practices that these projects support, they have reduced 661,633 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to removing more than 154,000 cars off the road for one year.
“New York State has long been a trailblazer in combating climate change, and we continue to lead the nation in environmental protection,” Governor Hochul said. “Protecting our state’s farms and ensuring our farmers have the resources they need to mitigate the effects of climate change is critical to not only protecting our environment, but also maintaining the economic viability of the state’s agricultural industry for generations to come. This milestone is a terrific testament to the progress we’ve made to create a cleaner, greener, more resilient New York.”
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “New York State continues to lead the nation in the work that we as a state are doing to protect our natural resources and combat climate change. Agriculture is proud to be at the table in these discussions and implementing critical best management practices on the farm that are helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, capture and sequester carbon, and protect our soil and water quality. It is amazing all that can be accomplished when we work together, and under the leadership of our governor and in partnership with our SWCD, our farmers have made tangible progress in our fight against climate change.”
New York Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Amanda Lefton said, “Supporting New York’s farmers helps improve water and air quality for the benefit of all. We applaud the farmers who implement these important projects and thank the Department of Agriculture and Markets for funding these environmentally sustainable programs. This milestone investment signifies Governor Hochul’s continued commitment to the agriculture industry and our environment to advance a greener future for all New Yorkers.”
New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee Chair Matt Brower said, “These numbers are really impressive. We are fortunate that the State is able to provide the financial resources to help fund these practices and we are also fortunate to have the valuable staff at the local Soil and Water Conservation Districts to help the landowners install these practices. It is amazing what this partnership has accomplished over the years in terms of environmental protection and improvement.”
Over the last five years, this investment in on-farm best management practices, such as nutrient management through manure storage, vegetative buffers along streams, conservation cover crops, water management, and more, through the State’s programs, has resulted in the following accomplishments statewide:
445 acres of wetland restoration to protect wildlife habitat, floodplains, and ecosystem services that directly benefit downstream water quality.
169 waste storage facilities to support manure management and implement sustainable nutrient application plans to farm fields.
380 acres of riparian herbaceous and forest buffer established to protect waterways from erosion, filter water quality pollutants, and lower temperatures of surface water bodies.
10,000 acres of residue and tillage management via mulch till, no till, strip till or direct seeding to control soil erosion, reduce run-off, and enhance soil health
87,930 acres of cover crop planted to improve soil health, reduce erosion, and sequester carbon.
9,734 feet of streambank and shoreline protection and 80 stream crossings to stabilize and revegetate areas prone to flood damage and reduce livestock access to water resources.
29,080 feet of irrigation pipeline to support irrigation water management systems that control the rate, amount, placement, and timing of irrigation water to ensure efficient use of water and control runoff.
These projects were completed by the State’s County SWCD (SWCD) with participating farmers and landowners. County SWCD will use the AEM framework to assist farmers through planning and implementation to make science-based and cost-effective decisions and to apply for funding through the State’s agricultural environmental programming. As a result, farmers can meet business goals while conserving the State’s natural resources.
New York Association of Conservation Districts Executive Director Blanche Hurlbutt said, “Earth Day is an important reminder to us all to take care of our Mother Earth. SWCD through-out New York hosts tree sales and will encourage folks to plant a tree during this time of year. It is also important to protect New York’s soil and water by learning about ways to keep and protect them. This is another way of education that is provided by the SWCD.”
New York Association of Conservation Districts President Sam Casella said, “As we celebrate Earth Week, it is an excellent opportunity to thank the Governor for her steadfast and continuing support of New York State’s Soil and Water Districts in so many ways; both financially and legislatively. Both are crucial for our States Districts and our dedicated District employees to continue their vitally important work to protect and preserve the New York State’s invaluable natural resources, now and for future generations. As I travel the country on behalf of New York Association of Conservation Districts, I have seen firsthand the collective efforts under the leadership of the Governor, NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets and other key agencies that have made New York State a true leader in Conservation work. Now more than ever, New York’s residents are fortunate to have that commitment, dedication and vision. We should thank them all as we celebrate Earth Week.”
Conservation District Employees Association President Caitlin Stewart said, “New York State’s SWCD are the boots on the ground for natural resource management. From projects that protect farmland, forests, and watersheds to place-based education, and from climate resiliency to invasive species prevention, SWCD programs and services benefit students, producers, landowners, and municipalities. Our expert employees truly make Earth Day every day!”
State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “New York farmers are an example for the country, showing how vital good environmental stewardship is to growing our food, keeping our land and water healthy, and making measurable progress in fighting the climate crisis through agriculture. Despite federal rollbacks in farmer support, we will continue to fight for New York’s small family farmers by investing in the support they need to make their operations resilient and protect our food supply for future generations.”
State Senator Pete Harckham said, “New York’s agricultural sector and family farms have withstood countless climate crisis related challenges over the years, but to maintain the vitality and capacity of this crucial part of the state’s economy we must continue to offer as much support as possible. The success of the climate resilient farming grants program has benefited the statewide farm community and our environment significantly while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions—a real win-win. In this time of reduced federal support across the board, it makes sense for the governor and state legislature to remain committed to this grant program.”
Assemblymember Donna Lupardo said, “Earth Week is the perfect time to highlight New York’s efforts to address climate change through our many agricultural initiatives. 6,500 New York farms have already received support for soil health practices, climate resiliency, nutrient management, and other vital conservation measures. This work is more important now than ever due to changing attitudes about climate coming from the nation’s capital. I’d like to thank the Governor, the Department, and my colleagues from across the state, for their ongoing commitment to these critically important investments.”
Throughout the year, SWCD will also host and participate in public education and outreach events to celebrate the environment, bring awareness to important natural resource issues and highlight the techniques and technologies used to implement conservation practices. To find a County District and learn more about their unique programs, visit the Soil and Water Conservation District Office page on the Department of Agriculture website.
Administered by the Department and the New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, the Agricultural Nonpoint Source Abatement and Control Program is a cost-share grant program that provides funding to address and prevent potential water quality issues that stem from farming activities. Financial and technical assistance supports the planning and implementation of on-farm projects with the goal of improving water quality in New York’s waterways. The program seeks to support New York’s diverse agricultural businesses in their efforts to implement best management practice systems that improve water quality and environmental stewardship.
The goal of the CRF Program is to reduce the impact of agriculture on climate change (mitigation) and to increase the resiliency of New York State farms in the face of a changing climate (adaptation). Program grant funds are available for projects that reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration in soils and vegetation, in addition to enhancing the on-farm adaptation and resilience to projected climate conditions due to heavy storm events, rainfall, and drought.
To learn more about the State’s funding opportunities in this area, visit the Soil and Water Conservation Committee page on the Department of Agriculture website.
CUPERTINO, Calif., April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX), a diversified global renewable natural gas and biofuels company, announced the Company’s subsidiary in India, Universal Biofuels, today began shipments to fulfill multiple orders for more than 33,000 kiloliters of biodiesel from the government-owned Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for an aggregate of $31 million for delivery during May, June, and July.
Additional OMC orders are expected throughout the year to continue shipments to fuel blending terminals on an ongoing basis to support the India government goal of increasing from a 1% to 5% biodiesel blend. A 5% biodiesel blend is approximately 1.2 billion gallons, a significant increase from less than a 1% blend of biodiesel that is currently used in India.
“We are pleased with the expanded commitment to biofuels that is being shown by the India government, including the achievement of a 20% blend of ethanol and new goals including a 30% ethanol blend,” stated Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “We began our biodiesel shipments today from inventory to quickly ramp up to $10 million per month of shipments and fulfill the $31 million of new orders from OMCs for biodiesel over the next three months. We have already made the capital investments that allow us to quickly increase production volumes as new orders are issued by the OMCs.”
Recently, India has stated plans for further growth in the use of biofuels, expanding revenues for farmers while reducing the importation of petroleum gasoline into India. India’s strong commitment to expanding biofuels markets supports the Aemetis India business plan for further expansion and a planned Initial Public Offering (IPO), subject to continued favorable stock market conditions.
Universal Biofuels completed $112 million of biodiesel and glycerin shipments in the twelve months ended September 2024, including deliveries to the three government-owned oil marketing companies under a cost-plus contract. During a recent plant upgrade and maintenance period, Universal Biofuels expanded the production capacity of its proprietary process that produces biodiesel from waste and byproducts that Universal utilizes to produce biofuels that are lower carbon intensity at a significantly reduced cost.
Aemetis’ Universal Biofuels subsidiary is one of the largest biodiesel producers in India, having been in operation for more than 17 years. Universal Biofuels increased its annual biodiesel production capacity from 60 million gallons to 80 million gallons in the past year, with further biodiesel expansion to other locations and diversification into biogas production planned during the next twelve months.
About Aemetis
Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Aemetis is a renewable natural gas and biofuels company focused on the operation, acquisition, development, and commercialization of innovative technologies that support energy independence and security. Founded in 2006, Aemetis operates and is expanding a California biogas digester network and pipeline system to convert dairy waste into renewable natural gas. Aemetis owns and operates a 65 million gallon per year ethanol production facility in California’s Central Valley near Modesto that also supplies about 80 dairies with animal feed. Aemetis owns and operates an 80 million gallon per year biofuels facility on the East Coast of India producing high quality distilled biodiesel and refined glycerin. Aemetis is developing a sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel biorefinery and a carbon sequestration project in California. For additional information about Aemetis, please visit www.aemetis.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events or other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, projections of financial results; IPO plans; statements related to the development, engineering, financing, construction, timing, and operation of biodiesel, biogas, sustainable aviation fuel, CO2 sequestration, and other facilities; our ability to promote, develop, finance, and construct such facilities; and statements about future market prices and results of government actions. Words or phrases such as “anticipates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “targets,” “view,” “will likely result,” “will continue” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current assumptions and predictions and are subject to many risks and uncertainties. Actual results or events could differ materially from those set forth or implied by such forward-looking statements and related assumptions due to certain factors, including, without limitation, competition in the ethanol, biodiesel and other industries in which we operate, commodity market risks including those that may result from current weather conditions, financial market risks, customer adoption, counter-party risks, risks associated with changes to government policy or regulation, and other risks detailed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, and in our other filings with the SEC. We are not obligated, and do not intend, to update any of these forward-looking statements at any time unless an update is required by applicable securities laws.
Company Investor Relations Media Contact: Todd Waltz (408) 213-0940 investors@aemetis.com
External Investor Relations Contact: Kirin Smith PCG Advisory Group (646) 863-6519 ksmith@pcgadvisory.com
Source: US National Agricultural Statistics Service
WASHINGTON, April 24, 2025 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the 2023 Census of Agriculture data for American Samoa and Guam today.
The most widely used statistics in the agriculture industry, the Census of Agriculture, is conducted every five years and provides the most comprehensive and impartial agriculture data at the island level. “We thank the producers who gave their time to complete the questionnaire. The Census of Agriculture data tells their agriculture story,” said NASS Administrator Joseph Parsons. “The agricultural census data provides vital data that helps shape policies, allocate resources, and support the growth and sustainability of agriculture in American Samoa and Guam.”
Federal and local governments, agribusinesses, organizations, and many more use Census of Agriculture data to support funding research and programs to improve farming techniques and equipment, building infrastructure for high-speed internet, providing effective production and distribution systems as well as natural disaster preparation, response, and recovery assistance.
Highlights from the 2023 Census of Agriculture:
American Samoa:
There were 7,157 farms, up 13% or 828 farms from 2018. Land in farms totaled 9,253 acres, with an average farm size of 1.3 acres.
The total value of sales was $ 35.3 million, with an average value of $ 4,932 per farm.
Taro represented the largest category of production, with sales of $ 1,245,378.
Guam:
There were 583 farms, an increase of 319 farms since the last census in 2018. Land in farms totaled 2,848 acres, with an average farm size of 4.9 acres.
The total value of sales was $ 6,162,085 million, with an average value of $ 10,570 per farm.
Vegetables and melons represented the largest category of production, with sales of $2,636,157.
For American Samoa, the Census of Agriculture defined a farm as any place that raised or produced agricultural products for sale or home consumption, in 2023. For Guam, the Census of Agriculture defined a farm as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, in 2023.
The full Census of Agriculture report as well as publication dates for additional data products from the census can be found at nass.usda.gov/AgCensus
The early morning light spills over the raised beds of a thriving community garden in Harlem, New York. It’s a Saturday, and people of all ages move among the plants – harvesting collard greens, making compost and packing bags of fresh vegetables.
A community initiative called Harlem Grown began in 2011 as a single urban farm on an abandoned neighbourhood lot. It has since become a lifeline for the people who live there.
The project combats food insecurity, provides fresh produce to local families – 150,000 servings of food in 2023 alone – and teaches the next generation how to nourish themselves and their communities. As one long-term female volunteer told me: “Healthy habits start young.” That’s why their programmes involve schoolchildren as young as five.
Across the boroughs of New York City, a lively ecosystem of urban farmers, non-profit leaders, dietitians and chefs work together to localise food systems. This helps communities to become more self-sufficient and less reliant on ultra-processed foods, all while ensuring support reaches the most vulnerable.
While healthy food options are readily available in affluent areas such as in upper east side Manhattan, lower-income neighbourhoods – dominated by fast-food establishments – face a far greater need. In the Bronx, residents are establishing community gardens to encourage access to fresh, organic produce that people would otherwise require to travel outside the borough to find.
Some young, female urban farmers from minority communities in New York believe that “like fashion, farming is political too”. Some have built their capacity through courses at the Farm School NYC, which provides them with the tools needed to become effective leaders in the food justice movement.
Localising food systems involves growing and foraging for food in urban settings to reduce food miles and reclaim diverse, locally rooted food traditions long-displaced by industrial systems. This is one of the key lines of work explored by women in my book, What if Women Designed the City?
I’ve been investigating how women as experts of their neighbourhoods engage with local food movements – organising community gardens, coordinating cooperatives and managing farmers markets – viewed through a transatlantic lens that connects efforts in North America with those alive in the UK.
My research adopts a regenerative perspective on urban development, viewed through the eyes of women from diverse backgrounds who uncover untapped potential rooted in the uniqueness of their neighbourhoods. For instance, I conducted walking interviews with 274 women from both affluent and hard-to-reach areas in three Scottish cities: Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth.
A participant from the modernist housing estate of Wester Hailes in Edinburgh observed that locals often favour convenience foods: “People in this area like hamburgers, pizzas, mashed potatoes and stuff like that.” In her view, encouraging more community gardens could provide healthier alternatives while also reconnecting residents with fresh, seasonal produce.
Another resident recognised the social benefits such spaces could bring, helping to counter isolation. Regular meals at the Murrayburn and Hailes Neighbourhood Garden, for instance, attract people who live alone, providing a welcoming space – even for those who don’t feel like talking. As one participant put it, these meals are especially “good for people who are slightly depressed”.
Research suggests that getting our hands into the soil stimulates the release of serotonin, a natural antidepressant, triggered by the soil bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae, which can help people to feel more relaxed and happier. This aligns with compelling evidence on the benefits of “green care” – including social and therapeutic horticulture, care farming and environmental conservation – which has been shown to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression.
Growing native
At the heart of this community-led food justice movement is the belief that both herbalists and everyday gardeners should prioritise cultivating native plants that naturally thrive in their surroundings, rather than relying on plants from distant regions, that require harvesting, processing and transportation over long distances using fossil fuel energy.
This ethos underpins the work of a growing network of women from the Grass Roots Remedies workers cooperative, who meet regularly at the community-led Calders Garden in Edinburgh to exchange experiences while growing, foraging and making their own herbal medicines.
The vital role of communities as growers and foragers in urban resilience has largely been overlooked by city officials, urban planners and developers. Yet, these community-led efforts are bringing more life and vitality to urban spaces, fostering biodiversity, regenerating soil health and reducing the carbon footprint embedded in industrial food systems.
Several of the women I interviewed believe that being thoughtful consumers involves also taking part in producing what they eat, while reducing food waste at all stages of production. Women are also leading the way by repurposing vacant lots and development sites for community gardening and herbal medicine kitchens while integrating local food production into urban planning and building codes.
Regulatory measures that tie planning approval of new developments to the provision of open space for garden cultivation – either on-site or within the neighbouring area – can ensure that urban agriculture becomes an integral part of city planning. In cities, growing and foraging together deepens social links, encourages more diversified diets, reduces food miles and fosters a regenerative approach to community healthcare.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
May East does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The White House
class=”has-text-align-center”>Rajasthan International CenterJaipur, India
3:17 P.M. IST
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Hello. Good to see everybody. How we doing?
AUDIENCE: Good.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good. Good.
Well, it’s an amazing privilege to be here in Jaipur. I’m thrilled to address the Ananta Centre’s India-U.S. Forum, and I’m thrilled to have you all here with me. Thanks to all of you, the business leaders, decision-makers, and, of course, the students for being here. And thanks to our great team at the U.S. embassy for everything that you guys do for our country.
In the United States, we’re proud of the deep connection between our nations — between India and the United States. Prime Minister Modi, as most of you probably know, was one of the first visitors welcomed into the Oval Office during President Trump’s second term. And like President Trump, the prime minister inspires remarkable loyalty because of the strength of his belief in his people and in his country.
Now, we’re so grateful for Prime Minister Modi’s hospitality, as well as the reception that he and everyone else in this country have given us on this first trip for me to India. This is my first time visiting the birthplace of my wife’s parents, and she’s, of course, in the front row there. There you are, Usha. (Applause.)
You — she’s a bit of a celebrity, it turns out, in India. I think more so than her husband. But I haven’t been here long, but already I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the Akshardham Temple — did I pronounce that right, honey? — I did okay? — all right — with my family this morning, as a matter of fact. And last night, Prime Minister Modi welcomed me, Usha, and our three small children at his beautiful home.
I’ve been amazed by the ancient beauty of the architecture of India, by the richness of India’s history and traditions, but also by India’s laser-like focus on the future. And those things, I think — this appreciation for history and tradition, and this focus on the future — is very much something that I think animates this country in 2025.
Now, in other countries I visited, it sometimes feels like there’s a flatness, a sameness, a desire to just be like everyone else in the world. But it’s different here. There’s a vitality to India, a sense of infinite possibility, of new homes to be built, new skylines to be raised, and lives to be enriched. And there’s a pride in being Indian, a feeling of excitement about the days that lie ahead.
Now, it’s a striking contrast with too many in the West, where some in our leadership class seem stricken by self-doubt and even fear of the future. To them, humanity is always one bad decision away from catastrophe. The world will soon end, they tell us, because we’re burning too much fuel or making too many things or having too many children. And so, rather than invest in the future, they too often retreat from it.
Some of them pass laws that force their nations to use less power. They cancel nuclear and other energy generation facilities, even as their choices — the choices of these leaders — lead to more dependence on foreign adversaries. Meanwhile, their message to their friends, to countries like India, is to tell them that they are not allowed to grow.
Well, President Trump rejects these failed ideas. He wants America to grow. He wants India to grow, and he wants to build the future with our partners all over the globe. (Applause.)
And when I look at this audience or when I visit this incredible country over these last couple of days, I see a people that will not be held back.
Now, the most profound responsibility I believe that all of us have is not to ourselves but to the next generation, to make sure we leave them with a better society than the one that our parents and our grandparents gave us. And this is the world that America seeks to create with you.
We want to build a bright new world, one that’s constantly innovating, one that’s helping people to form families, making it easier to build, invest, and trade together in pursuit of common goals.
Now, I believe that our nations have much to offer one another, and that’s why we come to you as partners looking to strengthen our relationship.
Now, we’re not here to preach that you do things any one particular way. Too often, in the past, Washington approached Prime Minister Modi with an attitude of preachiness or even one of condescension. Prior administrations saw India as a source of low-cost labor on the one hand, even as they criticized the prime minister’s government — arguably the most popular in the democratic world. And as I told Prime Minister Modi last night, he’s got approval ratings that would make me jealous. (Laughter and applause.)
But it wasn’t just India. This attitude captured too much of our economic relationship with the rest of the world, so we shipped countless jobs overseas and, with them, our capacity to make things — from furniture, appliances, and even weapons of war. We traded hard power for soft power, because with economic integration, we were told, would also come peace through sameness. Over time, we’d all assume the same sort of bland, secular, universal values no matter where you lived. The world was flat after all. That was the thesis, and that was what they told us.
And when that thesis proved false or at least incomplete, leaders in the West took it upon themselves to flatten it by any means necessary. But many people across the world — and I think your country counts among them — they did not want to be flattened. Many were proud of where they came from: their way of life, the kind of jobs they worked, and the kind of jobs their parents worked before them. And that very much includes people in my own country, the United States of America.
Now, some of you are aware of my own background. I actually didn’t plan to talk about my background at all until last night at dinner, while my children mostly behaved — we gave them A-minus for behavior with the prime minister — the prime minister said, “I have one request. I want you to talk a little bit about your background.” And so, I wanted to do that — for those of you who don’t know anything about me, I wanted to talk about it.
I come from — and I’m biased — the greatest state in the Union, the state of Ohio: a longtime manufacturing powerhouse in the United States of America. My home, specifically, is a place called Middletown. Now, it’s not a massive city by any means — it’s not Jaipur — but it’s a decent-sized town and a place where people make things, which has been a point of pride in Middletown for generations.
It’s filled with families like my own, some of whom called us “hillbillies” — Americans who came down from the surrounding hills and mountains of West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky to cities like Middletown in pursuit of the manufacturing jobs that were creating widespread prosperity for families all across America. They came to Middletown in search of what we call back home “the American dream.”
In Middletown, my parents raised me, my grandparents raised me. They taught us to work hard. They taught me to study hard, and they taught me to love God and my country and always be good to your own.
My granddad, who I called “Papaw” growing up, he typified that. Late into life, he worked as a steelmaker at the local mill, and I know India has a lot of those. Papaw’s job gave him a good wage, stable hours, and a generous pension. All that allowed him to support not just him and my grandmother but his own daughter and grandkids with him. Now, by the time I came around, money was awfully tight, but he worked hard to make a good living for all of us.
Now, I know Papaw and Mamaw were grateful for the way of life their country made possible. Their generation bore witness to the formation of America’s great middle class, and by creating an economy centered around production, around workers who build things, and around the value of their labor, our nation’s leaders then transformed their country and made thousands of little Middletowns possible.
The government supported its labor force. We created incentives for productive industries to take root and struck good deals with international partners to sell the goods made in the United States of America.
But as America settled in to world historic prosperity it generated, our leaders began to take that very prosperity and what created it for granted. They forgot the importance of building, of supporting productive industry, of striking fair deals, and of supporting our workers and their families.
And as time went on, we saw the consequences. In my hometown, factories left, jobs evaporated. America’s Middletowns ceased to be the lifeblood of our nation’s economy. And the United States — as it became transformed, those very people — the working class, the background of the United States of America — were dismissed as backwards for holding on to the values their people had held dear for generations.
Now, Middletown’s story is my story, but it’s hardly unusual in the United States of America. There are tens of millions of Americans who, over the last 20 or so years, have woken up to what’s happening in our nation. But I believe they woke up well before it’s too late.
Now, like you, we want to appreciate our history, our culture, our religion. We want to do commerce and strike good deals with our friends. We want to found our vision of the future upon the proud recognition of our heritage, rather than self-loathing and fear.
I work for a president who has long understood all of this. Whether through fighting those who seek to erase American history or in support of fairer trade deals abroad, he has been consistent on these issues for decades. And as a result, under the Trump Administration, America now has a government that has learned from the mistakes of the past.
It’s why President Trump cares so deeply about protecting the manufacturing economy that is the lifeblood of American prosperity and making sure America’s workers have opportunities for good jobs.
As we saw earlier this month, he will go to extraordinary lengths to protect and expand those opportunities for all Americans.
And so, today, I come here with a simple message: Our administration seeks trade partners on the basis of fairness and of shared national interests.
We want to build relationships with our foreign partners who respect their workers, who don’t suppress their wages to boost exports but respect the value of their labor.
We want partners that are committed to working with America to build things, not just allowing themselves to become a conduit for transshipping others goods.
And finally, we want to partner with people and countries who recognize the historic nature of the moment we’re in, of the need to come together and build something truly new — a system of global trade that is balanced, one that is open, and one that is stable and fair.
Now, I want to be clear: America’s partners need not look exactly like America, nor must our governments do everything exactly the same way, but we should have some common goals. And I believe, here in India, we do in both o- — economics and in national security.
And that’s why we’re so excited. That’s why I’m so excited to be here today. In India, America has a friend, and we seek to strengthen the warm bonds our great nations already share.
Now, critics have attacked my president, President Trump, for starting a trade war in an effort to bring back the jobs of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth. He seeks to rebalance global trade so that America, with friends like India, can build a future worth having for all of our people together.
And when President Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced in February that our countries aim to more than double our bilateral trade to $500 billion by the end of the decade, I know that both of them meant it, and I’m encouraged by everything our nations are doing to get us there.
As many of you are aware, both of our governments are hard at work on a trade agreement built on shared priorities, like creating new jobs, building durable supply chains, and achieving prosperity for our workers.
In our meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Modi and I made very good progress on all of those points, and we are especially excited to formally announce that America and India have officially finalized the terms of reference for the trade negotiation. I think this is a vital step. (Applause.) Thank you. I believe this is a vital step toward realizing President Trump’s and Prime Minister Modi’s vision because it sets a roadmap toward a final deal between our nations.
I believe there is much that America and India can accomplish together. And on that note, I want to talk about a few areas of collaboration today, how India and the United States can work together: first, perhaps most importantly, to protect our nations; second, to build great things; and finally, to innovate the cutting-edge technologies both our countries will need in the years to come.
Now, on defense, our countries already enjoy a close relationship — one of the closest relationships in the world. America does more military exercises with India than we do with any other nation on Earth.
The U.S.-India COMPACT that President Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced in February will lay the foundation for even closer collaboration between our countries. From Javelins to Stryker combat vehicles, our nations will coproduce many of the munitions and equipment that we’ll need to deter foreign aggressors — not because we seek war, but because we seek peace, and we believe the best path to peace is through mutual strength. And the — launching the joint Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance will enable America and India to develop the most state-of-the-art maritime systems needed for victory.
It’s fitting that India, this year, is hosting the Quad Leaders’ Summit this fall. Our interests in a free, open, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific are in full alignment. Both of us know that the region must remain safe from any hostile powers that seek to dominate it.
Growing relations between our countries over the last decade are part of what led America to designate India a Major Defense Partner — the first of that class. This designation means that India now shares, with the UAE, a defense and technology infrastructure and partnership with the United States on par with America’s closest allies and friends.
But we actually feel that Indir- — India has much more to gain from its continued defense partnership with the United States, and let me sketch that out a little bit.
We, of course, want to collaborate more. We want to work together more. And we want your nation to buy more of our military equipment, which, of course, we believe is the best in class.
American fifth-generation F-35s, for example, would give the Indian Air Force the ability to defend your air space and protect your people like never before. And I’ve met a lot of great people from the Indian Air Force just in the last couple of days.
India, like America, wants to build, and that will mean that we have to produce more energy. That’s more energy production and more energy consumption. And it’s one of the many reasons why I think our nations have so much to gain by strengthening our energy ties.
As President Trump is fond of saying, America has once again begun to “drill, baby drill.” And we think that will inure to the benefit of Americans but it will also benefit India as well.
Past administrations in the United States of America, I — I think motifated [motivated] by a fear of the future, have tied our hands and restricted American investments in oil and natural gas production. This administration recognizes that cheap, dependable energy en- — is an essential part of making things and is an essential part of economic independence for both of our nations.
Of course, America is blessed with vast natural resources and an unusual capacity to generate energy, so much that we want to be able to sell it to our friends, like India. Well, we believe your nation will benefit from American energy exports and expanding those exports. You’ll be able to build more, make more, and grow more, but at much lower energy costs.
We also want to help India explore its own considerable natural resources, including its offshore natural gas reserves and critical mineral supplies. We have the capacity and we have the desire to help. Moreover, we think energy coproduction will help beat unfair competitors in other foreign markets.
But India, we believe, can go a long way to enhance energy ties between our nations. And one suggestion I have is maybe consider dropping some of the nontariff barriers for American access to the Indian market.
Now, I’ve talked about this, of course, with Prime Minister Modi. And, look, President Trump and I know that Prime Minister Modi is a tough negotiator. He drives a hard bargain. It’s one of the reasons why we respect him. (Applause.)
And — and we don’t blame Prime Minister Modi for fighting for India’s industry, but we do blame American leaders of the past for failing to do the same for our workers, and we believe that we can fix that to the mutual benefit of both the United States and India.
Let me give an example. American ethanol, we believe, made from the finest corn in the world, can play a tremendous role in enhancing our partnership. And I know our farmers would be delighted to support India’s energy security ambitions.
We welcome the Modi government’s budget announcement to amend India’s civil nuclear liability laws, which currently prevent U.S. producers from exporting small modular reactors and building larger U.S.-designed reactors in India.
There’s much that we can create, much that we can do together.
We believe that American energy can help realize India’s nuclear power production goals — and this is very important — as well as its AI ambitions. Because, as the United States knows well and I know that India knows well, there is no AI future without energy security and energy dominance.
And that brings me to my final point of collaboration. I believe that the technological collaboration between our countries is going to extend well beyond defense and energy.
The U.S.-India TRUST initiative that President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have launched will be a cornerstone of the partnership in the future. It’ll build on billions of dollars of planned investments that American companies have already announced across India.
In the years to come, we’re going to see data centers, pharmaceuticals, undersea cables, and countless other critical goods being developed and being built because of the American and Indian economic partnership.
And I’ll say it again, I think that our nations have so much to gain by investing in one another: America investing in India and, of course, India investing in the United States of America.
And I know that Americans, our people are excited about that prospect and that President Trump and I are looking forward to stronger ties.
Americans want further access to Indian markets. This is a great place to do business, and we want to give our people more access to this country. And Indians, we believe, will thrive from greater commerce from the United States. This is very much a win-win partnership and certainly will be far into the future.
And as I know this audience knows better than most, neither Americans nor Indians are alone in looking to scale up their manufacturing capacity. The competition extends well beyond cheap consumer goods and into munitions, energy infrastructure, and all sorts of other cutting-edge technologies. I believe that if our nations fail to keep pace, the consequences for the Indo-Pacific, but really the consequences for the entire world, will be quite dire.
And this, again, is where India and the United States have so much to offer one another. We’ve got great hardware — the leading artificial intelligence hardware in the world. You have one of the most exciting start-up technology infrastructures anywhere in the world.
There’s a lot to be gained by working together, and this is why President Trump and I both welcome India’s leadership in a number of diplomatic organizations, but, of course, in the Quad.
We believe a stronger India means greater economic prosperity but also greater stability across the Indo-Pacific, which is, of course, a shared goal for all of us in this room and is a shared goal for both of our countries.
I want to close with — with one last story, or maybe a couple of stories. So, you know, my — my son Ewan is seven years old. He’s our firstborn son. And yesterday, after we — we had dinner at the prime minister’s house, the food was so good and the prime minister was so kind to our three children that Ewan came up to me afterwards, and he said, “Dad, you know, I think maybe I could live in India.” (Laughter and applause.)
And — but I think after about 90 minutes in the Jaipur sun today at the great palace — (laughter) — he suggested that maybe we should move to England. (Laughter.) So, you take the — the good with the bad here.
But I — I want to talk about Prime Minister Modi because I think he’s a special person. I first met Prime Minister Modi at the AI Action Summit in February, and we had a lot of important discussions on AI and other policies to prepare for.
The prime minister also managed to figure out that my son Vivek was actually turning five years old on the trip. This was in Paris just a couple of months ago.
So, think about this. Amid a huge international policy conference, he took the time to stop by where I was staying; wish our second son, Vivek, a happy birthday; and even bring him a gift. Usha and I were both genuinely touched by his graciousness, and we have been even more impressed by his warmth since we arrived in India.
Now, it’s interesting. Some of you may know that when you’re a politician, your kids spend almost as much time in the limelight as you do. And the — the great things about kids is they are brutally honest. They’re brutally honest with everybody, whether you want them to be or not.
And our seven-year-old, our five-year-old, and then our — our three-year-old baby girl, Mirabel — it’s interesting. They have only really been — they’ve only really attached themselves to; they’ve only really liked, I should say; they’ve only really built a rapport with — with two world leaders.
The fors- — first, of course, is President Trump. He just has a certain energy about them — about him. But Prime Minister Modi, it’s the exact same thing. Our kids just like him. And I think that because kids are such good strong [judge] of characters, I just like Prime Minister Modi too, and I think it’s a great foundation for the future of our relationship. (Applause.)
I could tell then — I could tell when Prime Minister Modi came over a couple of months ago and I believe today that he is a serious leader who has thought deeply about India’s future prosperity and security, not just for the rest of his time in office but over the next century.
And I want to end by making a simple overarching point. We are now officially one quarter into the 21st century — 25 years in, 75 years to go. And I really believe that the future of the 21st century is going to be determined by the strength of the United States-India partnership. I believe — (applause) — thank you.
I believe that if India and the United States work together successfully, we are going to see a 21st century that is prosperous and peaceful. But I also believe that if we fail to work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity.
So, I want to say, it’s — it’s clear to me, as it is to most observers, that President Trump, of course, intends to rebalance America’s economic relationship with the rest of the world. That’s going to cause — fundamentally will cause profound changes within our borders in the United States, but, of course, with other countries as well.
But I believe that this rebalancing is going to produce great benefits for American workers, it’s going to produce great benefits for the people of India, and because our partnership is so important to the future of the world, I believe President Trump’s efforts, joined, of course, by the whole country of India and Prime Minister Modi, will make the 21st century the best century in human history. Let’s do it together.
God bless you. And thank you for having me. (Applause.)
END 3:42 P.M. IST
B.C.’s tree-fruit growers are working on new projects to help protect their harvests from extreme weather and ensure there is a sustainable supply of local cherries, peaches, apples and other tree fruits this year and in future years.
“Earlier this spring, I visited the Okanagan to meet with growers. Many of them spoke about the challenge of a changing climate that has impacted their livelihoods and affected local food security,” said Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture and Food. “Extreme weather events are a major concern, and this investment will help farmers install much-needed equipment to protect their orchards and the delicious, quality fruit British Columbians rely on and enjoy.”
The $5-million Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency program is supporting 67 projects in the Okanagan and the Kootenay regions. Tree-fruit growers are using the funding to buy equipment such as wind machines, energy-efficient heaters and cooling systems to protect orchards from extreme cold and heat. One grower is purchasing hail netting to keep fruit trees and crops safe from damage.
“Working together with the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association and the B.C. Cherry Association has been crucial in developing a robust response to support our province’s dedicated tree-fruit growers. They have faced numerous challenges over the past few years,” said Harwinder Sandhu, parliamentary secretary for agriculture and MLA for Vernon-Lumby. “I know from my visits to orchards and meetings with growers how much these projects can help, and I am excited to see growers using this technology to protect their crops and increase production of the renowned Okanagan fruit that B.C. takes pride in.”
These projects will protect nearly 360 hectares (887 acres) of orchards in B.C., helping mitigate extreme weather effects on the tree-fruit sector. The projects will be complete by March 2027.
“The B.C. Cherry Association was very pleased to see the high uptake by industry in this program. After five consecutive years of extreme climate events, we needed to take a proactive approach,” said Sukhpaul Bal, president, B.C. Cherry Association. “The Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency program allows growers to make investments in their farms to better protect against future events, and we look forward to building on the success of the program to ensure the long-term sustainability of the cherry sector.”
The Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency program was developed with input from the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association and the B.C. Cherry Association as part of government’s efforts to help tree-fruit growers through challenges.
“We are grateful to the government for their support through this program. The overwhelming response, with the program being oversubscribed within just 20 hours, clearly demonstrates the significant need within our industry,” said Deep Brar, vice-president, B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association, and a tree-fruit grower. “We sincerely appreciate the efforts in supporting the tree-fruit industry, and as we move forward, we hope for even more support to continue addressing the challenges we face and to ensure the sustainability and growth of our sector.”
Learn More:
To learn more about the opening of the Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency program, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025AF0002-000049
BOSTON, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Richard Scannell, CEO at occupancy analytics software company Lambent, will be a featured speaker at University Facilities 2025 taking place April 28-29 at the Renaissance Boston Seaport Hotel. Scannell will co-present with Sara Walsh, Executive Dean of Finance and Administration at the Brown University School of Public Health. Their session will highlight the university’s experience using advanced analytics and data modeling to gain a better understanding of space usage and how they used that data to optimize usage and deliver tangible financial, operational and user results.
As the future of higher education evolves, campus space utilization is becoming mission-critical. The University Facilities 2025 conference looks at how new academic facility planning and space management initiatives are being shaped by changing academic priorities and funding streams. The event provides capital project teams, project managers, facility managers, space planners, construction managers, architects, engineers, financial officers, capital planners, and university administrative staff with the data, metrics, and decision-making rationales they need for:
New space plans for better utilization and cost-efficient growth
Greater facility flexibility for shared and different uses
Capital project investments that attract faculty and students
Improved planning processes and tools
Scannell and Walsh will present their session twice at the event:
Session Details:
Space use visualization tools to overcome skepticism and bureaucracy
Dates/Times:
Mon. April 28
2:20 – 3:15 p.m.
Tues. April 29
8:35 – 9:30 a.m.
All the data in the world is useless if it can’t be turned into relevant insights and communicated clearly. This presentation illustrates the leveraging of sophisticated data modeling tools and the influence of academic partners to advance projects through the administrative approval process and overcome significant hurdles. Scannell and Walsh will illustrate how to harness data to demonstrate space utilization problems and opportunities in ways that build enthusiasm at every level through the approval process. They will examine tangible financial impacts, project story telling models, and the tailoring of communication strategies for productive ad-hoc meetings, budgeting, and IT department engagement.
Speakers:
Sara Walsh Executive Dean of Finance and Administration Brown University School of Public Health
Richard Scannell CEO Lambent
Walsh will also lead another session at the conference titled: Growth in a landlocked campus: Brown University’s space utilization and repurposing solutions. In that session, she will profile Brown’s strategy to answer the call for more space amid rapid growth, while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Walsh will detail Brown’s multi-faceted model for campus expansion which reconciles academic priorities and financial constraints with community considerations. She’ll examine decisions on strategic property acquisition and development, the repurposing of existing structures, opportunities identified to improve space utilization, and balancing expansion with financial prudence by measuring capital expenditures. The session takes place Monday, April 28th, 10:25 – 10:50 a.m.
About Lambent Lambent is an occupancy analytics software company helping corporate and higher ed campuses optimize space utilization, facilities operations and real estate investments. Its SaaS platform, Lambent Spaces, leverages existing data sources such as Wi-Fi and sensors to provide anonymous and predictive analytics to inform decisions related to utilization, workplace experiences, planning, scheduling, and maintenance. The software delivers actionable intelligence so facilities professionals and space planners can make better use of the spaces they have. For more information, visit https://lambentspaces.com/.
Governor Pillen Declares Emergency, Mobilizes Nebraska National Guard and Issues Statewide Burn Ban Following Fire in Brown County
LINCOLN, NE – Governor Jim Pillen has authorized the Nebraska National Guard to mobilize 29 soldiers and airmen to assist local volunteer fire departments, which are currently battling the Plum Creek Fire near Johnstown, Nebraska, in Brown County. Nebraska Army National Guard aerial resources have also been authorized to support the firefighting mission.
The assignment of state resources is in response to a request received Tuesday evening through the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to assist local volunteer firefighters who have been fighting the fire since Monday. The Plum Creek Fire is now estimated to have burned 6,600 acres. Forty-five cattle have died, and a cabin has been destroyed. Other structures have been threatened and were boxed in with heavy equipment to provide protection. The cause of the fire has been attributed to a permitted burn that got out of control.
Gov. Pillen issued a statewide burn ban during a news conference at the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency today, alongside other state officials. He emphasized the persistent dry conditions that have continued to plague the state. In February, the Governor issued an emergency declaration for wildfires in Custer and Dawes counties that were also fueled by dry conditions, high winds and a lake of humidity.
“It’s way too dry in Nebraska right now, and it only takes one burn, one mistake and then you have a situation like we have in Plum Creek. The risks are too significant,” said Gov. Pillen.
Department of Agriculture Director Sherry Vinton touched on the rough and dangerous terrain where the fire is burning, and the extreme difficulty that it posed for fire crews and others who were trying to control flames.
“As the director of agriculture, and a rancher myself, I support the statewide burn ban. While fire is a tool that we use in our agricultural operations and for conservation, right now our current conditions make it just too dangerous,” stressed Dir. Vinton. “Protecting our land, our livestock, wildlife, and most importantly, people in our neighborhoods and our communities from the potential of wildfire damage, is of the utmost importance right now.”
Currently, more than 60 local, state and federal partners are responding to the Plum Creek Fire.
“I applaud the governor for taking this action to save lives and protect property,” NEMA Assistant Director Erv Portis said. “Safety is our number one priority.”
The Nebraska Army National Guard is providing two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and a ground crew of 16 to assist with fire suppression. The helicopters departed on their mission this morning and made 70 water drops throughout the day.
“We appreciate the willingness of our soldiers and airmen, as well as their families and employers, to support these local volunteer firefighters as they work tirelessly to control this wildfire,” said Col. Shane Varejcka, Nebraska National Guard chief of the joint staff.
The Governor signed three documents – a proclamation providing state assistance to the Plum Creek Fire, a proclamation providing for state resources to be utilized in response to drought conditions and an executive order establishing the statewide burning ban in all areas of the state through April 30.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ (IA-02)
DAVENPORT– Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce hosted Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) for a roundtable discussion in Davenport, Iowa with local business leaders on the need to extend pro-growth business tax provisions before portions of President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expire at the end of the year. Doing so will create new opportunities for American workers and businesses to thrive.
Absent Congressional action, the country will see the largest automatic tax increase in American history. Miller-Meeks is on the frontlines, working to ensure that the constituents of the 1st District of Iowa will not face this massive tax increase at the end of 2025.
“I was delighted to be with local business owners as we advocate together for an extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” said Miller-Meeks. “Starting in 2026, failure to extend these tax cuts would be a devastating 25% average tax hike on Iowa families, farmers, and small businesses, the backbone of our economy and community. Thank you to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for being an advocate for our small businesses. Together, we will continue to champion policies that foster growth, and help southeast Iowa thrive!”
“With congress passing budget language earlier this month, the hard work of developing a tax package that avoids a historic tax hike on small business is underway”,said Peter Tokar III, President and CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce. “We are proud to work with Congresswoman Miller-Meeks and are thankful for her support of common-sense pro-growth, pro-business tax policy that ensures small businesses can do what they do best, run their business and invest in their employees.”
The U.S. Chamber’s tax roundtables and business tour are the latest effort in its Growing America’s Future campaign, an education and advocacy blitz in support of maintaining a pro-growth tax code to foster a robust U.S. economy that benefits all Americans. These events will continue over the coming months in communities across the country.
NEW YORK, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — E.F. Hutton & Co., the recently relaunched investment firm, has named Aaron Gadouas as the firm’s newest Senior Managing Director. Gadouas will be working alongside Chief Executive Officer Joseph T. Rallo and President Duncan B. Swanston as the firm continues its focus on delivering for clients across equity and debt markets.
Gadouas brings over three decades of experience in investment banking and capital markets to the firm, including expertise across a wide range of industries and financing structures. Over the course of his career, he has provided capital solutions and strategic advice for clients in industries including renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure, controlled environment agriculture, residential and commercial real estate, equipment leasing and specialty finance and insurance.
“I’m thrilled to join E.F. Hutton during this exciting period of growth,” said Senior Managing Director Aaron Z. Gadouas. “I’m eager to collaborate with this outstanding executive team to broaden our global reach in private credit and offer valuable solutions to clients across structured finance.”
Aaron has a history of developing and identifying creative financing solutions. He pioneered the first securitization of church mortgage loans in the United States. He has also formulated ways to monetize and leverage insurance products and other credit enhancements.
“We are thrilled to announce Aaron Gadouas is joining our firm as a Senior Managing Director. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the company, decades of experience in investment banking and a deep knowledge of debt markets. I am looking forward to working with him to expand our offerings to deliver the best solutions to our clients,” said E.F. Hutton Chief Executive Officer Joseph T. Rallo.
Before joining E.F. Hutton, Gadouas was a Managing Director at B.C. Ziegler and Company and Co-head of the firm’s project and structured finance practice. He has also held positions at ABN AMRO Global Capital Markets, where he was responsible for the origination and execution of tax-advantaged structured products, and Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he focused on municipal finance.
Gadouas graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor’s in Economics. He received an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and holds General Securities Registered Representative Series 7, 52 and 63 licenses.
ABOUT E.F. HUTTON E.F. Hutton & Co. is a broker-dealer that provides advisory and financing solutions to a variety of clients including corporates, sponsors, and public-private partnerships. The Executive Team at E.F. Hutton & Co. has a proven track record of providing unwavering strategic advice to clients across the globe, including the US, Asia, Europe, UAE, and Latin America.
PALM BEACH, Fla., April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media GroupNews Commentary – Drones are being utilized in many markets and one of the ones that is expected to continue to rise is the agriculture drones market. The need to boost agricultural productivity and the labor shortage drive the agriculture drones market growth. Traditional farming faces labor shortages, increasing the demand for advanced agriculture technologies that enhance productivity and minimize manual labor. For instance, the USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture revealed a loss of 141,733 farms in the US from 2017 to 2022, highlighting the urgent need for solutions to improve efficiency and promote sustainable farming practices. According to a report from MarketsAndMarkets the global agriculture drones market which grew to from USD 2.01 billion in 2024 is expected to reach a CAGR of 32.0% during the forecast period (2029). The report said: “Partnerships and the introduction of new products will present profitable prospects for industry participants in the coming five years. Favorable government policies, subsidies, and regulations coupled with increasing investments by market players drive the usage of digital agriculture tools like drones. The US FAA’s exemptions for the use of agriculture drones are anticipated to hold several opportunities for the market. Favorable government policies, subsidies, and regulations coupled with increasing investments by market players to drive the usage of digital agriculture tools like drones are acting as drivers for the agriculture drone market. Public-private partnerships create innovation in developing tailored solutions to known problems, especially in agriculture, which receives research and development funding from government initiatives. Extension education and training are also brought about, which educates the farmer concerning the capabilities of the drones thus making the farmer able to utilize the tools appropriately.” Active Companies in the drone industry today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAI), AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE: UAVS).
MarketsAndMarkets concluded: “Furthermore, governments’ propensity for sustainability in environmental matters helps the cause of drones meant to stretch resources applied in terms of water and fertilizers… Simplified regulatory frameworks facilitate easier adoption, enabling farmers to implement drone technology into their operations without extensive bureaucratic hurdles. Monetary benefits, such as subsidies and tax exemptions, greatly help reduce the input costs of drones, hence enabling more farmers to adopt the technology.”
ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) ZenaDrone Granted FAA Part 137 Approval for Agricultural Drone Operations Addressing a $6 Billion Global Agricultural Drone Market Growing to $24 Billion by 2032 – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS and Quantum Computing solutions, announces its subsidiary ZenaDrone has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct commercial agricultural operations under the rules and regulations of 14 CFR Part 137 for crop spraying and precision agriculture. This approval allows ZenaDrone to commence final testing and deployment of the ZenaDrone 1000 drone for aerial spraying of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, and seeds for agricultural, environmental and government customers. The company plans to sell these solutions through its Drone as a Service, or DaaS, business model as well as selling the drone hardware and solution directly to larger commercial farms, agribusinesses, and cooperatives.
“FAA part 137 approval now enables our team to finish final testing and commence sales of our agriculture solutions. Drones offer a more precise, efficient, cost effective and safer alternative to traditional methods while reducing chemical use, crop damage, and manual work, as well as being able to reach hard-to-access areas. We plan, test, then deploy our solutions through our DaaS model in the US first, followed by Ireland where we have a history of pioneering development work in agricultural drones,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.
According to Fortune Business Insights the global agriculture drone market is projected to grow from USD 6.10 billion in 2024 to USD 23.78 billion by 2032, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.5%. This growth reflects a growing demand for precision agriculture, advances in drone technology, cost-effectiveness, government support and incentive programs, and growing awareness and education.
The ZenaDrone 1000 is an autonomous drone, in a VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) quadcopter design with a total of eight rotors on its two fixed wings; it is considered a medium-sized drone measuring 12X7 feet in size. It is designed for stable flight, maneuverability, heavy lift capabilities up to 40 kilos, incorporating innovative software technology, AI, sensors, and purpose-built attachments like crop spraying, along with rugged and compact hardware featuring foldable wings enabling the drone to fit into the back of a truck.
ZenaTech’s DaaS business will incorporate the ZenaDrone 1000 and the IQ series of multifunction autonomous drones to provide a variety of service solutions from land surveys to power line inspections or power washing, made accessible and cost effective through an Uber-like business model on a regular subscription or pay-per-use basis. Customers can conveniently access drones for eliminating manual or time-consuming tasks achieving superior results, such as for surveying, inspections, security and law enforcement, or precision farming applications, without having to buy, operate, or maintain the drones themselves. Continued…Read this full release by visiting:https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-zena/
Other recent developments in the markets include:
Puna Bio recently announced that it had closed a new round of founding led by Corteva, Inc., Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) through its Corteva Catalyst platform. The investment from one of the world´s leading agricultural technology companies, and other investors, will support the further development of Puna Bio’s product portfolio based on extremophile organisms.
Unlike traditional pesticides and fertilizers, Puna Bio’s innovative products are based on natural solutions that enhance nutrient uptake, tolerance to stress and crop quality. Their biological (non-GMO) seed treatments are based on the unique capabilities of extremophiles isolated from the highest and driest desert on Earth, La Puna of Argentina.
“Our solution, based on ancient bacteria dating back 3.5 billion years, maximizes productivity by 10 to 15 percent in fertile soils and revitalizes degraded soils that would normally be too acidic or salinized to be productive,” explains Franco Martínez Levis, Puna Bio’s CEO and co-founder. “With so much of the world’s agricultural land on the path to degradation and weather patterns becoming more extreme worldwide, our discovery platform ensures that we can continue feeding the global population in a sustainable way.”
Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations, recently announced that the Company has entered into securities purchase agreements with certain institutional investors for the purchase and sale of 4,724,412 shares of common stock, pursuant to a registered direct offering, expected to result in gross proceeds of approximately $30 million, before deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses. The offering is expected to close on or about April 11, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
The Company intends to use net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital. Northland Capital Markets is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the transaction.
The offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-283242), which was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on December 11, 2024. A final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the registered direct offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website located at http://www.sec.gov. Additionally, when available, electronic copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained, when available, from Northland Securities, Inc., 150 South Fifth Street, Suite 3300, Minneapolis, MN.
Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAI) recently announced that its SpotlightAITM OnSite (OnSite) real-time, edge-based, small object threat detection technology, has successfully completed operations in active minefields in Ukraine. This successful deployment highlights the Company’s patented capability to rapidly identify and instantly map live explosive threats including small anti-personnel cluster munitions and landmines scattered over large areas. Building on over two years of real-world battlefield testing, this milestone in the Company’s development roadmap demonstrates the ability to deliver edge-based small object threat detection reducing a soldier’s cognitive load and representing the next generation of force protection. To view a video of SpotlightAITM Onsite please click here.
“Evolving threats like remote mining where everyday drones are strategically delivering small mines is a new critical threat profile that our edge-based system is uniquely designed to address. Our recent operational success confirmed that our AI models can reduce the cognitive load on soldiers who are already heavily tasked and may not have the time to recognize explosive threats in their path. This a significant step forward on the Edge where drone-based small object threat detection for force protection is responding to the rapidly changing modern battlefield. Building upon our unmatched real-world experience in detecting, identifying and locating small explosive threats in Ukraine, we believe OnSite can deliver a new level of enhanced situational awareness that will allow military, government and humanitarian personnel to safely conduct their critical missions with greatly enhanced safety,” said Dan Erdberg, Chairman and CEO of Safe Pro Group Inc. “The increasing number of countries exiting the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines will likely lead to an increased proliferation of deadly anti-personnel mines and that is why we are committed to the further development and deployment of our patented technology so that we can help protect our soldiers and our allies.”
AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE: UAVS) recently announced the launch of its eBee VISION next generation application software featuring a variety of critical updates. Of particular note, is the capability for manual position updates with map referencing to provide precise navigation even in GNSS-denied areas where satellite signals are unavailable or unreliable due to various factors.
AgEagle CEO Bill Irby commented, “Of the many new features provided in our latest software update, overcoming GNSS-denied shortfalls marks a significant leap forward in drone operations especially for defense personnel, public safety agencies and industrial teams working in high-stakes, GNSS-denied environments. Whether operating in dense urban centers, near critical installations, or in contested zones with active signal interference, our global eBee VISION customers can now maintain full navigational command of their drone using only the camera and map-based interface. This feature directly addresses a core challenge faced by tactical and industrial drone operators in today’s complex mission environments. Our technical team will continue to work relentlessly on refinements and ongoing advancements to ensure AgEagle remains at the forefront of UAV innovation.”
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DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM’s market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated fifty one hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by ZenaTech, Inc. by the Company. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”, “expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.
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Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dan Baumgardt, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol
Running a marathon is no small feat. Athletes can expect to cover between 50-60,000 steps, burn over 3,000 calories and expel multiple litres of sweat to keep cool.
Marathons and other long distance events can be associated with several dangers – including dehydration, electrolyte imbalances and heatstroke. All important reasons as to why it’s crucial to train adequately for the big day, and come prepared.
But there’s another condition that can affect long distance runners – one that can be more than a little embarrassing.
It comes under many guises: runner’s trots, runner’s gut, runner’s stomach, runner’s runs. What we’re referring to is the overactive gastrointestinal tract brought on by the whole-body effects of running. This results in urgent, sometimes explosive diarrhoea.
Runner’s diarrhoea is actually a triad of symptoms: diarrhoea, cramping abdominal discomfort plus a heightened urge to open your bowels. It’s actually more common than you think – with up to 96% of endurance runners reportedly experiencing some sort of gastrointestinal symptom during a race.
In most cases, runner’s trots are not considered concerning, especially if the condition is adequately managed as you would any episode of acute diarrhoea – with fluid and electrolyte replenishment. But in some extreme cases, there have been signs of blood in the runner’s faeces. This suggests that in some people, the condition may be caused by mechanical damage to the bowel – perhaps as a result of this organ being sloshed around in the abdomen during a long run.
Why it happens
But what causes it in the first place? We aren’t entirely sure, but most experts have established several different causes which might play a role in generating these symptoms.
The first clue may lie within the blood supply. When you start to exercise, your body shifts its attention away from resting and digesting, and diverts blood to tissues and organs that need it more – namely the heart, lungs and muscles. Prolonged reduced blood flow to the gut could irritate and inflame its lining. This might also affect the bacterial colonies that reside within the gut. This may explain why a recent study suggests probiotics may work as a treatment.
Other studies have considered the effect of nutrition upon gut activity. Certain foods are associated with increased gut activity and fermentation, such as protein, fat and fibre. This is why most runners avoid foods high in these before a long run, often consuming a breakfast which is higher in simple, easily digestible carbohydrates.
There are many reasons why you might develop an overactive gastrointestinal tract while running a marathon. Michael Mong/ Shutterstock
In addition, some of the other nutrients and substances we commonly use as a welcome boost for heavy exercise might be culprits. Take caffeine, for instance. These stimulants might boost our energy, but they can also have a laxative effect in some people.
And carbs are not entirely without blame. Evidence suggests that some carbs can not only increase the speed at which foods move through the gastrointestinal tract, they can also cause fluid retention and fermentation within the gut, making diarrhoea and gas more likely. These include the lactose in cow’s milk products and high fructose fruits, such as apples, pears and grapes.
Finally, it’s possible that an attack of the nerves may be (in part) to blame for the runs. Not only do stress and mood have associations with irritable bowel syndrome, it has also been suggested that psychological factors, such as anxiety, may be associated with runner’s diarrhoea.
What can you do?
Is there anything you can do to avoid needing the loo somewhere on your marathon route?
Nutrition does seem to be key. Eat an energy-rich and familiar breakfast (one you know won’t bother your stomach) with the minimum of fibre, fat and protein. It’s not good to choose the day of a big event to challenge your gut with unfamiliar foods. One example might be a toasted bagel (or indeed plain white toast), or a low-fibre breakfast cereal, that’s based on rice or corn rather than bran. Fruits lower in fructose include strawberries, raspberries and bananas.
Ideally, give your chosen breakfast a test drive before a training session to see what the effect is. In addition, separating your meal and the starting line by 2-3 hours gives the gut some time to get going on digestion, and to mobilise fuel for action.
Hydration is important. Make sure not only to drink water, but replenish electrolytes as well since both water and sodium are easily lost in sweat. Consuming water or sports drinks in small but regular bursts can help alleviate the problem of needing the toilet.
Perhaps one of the best ways to recognise and prevent runner’s diarrhoea is to sit back, observe and listen to your own body. Yet another reason why preparation is so important. Training for a marathon should take place over months, not days or weeks. This gives ample time to recognise gut symptoms, but also what might be triggering them.
Some athletes find it useful to keep a diary, detailing symptoms and activity for the day, in order to spot trends more easily. You can also trial simple tactics, such as specific nutrition, hydration and training plans to see what effect they have. Everyone is different, and will respond to exercise and diet in different ways.
In any event, if you get caught foul (sometimes quite literally) of runner’s trots, try to take a break, slow down and rehydrate. Also remember that most marathons have toilets at frequent intervals, in case the moment should grab you.
Dan Baumgardt 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.
PALM BEACH, Fla., April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media GroupNews Commentary – Many experts see the global agriculture drones market to continue its substantial growth through this decade and maybe beyond. One such industry watcher, MarketsANDMarkets reported that: “The global agriculture drones market was projected to grow to $2.01 Billion in 2024 and reach $8.03 Billion by 2029. High adoption of aerial data collection tools in agriculture holds immense opportunity for the agriculture drones market. As farmers want to boost yields and their uses in resource optimization, precision agricultural tools are in increased demand; drones offer sensors and timely data for crop health and soil conditions. Efficiencies and accuracies increase the appealability of aerial data collection, and more farmers are adopting drone technology. Drones combined with emerging technologies in the form of machine learning and AI make them robust for position and to improve broadband agricultural data systems. Moreover, many industries use drones, and the adoption rate of tools required to collect aerial data is high in the construction, agriculture, and mining industries. Moreover, as farmers emphasize yield optimization and resource utilization more, the use of precision agriculture tools and drones increases. Drones have advanced sensors and real-time data for monitoring crop health and soil conditions. Their efficiency and accuracy appeal to more farmers who have become open to drone technology.” Active Companies in the drone industry today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO), Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American: UMAC), Sidus Space (NASDAQ: SIDU), AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: AGRI).
MarketsANDMarkets continued: “The cereals & grains segment is growing substantially in the agriculture drones market. Cereals like wheat, corn, and rice are staple crops that require precise management to optimize yields, which makes drones more important. Drones can perform aerial surveys, crop health monitoring, and soil condition assessment, thus supporting farmers in informed decisions that may yield maximum productivity and resource utilization. Moreover, precision agriculture development is quite useful for producing cereals and grains. Agriculture drones conduct aerial surveys; thorough data acquisition and actionable insight generation will assist farmers in undertaking focused interventions such as precise irrigation and fertilization. This is resource efficient, cost-reducing, and productivity-enhancing in absolute terms. Moreover, with environmental objectives driving this agenda, increasing the importance of sustainability works well for the cereals & grains segment, with drones monitoring inputs more efficiently for management. The rising trend of digital agriculture, whereby decisions are made based on data, also builds a case for drones in the segment. Thus, considering the above parameters, based on farm produce, the cereals & grains segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR during the studied period.”
ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) ZenaDrone Granted FAA Part 137 Approval for Agricultural Drone Operations Addressing a $6 Billion Global Agricultural Drone Market Growing to $24 Billion by 2032 – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS and Quantum Computing solutions, announces its subsidiary ZenaDrone has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct commercial agricultural operations under the rules and regulations of 14 CFR Part 137 for crop spraying and precision agriculture. This approval allows ZenaDrone to commence final testing and deployment of the ZenaDrone 1000 drone for aerial spraying of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, and seeds for agricultural, environmental and government customers. The company plans to sell these solutions through its Drone as a Service, or DaaS, business model as well as selling the drone hardware and solution directly to larger commercial farms, agribusinesses, and cooperatives.
“FAA part 137 approval now enables our team to finish final testing and commence sales of our agriculture solutions. Drones offer a more precise, efficient, cost effective and safer alternative to traditional methods while reducing chemical use, crop damage, and manual work, as well as being able to reach hard-to-access areas. We plan, test, then deploy our solutions through our DaaS model in the US first, followed by Ireland where we have a history of pioneering development work in agricultural drones,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.
According to Fortune Business Insights the global agriculture drone market is projected to grow from USD 6.10 billion in 2024 to USD 23.78 billion by 2032, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.5%. This growth reflects a growing demand for precision agriculture, advances in drone technology, cost-effectiveness, government support and incentive programs, and growing awareness and education.
The ZenaDrone 1000 is an autonomous drone, in a VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) quadcopter design with a total of eight rotors on its two fixed wings; it is considered a medium-sized drone measuring 12X7 feet in size. It is designed for stable flight, maneuverability, heavy lift capabilities up to 40 kilos, incorporating innovative software technology, AI, sensors, and purpose-built attachments like crop spraying, along with rugged and compact hardware featuring foldable wings enabling the drone to fit into the back of a truck.
ZenaTech’s DaaS business will incorporate the ZenaDrone 1000 and the IQ series of multifunction autonomous drones to provide a variety of service solutions from land surveys to power line inspections or power washing, made accessible and cost effective through an Uber-like business model on a regular subscription or pay-per-use basis. Customers can conveniently access drones for eliminating manual or time-consuming tasks achieving superior results, such as for surveying, inspections, security and law enforcement, or precision farming applications, without having to buy, operate, or maintain the drones themselves. Continued…Read this full release by visiting:https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-zena/
Other recent developments in the markets include:
Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO), an industry-leading developer of drone solutions and systems, recently announced the formation of its Public Safety Advisory Board. This new initiative reinforces Draganfly’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge, mission-critical technologies that support enforcement and public safety agencies worldwide. Renowned global public safety expert and Homeland Security advisor Paul Goldenberg will serve as the inaugural Chair of the Board.
With more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement, global security, and national intelligence, Goldenberg brings unparalleled expertise to the role. Recently named America’s Most Influential Person in Homeland Security, he has advised U.S. Presidents, members of Congress, and international security bodies on counterterrorism, cybercrime, and public safety. As a former senior member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), Goldenberg led pivotal initiatives, including the DHS Cybersecurity Task Force and the Countering Foreign Influence Task Force. He currently serves as Chief Advisor for Policy and International Policing at the Rutgers University Miller Center on Policing, a Distinguished Visiting Fellow for Transnational Security at the University of Ottawa, and a member of the National Sheriffs’ Association Southern Border Security Committee.
Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American: UMAC), a drone and drone components manufacturer, recently announced it filed its Form 10-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 and provided the following letter to its shareholders from CEO Allan Evans.
Dear Shareholders, This shareholder letter follows the completion of our fiscal year 2024. This is our first year being public. It has been an excellent fourth quarter and an incredible year. We continue to see great interest in the company and receive questions from shareholders. We would like to take this opportunity to provide context and deeper insights into our operations and what these represent for Unusual Machines’ future.
Unusual Machines revenue for the fourth quarter revenue was over $2.0 million which represents a sequentially quarter over quarter increase of approximately 31%. This is our best revenue quarter of all time (again) and was done while improving gross margins slightly to 28%. With the launch of our Blue Framework products, approximately 15% of our Q4 revenue was from enterprise sales. Our total revenue of $5.65M for FY2024 exceeded our target of $5M for 2024 by 13%. This growth was achieved without customer concentration as no single customer represented more than 5% of our total revenue for 2024.
Sidus Space (NASDAQ: SIDU) recently announced the unveiling of near real-time vessel detection and classification capability to be enabled by its hybrid 3D printed LizzieSat® satellite platform. Processing data directly onboard LizzieSat® through Sidus Orlaith™ AI Ecosystem, which includes FeatherEdge™ edge computing hardware, and the OrbitfyEdge software from Little Place Labs, represents a significant advancement in space-based maritime intelligence.
In January 2025, Sidus and Little Place Labs (LPL) formed a strategic partnership and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop integrated satellite solutions based on edge computing and AI applications. This collaboration aims to meet the growing needs of a global customer base and is expected to provide accurate vessel detection and classification within one hour of satellite observation.
AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: AGRI) recently announced significant progress in its Radical Clean Solutions (RCS) division, acquired in August 2024. The RCS division has been awarded a U.S. patent (Patent No. 17/713,959), dated today, for its design of agricultural integrated systems for Radicals Hydroxyl generation units. This innovative technology provides growers of fruits, vegetables, and other plants with a chemical-free solution for reducing mold, viruses, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It can be integrated into existing heating and ventilation systems or used as a standalone unit. Additionally, the system helps lower levels of gases such as ethylene, thereby slowing the ripening process and extending the shelf life of produce.
Roger M. Slotkin, founder of RCS and on behalf of our RCS division, stated: “We have applied for multiple patents related to the application of our technologies across various sectors, including agriculture. Our solutions provide businesses with a chemical-free, safe, and effective method for mitigating viruses, mold, and other pathogens—without harm to people, pets, or plants. Over the coming months, we anticipate the approval of several additional patents.”
About FN Media Group:
At FN Media Group, via our top-rated online news portal at www.financialnewsmedia.com, we are one of the very few select firms providing top tier one syndicated news distribution, targeted ticker tag press releases and stock market news coverage for today’s emerging companies. #tickertagpressreleases #pressreleases
DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM’s market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated fifty one hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by ZenaTech, Inc. by the Company. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”, “expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.
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WAUSAU, Wis., April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PSB Holdings, Inc. (“PSB”) (OTCQX: PSBQ), the holding company for Peoples State Bank (“Peoples”) serving Northcentral and Southeastern Wisconsin reported first quarter earnings ending March 31, 2025 of $0.60 per common share on net income of $2.4 million, compared to $0.73 per common share on net income of $3.0 million during the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2024, and $0.39 per common share on net income of $1.6 million during the first quarter ending March 31, 2024.
PSB’s first quarter 2025 operating results reflected the following changes from the fourth quarter of 2024: (1) a stronger net interest margin as asset yields rose and funding costs declined; (2) the addition of a provision for loan losses due to loan growth; (3) higher non-interest income due to lower losses on the sale of securities and an increase in investment and insurance sale commissions; (4) higher non-interest expenses due to higher salaries and employee benefit expenses associated with commercial loan growth incentives and the addition of wealth management personnel; and (5) loan growth of 2% during the quarter.
“We are encouraged with the steady improvements in our net interest margin while also continuing solid loan growth as customers are seeing value in our relationship. We expect operating expenses to decline in the coming quarter and are cautiously optimistic for earnings growth for the remainder of 2025,” stated Scott Cattanach, President and CEO.
March 31, 2025, Highlights:
Net interest income decreased $121,000 to $10.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, from $10.4 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, due in part to two fewer days during the quarter. Meanwhile, asset and loan yields increased while funding costs declined slightly.
Noninterest income increased $589,000 to $1.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to $1.3 million the prior quarter due to a smaller loss on the sale of securities and an increase in investment and insurance sales commissions.
Noninterest expenses increased to $967,000 to $9.0 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2025 from $8.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, reflecting higher salary and benefit expenses associated with growth incentive payments and the addition of wealth management personnel in the purchase of the Larson Financial Group, LLC.
Loans increased $18.2 million, or 2% in the first quarter ended March 31, 2025, to $1.10 billion largely due to new commercial & industrial, commercial real estate and construction and development loans. Allowance for credit losses was 1.12% of gross loans.
Non-performing assets increased $2.6 million to $13.0 million, or 0.89% of total assets at March 31, 2025 compared to the previous quarter, from addition of commercial rental real estate units undergoing a sale process.
Total deposits decreased $17.3 million to $1.13 billion at March 31, 2025 from $1.15 billion at December 31, 2024, with the decrease largely consisting of normal commercial money market deposit outflows and seasonal municipal deposit outflows.
Return on average tangible common equity was 9.21% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to 11.07% the prior quarter and 6.57% in the year ago quarter.
Tangible book value per common share was up 11.3% over the past year to $26.94 at March 31, 2025, compared to $24.21 at March 31, 2024. Additionally, PSB paid dividends totaling $0.64 per share during the past year.
On January 21, 2025, the Bank acquired Larson Financial Group, LLC, a financial advisory company based in Wausau, WI.
Balance Sheet and Asset Quality Review
Total assets decreased $6.2 million during the first quarter to $1.46 billion at March 31, 2025, compared to $1.47 billion at December 31, 2024. Cash and cash equivalents decreased $17.8 million to $22.7 million at March 31, 2025 from $40.5 million at December 31, 2024 as funds were used to originate new loans and fund the outflow of seasonal municipal deposits and normal commercial customer treasury management operations. Cash and cash equivalents increased $6.8 million from one year earlier. Investment securities available for sale decreased $6.5 million to $182.6 million at March 31, 2025, from $189.1 million one quarter earlier. Total collateralized liquidity available to meet cash demands was approximately $323 million at March 31, 2025, with an additional $323 million that could be raised in a short time frame from the brokered CDs market.
Gross loans receivable increased $19.3 million to $1.14 billion at March 31, 2025, compared to one quarter earlier, due primarily to increased commercial real estate, construction & development and commercial & industrial lending. Commercial real estate loans increased $11.3 million to $562.9 million at March 31, 2025 and gross construction and development lending increased $7.7 million to $87.1 million at March 31, 2025, compared to one quarter earlier. Commercial & industrial loans increased $7.2 million to $124.1 million at March 31, 2025. Offsetting gross loan growth, residential real estate loans decreased $3.7 million from the prior quarter to $333.7 million, municipal loans decreased $2.8 million to $12.9 million and consumer installment loans decreased $0.4 million to $4.7 million. The loan portfolio remains well diversified with commercial real estate and construction loans totaling 57.2% of gross loans, followed by residential real estate loans at 29.3% of gross loans, commercial non-real estate loans at 13.1% and consumer loans at 0.4%.
The allowance for credit losses decreased slightly to 1.12% of gross loans at March 31, 2025, from 1.13% the prior quarter. Annualized net charge-offs to average loans were 0.02% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. Non-performing assets increased $2.6 million to $13.0 million, or 0.89% of total assets at March 31, 2025 from 0.71% at December 31, 2024. The increase reflects a loan relationship we expect to have $1.5 million in repayment in the next 6 months as collateral undergoes a sales process. No specific reserves have been established on the loan as ample collateral currently appears available. Approximately 80% of the non-performing assets consisted of four loan relationships.
Goodwill and other intangibles increased slightly during the quarter ended March 31, 2025 to $3.8 million from $2.7 million one quarter earlier. The increase in intangibles relates to the acquisition of Larson Financial Group, LLC in January 2025.
Total deposits decreased $17.3 million to $1.13 billion at March 31, 2025, from $1.15 billion at December 31, 2024. The decrease in deposits reflects a $22.9 million decrease in uninsured deposits during the first quarter composed primarily of money market deposits, consisting of normal commercial customer operation outflows, particularly with one customer accounting for $18 million of the decline who reinvested following the sale of their business in 2024. Meanwhile, brokered deposits increased $22.9 million and insured and collateralized deposits increased $5.6 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2025.
At March 31, 2025, non-interest bearing demand deposits decreased to 21.8% of total deposits from 22.6% the prior quarter, while interest-bearing demand and savings deposits remained at 29.4% of deposits.
FHLB advances increased $8.0 million to $170.3 million at March 31, 2025, compared to $162.3 million at December 31, 2024.
Tangible stockholder equity as a percentage of total tangible assets increased to 8.05% at March 31, 2025, compared to 7.76% at December 31, 2024, and 7.60% at March 31, 2024.
Tangible net book value per common share increased $2.73 to $26.94, at March 31, 2025, compared to $24.21 one year earlier, an increase of 11.3% after dividends of $0.64 were paid to shareholders. Relative to the prior quarter’s tangible book value per common share of $25.98, tangible net book value per common share increased primarily due to earnings and an increase in the fair market value in the investment portfolios. The accumulated other comprehensive loss on the investment portfolio was $16.7 million at March 31, 2025, compared to $19.3 million one quarter earlier.
Operations Review
Net interest income decreased to $10.3 million (on a net margin of 3.03%) for the first quarter of 2025, from $10.4 million (on a net margin of 2.96%) for the fourth quarter of 2024, and increased from $9.3 million (on a net margin of 2.80%) for the first quarter of 2024. The lower net interest income in the current period while net margin also increased primarily relates to a lower level of earnings assets during the quarter. Meanwhile, earning asset yields increased to 5.35% during the first quarter of 2025 from 5.29% the prior period and interest bearing deposit and borrowing costs decreased four basis points to 3.02% compared to 3.06% during the fourth quarter of 2024. Relative to one year earlier, earning asset yields were up 23 basis points while interest bearing deposit and borrowing costs increased two basis points.
The increase in earning asset yields was due to higher yields on loan originations, loan renewals, security purchases and security repricing. Loan yields increased during the first quarter of 2025 to 5.82% from 5.80% for the fourth quarter of 2024. Taxable security yields were 3.35% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to 3.16% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, while tax-exempt security yields increased to 3.35% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 from 3.31% the previous quarter. The increase in taxable security yields reflects some security restructuring activity from security sales in the prior quarter more fully realized in the current quarter.
The cost of all deposits increased slightly to 2.09% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to 2.08% the prior quarter, while the overall cost of funds decreased four basis points to 3.02% from 3.06% during the same time period. Deposit costs for time deposits decreased during the first quarter with time deposits decreasing five basis points to 3.97% and money market deposits decreasing 12 basis points to 2.44%. Savings and demand deposits increased three basis points to 1.87%. FHLB advances increased one basis point to 4.41% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025.
Total noninterest income increased $589,000 during the first quarter of 2025 to $1.9 million, from $1.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 due primarily to a lower net loss on sale of securities and increased investment and insurance sales commissions of $100,000. Mortgage banking income decreased to $250,000 in the first quarter from $414,000 the prior quarter while various increases in nominal revenue sources accounted for the remaining increase in noninterest income. At March 31, 2025, the Bank serviced $373.4 million in secondary market residential mortgage loans for others which provide fee income.
Noninterest expenses increased $967,000 to $9.0 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $8.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, and increased $644,000 from $8.3 million for the first quarter of 2024. On a linked quarter basis, December 2024 quarter salary and benefits expense was reduced from year-end final adjustments to incentive estimates, while March 2025 quarterly salary and benefits increased as commercial growth, and related incentives, were greater than budgeted. The LFG acquisition also increased wage and benefit expense. Intangible amortization increased slightly during the first quarter related to the acquisition. Occupancy and facilities costs increased $95,000, data processing and other office operation expenses increased $90,000 and various other noninterest expenses increased $177,000 during the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
Taxes decreased $51,000 during the first quarter to $473,000, from $524,000 one quarter earlier. The effective tax rate for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, was 15.6% compared to 14.4% for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024.
About PSB Holdings, Inc.
PSB Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of Peoples State Bank. Peoples is a community bank headquartered in Wausau, Wisconsin, serving northcentral and southeastern Wisconsin from twelve full-service banking locations in Marathon, Oneida, Vilas, Portage, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties and a loan production office in Dane County. Peoples also provides investment and insurance products, along with retirement planning services, through Peoples Wealth Management, a division of Peoples. PSB Holdings, Inc. is traded under the stock symbol PSBQ on the OTCQX Market. More information about PSB, its management, and its financial performance may be found at www.psbholdingsinc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about PSB’s business based, in part, on assumptions made by management and include, without limitation, statements with respect to the potential growth of PSB, its future profits, expected stock repurchase levels, future dividend rates, future interest rates, and the adequacy of its capital position. Forward-looking statements can be affected by known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including, but not limited to, strength of the economy, the effects of government policies, including interest rate policies, risks associated with the execution of PSB’s vision and growth strategy, including with respect to current and future M&A activity, and risks associated with global economic instability. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date on which they are made and PSB does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
PSB Holdings, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
March 31, 2025, September 30, June 30, and March 31, 2024, unaudited, December 31, 2024 derived from audited financial statements
Mar. 31,
Dec. 31,
Sep. 30,
Jun. 30,
Mar. 31,
(dollars in thousands, except per share data)
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Assets
Cash and due from banks
$
19,628
$
21,414
$
23,554
$
16,475
$
13,340
Interest-bearing deposits
702
3,724
5,126
251
105
Federal funds sold
2,351
15,360
58,434
69,249
2,439
Cash and cash equivalents
22,681
40,498
87,114
85,975
15,884
Securities available for sale (at fair value)
182,594
189,086
174,911
165,177
165,566
Securities held to maturity (fair values of $77,375, $79,654, $82,389, $79,993 and $81,234 respectively)
85,373
86,748
86,847
86,825
87,104
Equity securities
2,847
2,782
1,752
1,661
1,474
Loans held for sale
734
217
–
2,268
865
Loans receivable, net (allowance for credit losses of $12,392, $12,342, $12,598, $12,597 and $12,494 respectively)
1,096,422
1,078,204
1,057,974
1,074,844
1,081,394
Accrued interest receivable
5,184
5,042
4,837
5,046
5,467
Foreclosed assets
300
–
–
–
–
Premises and equipment, net
13,522
13,805
14,065
14,048
13,427
Mortgage servicing rights, net
1,717
1,742
1,727
1,688
1,657
Federal Home Loan Bank stock (at cost)
8,825
8,825
8,825
8,825
7,006
Cash surrender value of bank-owned life insurance
24,897
24,732
24,565
24,401
24,242
Other intangibles
353
195
212
229
249
Goodwill
3,495
2,541
2,541
2,541
2,541
Other assets
10,828
11,539
10,598
12,111
11,682
TOTAL ASSETS
$
1,459,772
$
1,465,956
$
1,475,968
$
1,485,639
$
1,418,558
Liabilities
Non-interest-bearing deposits
$
245,672
$
259,515
$
265,078
$
250,435
$
247,608
Interest-bearing deposits
884,364
887,834
874,035
901,886
865,744
Total deposits
1,130,036
1,147,349
1,139,113
1,152,321
1,113,352
Federal Home Loan Bank advances
170,250
162,250
181,250
184,900
158,250
Other borrowings
6,343
6,872
6,128
5,775
8,096
Senior subordinated notes
4,783
4,781
4,779
4,778
4,776
Junior subordinated debentures
13,049
13,023
12,998
12,972
12,947
Allowance for credit losses on unfunded commitments
672
672
477
477
477
Accrued expenses and other liabilities
13,554
14,723
12,850
13,069
10,247
Total liabilities
1,338,687
1,349,670
1,357,595
1,374,292
1,308,145
Stockholders’ equity
Preferred stock – no par value:
Authorized – 30,000 shares; Issued – 7,200 shares
Outstanding – 7,200 shares, respectively
7,200
7,200
7,200
7,200
7,200
Common stock – no par value with a stated value of $1.00 per share:
COOTAMUNDRA, Australia, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Australian Oilseeds Holdings Limited, a manufacturer and seller of sustainable edible oils to customers globally, today issued a letter to shareholders from Gary Seaton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, that highlights recent performance and future milestones.
Dear Fellow Shareholders,
Across the globe, 2024 presented serious challenges including the ongoing war in Ukraine and serious conflicts in the Middle East and growing geopolitical discord, notably with China. Our hearts go out to those whose lives are profoundly affected by these events.
Despite the unsettling geopolitical discord, we are pleased with our progress since launching the Company, as a Nasdaq listed company, and its unique products of Non-GMO cold-pressed and chemically-free processed oils.
Within the last 12 months, we have sold our products through the majority of retailers in Australia, including Woolworths and Coles, the two largest supermarket chains in Australia, as well as Costco and Independent Grocers of Australia, an Australian chain of supermarkets (IGA), with sales and awareness gradually increasing. In addition to our expanding market presence in Australia, the Company has also been successful in exporting and marketing its products in Japan, China and Vietnam.
Throughout the last year, we have demonstrated the power of our mission and guiding principles, as well as the value of being there for our customers. The result was continued healthy growth across our products and geographic expansion. Fiscal 2024 results were strong with revenues increasing by more than 16% driven by strong demand for our cold pressed canola oils. Our gross margin improved by 40 basis points and we delivered Adjusted EBITDA growth of nearly 16%. Our business momentum continues to build and we remain deeply committed to our mission as well as driving long-term value for our Shareholders.
We believe we are well positioned for the future and anticipate several key milestones as we continue to execute our growth strategy. Within the next six months we expect that our Good Earth Oils brands of Australian Canola Oil and Olive oil will be launched in Taiwan and India. We are also expecting significant growth in China over the next 12 months as we benefit from Australia’s preferential duty for its products into China compared to Canada and USA, which have current import duties of 100% and 124% respectively. Finally, we intend to launch our products in the USA subject to clarity on the current tariff structure for Australian imports into the USA – the current tariff structure on Australian Canola Oil into the USA is 10%.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to our Shareholders and our employees. We appreciate your continued support as we continue our exciting journey of taking chemicals out of the food supply chain and promoting healthy Canola Oil and Olive oil to consumers around the world along with the concept of regenerative farming.
Sincerely, Gary Seaton Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
About Australian Oilseeds Holdings Limited. Australian Oilseeds Holdings Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: COOT) through its subsidiaries, including Australian Oilseeds Investments Pty Ltd., an Australian proprietary company, tis focused on the manufacture and sale of sustainable oilseeds (e.g., seeds grown primarily for the production of edible oils) and is committed to working with all suppliers in the food supply chain to eliminate chemicals from the production and manufacturing systems to supply quality products to customers globally. The Company engages in the business of processing, manufacture and sale of non-GMO oilseeds and organic and non-organic food-grade oils, for the rapidly growing oilseeds market, through sourcing materials from suppliers focused on reducing the use of chemicals in consumables in order to supply healthier food ingredients, vegetable oils, proteins and other products to customers globally. Over the past 20 years, the Company’s cold pressing oil plant has grown to become the largest in Australia, pressing strictly GMO-free conventional and organic oilseeds.
Contact Australian Oilseeds Holdings Limited 126-142 Cowcumbla Street Cootamundra New South Wales 2590 Attn: Amarjeet Singh, CFO Email: amarjeet.s@energreennutrition.com.au
MUNCIE, Ind., April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ – FRME)
First Quarter 2025 Highlights:
Net income available to common stockholders was $54.9 million and diluted earnings per common share totaled $0.94 compared to adjusted net income and diluted earnings per common share1of $50.1 million and $0.85 in the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted net income and diluted earnings per common share1in the fourth quarter of 2024 were $58.1 million and $1.00, respectively.
Robust capital position with Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Ratio of 11.50%.
Repurchased 246,751 shares totaling $10 million year-to-date; Redeemed $30 million of sub debt.
Total loans grew $154.9 million, or 4.8% annualized, on a linked quarter basis, and $547.2 million, or 4.4%, during the last twelve months.
Total deposits declined $59.6 million, or 1.6% annualized, on a linked quarter basis, and declined $422.6 million, or 2.8%, during the last twelve months primarily due to the sale of five Illinois branches with $267.4 million in deposits to Old Second National Bank on December 6, 2024.
Nonperforming assets to total assets were 47 basis points compared to 43 basis points on a linked quarter basis.
The efficiency ratio totaled 54.54% for the quarter.
“The first quarter was a strong start to the year with healthy loan growth and increasing profitability,” said Mark Hardwick, Chief Executive Officer of First Merchants Bank. “Our 2025 priorities continue to focus on organic loan growth funded by low-cost core deposits, margin stabilization, fee income growth, expense management and credit quality. Given the market volatility and headlines, we are closely monitoring our clients and our markets but have yet to see any signs of stress.”
First Quarter Financial Results:
First Merchants Corporation (the “Corporation”) reported first quarter 2025 net income available to common stockholders of $54.9 million compared to adjusted net income available to common stockholders1 of $50.1 million during the same period in 2024. Diluted earnings per common share for the period totaled $0.94 compared to the first quarter of 2024 adjusted diluted earnings per common share1 of $0.85 per share.
Total assets equaled $18.4 billion as of quarter-end and loans totaled $13.0 billion. During the past twelve months, total loans grew by $547.2 million, or 4.4%. On a linked quarter basis, loans grew $154.9 million, or 4.8% annualized.
Investment securities, totaling $3.4 billion, decreased $356.5 million, or 9.4%, during the last twelve months and decreased $33.6 million, or 3.9% annualized on a linked quarter basis. The decline in the last twelve months reflected sales of available for sale securities in 2024 totaling $268.5 million.
Total deposits equaled $14.5 billion as of quarter-end and decreased by $422.6 million, or 2.8%, over the past twelve months. The decline reflected the sale of the Illinois branches during the prior quarter which included $267.4 million in deposits. Total deposits decreased $59.6 million, or 1.6% annualized on a linked quarter basis. The loan to deposit ratio increased to 90.1% at period end from 88.6% in the prior quarter.
The Corporation’s Allowance for Credit Losses – Loans (ACL) totaled $192.0 million as of quarter-end, or 1.47% of total loans, a decrease of $0.7 million from prior quarter. Net charge-offs totaled $4.9 million and provision for loans of $4.2 million was recorded during the quarter. Reserves for unfunded commitments totaling $18.0 million remain unchanged from the previous quarter. Non-performing assets to total assets were 0.47% for the first quarter of 2025, an increase of four basis points compared to 0.43% in the prior quarter.
Net interest income totaled $130.3 million for the quarter, a decrease of $4.1 million, or 3.1%, compared to prior quarter and increased $3.2 million, or 2.5%, compared to the first quarter of 2024. Fully taxable equivalent net interest margin was 3.22%, a decrease of six basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 and an increase of 12 basis points compared to the first quarter of 2024. The lower day count in the quarter caused a decline of five basis points in net interest margin from the prior quarter.
Noninterest income totaled $30.0 million for the quarter, a decrease of $12.7 million, compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 and an increase of $3.4 million compared to the first quarter of 2024. Customer-related fees declined by $2.3 million from the previous quarter due to lower derivative hedge fees, gains on sales of mortgage loans and card payment fees. Non-customer-related fees declined $10.4 million from the prior quarter primarily due to the gain on the Illinois branch sale, partially offset by realized losses on the sales of securities recorded in the prior quarter.
Noninterest expense totaled $92.9 million for the quarter, a decrease of $3.4 million from the fourth quarter of 2024 and a decrease of $4.0 million from the first quarter of 2024. The decrease from the fourth quarter of 2024 was due primarily to a decline in marketing expenses, and lower professional fees and employee incentives.
The Corporation’s total risk-based capital ratio totaled 13.22%, common equity tier 1 capital ratio totaled 11.50%, and the tangible common equity ratio totaled 8.90%. These ratios continue to demonstrate the Corporation’s strong capital position.
1 See “Non-GAAP Financial Information” for reconciliation
CONFERENCE CALL
First Merchants Corporation will conduct a fourth quarter earnings conference call and web cast at 11:30 a.m. (ET) on Thursday, April 24, 2025.
To view the webcast and presentation slides, please go to (https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/uqvoojku) during the time of the call. A replay of the webcast will be available until April 24, 2026.
Detailed financial results are reported on the attached pages.
About First Merchants Corporation
First Merchants Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. The Corporation has one full-service bank charter, First Merchants Bank. The Bank also operates as First Merchants Private Wealth Advisors (as a division of First Merchants Bank).
First Merchants Corporation’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market System under the symbol FRME. Quotations are carried in daily newspapers and can be found on the company’s Internet web page (http://www.firstmerchants.com).
FIRST MERCHANTS and the Shield Logo are federally registered trademarks of First Merchants Corporation.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements can often, but not always, be identified by the use of words like “believe”, “continue”, “pattern”, “estimate”, “project”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “expect” and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will”, “would”, “should”, “could”, “might”, “can”, “may”, or similar expressions. These statements include statements about First Merchants’ goals, intentions and expectations; statements regarding the First Merchants’ business plan and growth strategies; statements regarding the asset quality of First Merchants’ loan and investment portfolios; and estimates of First Merchants’ risks and future costs and benefits. These forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks, assumptions and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in forward-looking statements, including, among other things: possible changes in monetary and fiscal policies, and laws and regulations; the effects of easing restrictions on participants in the financial services industry; the cost and other effects of legal and administrative cases; possible changes in the credit worthiness of customers and the possible impairment of collectability of loans; fluctuations in market rates of interest; competitive factors in the banking industry; changes in the banking legislation or regulatory requirements of federal and state agencies applicable to bank holding companies and banks like First Merchants’ affiliate bank; continued availability of earnings and excess capital sufficient for the lawful and prudent declaration of dividends; changes in market, economic, operational, liquidity (including the ability to grow and maintain core deposits and retain large, uninsured deposits), credit and interest rate risks associated with the First Merchants’ business; and other risks and factors identified in each of First Merchants’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Merchants does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, relating to the matters discussed in this press release. In addition, First Merchants’ past results of operations do not necessarily indicate its anticipated future results.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Dollars In Thousands)
March 31,
2025
2024
ASSETS
Cash and due from banks
$
86,113
$
100,514
Interest-bearing deposits
331,534
410,497
Investment securities available for sale
1,378,489
1,620,213
Investment securities held to maturity, net of allowance for credit losses
2,048,632
2,163,361
Loans held for sale
23,004
15,118
Loans
13,004,905
12,465,582
Less: Allowance for credit losses – loans
(192,031
)
(204,681
)
Net loans
12,812,874
12,260,901
Premises and equipment
128,749
132,706
Federal Home Loan Bank stock
45,006
41,758
Interest receivable
88,352
92,550
Goodwill
712,002
712,002
Other intangibles
18,302
25,142
Cash surrender value of life insurance
304,918
306,028
Other real estate owned
4,966
4,886
Tax asset, deferred and receivable
87,665
101,121
Other assets
369,181
331,006
TOTAL ASSETS
$
18,439,787
$
18,317,803
LIABILITIES
Deposits:
Noninterest-bearing
$
2,185,057
$
2,338,364
Interest-bearing
12,276,921
12,546,220
Total Deposits
14,461,978
14,884,584
Borrowings:
Federal funds purchased
185,000
—
Securities sold under repurchase agreements
122,947
130,264
Federal Home Loan Bank advances
972,478
612,778
Subordinated debentures and other borrowings
62,619
118,612
Total Borrowings
1,343,044
861,654
Interest payable
13,304
19,262
Other liabilities
289,247
327,500
Total Liabilities
16,107,573
16,093,000
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Preferred Stock, $1,000 par value, $1,000 liquidation value:
Authorized — 600 cumulative shares
Issued and outstanding – 125 cumulative shares
125
125
Preferred Stock, Series A, no par value, $2,500 liquidation preference:
Issued and outstanding – 10,000 non-cumulative perpetual shares
25,000
25,000
25,000
25,000
25,000
Common Stock, $.125 stated value:
Authorized — 100,000,000 shares
Issued and outstanding
7,226
7,247
7,265
7,256
7,321
Additional paid-in capital
1,183,263
1,188,768
1,192,683
1,191,193
1,208,447
Retained earnings
1,306,911
1,272,528
1,229,125
1,200,930
1,181,939
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
(190,311
)
(188,685
)
(151,825
)
(211,979
)
(198,029
)
Total Stockholders’ Equity
2,332,214
2,304,983
2,302,373
2,212,525
2,224,803
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
$
18,439,787
$
18,311,969
$
18,347,552
$
18,303,423
$
18,317,803
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(Dollars In Thousands, Except Per Share Amounts)
March 31,
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
INTEREST INCOME
Loans:
Taxable
$
187,728
$
197,536
$
206,680
$
201,413
$
198,023
Tax-exempt
10,532
9,020
8,622
8,430
8,190
Investment securities:
Taxable
8,372
9,024
9,263
9,051
8,748
Tax-exempt
12,517
12,754
13,509
13,613
13,611
Deposits with financial institutions
2,372
5,350
2,154
2,995
6,493
Federal Home Loan Bank stock
997
958
855
879
835
Total Interest Income
222,518
234,642
241,083
236,381
235,900
INTEREST EXPENSE
Deposits
80,547
89,835
98,856
99,151
98,285
Federal funds purchased
812
26
329
126
—
Securities sold under repurchase agreements
742
680
700
645
1,032
Federal Home Loan Bank advances
9,364
8,171
8,544
6,398
6,773
Subordinated debentures and other borrowings
783
1,560
1,544
1,490
2,747
Total Interest Expense
92,248
100,272
109,973
107,810
108,837
NET INTEREST INCOME
130,270
134,370
131,110
128,571
127,063
Provision for credit losses
4,200
4,200
5,000
24,500
2,000
NET INTEREST INCOME AFTER PROVISION FOR CREDIT LOSSES
126,070
130,170
126,110
104,071
125,063
NONINTEREST INCOME
Service charges on deposit accounts
8,072
8,124
8,361
8,214
7,907
Fiduciary and wealth management fees
8,644
8,665
8,525
8,825
8,200
Card payment fees
4,526
4,957
5,121
4,739
4,500
Net gains and fees on sales of loans
5,022
5,681
6,764
5,141
3,254
Derivative hedge fees
404
1,594
736
489
263
Other customer fees
415
316
344
460
427
Earnings on cash surrender value of life insurance
2,179
2,188
2,755
1,929
1,592
Net realized losses on sales of available for sale securities
(7
)
(11,592
)
(9,114
)
(49
)
(2
)
Gain on branch sale
—
19,983
—
—
—
Other income
793
2,826
1,374
1,586
497
Total Noninterest Income
30,048
42,742
24,866
31,334
26,638
NONINTEREST EXPENSES
Salaries and employee benefits
54,982
55,437
55,223
52,214
58,293
Net occupancy
7,216
7,335
6,994
6,746
7,312
Equipment
7,008
7,028
6,949
6,599
6,226
Marketing
1,353
2,582
1,836
1,773
1,198
Outside data processing fees
5,929
6,029
7,150
7,072
6,889
Printing and office supplies
347
377
378
354
353
Intangible asset amortization
1,526
1,771
1,772
1,771
1,957
FDIC assessments
3,648
3,744
3,720
3,278
4,287
Other real estate owned and foreclosure expenses
600
227
942
373
534
Professional and other outside services
3,261
3,777
3,035
3,822
3,952
Other expenses
7,032
7,982
6,630
7,411
5,934
Total Noninterest Expenses
92,902
96,289
94,629
91,413
96,935
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAX
63,216
76,623
56,347
43,992
54,766
Income tax expense
7,877
12,274
7,160
4,067
6,825
NET INCOME
55,339
64,349
49,187
39,925
47,941
Preferred stock dividends
469
469
468
469
469
NET INCOME AVAILABLE TO COMMON STOCKHOLDERS
$
54,870
$
63,880
$
48,719
$
39,456
$
47,472
Per Share Data:
Basic Net Income Available to Common Stockholders
$
0.95
$
1.10
$
0.84
$
0.68
$
0.80
Diluted Net Income Available to Common Stockholders
$
0.94
$
1.10
$
0.84
$
0.68
$
0.80
Cash Dividends Paid to Common Stockholders
$
0.35
$
0.35
$
0.35
$
0.35
$
0.34
Tangible Common Book Value Per Share
$
27.34
$
26.78
$
26.64
$
25.10
$
25.07
Average Diluted Common Shares Outstanding (in thousands)
58,242
58,247
58,289
58,328
59,273
FINANCIAL RATIOS:
Return on Average Assets
1.21
%
1.39
%
1.07
%
0.87
%
1.04
%
Return on Average Stockholders’ Equity
9.38
11.05
8.66
7.16
8.47
Return on Tangible Common Stockholders’ Equity
14.12
16.75
13.39
11.29
13.21
Average Earning Assets to Average Assets
92.47
92.48
92.54
92.81
92.91
Allowance for Credit Losses – Loans as % of Total Loans
1.47
1.50
1.48
1.50
1.64
Net Charge-offs as % of Average Loans (Annualized)
0.15
0.02
0.21
1.26
0.07
Average Stockholders’ Equity to Average Assets
12.76
12.51
12.26
12.02
12.17
Tax Equivalent Yield on Average Earning Assets
5.39
5.63
5.82
5.69
5.65
Interest Expense/Average Earning Assets
2.17
2.35
2.59
2.53
2.55
Net Interest Margin (FTE) on Average Earning Assets
3.22
3.28
3.23
3.16
3.10
Efficiency Ratio
54.54
48.48
53.76
53.84
59.21
LOANS
(Dollars In Thousands)
March 31,
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Commercial and industrial loans
$
4,306,597
$
4,114,292
$
4,041,217
$
3,949,817
$
3,722,365
Agricultural land, production and other loans to farmers
243,864
256,312
238,743
239,926
234,431
Real estate loans:
Construction
793,175
792,144
814,704
823,267
941,726
Commercial real estate, non-owner occupied
2,177,869
2,274,016
2,251,351
2,323,533
2,368,360
Commercial real estate, owner occupied
1,214,739
1,157,944
1,152,751
1,174,195
1,137,894
Residential
2,389,852
2,374,729
2,366,943
2,370,905
2,316,490
Home equity
650,499
659,811
641,188
631,104
618,258
Individuals’ loans for household and other personal expenditures
140,954
166,028
158,480
162,089
161,459
Public finance and other commercial loans
1,087,356
1,059,083
981,431
964,814
964,599
Loans
13,004,905
12,854,359
12,646,808
12,639,650
12,465,582
Allowance for credit losses – loans
(192,031
)
(192,757
)
(187,828
)
(189,537
)
(204,681
)
NET LOANS
$
12,812,874
$
12,661,602
$
12,458,980
$
12,450,113
$
12,260,901
DEPOSITS
(Dollars In Thousands)
March 31,
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Demand deposits
$
7,786,554
$
7,980,061
$
7,678,510
$
7,757,679
$
7,771,976
Savings deposits
4,791,874
4,522,758
4,302,236
4,339,161
4,679,593
Certificates and other time deposits of $100,000 or more
896,143
1,043,068
1,277,833
1,415,131
1,451,443
Certificates and other time deposits of $100,000 or less
625,203
692,068
802,949
889,949
901,280
Brokered certificates of deposits1
362,204
283,671
303,572
167,150
80,292
TOTAL DEPOSITS
$
14,461,978
$
14,521,626
$
14,365,100
$
14,569,070
$
14,884,584
1 – Total brokered deposits of $1.1 billion, which includes brokered CD’s of $362.2 million at March 31, 2025.
CONSOLIDATED AVERAGE BALANCE SHEET AND NET INTEREST MARGIN ANALYSIS
(Dollars in Thousands)
For the Three Months Ended
March 31, 2025
March 31, 2024
Average Balance
Interest Income / Expense
Average Rate
Average Balance
Interest Income / Expense
Average Rate
ASSETS
Interest-bearing deposits
$
294,016
$
2,372
3.23
%
$
575,699
$
6,493
4.51
%
Federal Home Loan Bank stock
43,980
997
9.07
41,764
835
8.00
Investment Securities: (1)
Taxable
1,634,452
8,372
2.05
1,783,057
8,748
1.96
Tax-exempt (2)
2,046,674
15,844
3.10
2,246,265
17,229
3.07
Total Investment Securities
3,681,126
24,216
2.63
4,029,322
25,977
2.58
Loans held for sale
20,965
319
6.09
21,782
328
6.02
Loans: (3)
Commercial
8,770,282
147,772
6.74
8,598,110
159,209
7.41
Real estate mortgage
2,191,384
24,446
4.46
2,130,947
22,357
4.20
HELOC and installment
828,874
15,191
7.33
821,815
16,129
7.85
Tax-exempt (2)
1,129,848
13,332
4.72
904,412
10,367
4.59
Total Loans
12,941,353
201,060
6.21
12,477,066
208,390
6.68
Total Earning Assets
16,960,475
228,645
5.39
%
17,123,851
241,695
5.65
%
Total Non-Earning Assets
1,381,263
1,306,670
TOTAL ASSETS
$
18,341,738
$
18,430,521
LIABILITIES
Interest-Bearing Deposits:
Interest-bearing deposits
$
5,522,434
$
34,606
2.51
%
$
5,419,821
$
39,491
2.91
%
Money market deposits
3,437,998
25,952
3.02
3,045,478
27,383
3.60
Savings deposits
1,299,405
2,445
0.75
1,559,877
3,801
0.97
Certificates and other time deposits
1,947,854
17,544
3.60
2,427,859
27,610
4.55
Total Interest-Bearing Deposits
12,207,691
80,547
2.64
12,453,035
98,285
3.16
Borrowings
1,262,926
11,701
3.71
1,011,812
10,552
4.17
Total Interest-Bearing Liabilities
13,470,617
92,248
2.74
13,464,847
108,837
3.23
Noninterest-bearing deposits
2,211,647
2,428,170
Other liabilities
318,600
295,365
Total Liabilities
16,000,864
16,188,382
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
2,340,874
2,242,139
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
$
18,341,738
92,248
$
18,430,521
108,837
Net Interest Income (FTE)
$
136,397
$
132,858
Net Interest Spread (FTE)(4)
2.65
%
2.42
%
Net Interest Margin (FTE):
Interest Income (FTE) / Average Earning Assets
5.39
%
5.65
%
Interest Expense / Average Earning Assets
2.17
%
2.55
%
Net Interest Margin (FTE)(5)
3.22
%
3.10
%
(1) Average balance of securities is computed based on the average of the historical amortized cost balances without the effects of the fair value adjustments. Annualized amounts are computed using a 30/360 day basis.
(2) Tax-exempt securities and loans are presented on a fully taxable equivalent basis, using a marginal tax rate of 21 percent for 2024 and 2023. These totals equal $6,127 and $5,795 for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
(3) Non accruing loans have been included in the average balances.
(4) Net Interest Spread (FTE) is interest income expressed as a percentage of average earning assets minus interest expense expressed as a percentage of average interest-bearing liabilities.
(5) Net Interest Margin (FTE) is interest income expressed as a percentage of average earning assets minus interest expense expressed as a percentage of average earning assets.
ADJUSTED NET INCOME AND DILUTED EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE – NON-GAAP
(Dollars In Thousands, Except Per Share Amounts)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders – GAAP
$
54,870
$
63,880
$
48,719
$
39,456
$
47,472
Adjustments:
Net realized losses on sales of available for sale securities
7
11,592
9,114
49
2
Gain on branch sale
—
(19,983
)
—
—
—
Non-core expenses1,2
—
762
—
—
3,481
Tax on adjustments
(2
)
1,851
(2,220
)
(12
)
(848
)
Adjusted Net Income Available to Common Stockholders – Non-GAAP
$
54,875
$
58,102
$
55,613
$
39,493
$
50,107
Average Diluted Common Shares Outstanding (in thousands)
58,242
58,247
58,289
58,328
59,273
Diluted Earnings Per Common Share – GAAP
$
0.94
$
1.10
$
0.84
$
0.68
$
0.80
Adjustments:
Net realized losses on sales of available for sale securities
—
0.20
0.15
—
—
Gain on branch sale
—
(0.34
)
—
—
—
Non-core expenses1,2
—
0.01
—
—
0.06
Tax on adjustments
—
0.03
(0.04
)
—
(0.01
)
Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Common Share – Non-GAAP
$
0.94
$
1.00
$
0.95
$
0.68
$
0.85
1 – Non-core expenses in 4Q24 included $0.8 million of costs directly related to the branch sale.
2 – Non-core expenses in 1Q24 included $2.4 million from duplicative online banking conversion costs and $1.1 million from the FDIC special assessment.
NET INTEREST MARGIN (“NIM”), ADJUSTED
(Dollars in Thousands)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Net Interest Income (GAAP)
$
130,270
$
134,370
$
131,110
$
128,571
$
127,063
Fully Taxable Equivalent (“FTE”) Adjustment
6,127
5,788
5,883
5,859
5,795
Net Interest Income (FTE) (non-GAAP)
$
136,397
$
140,158
$
136,993
$
134,430
$
132,858
Average Earning Assets (GAAP)
$
16,960,475
$
17,089,198
$
16,990,358
$
17,013,984
$
17,123,851
Net Interest Margin (GAAP)
3.07
%
3.15
%
3.09
%
3.02
%
2.97
%
Net Interest Margin (FTE) (non-GAAP)
3.22
%
3.28
%
3.23
%
3.16
%
3.10
%
RETURN ON TANGIBLE COMMON EQUITY – NON-GAAP
(Dollars In Thousands)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Total Average Stockholders’ Equity (GAAP)
$
2,340,874
$
2,312,270
$
2,251,547
$
2,203,361
$
2,242,139
Less: Average Preferred Stock
(25,125
)
(25,125
)
(25,125
)
(25,125
)
(25,125
)
Less: Average Intangible Assets, Net of Tax
(726,917
)
(728,218
)
(729,581
)
(730,980
)
(732,432
)
Average Tangible Common Equity, Net of Tax (Non-GAAP)
$
1,588,832
$
1,558,927
$
1,496,841
$
1,447,256
$
1,484,582
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders (GAAP)
$
54,870
$
63,880
$
48,719
$
39,456
$
47,472
Plus: Intangible Asset Amortization, Net of Tax
1,206
1,399
1,399
1,399
1,546
Tangible Net Income (Non-GAAP)
$
56,076
$
65,279
$
50,118
$
40,855
$
49,018
Return on Tangible Common Equity (Non-GAAP)
14.12
%
16.75
%
13.39
%
11.29
%
13.21
%
EFFICIENCY RATIO – NON-GAAP
(Dollars In Thousands)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
Non Interest Expense (GAAP)
$
92,902
$
96,289
$
94,629
$
91,413
$
96,935
Less: Intangible Asset Amortization
(1,526
)
(1,771
)
(1,772
)
(1,771
)
(1,957
)
Less: OREO and Foreclosure Expenses
(600
)
(227
)
(942
)
(373
)
(534
)
Adjusted Non Interest Expense (Non-GAAP)
$
90,776
$
94,291
$
91,915
$
89,269
$
94,444
Net Interest Income (GAAP)
$
130,270
$
134,370
$
131,110
$
128,571
$
127,063
Plus: Fully Taxable Equivalent Adjustment
6,127
5,788
5,883
5,859
5,795
Net Interest Income on a Fully Taxable Equivalent Basis (Non-GAAP)
$
136,397
$
140,158
$
136,993
$
134,430
$
132,858
Non Interest Income (GAAP)
$
30,048
$
42,742
$
24,866
$
31,334
$
26,638
Less: Investment Securities (Gains) Losses
7
11,592
9,114
49
2
Adjusted Non Interest Income (Non-GAAP)
$
30,055
$
54,334
$
33,980
$
31,383
$
26,640
Adjusted Revenue (Non-GAAP)
$
166,452
$
194,492
$
170,973
$
165,813
$
159,498
Efficiency Ratio (Non-GAAP)
54.54
%
48.48
%
53.76
%
53.84
%
59.21
%
Adjusted Non Interest Expense (Non-GAAP)
$
90,776
$
94,291
$
91,915
$
89,269
$
94,444
Less: Non-core Expenses1,2
—
(762
)
—
—
(3,481
)
Adjusted Non Interest Expense Excluding Non-core Expenses (Non-GAAP)
$
90,776
$
93,529
$
91,915
$
89,269
$
90,963
Adjusted Revenue (Non-GAAP)
$
166,452
$
194,492
$
170,973
$
165,813
$
159,498
Less: Gain on Branch Sale
—
(19,983
)
—
—
—
Adjusted Revenue Excluding Gain on Branch Sale (Non-GAAP)
$
166,452
$
174,509
$
170,973
$
165,813
$
159,498
Adjusted Efficiency Ratio (Non-GAAP)
54.54
%
53.60
%
53.76
%
53.84
%
57.03
%
1 – Non-core expenses in 4Q24 included $0.8 million of costs directly related to the branch sale.
2 – Non-core expenses in 1Q24 included $2.4 million from duplicative online banking conversion costs and $1.1 million from the FDIC special assessment.
For more information, contact: Nicole M. Weaver, Vice President and Director of Corporate Administration 765-521-7619 http://www.firstmerchants.com
SOURCE: First Merchants Corporation, Muncie, Indiana
LONDON, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Diginex Limited (“Diginex”) (NASDAQ: DGNX), a leading impact technology company specializing in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) solutions, and Baker Tilly Singapore (“Baker Tilly”), a globally recognized advisory, tax, and assurance firm, today announced a strategic alliance to integrate Diginex’s innovative diginexESG platform into Baker Tilly’s client offerings. This collaboration will empower Baker Tilly’s diverse client base to streamline ESG reporting, enhance compliance, and drive sustainable growth in response to increasing global demand for transparency and accountability.
The diginexESG platform, an award-winning cloud-based solution compatible with major frameworks such as GRI, SASB, and ISSB, provides end-to-end tools for topic discovery, data collection, and collaborative report publishing. Through this alliance, Baker Tilly’s clients across industries will gain access to diginexESG’s intuitive technology, supported by Baker Tilly’s deep expertise in ESG advisory, risk management, and business strategy. The strategic relationship aims to simplify the complexities of sustainability reporting while enabling clients to meet evolving regulatory requirements and investor expectations.
“We are excited to work with Baker Tilly, a trusted leader in professional services, to bring diginexESG to their clients,” said Mark Blick, CEO of Diginex. “This alliance aligns with our mission to democratize access to advanced ESG tools, helping organizations of all sizes achieve their sustainability goals while driving measurable impact.”
Joshua Ong, Managing Partner at Baker Tilly Singapore, said, “We are committed to delivering innovative solutions that add value to our clients’ businesses, while solving challenges that they may face with fragmented systems and resources. This alliance with Diginex provides a new platform that enhances our clients’ daily operations and helps them to make informed decisions in building resilient, future-ready businesses.”
“There is growing pressure in the Asia-Pacific region for companies to produce high-quality ESG data that meets global standards,” added Tina Thomas, Head of ESG & Sustainability at Baker Tilly Singapore.
The alliance comes at a critical time as businesses face heightened scrutiny from regulators, investors, and stakeholders to demonstrate robust ESG performance. Baker Tilly’s global network, combined with Diginex’s cutting-edge technology, positions both firms to set a new standard for ESG reporting and compliance.
About Diginex Limited
Diginex Limited (Nasdaq: DGNX; ISIN KYG286871044), headquartered in London, is a sustainable RegTech business that empowers businesses and governments to streamline ESG, climate, and supply chain data collection and reporting. The Company utilizes blockchain, AI, machine learning and data analysis technology to lead change and increase transparency in corporate regulatory reporting and sustainable finance. Diginex’s products and services solutions enable companies to collect, evaluate and share sustainability data through easy-to-use software.
The award-winning diginexESG platform supports 17 global frameworks, including GRI (the “Global Reporting Initiative”), SASB (the “Sustainability Accounting Standards Board”), and TCFD (the “Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures”). Clients benefit from end-to-end support, ranging from materiality assessments and data management to stakeholder engagement, report generation and an ESG Ratings Support Service.
About Baker Tilly Singapore Baker Tilly Singapore is a full-service accounting and business advisory firm that offers industry-specialised services in assurance, tax and advisory. With a focus on serving entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, not-for-profits, and listed companies, we help our clients plan for the future. Baker Tilly Singapore is an independent member of Baker Tilly International, one of the world’s 10 largest accounting and business advisory networks.
Baker Tilly Singapore offers a full suite of ESG services, including ESG assessment, strategy development, reporting and disclosure, stakeholder engagement, risk management, sustainability certification, ESG integration in investments, as well as training and education.
For more information on Baker Tilly Singapore’s services, visit www.bakertilly.sg.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on the Company’s current expectations and projections about future events that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “approximates,” “believes,” “hopes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results disclosed in the Company’s filings with the SEC.
Government has welcomed the decrease in headline consumer price inflation to 2.7% in March from 3.2% in February.
According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the headline consumer inflation decreased for the first time in five months due to lower fuel prices and softer tuition inflation.
“The moderation in inflation offers welcome relief to consumers and aligns with ongoing efforts to support economic recovery and keep prices stable. Government remains committed to fostering economic stability and building conditions that support growth and improved living standards,” Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Acting Director-General Terry Vandayar said.
Stats SA reported that the fuel index softened by 0.4% from February, taking the annual rate from -3.6% to -8.8%.
A litre of 95-octane petrol (inland) was R22.34 in March, down from R24.45 a year before. The average price for diesel declined to R22.80 from R24.85 over the same period.
“Education fees are surveyed once a year in March. The price index for education increased by 4.5%, lower than the 6.4% rise in 2024. School fees increased by 5.0% (from 6.6% in 2024). Tertiary education institutions charged 3.7% more in 2025, compared with the 5.9% rise recorded the year before,” Stats SA said.
The annual rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) edged lower to 2.7% in March from 2.8% in February.
Vegetables, fruits and nuts, cereal products, meat and fish registered higher annual rates.
Lower rates were recorded for oils and fats; hot beverages; milk, other dairy products and eggs; cold beverages; and sugar, confectionery and desserts. –SAnews.gov.za
South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a new framework for cooperation in water resource development along the Mohokare/Caledon River.
Signed on Wednesday in Maseru, Lesotho, the agreement outlines joint efforts for the proposed construction of two weirs on the Mohokare/ Caledon River, and to ensure efficient management and sustainable development of the water resources.
Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, and Lesotho’s Minister of Natural Resources, Mohlomi Moleko, signed the agreement during the 2nd Session of the Bi-National Commission (BNC), co-chaired by Lesotho’s Prime Minister, Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The framework will enable the Lesotho Government to access the South African side of the river to construct the weirs under its Market Driven Irrigated Horticulture (MDIH) Project for the development of irrigation infrastructure on identified irrigatable sites on the Mohokare river.
The Mohokare river begins in the Maloti Mountains of northern Lesotho and flows towards the southwestern direction. The river forms a large part of Lesotho’s north-western border with South Africa.
After leaving Lesotho, it then becomes the Caledon and continues through the Free State province of South Africa. It is a tributary to the Orange River on the southern edge of the Free State.
The Department of Water and Sanitation highlighted that the construction of weirs will run across the river to South Africa. The weirs will allow for the storage of water to provide Lesotho year-round irrigation, even during the dry seasons when water levels in the river are low.
“The Lesotho MDIH schemes require a total of around 6.35 million cubic metres per annum (m3/a) on average of additional water but could increase to 9.79 million m3/a in a dry year for the 1 580 hectares (ha) in the simulated schemes.
“For South Africa, the construction of the abstraction weirs will assist in reducing sedimentation which is a major concern in the Caledon River. The weirs will also be used for water quantity measuring as well as flood tracing purposes on the Caledon River,” the department said.
The objectives of the 2nd Session of the Bi-National Commission (BNC) were to foster strong political and bilateral relations between the two countries; deepen economic cooperation taking into consideration the regional value chains and to review the implementation of the outcomes of the BNC inaugural session taken two years ago; and to agree on newly identified priority areas for mutual benefit.
The BNC expressed satisfaction at the existing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of water, and energy and emphasised the significance of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), as a sustainable source of water for both countries and a catalyst for economic and infrastructure development.
While welcoming Phase II of the LHWP, which is currently in implementation, the BNC underscored the need for its timeous execution within the allocated resources. – SAnews.gov.za
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launches development works worth over Rs 13,480 crore in Madhubani, Bihar marking National Panchayati Raj Day In the last decade, several measures have been taken to empower Panchayats, Panchayats have been strengthened through technology: PM
The rural economy has gained new momentum in the last decade: PM
The past decade has been the decade of India’s infrastructure: PM
Makhana is a superfood for the country and the world today, but in Mithila it is a part of the culture,source for prosperity here: PM
The willpower of 140 crore Indians will now break the back of the perpetrators of terror: PM
Terrorism will not go unpunished, Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done, The entire nation is firm in this resolve: PM
Posted On: 24 APR 2025 2:11PM by PIB Delhi
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated, laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation multiple development projects worth over Rs 13,480 crore in Madhubani, Bihar today on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day. The Prime Minister appealed to everyone at the event to observe silence and pray for the departed souls in the Pahalgam attacks on 22 April 2025. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, he said that on the occasion of Panchayati Raj Day, the entire nation is connected with Mithila and Bihar. He remarked that projects worth thousands of crores of rupees, aimed at Bihar’s development, have been inaugurated and foundations laid for, emphasising that these initiatives in electricity, railways, and infrastructure will create new employment opportunities in Bihar. He paid tributes to the great poet and national icon, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Ji, on his death anniversary.
Remarking that Bihar is the land where Mahatma Gandhi expanded the mantra of Satyagraha, Shri Modi highlighted Mahatma Gandhi’s firm belief that India’s rapid development is only possible when its villages are strong. He emphasized that the concept of Panchayati Raj was rooted in this sentiment. “Over the past decade, continuous steps have been taken to empower Panchayats. Technology has played a significant role in strengthening Panchayats, with over 2 lakh Gram Panchayats connected to the internet in the last decade”, he added. Shri Modi pointed out that more than 5.5 lakh Common Service Centers have been established in villages, underlining that the digitalization of Panchayats has brought additional benefits, such as easy access to documents like birth and death certificates, and landholding certificates. He remarked that while the nation received a new Parliament building after decades of independence, 30,000 new Panchayat Bhawans have also been constructed across the country. He also highlighted that ensuring adequate funds for Panchayats has been a priority for the government. “Over the past decade, Panchayats have received more than ₹2 lakh crore, all of which has been utilized for the development of villages”, he said.
Highlighting that one of the major issues faced by Gram Panchayats has been related to land disputes, the Prime Minister mentioned the frequent disagreements over which land is residential, agricultural, Panchayat-owned, or government-owned. He emphasized that to address this issue, the digitization of land records is being undertaken, which has helped resolve unnecessary disputes effectively.
Shri Modi underscored that Panchayats have strengthened social participation, remarking that Bihar was the first state in the country to provide 50% reservation for women in Panchayats. He emphasized that today, a significant number of women from economically weaker sections, Dalits, Mahadalits, backward, and extremely backward communities are serving as public representatives in Bihar, describing it as true social justice and genuine social participation. He underlined that democracy thrives and becomes stronger with greater participation. Reflecting this vision, Shri Modi noted that a law providing 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies has also been enacted. He remarked that this will benefit women across all states, giving our sisters and daughters greater representation.
Emphasising that the government is working in mission mode to increase women’s income and create new opportunities for employment and self-employment, Shri Modi highlighted the transformative impact of the ‘Jeevika Didi’ program in Bihar, which has changed the lives of many women. He remarked that today, self-help groups of women in Bihar have been provided financial assistance of approximately ₹1,000 crore, noting that this will further strengthen the economic empowerment of women and contribute to the goal of creating 3 crore Lakhpati Didis across the country. He highlighted that the rural economy has gained new momentum over the past decade. He pointed out that villages have seen the construction of houses for the poor, roads, gas connections, water connections, and toilets, bringing lakhs of crores of rupees to rural areas. The Prime Minister remarked that new employment opportunities have been created, benefiting laborers, farmers, vehicle operators, and shopkeepers, providing them with new avenues for income. He emphasized that this has particularly benefited communities that have been deprived for generations. He cited the example of the PM Awas Yojana, which aims to ensure that no family in the country remains homeless and that everyone has a permanent roof over their heads. He noted that over the past decade, more than 4 crore permanent houses have been constructed under this scheme. He highlighted that in Bihar alone, 57 lakh poor families have received permanent houses. He remarked that these houses have been provided to families from economically weaker sections, Dalits, and backward and extremely backward communities like Pasmanda families. Shri Modi announced that in the coming years, 3 crore more permanent houses will be provided to the poor. He noted that today, approximately 1.5 lakh families in Bihar are moving into their new permanent homes. He said that across the country, 15 lakh poor families have been issued approval letters for the construction of new houses, including 3.5 lakh beneficiaries from Bihar. He highlighted that today, financial assistance has been sent to approximately 10 lakh poor families for their permanent houses, including 80,000 rural families and 1 lakh urban families from Bihar.
“The past decade has been a decade of infrastructure development for India”, said the Prime Minister, highlighting that this modern infrastructure is strengthening the foundation of a developed India. He noted that for the first time, over 12 crore rural families have received tap water connections in their homes, underlining that more than 2.5 crore households have been electrified, and those who never imagined cooking on gas stoves have now received gas cylinders. “Even in challenging regions like Ladakh and Siachen, where providing basic facilities is difficult, 4G and 5G mobile connections have now been established, reflecting the nation’s current priorities”, he pointed out. The Prime Minister highlighted advancements in healthcare, noting that institutions like AIIMS were once limited to major cities like Delhi. He announced that AIIMS is now being established in Darbhanga, and the number of medical colleges in the country has nearly doubled in the past decade and mentioned the construction of a new medical college in Jhanjharpur. He emphasized that to ensure quality healthcare in villages, over 1.5 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs have been established across the country, including more than 10,000 in Bihar. He remarked that Jan Aushadhi Kendras have become a significant relief for the poor and middle class, offering medicines at an 80% discount. He noted that Bihar now has over 800 Jan Aushadhi Kendras, saving its people ₹2,000 crore in medical expenses. The Prime Minister highlighted that under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, lakhs of families in Bihar have received free treatment, resulting in savings of thousands of crores of rupees for these families.
“India is rapidly advancing its connectivity through infrastructure like railways, roads, and airports”, highlighted Shri Modi, noting that metro projects are underway in Patna, and over two dozen cities across the country are now connected with metro facilities. He announced the launch of the ‘Namo Bharat Rapid Rail’ service between Patna and Jaynagar, which will significantly reduce travel time between the two locations, and emphasized that this development will benefit lakhs of people from Samastipur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, and Begusarai.
The Prime Minister also mentioned the inauguration and launch of multiple new railway lines in Bihar, highlighting the commencement of the modern Amrit Bharat train service between Saharsa and Mumbai, which will greatly benefit the labor families. He remarked that the government is modernizing several railway stations in Bihar, including Madhubani and Jhanjharpur. He emphasized that air connectivity in Mithila and Bihar has improved significantly with Darbhanga Airport, and the expansion of Patna Airport is underway. “These development projects are creating new employment opportunities in Bihar”, he added.
“Farmers are the backbone of the rural economy, the stronger this backbone, the stronger the villages, and consequently, the nation”, said Shri Modi. He highlighted the persistent challenges of floods in the Mithila and Kosi regions, noting that the government is set to invest ₹11,000 crore to mitigate the impact of floods in Bihar. He said that this investment will facilitate the construction of dams on rivers such as Bagmati, Dhar, Budhi Gandak, and Kosi, adding that canals will be developed, ensuring irrigation arrangements through river water. “This initiative will not only reduce flood-related issues but will also ensure adequate water supply reaches every farmer’s field”, he added.
“Makhana, a cultural staple of Mithila, has now gained global recognition as a superfood”, highlighted Shri Modi, mentioning that makhana has been granted a GI tag, officially certifying it as a product of this region. He added that the Makhana Research Centre has been accorded national status. He also highlighted the Budget announcement of the Makhana Board, which is expected to transform the fortunes of makhana farmers, emphasising that Bihar’s makhana will now reach international markets as a superfood. He noted that the National Institute of Food Technology and Management is being established in Bihar, which will support the youth in setting up small enterprises related to food processing. He further emphasized that Bihar is making consistent progress in fisheries along with agriculture, highlighting that fishermen now have access to the benefits of the Kisan Credit Card, providing advantages to numerous families involved in fisheries. He remarked that under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, projects worth hundreds of crores have been executed in Bihar.
Expressing deep sorrow over the brutal killing of innocent civilians by terrorists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, Shri Modi remarked that the entire nation is distressed and stands in solidarity with the grieving families. He assured that every effort is being made by the government to ensure the speedy recovery of those undergoing treatment. He highlighted the profound loss suffered by families, where some lost their sons, brothers, or life partners, noting that the victims came from diverse linguistic and regional backgrounds—some spoke Bengali, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Gujarati, and some were from Bihar. Underlining that from Kargil to Kanyakumari, the grief and outrage over this attack are shared equally across the nation, Shri Modi remarked that this attack was not just on unarmed tourists but was a brazen assault on the soul of India. “The terrorists responsible for this attack, along with those who conspired it, will face punishment beyond their imagination”, he declared in unequivocal terms, asserting that the time has come to eliminate the remaining strongholds of terrorism. “The willpower of 140 crore Indians will now break the backbone of the perpetrators of terror”, he stressed.
The Prime Minister declared from the soil of Bihar that India will identify, track, and punish every terrorist, their handlers, and their backers, emphasising that India will pursue them to the ends of the earth. “India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism and terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to ensure justice is served and the entire nation is firm in this resolve against terrorism”, he stressed. He further stated that everyone who believes in humanity stands with India during these times. He expressed his gratitude to the people and leaders of various countries who have supported India in these moments.
“Peace and security are the most critical prerequisites for rapid development”, said Shri Modi, remarking that a developed Bihar is essential for a developed India. He concluded by highlighting that efforts are being made to ensure development in Bihar and to extend the benefits of progress to every section and every region of the state. He expressed gratitude to everyone for joining the program on the occasion of Panchayati Raj Day.
The Governor of Bihar, Shri Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Nitish Kumar, Union Ministers Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Shri Jitan Ram Manji, Shri Giriraj Singh, Shri Chirag Paswan, Shri Nityanand Rai, Shri Ram Nath Thakur, Dr. Raj Bhushan Choudhary were present among other dignitaries at the event.
Background
Prime Minister participated in the National Panchayati Raj Day programme in Madhubani, Bihar. He also presented National Panchayat Awards, recognizing and incentivizing best-performing Panchayats on the occasion.
Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of an LPG bottling plant with rail unloading facility at Hathua in Gopalganj District of Bihar worth around Rs 340 crore. This will help in streamlining the supply chain and improving efficiency of bulk LPG transportation.
Boosting power infrastructure in the region, Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for projects worth over Rs 1,170 crore and also inaugurated multiple projects worth over Rs 5,030 crore in the power sector in Bihar under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme.
In line with his commitment to boost rail connectivity across the nation, Prime Minister flagged off Amrit Bharat express between Saharsa and Mumbai, Namo Bharat Rapid rail between Jaynagar and Patna and trains between Pipra and Saharsa and Saharsa and Samastipur. He also inaugurated the Supaul Pipra rail line, Hasanpur Bithan Rail line and two 2-lane Rail over bridges at Chapra and Bagaha. He dedicated to the nation the Khagaria-Alauli Rail line. These projects will improve connectivity and lead to overall socio-economic development of the region.
Prime Minister distributed benefits of around Rs 930 crore under Community Investment Fund to over 2 lakh SHGs from Bihar under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY- NRLM).
Prime Minister handed over sanction letters to 15 lakh new beneficiaries of PMAY-Gramin and released instalments to 10 lakh PMAY-G beneficiaries from across the country. He also handed over keys to some beneficiaries marking the Grih Pravesh of 1 lakh PMAY-G and 54,000 PMAY-U houses in Bihar.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
News story
LimbItless report published
Fatal person overboard from a keelboat off Cowes, Isle of Wight, England.
Image courtesy of Andrew Cassell Foundation.
Today, we have published our accident investigation report into a fatality following a person overboard from an Andrew Cassell Foundation Sonar keelboat on 1 October 2022 off Cowes, Isle of Wight, England.
Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, Andrew Moll OBE, said:
Any boating activity carries the risk of a person falling in the water. It is important that skippers and event organisers conduct an appropriate assessment to determine the level of assistance that might be required – such as equipment, personnel or support craft – to ensure the timely recovery of a person from the water. Additionally, vessel crews must be practised in the recovery of people from the water and be familiar with their rescue equipment.
Not every event or outing requires bespoke equipment but it may be necessary, especially when sailing with people whose ability to assist with their own recovery might be impaired.
All skippers should consider how they and their crew will recover an unconscious person from the water in a timely manner and ensure they and their crew practise thoroughly for such an event.
Once again, housing affordability is at the forefront of an Australian federal election.
Both major parties have put housing policies at the centre of their respective campaigns. But there are still concerns too little is being done to address supply.
One of the biggest hurdles is an ongoing shortage of skilled tradespeople, and difficulties attracting new workers. The construction industry accounts for 9% of Australia’s workforce. Yet an estimated 35% of workers lack formal qualifications.
On Wednesday, Labor announced an election promise to fast-track formal trade qualifications for about 6,000 experienced but unqualified tradies.
The Advanced Entry Trades Training program would start in 2026 and cost A$78 million.
This program should help address some of the skills shortages in the sector. But it will be a long time before these benefits begin flowing through the system. And Australia is still likely to fall short of the government’s ambitious new home targets.
Recognising skills we already have
The Advanced Entry Trades Training program is intended to partly bridge the gap in construction skills shortages through a process called “recognition of prior learning” – and by offering free training to fill any skill gaps.
In principle, recognition of prior learning allows individuals with substantial and relevant industry experience to attain formal qualifications without lengthy training programs.
A similar approach was adopted in the healthcare sector as an emergency response to the pandemic, to boost the number of qualified workers.
For the construction industry, it will encompass workers currently in the industry who have not completed an apprenticeship, as well as skilled migrants in Australia whose abilities remain unverified.
This process can improve pay and conditions for participants. But it can also potentially fast-track their entry into the qualified workforce, addressing immediate skills shortages.
Labor’s new initiative mirrors an existing program at the state level, the New South Wales government’s Trade Pathways for Experienced Workers Program.
According to Labor, this program saw 1,200 students earn their qualifications in an average time of seven months (as opposed to several years).
It’s important to note this includes trades from all sectors of the NSW economy. But it is much faster than the traditional process of skill recognition. The Parkinson Review of Australia’s migration system found this process can take up to 18 months for a skilled migrant and cost over $9,000.
Combined with other initiatives such as incentive payments for construction apprentices, the new Advanced Entry Trades Training program should help address some skills shortages in the sector.
Australia’s peak construction industry body, Master Builders Australia, praised the proposal, citing its own analysis suggesting for every new qualified tradie, an extra 2.4 homes can be built.
Even with these initiatives, the sector will likely fall short of the 83,000 additional skilled tradespeople needed to meet the Albanese government’s target to build 1.2 million new homes over five years.
And it may mainly solve a categorisation issue. Currently, only about 80% of employers in the construction sector in Australia require all job applicants to hold a formal qualification.
Crucially, it doesn’t address the core problem of attracting higher numbers of suitable people to a very traditional industry and helping them finish their qualifications. Almost half of construction sector apprentices do not complete their training.
Other challenges
There are other challenges for recognition of prior learning schemes more broadly.
Research into recognition of prior learning for construction sector apprentices suggests some Australian employers and training providers may be averse to fast-tracking training. About 64% of assessed apprentices had prior experience and skills, but only 30% had their training shortened.
These issues are even more complex when considering accelerated pathways for skilled migrants from a range of countries. There are some significant, well-documented challenges in transferring or recognising vocational qualifications across international boundaries.
More to be done
The Advanced Entry Trades Training program may go some way to alleviating a skills shortage in construction. But it will only partially address the broader issues of supply.
Australia’s vocational education and training systems are complex, making it difficult to predict the outcomes.
Declining productivity isn’t just down to skilled labour shortages. It has also been attributed to other factors such as complex planning approvals, limited innovation, and a predominance of small firms.
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: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
Turning a drawing into music, creating an installation for a capital museum, and creating an illustrated textbook are the projects teenagers work on in their workshops “Cascade digital” at VDNKh. This is a creative space where you can bring your boldest and most original ideas to life and express yourself in different ways. Children aged 13 to 18 discover their inner world, learn to think outside the box, and see many possible solutions for each task. These skills will come in handy in any profession, and even in life.
mos.ru correspondents visited the workshops and learned how the classes are conducted, what an artistic gesture is, and how sleep inspires creativity.
Embodiment of ideas
Teenage workshops “Cascade digital” are located in pavilion no. 49 at VDNKh. Previously, this building, built in 1954, was called “Sheep Breeding-2” and was part of a complex of buildings related to livestock farming. And in 2022, the workshops received it for permanent use from the Moscow Government with the support of Museum of Moscow.
“Our workshops appeared in 2018. Before that, my colleague Sasha Kheifets and I worked in museums and often thought: why do many modern teenagers get bored walking around exhibitions? We studied the results of sociological research and realized: at this age, a person is looking for himself, wants to create something of his own, it is difficult for him to passively observe. In addition, the process of growing up is underway, which is not easy for everyone. It is important to be heard, to find like-minded people. This is how the idea came about to create a space for contemporary art, where you can open up, embody any thoughts in creativity, communicate with peers. This initiative was supported by several cultural institutions at once – the Museum of Moscow, the Triumph Gallery, the creative industries center Fabrika. And in 2023, with the support of the Museum of Moscow, we moved to pavilion No. 49 at VDNKh, which became a permanent coworking space for teenagers,” says Lidiya Lobanova, head of the Cascade Digital teenage workshops.
The pavilion is white as a canvas, except for the burgundy frames around the windows, and this is symbolic: draw whatever you want. And indeed, inside it is decorated according to the project of the guys who study in the workshops “Cascade digital”: multi-colored walls, steps, ceilings, hammocks. In the language of modern art, this is one big installation.
“Before moving to VDNKh, we opened a two-week program, which was led by architect Natalia Zaychenko. Participants were asked to come up with a space in which they would feel comfortable and good,” explains Lidiya Lobanova.
Artbook and melodic emotions
The workshop trains about 100 children for free in 11 areas. Registration is available at website. In October, there is an open day, or fair as it is called here, and everyone can choose their profile, within the framework of which they will attend two-hour classes once a week. The authors of the project believe that during the year it is better for teenagers to focus on one thing: this way creative thinking develops more effectively. Among the most popular workshops are “The Place Where I Am” (understanding space, home), “Modern Theater”, “Documentary Writing Laboratory” (the basics of journalism).
We find ourselves in a workshop called “Museum and City.” Along the wall of the classroom are sheets of paper with lecture notes and students’ ideas. To the uninitiated, they may seem too unusual. For example: “I feel now that somewhere, in the sedge thickets or among the Himalayan cliffs, there is an amazing ability to address people directly.” This is how teenagers express their thoughts.
“The Museum and the City workshop is about how to fit modern exhibitions into the urban environment, expressing the attitude to the capital in them. In the future, my graduates will be able to implement their own museum projects. But before moving on to this stage, you need to learn to record any thoughts, not to deny them, even if at first glance they are strange. Therefore, we write everything down and hang it on the wall. At the end of May – beginning of June, we will present an exhibition of finished projects in our space, it will be a performance or installation,” explains the curator of the Museum and the City workshop Nikita Spiridonov.
The guys gather, each with a cup of tea and cookies: it is important for a creative person to experience pleasure – visual and gustatory. The curator reminds them of the material covered over the year. Performance and installation have much in common, but the first type of contemporary art is dynamic and interactive (for example, the artist invites viewers to draw something on prepared sheets), while the second is static. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to create from scratch – even a ready-made object can become a masterpiece.
In the next room, a workshop of artistic gestures is starting, led by Irina Litvinova and Dunya Frankstein. “We are professional artists and could teach teenagers academic painting. But we have a different goal – to show that absolutely everything can be turned into an artistic gesture,” says Irina Litvinova.
Thus, a graduate of the artistic gesture workshop Taisiya Sedova created an art book – a textbook about how the world works, made in the style of naive art. She sewed the pages and backing herself, wrote the texts by hand and illustrated them.
“Right now, high school students are busy, preparing to pass the Unified State Exam, enter universities, and additionally attend pre-professional classes. And Taisiya decided to unload them by depicting the world through the eyes of a child. She emphasized that everything around us can be not only complex, but also simple. By developing such projects, children gain self-confidence, independence, develop their imagination, and learn to refract the familiar into the meaningful,” says Dunya Frankstein.
The programs of the “Cascade digital” workshops are designed for a year, but some guys come back again, already in a different direction, and some stay here to work, like, for example, Ivan Sdvizhnikov, curator of the “Oscillations Laboratory” workshop. The young man works with his students on sound design and visual-sound installations and performances. He himself, while studying, developed several projects.
“In my classes, the kids also learn to translate pictures into sounds. First, they draw in a computer program, then the machine transforms the pixels into notes, and an abstract melody is obtained. Last year, my students created a project: they offered those who wanted to take a test on their emotional state on a tablet, and the speakers played each emotion,” says Ivan Sdvizhnikov.
Horses and Dreams
At the end of the academic year, participants in each workshop prepare a final project, which becomes an exhibit at the exhibition in Pavilion No. 49. However, not only graduates of the “Digital Cascade” can present their works: there is a program to support residents – beginning representatives of creative professions. To join it, you need to submit an application on the workshops’ website and send a presentation.
Thus, from March 27 to April 13, 2025, the exhibition “Dream in Hand” was held, dedicated to the role of the unconscious in creativity. Artist Ksenia Nagornaya brought here the installation “Fall” – this is a booth like those where they take instant photos, on its wall are black and white pictures of a person in fetters, sitting on a chair, and inside on the screen, strokes, candles, threads flicker to disturbing music. And Margo Churaeva prepared a series of drawings called “My Zoo” – they depict horses, made in different styles.
“These works are about self-knowledge through creativity. Teenagers are inspired by studying the paintings of their older friends or their peers, they also want to create something similar and, probably, get away from some prejudices, fears, doubts, and believe that everything will work out,” explains exhibition curator Asya Maksimova.
Not all graduates of the “Cascade digital” workshops see art as their calling. Many go into the field of information technology, economics, investment management and other areas. “It is important that in our creative space they find friends with similar interests, see their own potential, understand that they can do a lot and know how to do it, learn to defend their position. This will come in handy in life,” Lidiya Lobanova sums up.
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Source: The White House
class=”has-text-align-left”>By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Background. Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the modern world, driving innovation across industries, enhancing productivity, and reshaping the way we live and work. To ensure the United States remains a global leader in this technological revolution, we must provide our Nation’s youth with opportunities to cultivate the skills and understanding necessary to use and create the next generation of AI technology. By fostering AI competency, we will equip our students with the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to adapt to and thrive in an increasingly digital society. Early learning and exposure to AI concepts not only demystifies this powerful technology but also sparks curiosity and creativity, preparing students to become active and responsible participants in the workforce of the future and nurturing the next generation of American AI innovators to propel our Nation to new heights of scientific and economic achievement.To achieve this vision, we must also invest in our educators and equip them with the tools and knowledge to not only train students about AI, but also to utilize AI in their classrooms to improve educational outcomes. Professional development programs focused on AI education will empower educators to confidently guide students through this complex and evolving field. Educators, industry leaders, and employers who rely on an AI-skilled workforce should partner to create educational programs that equip students with essential AI skills and competencies across all learning pathways. While AI education in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) is critical, our Nation must also make resources available for lifelong learners to develop new skills for a changing workforce. By establishing a strong framework that integrates early student exposure with comprehensive teacher training and other resources for workforce development, we can ensure that every American has the opportunity to learn about AI from the earliest stages of their educational journey through postsecondary education, fostering a culture of innovation and critical thinking that will solidify our Nation’s leadership in the AI-driven future.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to promote AI literacy and proficiency among Americans by promoting the appropriate integration of AI into education, providing comprehensive AI training for educators, and fostering early exposure to AI concepts and technology to develop an AI-ready workforce and the next generation of American AI innovators.
Sec. 3. Definition. For the purposes of this order, “artificial intelligence” or “AI” has the meaning set forth in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3).
Sec. 4. Establishing an Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force. (a) There is hereby established the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education (Task Force).(b) The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall be the Chair of the Task Force.(c) The Task Force membership shall consist of the following members:(i) the Secretary of Agriculture;(ii) the Secretary of Labor;(iii) the Secretary of Energy;(iv) the Secretary of Education;(v) the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF);(vi) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy;(vii) the Special Advisor for AI & Crypto; (viii) the Assistant to the President for Policy; and(ix) the heads of other such executive departments and agencies (agencies) and offices that the Chair may designate or invite to participate.(d) The Task Force shall be responsible for implementing the policy stated in section 2 of this order and coordinating Federal efforts related to AI education, including the actions outlined in this order.
Sec. 5. Establishing the Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Task Force shall establish plans for a Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge (Challenge), and the agencies represented on the Task Force shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, implement the plans by holding the Challenge no later than 12 months from the submission of the plan. The Challenge shall encourage and highlight student and educator achievements in AI, promote wide geographic adoption of technological advancement, and foster collaboration between government, academia, philanthropy, and industry to address national challenges with AI solutions.(b) The Challenge shall feature multiple age categories, distinct geographic regions for competition, and a variety of topical themes of competition to reflect the breadth of AI applications, encouraging interdisciplinary exploration. (c) The Task Force and, as appropriate, agencies represented on the Task Force shall collaborate with relevant agencies and private sector entities to provide technical expertise, resources, and promotional support for implementing the Challenge, including through existing funding vehicles.
Sec. 6. Improving Education Through Artificial Intelligence. (a) To provide resources for K-12 AI education, agencies represented on the Task Force shall seek to establish public-private partnerships with leading AI industry organizations, academic institutions, nonprofit entities, and other organizations with expertise in AI and computer science education to collaboratively develop online resources focused on teaching K-12 students foundational AI literacy and critical thinking skills. The Task Force shall promptly announce such public-private partnerships on a rolling basis as they are formed.(i) The Task Force shall seek to utilize industry commitments and identify any Federal funding mechanisms, including discretionary grants, that can be used to provide resources for K-12 AI education. To the extent practicable and as consistent with applicable law, agencies shall prioritize funding for such purposes when it would further the aims of the program for which funding is available.(ii) The Task Force shall work to ensure the resources funded as described in subsection (i) of this section are ready for use in K-12 instruction within 180 days following the Task Force’s formal announcement of the first slate of public-private partnerships.(b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Task Force shall identify existing Federal AI resources on which agencies may rely, such as the NSF- and Department of Agriculture-sponsored National AI Research Institutes, to support partnerships with State and local educational agencies to improve AI education.(c) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall issue guidance regarding the use of formula and discretionary grant funds to improve education outcomes using AI, including but not limited to AI-based high-quality instructional resources; high-impact tutoring; and college and career pathway exploration, advising, and navigation.(d) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall identify and implement ways to utilize existing research programs to assist State and local efforts to use AI for improved student achievement, attainment, and mobility.
Sec. 7. Enhancing Training for Educators on Artificial Intelligence. (a) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall take steps to prioritize the use of AI in discretionary grant programs for teacher training authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-10), as amended, and Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-329), as amended, including for:(i) reducing time-intensive administrative tasks;(ii) improving teacher training and evaluation; (iii) providing professional development for all educators, so they can integrate the fundamentals of AI into all subject areas; and(iv) providing professional development in foundational computer science and AI, preparing educators to effectively teach AI in stand-alone computer science and other relevant courses.(b) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Director of the NSF shall take steps to prioritize research on the use of AI in education. The Director of the NSF shall also utilize existing programs to create teacher training opportunities that help educators effectively integrate AI-based tools and modalities in classrooms. (c) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Agriculture shall take steps to prioritize research, extension, and education on the use of AI in formal and non-formal education through 4-H and the Cooperative Extension System. The Secretary of Agriculture shall also utilize existing programs to create teacher and educator training opportunities that help effectively integrate AI-based tools and modalities into classrooms and curriculum.
Sec. 8. Promoting Registered Apprenticeships. (a) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor shall seek to increase participation in AI-related Registered Apprenticeships, including by:(i) Prioritizing the development and growth of Registered Apprenticeships in AI-related occupations. The Secretary of Labor shall establish specific goals for growing Registered Apprenticeships in AI-related occupations across industries; and(ii) Using apprenticeship intermediary contracts and allocating existing discretionary funds, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to engage industry organizations and employers and facilitate the development of Registered Apprenticeship programs in AI-related occupations. In doing so, the Secretary of Labor shall support the creation of industry-developed program standards to be registered on a nationwide basis, enabling individual employers to adopt the standards without requiring individual registry.(b) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor shall encourage States and grantees to use funding provided under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) (Public Law 113-128), as amended, to develop AI skills and support work-based learning opportunities within occupations utilizing AI by:(i) issuing guidance to State and local workforce development boards encouraging the use of WIOA youth formula funds to help youth develop AI skills;(ii) clarifying that States can use Governor set-asides to integrate AI learning opportunities into youth programs across the State; and(iii) consistent with applicable law, establishing AI skills training and work-based learning as a grant priority in all Employment and Training Administration youth-focused discretionary grant programs.(c) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor, through the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, and in collaboration with the Director of the NSF, shall engage with relevant State and local workforce development boards, industry organizations, education and training providers, and employers to identify and promote high-quality AI skills education coursework and certifications across the country. Through such engagement, the Secretary of Labor shall:(i) identify applicable funding opportunities to expand access to high-quality AI coursework and certifications;(ii) set performance targets for youth participation through any grants awarded for this purpose; and(iii) utilize industry and philanthropic partnerships to the extent practicable.(d) Within 120 days of the date of this order, and in consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Director of the NSF, the Secretary of Labor shall support the creation of opportunities for high school students to take AI courses and certification programs by giving priority consideration in awarding grants as appropriate and consistent with applicable law to providers that commit to use funds to develop or expand AI courses and certification programs. The Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education shall encourage recipients to build partnerships with States and local school districts to encourage those entities to consider offering high school students dual enrollment opportunities to take courses to earn postsecondary credentials and industry-recognized AI credentials concurrent with high school education.(e) Within 120 days of the date of this order, all agencies that provide educational grants shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider AI as a priority area within existing Federal fellowship and scholarship for service programs.
Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE, April 23, 2025.
Families in Vanuatu are adopting climate-smart agricultural techniques to improve food security, such as growing climate resistant crops, to prepare for future climate-driven disasters in the wake of devastating Tropical Cyclone Lola 18 months ago.
Tropical Cyclone Lola was one of the most powerful off-season storms to strike the Pacific when it made landfall in October 2023 with wind speeds of up to 215 km/h, destroying homes, schools and plantations, claiming the lives of at least four people [2] and affecting about 91,000 people [1].
Recovery efforts were made significantly more challenging when Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila was then hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in December last year, claiming 14 lives and destroying critical infrastructure.
Madleen, 11, said when the cyclone hit, her family’s crops were destroyed, leaving them short of food.
“It destroyed the food crops. When we came outside, we saw the crops were destroyed. The banana tree was just bearing fruit and it was destroyed. And we didn’t have enough food. We were eating rice, but we were almost running short. We were not eating well, we ate just enough. I felt bad.”
After the cyclone, a shortage of nutritious food put children at risk of hunger as well as diseases like diarrhea, with typically an increase in the number of children hospitalised for diarrhea following cyclones, Save the Children said.
Vanuatu is already one of the most climate disaster-prone countries in the world, and scientists say tropical cyclones will become more extreme as the climate crisis worsens. This will disproportionately impact children due to food shortages, disruption to education and psychosocial trauma associated with experiencing disasters.
Save the Children, alongside Vanuatu’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries, and Biosecurity (MALFFB) and local partners, is supporting Madleen and her family through the Tropical Cyclone Lola Recovery Programme, which is helping improve food security and resilience in communities impacted by the cyclone.
As a part of the Recovery Programme, over 1,100 households have received climate-resistant [3] seeds from a seedbank. These seeds, for growing watermelon, papaya, Chinese cabbage, tomato, capsicum and cucumber, are proven to perform in Vanuatu’s changing climate, with tolerance to high rainfall, drought, pests and disease. Farmers are encouraged to preserve the seeds from crops and sell them back to the seed bank.
The programme is also training communities in other climate-smart agricultural techniques such as growing smaller fruit trees that are robust enough to withstand strong cyclone winds.
Save the Children has also built a collapsible nursery for plants in Madleen’s community that can be taken down when a cyclone is predicted, so saplings and trees can be stored, protected and replanted after it passes.
Save the Children Vanuatu Country Director, Polly Banks, said:
“In just 18 months, people in Vanuatu have been deeply shaken by a devastating cyclone and a powerful earthquake.
“Children have borne the brunt of this, with food taken off their plates, crops destroyed, homes and schools damaged and diseases on the rise. As the climate crisis accelerates, we must work with communities to strengthen their resilience, so children and their families are better equipped to face whatever comes next.
“We’re working in partnership with the Government of Vanuatu and local partners to help communities build the skills and resources they need to support themselves when future cyclones and disasters strike.”
Save the Children has been working in in Vanuatu for more than 40 years to make sure children are learning, protected from harm, and grow up healthy and strong.
Notes:
This project was also supported by the New Zealand Government’s Disaster Response Partnership programme.
[3] Open-pollinated seeds (OP seeds) produce plants that can reproduce true to type, meaning farmers can save seeds from their harvest and plant them in the next season with similar results. OP varieties used and recommended by the Vanuatu Agriculture Research and Technical Centre are often locally adapted, meaning they’ve been trialed and selected for their performance in Vanuatu’s climate – including tolerance to high rainfall, drought, pests and diseases. These seeds have genetic diversity, allowing plants to better adapt to changing weather patterns.
About Save the Children NZ:
Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.
Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.
