Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
People visit the booth of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) during the 55th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 17, 2025.
The 55th edition of the Paris Air Show officially opened on Monday and will run until June 22. China is showcasing some of its top aviation products at the exhibition. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University; and Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Fellow, Victoria University
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone beyond his initial aim of destroying Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. He has called on the Iranian people to rise up against their dictatorial Islamic regime and ostensibly transform Iran along the lines of Israeli interests.
United States President Donald Trump is now weighing possible military action in support of Netanyahu’s goal and asked for Iran’s total surrender.
If the US does get involved, it wouldn’t be the first time it’s tried to instigate regime change by military means in the Middle East. The US invaded Iraq in 2003 and backed a NATO operation in Libya in 2011, toppling the regimes of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, respectively.
In both cases, the interventions backfired, causing long-term instability in both countries and in the broader region.
Could the same thing happen in Iran if the regime is overthrown?
As I describe in my book, Iran Rising: The Survival and Future of the Islamic Republic, Iran is a pluralist society with a complex history of rival groups trying to assert their authority. A democratic transition would be difficult to achieve.
The Iranian Islamic regime assumed power in the wake of the pro-democracy popular uprising of 1978–79, which toppled Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s pro-Western monarchy.
Until this moment, Iran had a long history of monarchical rule dating back 2,500 years. Mohammad Reza, the last shah, was the head of the Pahlavi dynasty, which came to power in 1925.
In 1953, the shah was forced into exile under the radical nationalist and reformist impulse of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. He was shortly returned to his throne through a CIA-orchestrated coup.
Despite all his nationalist, pro-Western, modernising efforts, the shah could not shake off the indignity of having been re-throned with the help of a foreign power.
The revolution against him 25 years later was spearheaded by pro-democracy elements. But it was made up of many groups, including liberalists, communists and Islamists, with no uniting leader.
The Shia clerical group (ruhaniyat), led by the Shah’s religious and political opponent, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, proved to be best organised and capable of providing leadership to the revolution. Khomeini had been in exile from the early 1960s (at first in Iraq and later in France), yet he and his followers held considerable sway over the population, especially in traditional rural areas.
When US President Jimmy Carter’s administration found it could no longer support the shah, he left the country and went into exile in January 1979. This enabled Khomeini to return to Iran to a tumultuous welcome.
In the wake of the uprising, Khomeini and his supporters, including the current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, abolished the monarchy and transformed Iran to a cleric-dominated Islamic Republic, with anti-US and anti-Israel postures. He ruled the country according to his unique vision of Islam.
Khomeini denounced the US as a “Great Satan” and Israel as an illegal usurper of the Palestinian lands – Jerusalem, in particular. He also declared a foreign policy of “neither east, nor west” but pro-Islamic, and called for the spread of the Iranian revolution in the region.
Khomeini not only changed Iran, but also challenged the US as the dominant force in shaping the regional order. And the US lost one of the most important pillars of its influence in the oil-rich and strategically important Persian Gulf region.
Fear of hostile American or Israeli (or combined) actions against the Islamic Republic became the focus of Iran’s domestic and foreign policy behaviour.
Khomeini died in 1989. His successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ruled Iran largely in the same jihadi (combative) and ijtihadi (pragmatic) ways, steering the country through many domestic and foreign policy challenges.
Khamenei fortified the regime with an emphasis on self-sufficiency, a stronger defence capability and a tilt towards the east – Russia and China – to counter the US and its allies. He has stood firm in opposition to the US and its allies – Israel, in particular. And he has shown flexibility when necessary to ensure the survival and continuity of the regime.
Khamenei wields enormous constitutional power and spiritual authority.
He has presided over the building of many rule-enforcing instruments of state power, including the expansion of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its paramilitary wing, the Basij, revolutionary committees, and Shia religious networks.
The Shia concept of martyrdom and loyalty to Iran as a continuous sovereign country for centuries goes to the heart of his actions, as well as his followers.
Khamenei and his rule enforcers, along with an elected president and National Assembly, are fully cognisant that if the regime goes down, they will face the same fate. As such, they cannot be expected to hoist the white flag and surrender to Israel and the US easily.
However, in the event of the regime falling under the weight of a combined internal uprising and external pressure, it raises the question: what is the alternative?
Many Iranians are discontented with the regime, but there is no organised opposition under a nationally unifying leader.
The son of the former shah, the crown prince Reza Pahlavi, has been gaining some popularity. He has been speaking out on X in the last few days, telling his fellow Iranians:
The end of the Islamic Republic is the end of its 46-year war against the Iranian nation. The regime’s apparatus of repression is falling apart. All it takes now is a nationwide uprising to put an end to this nightmare once and for all.
Since the deposition of his father, he has lived in exile in the US. As such, he has been tainted by his close association with Washington and Jerusalem, especially Netanyahu.
If he were to return to power – likely through the assistance of the US – he would face the same problem of political legitimacy as his father did.
Iran has never had a long tradition of democracy. It experienced brief instances of liberalism in the first half of the 20th century, but every attempt at making it durable resulted in disarray and a return to authoritarian rule.
Also, the country has rarely been free of outside interventionism, given its vast hydrocarbon riches and strategic location. It’s also been prone to internal fragmentation, given its ethnic and religious mix.
The Shia Persians make up more than half of the population, but the country has a number of Sunni ethnic minorities, such as Kurds, Azaris, Balochis and Arabs. They have all had separatist tendencies.
Iran has historically been held together by centralisation rather than diffusion of power.
Should the Islamic regime disintegrate in one form or another, it would be an mistake to expect a smooth transfer of power or transition to democratisation within a unified national framework.
At the same time, the Iranian people are highly cultured and creative, with a very rich and proud history of achievements and civilisation.
They are perfectly capable of charting their own destiny as long as there aren’t self-seeking foreign hands in the process – something they have rarely experienced.
Amin Saikal 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.
– ref. Iran’s long history of revolution, defiance and outside interference – and why its future so uncertain – https://theconversation.com/irans-long-history-of-revolution-defiance-and-outside-interference-and-why-its-future-so-uncertain-259270
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
CEA-Leti and Soitec Announce Strategic Partnership to Leverage FD-SOI for Enhanced Security of Integrated Circuits
Focus Is on Protecting Critical Markets Such as
Automotive, Industrial IoT, and Secure Infrastructure
GRENOBLE, France – June 18, 2025 – CEA-Leti and Soitec today announced a strategic partnership to enhance the cybersecurity of integrated circuits (ICs) through the innovative use of fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technologies. This collaboration aims to position FD-SOI as a foundational platform for secure electronics by leveraging and extending its inherent resistance to physical attacks.
At the heart of the initiative is a joint effort to experimentally validate and augment the security benefits of FD-SOI—from the substrate level up to circuit design. The project aims to deliver concrete data, practical demonstrations, and roadmap guidance to meet the surging cybersecurity demands in critical markets such as automotive, industrial IoT, and secure infrastructure.
Combining Expertise to Secure the Future of Electronics
The partnership, which will utilize GlobalFoundries’ advanced chip manufacturing capabilities, will address a growing need for trusted components in embedded and cyber-physical systems—systems that must deliver security services and withstand both software- and hardware-level attacks. With FD-SOI’s proven advantages against laser fault injection (LFI) attacks due to its thin-film architecture and channel isolation, the technology presents a compelling foundation for next-generation secure IC design.
Key goals of the partnership include:
Context: Rising Threats, Rising Demand
“In an era marked by increasing attacks on connected systems and autonomous vehicles, the need for embedded hardware capable of resisting physical tampering has never been greater,” said CEA-Leti CTO Jean-René Lequepeys. “FD-SOI’s unique combination of performance, energy efficiency, and attack resistance offers an ideal answer for industries that demand both trust and efficiency. This project will leverage research results from the FAMES Pilot Line.”
FD-SOI’s critical benefits include:
Long-Term Vision: Toward a New Cyber-Substrate
While the initial phase focuses on leveraging existing FD-SOI capabilities, the project sets the stage for long-term innovation. The envisioned next-generation cyber-substrate would expand upon FD-SOI’s strengths by incorporating:
This future-oriented work will address both cyber and supply-chain vulnerabilities—making FD-SOI not only more secure, but also more indispensable.
Soitec’s Senior Executive Vice President in charge of Innovation and Chief Technology Officer Christophe Maleville said: “This partnership with CEA-Leti reflects our strategic ambition to position FD-SOI as a reference platform for secure and energy-efficient electronics. By combining our substrate innovation capabilities with CEA-Leti’s research excellence, we aim to demonstrate the full potential of FD-SOI in addressing today’s most pressing security challenges. Together, we are paving the way for a new generation of trusted technologies that are essential to the future of connected systems.”
About CEA-Leti (France)
CEA-Leti, a technology research institute at CEA, is a global leader in miniaturization technologies enabling smart, energy-efficient and secure solutions for industry. Founded in 1967, CEA-Leti pioneers micro-& nanotechnologies, tailoring differentiating applicative solutions for global companies, SMEs and startups. CEA-Leti tackles critical challenges in healthcare, energy and digital migration. From sensors to data processing and computing solutions, CEA-Leti’s multidisciplinary teams deliver solid expertise, leveraging world-class pre-industrialization facilities. With a staff of more than 2,000 talents, a portfolio of 3,200 patents, 11,000 sq. meters of cleanroom space and a clear IP policy, the institute is based in Grenoble, France, and has offices in Silicon Valley, Brussels and Tokyo. CEA-Leti has launched 76 startups and is a member of the Carnot Institutes network. Follow us on www.leti-cea.com and @CEA_Leti.
Technological expertise
CEA has a key role in transferring scientific knowledge and innovation from research to industry. This high-level technological research is carried out in particular in electronic and integrated systems, from microscale to nanoscale. It has a wide range of industrial applications in the fields of transport, health, safety and telecommunications, contributing to the creation of high-quality and competitive products.
For more information: www.cea.fr/english
About Soitec
Soitec (Euronext – Tech Leaders), a world leader in innovative semiconductor materials, has been developing cutting-edge products delivering both technological performance and energy efficiency for over 30 years. From its global headquarters in France, Soitec is expanding internationally with its unique solutions, and generated sales of 0.9 billion Euros in fiscal year 2024-2025. Soitec occupies a key position in the semiconductor value chain, serving three main strategic markets: Mobile Communications, Automotive and Industrial, and Edge and Cloud AI. The company relies on the talent and diversity of more than 2,200 employees, representing 50 different nationalities, working at its sites in Europe, the United States and Asia. Nearly 4,300 patents have been registered by Soitec.
Soitec, SmartSiC™ and Smart Cut™ are registered trademarks of Soitec.
For more information: https://www.soitec.com/en/ and follow us on LinkedIn and X: @Soitec_Official
Soitec, SmartSiC™ and Smart Cut™ are registered trademarks of Soitec.
For more information: https://www.soitec.com/en/ and follow us on LinkedIn and X: @Soitec_Official
Press Contact
CEA-Leti
Sarah-Lyle Dampoux
sldampoux@mahoneylyle.com
+33 6 74 93 23 47
Soitec
Relations Media : media@soitec.com
Relations Investisseurs : investors@soitec.com
Attachment
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
CEA-Leti and Soitec Announce Strategic Partnership to Leverage FD-SOI for Enhanced Security of Integrated Circuits
Focus Is on Protecting Critical Markets Such as
Automotive, Industrial IoT, and Secure Infrastructure
GRENOBLE, France – June 18, 2025 – CEA-Leti and Soitec today announced a strategic partnership to enhance the cybersecurity of integrated circuits (ICs) through the innovative use of fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technologies. This collaboration aims to position FD-SOI as a foundational platform for secure electronics by leveraging and extending its inherent resistance to physical attacks.
At the heart of the initiative is a joint effort to experimentally validate and augment the security benefits of FD-SOI—from the substrate level up to circuit design. The project aims to deliver concrete data, practical demonstrations, and roadmap guidance to meet the surging cybersecurity demands in critical markets such as automotive, industrial IoT, and secure infrastructure.
Combining Expertise to Secure the Future of Electronics
The partnership, which will utilize GlobalFoundries’ advanced chip manufacturing capabilities, will address a growing need for trusted components in embedded and cyber-physical systems—systems that must deliver security services and withstand both software- and hardware-level attacks. With FD-SOI’s proven advantages against laser fault injection (LFI) attacks due to its thin-film architecture and channel isolation, the technology presents a compelling foundation for next-generation secure IC design.
Key goals of the partnership include:
Context: Rising Threats, Rising Demand
“In an era marked by increasing attacks on connected systems and autonomous vehicles, the need for embedded hardware capable of resisting physical tampering has never been greater,” said CEA-Leti CTO Jean-René Lequepeys. “FD-SOI’s unique combination of performance, energy efficiency, and attack resistance offers an ideal answer for industries that demand both trust and efficiency. This project will leverage research results from the FAMES Pilot Line.”
FD-SOI’s critical benefits include:
Long-Term Vision: Toward a New Cyber-Substrate
While the initial phase focuses on leveraging existing FD-SOI capabilities, the project sets the stage for long-term innovation. The envisioned next-generation cyber-substrate would expand upon FD-SOI’s strengths by incorporating:
This future-oriented work will address both cyber and supply-chain vulnerabilities—making FD-SOI not only more secure, but also more indispensable.
Soitec’s Senior Executive Vice President in charge of Innovation and Chief Technology Officer Christophe Maleville said: “This partnership with CEA-Leti reflects our strategic ambition to position FD-SOI as a reference platform for secure and energy-efficient electronics. By combining our substrate innovation capabilities with CEA-Leti’s research excellence, we aim to demonstrate the full potential of FD-SOI in addressing today’s most pressing security challenges. Together, we are paving the way for a new generation of trusted technologies that are essential to the future of connected systems.”
About CEA-Leti (France)
CEA-Leti, a technology research institute at CEA, is a global leader in miniaturization technologies enabling smart, energy-efficient and secure solutions for industry. Founded in 1967, CEA-Leti pioneers micro-& nanotechnologies, tailoring differentiating applicative solutions for global companies, SMEs and startups. CEA-Leti tackles critical challenges in healthcare, energy and digital migration. From sensors to data processing and computing solutions, CEA-Leti’s multidisciplinary teams deliver solid expertise, leveraging world-class pre-industrialization facilities. With a staff of more than 2,000 talents, a portfolio of 3,200 patents, 11,000 sq. meters of cleanroom space and a clear IP policy, the institute is based in Grenoble, France, and has offices in Silicon Valley, Brussels and Tokyo. CEA-Leti has launched 76 startups and is a member of the Carnot Institutes network. Follow us on www.leti-cea.com and @CEA_Leti.
Technological expertise
CEA has a key role in transferring scientific knowledge and innovation from research to industry. This high-level technological research is carried out in particular in electronic and integrated systems, from microscale to nanoscale. It has a wide range of industrial applications in the fields of transport, health, safety and telecommunications, contributing to the creation of high-quality and competitive products.
For more information: www.cea.fr/english
About Soitec
Soitec (Euronext – Tech Leaders), a world leader in innovative semiconductor materials, has been developing cutting-edge products delivering both technological performance and energy efficiency for over 30 years. From its global headquarters in France, Soitec is expanding internationally with its unique solutions, and generated sales of 0.9 billion Euros in fiscal year 2024-2025. Soitec occupies a key position in the semiconductor value chain, serving three main strategic markets: Mobile Communications, Automotive and Industrial, and Edge and Cloud AI. The company relies on the talent and diversity of more than 2,200 employees, representing 50 different nationalities, working at its sites in Europe, the United States and Asia. Nearly 4,300 patents have been registered by Soitec.
Soitec, SmartSiC™ and Smart Cut™ are registered trademarks of Soitec.
For more information: https://www.soitec.com/en/ and follow us on LinkedIn and X: @Soitec_Official
Soitec, SmartSiC™ and Smart Cut™ are registered trademarks of Soitec.
For more information: https://www.soitec.com/en/ and follow us on LinkedIn and X: @Soitec_Official
Press Contact
CEA-Leti
Sarah-Lyle Dampoux
sldampoux@mahoneylyle.com
+33 6 74 93 23 47
Soitec
Relations Media : media@soitec.com
Relations Investisseurs : investors@soitec.com
Attachment
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Business aviation leader Luxaviation and Haffner Energy join forces to accelerate SAF production and promotion
Luxaviation signals interest in active role in SAF-dedicated entity SAF Zero
Vitry-le-François, France / Luxembourg (June 18, 2025, 8:00 am CEST) –
SAF Zero, a Haffner Energy initiative, is gaining momentum: Luxaviation Group, a leading global operator in the business aviation sector, is exploring an active role in the new entity, both companies announced today at the International Paris Air Show. Luxaviation potential involvement could take the form of cash funding to finance initial development activities, support in the strategic definition and global visibility as well as offtake agreements in relevant SAF Zero projects such as Paris-Vatry SAF.
SAF Zero is dedicated to fast-tracking the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by establishing an investment and project development platform that brings key stakeholders together. Combining Haffner Energy’s proprietary technologies and Luxaviation’s experience and strategic positioning in the aviation sector, SAF Zero is to finance and develop industrial SAF production projects. Operating under an exclusive license, SAF Zero will supply Haffner Energy’s technologies to third parties under license agreements, designing, delivering and potentially operating key equipment based on these technologies.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Luxaviation, a powerful partner working alongside us to position SAF Zero as a cornerstone of Europe’s clean aviation strategy ,” said Philippe Haffner, co-founder and CEO of Haffner Energy.
France-based Haffner Energy relies on its 32-year experience to design, manufacture, supply, license, and operate proprietary disruptive clean fuels solutions, including critical technologies for pathway-agnostic SAF production, using all types of residual biomass and municipal waste. The company has already announced the development of a number of SAF projects, notably Paris-Vatry SAF in France, where full scale production is expected to be reached by 2030 when the next stage of the European SAF mandate kicks in.
As a founding partner of SAF Zero, Haffner Energy will provide engineering support and supply of critical equipment as needed for the projects developed by SAF Zero.
“At Luxaviation, we believe that the future of aviation must be sustainable, and that requires bold partnerships and innovative solutions. Our collaboration with Haffner Energy and our interest in SAF Zero reflect our commitment to accelerating the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel and driving meaningful change across the industry. By combining our operational expertise with Haffner Energy’s cutting-edge technology, we are taking a decisive step toward a cleaner, more responsible future for aviation,” said Patrick Hansen, CEO of Luxaviation Group.
Luxaviation operates one of the largest fleets of private aircraft worldwide. It is actively committed to the decarbonization of aviation through a three-pronged strategy: improving fuel efficiency; reducing emissions by actively increasing SAF use and electrification of ground operations; buying offsets for remaining GHG emissions. Since 2021, Luxaviation’s annual sustainability report tracks progress against targets. In 2023, Luxaviation launched “Go-to-Zero” Investment Fund to foster SAF production.
Both Luxaviation and Haffner Energy are members of Project SkyPower, an international CEO-led initiative dedicated to accelerating the development and adoption of SAF.
About Haffner Energy
Haffner Energy designs, manufactures, supplies, and operates biofuel and hydrogen solutions using biomass residues. Its innovative, patented thermolysis technology produces Sustainable Aviation Fuel, as well as renewable gas, hydrogen, and methanol. The company also contributes to regenerating the planet through the co-production of biogenic CO2 and biochar. A company co-founded 32 years ago by Marc and Philippe Haffner, Haffner Energy has been working from the outset to decarbonize industry and all forms of mobility, as well as governments and local communities. More information is available at www.haffner-energy.com.
About Luxaviation Group
Headquartered in Luxembourg, Luxaviation Group comprises top-of-the line aviation brands, including Luxaviation, Starspeed, ExecuJet and Paragon, operating across five continents. Services include aircraft management for private and commercial aircraft, private air charter services, and the management and operation of VIP passenger terminals throughout an FBO network of over 110+ facilities worldwide. Luxaviation Group is actively committed to the decarbonization of aviation by supporting the development of sustainable fuels and green infrastructure. More information is available at www.luxaviation.com.
Media relations
Haffner Energy
Laetitia Mailhes
laetitia.mailhes@haffner-energy.com
+33 (0)6 07 12 96 76
Luxaviation Group
Juliane Thiessen
Juliane.thiessen@luxaviation.com
+41 76 356 8251
Investor relations
Haffner Energy
investisseurs@haffner-energy.com
Attachment
New Zealand – June 17 2025 – “The sound of thousands of trapped chickens, the industrial fans cranking and the stench of waste is beyond words”, says a volunteer investigator from Grassroots Campaigns NZ. “It’s hell inside.”
This is the description animal welfare investigators gave about what they captured at an Auckland colony cage factory farm. Their footage was given to the Open Wing Alliance, a global coalition of nearly 100 organisations established by The Humane League, in collaboration with We Animals and Reporters for Animals International. Together with Animals Aotearoa, the united group has just released the largest ever investigation into industrialised egg farms in 37 countries. In never-before-seen footage, including from New Zealand, supported by an open letter backed by 100 celebrities.
“The shocking footage exposes widespread abuse of egg-laying hens trapped in filthy, overcrowded cages, with evidence of injured birds, rotting carcasses, disease-ridden conditions, and more. This investigation comes as bird flu sweeps across every continent, jumping from farmed birds to wild animals and even humans”, says Jennifer Dutton, Corporate Relations Specialist at Animals Aotearoa.
Footage from 37 countries, including:
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
Key findings from the global exposé include:
Hens confined in battery and enriched/colony cages, giving each chicken only the space of an iPad, or less, to live their entire life;
Automated systems leave dead bird carcasses trapped in cages with living hens;
Live hens abandoned in manure and waste pits, and eggs found in manure before sent to shelves;
Birds unable to stand upright or spread their wings;
Unsanitary conditions that promote disease spread, like avian influenza.
This massive coordinated worldwide campaign is focused on spotlighting multinational brands dragging their heels on fulfilling corporate policy to transition away from cage eggs in their supply chains. The vast majority of food corporations around the world publicly committed, a decade ago, to remove cages from their egg supply chains, with global companies like The Hershey Company, Hormel Foods, Famous Brands, and Barilla already fully cage-free. However, food companies like Walmart, Zensho Holdings and Inspire Brands (parent company of Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins) continue to profit from sourcing eggs from hens raised in outdated, cruel cages. In New Zealand, hospitality giant Best Western Hotel chain was recently targeted by protestors highlighting the multinational’s lack of transparent reporting on its global cage-free progress, supported by a petition.
Since 2023, when battery cages were outlawed in Aotearoa, there has been a disinformation campaign by the factory farm lobby to mislead caring New Zealanders about the continued domestic production of cage eggs. While battery cages are no longer in use, colony cages are. Eggs sold at retail level from these colony cage systems don’t contain the word ‘cage’ anywhere on the packaging. Following a number of complaints, the Commerce Commission is currently conducting a compliance project to assess whether colony eggs are a breach of the Fair Trading Act.
In addition to cage eggs being sold under misleading labelling, the import of liquid eggs from battery cages is a significant problem. Over 80% of New Zealand’s liquid eggs, used largely in food manufacture, are imported from China and Australia where egg-laying hens are kept in battery cages. Produced using methods illegal here, they are added into Kiwi foods and quietly sold to the caring public who are unaware.
Consumers around the world are increasingly demanding transparency and ethical treatment of animals in food production, and they won’t stand for further risks to our global public health. Over 100 celebrity figures signed an open letter urging food corporations to end the use of cages in their global supply chains. This investigation s
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Zurich: 18 June 2025
PRESS RELEASE
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 Listing Rules:
GAM Holding AG appoints Albert Saporta as Group Chief Executive Officer and Tim Rainsford as Group Chief Distribution Officer
GAM Holding AG (SWX: GAM) today announces senior leadership changes as the Group moves into the next phase of sustainable growth. Albert Saporta has been appointed Group Chief Executive Officer (Group CEO) effective from 1 July 2025, succeeding Elmar Zumbuehl who will remain with GAM until 31 December 2025 to support the transition. Additionally, Tim Rainsford will return to GAM to lead its distribution efforts as Group Chief Distribution Officer on 1 October 2025.
These leadership changes reflect that GAM has successfully transformed and is now well positioned for growth. Under Elmar Zumbuehl’s leadership, GAM has undergone a comprehensive repositioning over the last 21 months; divesting non-core businesses, and rebuilding a lean, scalable platform designed to attract and empower top investment talent and better connect them to clients worldwide through a strengthened global distribution and client servicing network.
Albert Saporta has over 40 years of experience in the investment management industry and served as Global Head of Investments & Products at GAM since October 2023. He will take over as Group CEO with a clear focus on accelerating growth through building on our existing and new product offerings and external opportunities. His passion for innovative investment strategies, drive for positive client outcomes, and energy is key for GAM’s next phase of growth.
Drawing on GAM’s pioneering heritage, combining internal and external investment talent, Albert Saporta has been instrumental in strengthening GAM’s investment team line-up and entering into multiple new partnerships with best-in-class investment managers. GAM is strongly positioned to provide clients with access to differentiated investment strategies across asset classes.
Tim Rainsford will return to GAM as Group Chief Distribution Officer and a Group Management Board member. He brings extensive experience in leading global distribution functions focused on growth and delivering for clients. Tim Rainsford was CEO of Generali Investments Partners, and latterly, Chief Product and Distribution Officer for Generali Asset Management.
Rossen Djounov, Global Head of Client Solutions, will remain a senior member of the distribution leadership team, reporting to Tim, with a focus on driving growth initiatives and deepening strategic client relationships.
Chairman of the Board, Antoine Spillmann, said: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to express our deepest gratitude to Elmar for his dedicated service and the significant achievements he has accomplished during his many years at GAM. His leadership has been pivotal in steering the company through transformative changes and setting a solid foundation for future sustainable growth. The Board is looking forward to working with Albert and Tim as GAM enters its next phase as a highly agile and scalable platform with a renewed focus on growth, innovation, and client outcomes.
Albert Saporta said: “I am honoured to take on the role of GAM’s Group CEO. We have transformed GAM, and it is now well positioned with unique investment talent to deliver differentiated strategies to our clients. I am excited to be leading GAM into this next phase of sustainable growth.”
Elmar Zumbuehl commented: “I am proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last 21 months, and I want to thank the Board and our anchor shareholder NJJ Holding for their support during this transformational phase. I also extend my heartfelt appreciation to every member of the firm for their unwavering commitment and efforts in successfully transforming GAM.”
Tim Rainsford commented: “I’m thrilled to be returning to GAM with the firm’s focus on innovative strategies and commitment to client outcomes. I look forward to working closely with Albert and the broader team to drive growth and strengthen our global presence.”
Biographies
Albert Saporta:
Albert has 40 years’ experience in financial markets, with over 30 years in the hedge fund industry. Albert started his career at Paribas in Paris, where he managed the Japan/Asia mutual funds from 1984-85. He joined Merrill Lynch in London as Vice President of Japanese equity sales from 1985-88. In 1988, he joined UBS Securities in London where he headed quantitative research and hedge fund sales for Japanese equities. In 1991, he joined IFM, a hedge fund owned by Jacob Rothschild’s St James’s Place and AIG, where he managed relative value global equity arbitrage strategies. In 1995, he left to set up Geneva-based AIM&R, a hedge fund advisory and research firm, managing the SOG and SOGAsia funds. In March 2006, Albert sold AIM&R ‘s research and hedge fund businesses to ABN Amro Bank (London). As part of the transaction, he set-up the Special Opportunities Group (SOG) at ABN, managing a balance sheet of >USD1bn in global arbitrage strategies and special situations. AIM&R was relaunched in 2011 as a research and trading advisory firm, advising global hedge funds, pension funds, prop trading firms and family offices.
Albert has a master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University (1984), an MBA (1983) and BSc in economics (1982) from New York University, and a Math/Physics degree from the University of Nice (1980). He is fluent in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese. Albert holds French, Israeli and Spanish citizenships.
Tim Rainsford:
Tim Rainsford joins GAM Investments from Generali Investments Partners, where since September 2020 he was the Global Head of Product and Distribution. In this capacity, he led the global team of sales professionals based in Europe, focusing on defining the commercial development plans and strategies aimed at strengthening Generali Investments’ positioning in key markets and expanding its international footprint.
He was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Generali Investments Partners S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio (GIP) in April 2021, a key entity within the Generali Group’s Asset & Wealth Management business unit. In this role, he was responsible for steering the regulated entity and focusing on the investment management, product development and global sales efforts of the business unit, maximising the Group’s multi-boutique approach.
Before his tenure at Generali, he held significant positions in other major financial institutions. He served as Group Head of Distribution and Marketing at GAM Investments, where he was responsible for the company’s marketing and sales strategic direction. Earlier in his career, he spent thirteen years at Man Investments Ltd, holding various senior roles including Senior Managing Director – Head of European Sales, and Global Co-Head of Sales and Marketing.
For further information please contact:
Colin Bennett | GAM Media Relations
T +44 (0) 20 73 938 544
colin.bennett@gam.com
Visit us: www.gam.com
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About GAM
GAM Investments is a highly scalable global investment platform with strong global distribution capabilities focusing on three core areas, Specialist Active Investing, Alternative Investing and Wealth Management, that is listed in Switzerland. It delivers distinctive and differentiated investment solutions across its Investment and Wealth Management businesses. Its purpose is to protect and enhance clients’ financial future. It attracts and empowers brightest minds to provide investment leadership, innovation and a positive impact on society and the environment. Total assets under management were CHF 16.3 billion as of 31 December 2024. GAM Investments has global distribution with offices in 14 countries and is geographically diverse with clients in almost every continent. Headquartered in Zurich, GAM Investments was founded in 1983, and its registered office is at Hardstrasse 201 Zurich, 8005 Switzerland. For more information about GAM Investments, please visit www.gam.com.
Other Important Information
This release contains or may contain statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “estimate”, “aim”, “project”, “forecast”, “risk”, “likely”, “intend”, “outlook”, “should”, “could”, “would”, “may”, “might”, “will”, “continue”, “plan”, “probability”, “indicative”, “seek”, “target”, “plan” and other similar expressions are intended to or may identify forward-looking statements.
Any such statements in this release speak only as of the date hereof and are based on assumptions and contingencies subject to change without notice, as are statements about market and industry trends, projections, guidance, and estimates. Any forward-looking statements in this release are not indications, guarantees, assurances or predictions of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the person making such statements, its affiliates and its and their directors, officers, employees, agents and advisors and may involve significant elements of subjective judgement and assumptions as to future events which may or may not be correct and may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such statements. You are strongly cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and no person accepts or assumes any liability in connection therewith.
This release is not a financial product or investment advice, a recommendation to acquire, exchange or dispose of securities or accounting, legal or tax advice. It has been prepared without taking into account the objectives, legal, financial or tax situation and needs of individuals. Before making an investment decision, individuals should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to their own objectives, legal, financial and tax situation and needs and seek legal, tax and other advice as appropriate for their individual needs and jurisdiction.
Attachments
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Zurich: 18 June 2025
PRESS RELEASE
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 Listing Rules:
GAM Holding AG appoints Albert Saporta as Group Chief Executive Officer and Tim Rainsford as Group Chief Distribution Officer
GAM Holding AG (SWX: GAM) today announces senior leadership changes as the Group moves into the next phase of sustainable growth. Albert Saporta has been appointed Group Chief Executive Officer (Group CEO) effective from 1 July 2025, succeeding Elmar Zumbuehl who will remain with GAM until 31 December 2025 to support the transition. Additionally, Tim Rainsford will return to GAM to lead its distribution efforts as Group Chief Distribution Officer on 1 October 2025.
These leadership changes reflect that GAM has successfully transformed and is now well positioned for growth. Under Elmar Zumbuehl’s leadership, GAM has undergone a comprehensive repositioning over the last 21 months; divesting non-core businesses, and rebuilding a lean, scalable platform designed to attract and empower top investment talent and better connect them to clients worldwide through a strengthened global distribution and client servicing network.
Albert Saporta has over 40 years of experience in the investment management industry and served as Global Head of Investments & Products at GAM since October 2023. He will take over as Group CEO with a clear focus on accelerating growth through building on our existing and new product offerings and external opportunities. His passion for innovative investment strategies, drive for positive client outcomes, and energy is key for GAM’s next phase of growth.
Drawing on GAM’s pioneering heritage, combining internal and external investment talent, Albert Saporta has been instrumental in strengthening GAM’s investment team line-up and entering into multiple new partnerships with best-in-class investment managers. GAM is strongly positioned to provide clients with access to differentiated investment strategies across asset classes.
Tim Rainsford will return to GAM as Group Chief Distribution Officer and a Group Management Board member. He brings extensive experience in leading global distribution functions focused on growth and delivering for clients. Tim Rainsford was CEO of Generali Investments Partners, and latterly, Chief Product and Distribution Officer for Generali Asset Management.
Rossen Djounov, Global Head of Client Solutions, will remain a senior member of the distribution leadership team, reporting to Tim, with a focus on driving growth initiatives and deepening strategic client relationships.
Chairman of the Board, Antoine Spillmann, said: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to express our deepest gratitude to Elmar for his dedicated service and the significant achievements he has accomplished during his many years at GAM. His leadership has been pivotal in steering the company through transformative changes and setting a solid foundation for future sustainable growth. The Board is looking forward to working with Albert and Tim as GAM enters its next phase as a highly agile and scalable platform with a renewed focus on growth, innovation, and client outcomes.
Albert Saporta said: “I am honoured to take on the role of GAM’s Group CEO. We have transformed GAM, and it is now well positioned with unique investment talent to deliver differentiated strategies to our clients. I am excited to be leading GAM into this next phase of sustainable growth.”
Elmar Zumbuehl commented: “I am proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last 21 months, and I want to thank the Board and our anchor shareholder NJJ Holding for their support during this transformational phase. I also extend my heartfelt appreciation to every member of the firm for their unwavering commitment and efforts in successfully transforming GAM.”
Tim Rainsford commented: “I’m thrilled to be returning to GAM with the firm’s focus on innovative strategies and commitment to client outcomes. I look forward to working closely with Albert and the broader team to drive growth and strengthen our global presence.”
Biographies
Albert Saporta:
Albert has 40 years’ experience in financial markets, with over 30 years in the hedge fund industry. Albert started his career at Paribas in Paris, where he managed the Japan/Asia mutual funds from 1984-85. He joined Merrill Lynch in London as Vice President of Japanese equity sales from 1985-88. In 1988, he joined UBS Securities in London where he headed quantitative research and hedge fund sales for Japanese equities. In 1991, he joined IFM, a hedge fund owned by Jacob Rothschild’s St James’s Place and AIG, where he managed relative value global equity arbitrage strategies. In 1995, he left to set up Geneva-based AIM&R, a hedge fund advisory and research firm, managing the SOG and SOGAsia funds. In March 2006, Albert sold AIM&R ‘s research and hedge fund businesses to ABN Amro Bank (London). As part of the transaction, he set-up the Special Opportunities Group (SOG) at ABN, managing a balance sheet of >USD1bn in global arbitrage strategies and special situations. AIM&R was relaunched in 2011 as a research and trading advisory firm, advising global hedge funds, pension funds, prop trading firms and family offices.
Albert has a master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University (1984), an MBA (1983) and BSc in economics (1982) from New York University, and a Math/Physics degree from the University of Nice (1980). He is fluent in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese. Albert holds French, Israeli and Spanish citizenships.
Tim Rainsford:
Tim Rainsford joins GAM Investments from Generali Investments Partners, where since September 2020 he was the Global Head of Product and Distribution. In this capacity, he led the global team of sales professionals based in Europe, focusing on defining the commercial development plans and strategies aimed at strengthening Generali Investments’ positioning in key markets and expanding its international footprint.
He was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Generali Investments Partners S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio (GIP) in April 2021, a key entity within the Generali Group’s Asset & Wealth Management business unit. In this role, he was responsible for steering the regulated entity and focusing on the investment management, product development and global sales efforts of the business unit, maximising the Group’s multi-boutique approach.
Before his tenure at Generali, he held significant positions in other major financial institutions. He served as Group Head of Distribution and Marketing at GAM Investments, where he was responsible for the company’s marketing and sales strategic direction. Earlier in his career, he spent thirteen years at Man Investments Ltd, holding various senior roles including Senior Managing Director – Head of European Sales, and Global Co-Head of Sales and Marketing.
For further information please contact:
Colin Bennett | GAM Media Relations
T +44 (0) 20 73 938 544
colin.bennett@gam.com
Visit us: www.gam.com
Follow us: X and LinkedIn
About GAM
GAM Investments is a highly scalable global investment platform with strong global distribution capabilities focusing on three core areas, Specialist Active Investing, Alternative Investing and Wealth Management, that is listed in Switzerland. It delivers distinctive and differentiated investment solutions across its Investment and Wealth Management businesses. Its purpose is to protect and enhance clients’ financial future. It attracts and empowers brightest minds to provide investment leadership, innovation and a positive impact on society and the environment. Total assets under management were CHF 16.3 billion as of 31 December 2024. GAM Investments has global distribution with offices in 14 countries and is geographically diverse with clients in almost every continent. Headquartered in Zurich, GAM Investments was founded in 1983, and its registered office is at Hardstrasse 201 Zurich, 8005 Switzerland. For more information about GAM Investments, please visit www.gam.com.
Other Important Information
This release contains or may contain statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “estimate”, “aim”, “project”, “forecast”, “risk”, “likely”, “intend”, “outlook”, “should”, “could”, “would”, “may”, “might”, “will”, “continue”, “plan”, “probability”, “indicative”, “seek”, “target”, “plan” and other similar expressions are intended to or may identify forward-looking statements.
Any such statements in this release speak only as of the date hereof and are based on assumptions and contingencies subject to change without notice, as are statements about market and industry trends, projections, guidance, and estimates. Any forward-looking statements in this release are not indications, guarantees, assurances or predictions of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the person making such statements, its affiliates and its and their directors, officers, employees, agents and advisors and may involve significant elements of subjective judgement and assumptions as to future events which may or may not be correct and may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such statements. You are strongly cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and no person accepts or assumes any liability in connection therewith.
This release is not a financial product or investment advice, a recommendation to acquire, exchange or dispose of securities or accounting, legal or tax advice. It has been prepared without taking into account the objectives, legal, financial or tax situation and needs of individuals. Before making an investment decision, individuals should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to their own objectives, legal, financial and tax situation and needs and seek legal, tax and other advice as appropriate for their individual needs and jurisdiction.
Attachments
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University
Earlier today, Iranian officials urged the country’s citizens to remove the messaging platform WhatsApp from their smartphones. Without providing any supporting evidence, they alleged the app gathers user information to send to Israel.
WhatsApp has rejected the allegations. In a statement to Associated Press, the Meta-owned messaging platform said it was concerned “these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them most”. It added that it does not track users’ location nor the personal messages people are sending one another.
It is impossible to independently assess the allegations, given Iran provided no publicly accessible supporting evidence.
But we do know that even though WhatsApp has strong privacy and security features, it isn’t impenetrable. And there is at least one country that has previously been able to penetrate it: Israel.
WhatsApp is a free messaging app owned by Meta. With around 3 billion users worldwide and growing fast, it can send text messages, calls and media over the internet.
It uses strong end-to-end encryption meaning only the sender and recipient can read messages; not even WhatsApp can access their content. This ensures strong privacy and security.
The United States is the world leader in cyber capability. This term describes the skills, technologies and resources that enable nations to defend, attack, or exploit digital systems and networks as a powerful instrument of national power.
But Israel also has advanced cyber capability, ranking alongside the United Kingdom, China, Russia, France and Canada.
Israel has a documented history of conducting sophisticated cyber operations. This includes the widely cited Stuxnet attack that targeted Iran’s nuclear program more than 15 years ago. Israeli cyber units, such as Unit 8200, are renowned for their technical expertise and innovation in both offensive and defensive operations.
Seven of the top 10 global cybersecurity firms maintain R&D centers in Israel, and Israeli startups frequently lead in developing novel offensive and defensive cyber tools.
Israeli firms have repeatedly been linked to hacking WhatsApp accounts, most notably through the Pegasus spyware developed by Israeli-based cyber intelligence company NSO Group. In 2019, it exploited WhatsApp vulnerabilities to compromise 1,400 users, including journalists, activists and politicians.
Last month, a US federal court ordered the NSO Group to pay WhatsApp and Meta nearly US$170 million in damages for the hack.
Another Israeli company, Paragon Solutions, also recently targeted nearly 100 WhatsApp accounts. The company used advanced spyware to access private communications after they had been de-encrypted.
These kinds of attacks often use “spearphishing”. This is distinct from regular phishing attacks, which generally involve an attacker sending malicious links to thousands of people.
Instead, spearphishing involves sending targeted, deceptive messages or files to trick specific individuals into installing spyware. This grants attackers full access to their devices – including de-encrypted WhatsApp messages.
A spearphishing email might appear to come from a trusted colleague or organisation. It might ask the recipient to urgently review a document or reset a password, leading them to a fake login page or triggering a malware download.
To avoid spearphishing, people should scrutinise unexpected emails or messages, especially those conveying a sense of urgency, and never click suspicious links or download unknown attachments.
Hovering the mouse cursor over a link will reveal the name of the destination. Suspicious links are those with strange domain names and garbled text that has nothing to do with the purported sender. Simply hovering without clicking is not dangerous.
Enable two-factor authentication, keep your software updated, and verify requests coming through trusted channels. Regular cybersecurity training also helps users spot and resist these targeted attacks.
David Tuffley 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.
– ref. Can a foreign government hack WhatsApp? A cybersecurity expert explains how that might work – https://theconversation.com/can-a-foreign-government-hack-whatsapp-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-how-that-might-work-259261
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday concluded what he described as a “productive visit” to Canada, where he participated in the G7 Summit at Kananaskis and held several high-level bilateral meetings with global leaders. He has now departed for Croatia, the final stop of his three-nation tour.
“Concluding a productive Canada visit. Thankful to the Canadian people and Government for hosting a successful G7 Summit, which witnessed fruitful discussions on diverse global issues. We remain committed to furthering global peace, prosperity and sustainability,” PM Modi posted on X.
In a separate post on X, Ministry of External affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said:
“PM @narendramodi concludes a very productive visit to Canada! Held fruitful dialogue on key issues in the global context on energy security, technology, and innovation at the @G7 Summit. Met with several leaders and discussed bilateral ties. Next stop — Croatia.”
During the G7 outreach session on energy security, PM Modi underscored the need for universal access to clean and sustainable energy.
He also highlighted India’s global initiatives, including the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the Global Biofuels Alliance.
PM Modi reiterated India’s zero-tolerance policy on terrorism, thanking leaders for their condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack. He called for unified global action against terrorism and emphasized the need to hold those who support or sponsor terrorism accountable.
Highlighting India’s digital transformation, the Prime Minister emphasised India’s success in democratizing technology and adopting a human-centric approach.
“PM Modi also highlighted India’s experience in democratising use of technology and its human-centric approach in deploying it. He called for addressing global governance issues to tackle concerns of AI and to promote innovation in the field. He called for addressing global governance issues to tackle concerns of AI and to promote innovation in the field,” Jaiswal said in a post on X
On the sidelines of the summit, PM Modi held bilateral meetings with several global leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Charles Michel, President of the European Council; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa; UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer; French President Emmanuel Macron; Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Before departing for the three-nation tour, PM Modi had said the visit aimed to thank key partner nations for their unwavering support in India’s fight against cross-border terrorism and to rally international consensus on combating terrorism in all its forms.
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday concluded what he described as a “productive visit” to Canada, where he participated in the G7 Summit at Kananaskis and held several high-level bilateral meetings with global leaders. He has now departed for Croatia, the final stop of his three-nation tour.
“Concluding a productive Canada visit. Thankful to the Canadian people and Government for hosting a successful G7 Summit, which witnessed fruitful discussions on diverse global issues. We remain committed to furthering global peace, prosperity and sustainability,” PM Modi posted on X.
In a separate post on X, Ministry of External affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said:
“PM @narendramodi concludes a very productive visit to Canada! Held fruitful dialogue on key issues in the global context on energy security, technology, and innovation at the @G7 Summit. Met with several leaders and discussed bilateral ties. Next stop — Croatia.”
During the G7 outreach session on energy security, PM Modi underscored the need for universal access to clean and sustainable energy.
He also highlighted India’s global initiatives, including the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the Global Biofuels Alliance.
PM Modi reiterated India’s zero-tolerance policy on terrorism, thanking leaders for their condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack. He called for unified global action against terrorism and emphasized the need to hold those who support or sponsor terrorism accountable.
Highlighting India’s digital transformation, the Prime Minister emphasised India’s success in democratizing technology and adopting a human-centric approach.
“PM Modi also highlighted India’s experience in democratising use of technology and its human-centric approach in deploying it. He called for addressing global governance issues to tackle concerns of AI and to promote innovation in the field. He called for addressing global governance issues to tackle concerns of AI and to promote innovation in the field,” Jaiswal said in a post on X
On the sidelines of the summit, PM Modi held bilateral meetings with several global leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Charles Michel, President of the European Council; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa; UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer; French President Emmanuel Macron; Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Before departing for the three-nation tour, PM Modi had said the visit aimed to thank key partner nations for their unwavering support in India’s fight against cross-border terrorism and to rally international consensus on combating terrorism in all its forms.
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Israel’s military has confirmed the killing of Ali Shadmani, Iran’s wartime Chief of Staff and a close adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an airstrike on a command center in Tehran. Shadmani had recently assumed leadership of Iran’s Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters following the death of his predecessor during Israel’s initial offensive on Friday.
Iran’s Cyber Security Command has accused Israel of launching a widespread cyber war targeting its digital infrastructure, reportedly disrupting essential services, according to the state-run IRIB news agency.
Israel’s air force has struck deep within Tehran, killing one of Iran’s top military officers, Ali Shadmani — a high-ranking adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Continuous and intense explosions are being heard in west Tehran, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA, as the conflict enters its sixth day with no signs of abating.
Iran’s newly appointed army chief has issued a stark warning, saying the strikes carried out against Israel so far were merely a deterrent message.
In a televised address, the new army chief General Abdolrahim Mousavi declared that punitive action will be carried out soon, signaling further escalation.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump made a social media call for Iran to surrender unconditionally.
As tensions rise, the Pentagon announced it is speeding up the deployment of the USS Nimitz and other naval hardware to the Middle East, the second carrier strike group to be deployed to the area.
Calls for restraint are growing louder. Egypt has urged both Iran and Israel to pull back, warning that continued escalation could destabilize the entire region.
Speaking in Brussels, Jordan’s King Abdullah II addressed the European Parliament, cautioning that Israeli strikes on Iran risk igniting a far wider war.
The G7 summit in Canada issued a collective call for a de-escalation of hostilities across the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza. However, the group stopped short of directly calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty urged an immediate cessation of hostilities in phone calls with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Egypt warned the conflict risked igniting broader regional upheaval, a message echoed by Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who, in an address to the European Parliament, stressed the potential for wider instability triggered by continued Israeli strikes on Iran.
French President Emmanuel Macron revealed that a US-backed ceasefire proposal is on the table, though its contents remain undisclosed. Tehran, however, has reportedly maintained a hardline stance on nuclear negotiations, with some sources indicating Iran may only consider compromise after retaliatory action against Israel is complete.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that ongoing operations have dealt a major blow to Iran’s nuclear program, saying, “I estimate we are sending them back a very, very long time.” Israel has reportedly targeted multiple nuclear facilities and eliminated several senior Iranian military commanders in a tightly coordinated campaign.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 18, 2025.
Saving species starts at home: how you can help Australia’s 1,000 threatened invertebrates
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Umbers, Associate Professor in Zoology, Western Sydney University Atlas Moth (_Attacus wardi_) Garry Sankowsky/flickr, CC BY When we think about animals, we tend to think of furry four-legged mammals. But 95% of all animal species are invertebrates – bees, butterflies, beetles, snails, worms, octopuses, starfish, corals,
Matariki and our diminishing night sky: light pollution from cities and satellites is making stars harder to see
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shea Esterling, Senior Lecturer Above the Bar, University of Canterbury Zhang Jianyong/Xinhua via Getty Images This week, Aotearoa New Zealand officially celebrates Matariki for the fourth time, marked by the reappearance in the night sky of the star cluster also known as the Pleiades. Yet, ironically, the
Why a US court allowed a dead man to deliver his own victim impact statement – via an AI avatar
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James D Metzger, Senior Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney Composite image: Arrington Watkins Architects / AI avatar: YouTube/StaceyWales, CC BY In November 2021, in the city of Chandler, Arizona, Chris Pelkey was shot and killed by Gabriel Horcasitas in a road rage altercation. Horcasitas was
What’s the difference between food poisoning and gastro? A gut expert explains
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and Clinical Academic Gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock If you’ve got a dodgy tummy, diarrhoea and have been vomiting, it’s easy to blame a “tummy bug” or “off food”. But which is it? Gastro or food poisoning? What’s the difference anyway? What’s gastroenteritis?
Sharks come in many different shapes and sizes. But they all follow a centuries-old mathematical rule
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodie L. Rummer, Professor of Marine Biology, James Cook University Rachel Moore From hand-sized lantern sharks that glow in the deep sea to bus-sized whale sharks gliding through tropical waters, sharks come in all shapes and sizes. Despite these differences, they all face the same fundamental challenge:
Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace
ANALYSIS: By Matt Fitzpatrick, Flinders University In the late 1960s, the prevailing opinion among Israeli Shin Bet intelligence officers was that the key to defeating the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was to assassinate its then-leader Yasser Arafat. The elimination of Arafat, the Shin Bet commander Yehuda Arbel wrote in his diary, was “a precondition to finding
Solomon Islanders safe but unable to leave Israel amid war on Iran
RNZ Pacific The Solomon Islands Foreign Ministry says five people who completed agriculture training in Israel are safe but unable to come home amid the ongoing war between Israel and Iran. The ministry said in a statement that the Solomon Islands Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was closely monitoring the situation and maintaining
We tracked Aussie teens’ mental health. The news isn’t good – and problems are worse for girls
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scarlett Smout, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank, University of Sydney skynesher/Getty Images We know young people in Australia and worldwide are experiencing growing mental health challenges. The most recent national survey
Australia could become the world’s first net-zero exporter of fossil fuels – here’s how
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Would a corporate tax cut boost productivity in Australia? So far, the evidence is unclear
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How high can US debt go before it triggers a financial crisis?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Hartigan, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney rarrarorro/Shutterstock The tax cuts bill currently being debated by the US Senate will add another US$3 trillion (A$4.6 trillion) to US debt. President Donald Trump calls it the “big, beautiful bill”; his erstwhile policy adviser Elon Musk called it
Jaws at 50: how two musical notes terrified an entire generation
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Cole, Composer and Lecturer in Screen Composition, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney Universal Pictures Our experience of the world often involves hearing our environment before seeing it. Whether it’s the sound of something moving through nearby water, or the rustling of vegetation, our fear
As Luxon heads to China, his government’s pivot toward the US is a stumbling block
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago Ahead of his first visit to China, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been at pains to present meetings with Chinese premier Xi Jinping and other leaders as advancing New Zealand’s best interests. But there is arguably a
The story of the journalist on the Rainbow Warrior’s last voyage, David Robie
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As Israeli attacks draw tit-for-tat missile responses from Iran and shuts Haifa refinery, Gaza genocide continues
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View from the Hill: Cancelled Albanese-Trump meeting a setback on tariffs, AUKUS
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese’s failure to get his much-anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump is not the prime minister’s fault, nor should it be characterised as a “snub” by the president. There was always a risk of derailment by outside events,
Decoding PNG leader Marape’s talks with French President Macron
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There’s a new ban on vaping in childcare centres, but what else do we need to keep kids safe?
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Regime change wouldn’t likely bring democracy to Iran. A more threatening force could fill the vacuum
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Thomas, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, Deakin University The timing and targets of Israel’s attacks on Iran tell us that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s short-term goal is to damage Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to severely diminish its weapons program. But Netanyahu has made clear another
Why is there so much concern over Iran’s nuclear program? And where could it go from here?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Zala, Senior Lecturer, Politics & International Relations, Monash University Maxar satellite imagery overview of the Fordow enrichment facility located southwest of Tehran. Maxar/Contributor/Getty Images Conflict between Israel and Iran is intensifying, after Israeli airstrikes on key nuclear sites and targeted assassinations last week were followed by
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 18, 2025.
Saving species starts at home: how you can help Australia’s 1,000 threatened invertebrates
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Umbers, Associate Professor in Zoology, Western Sydney University Atlas Moth (_Attacus wardi_) Garry Sankowsky/flickr, CC BY When we think about animals, we tend to think of furry four-legged mammals. But 95% of all animal species are invertebrates – bees, butterflies, beetles, snails, worms, octopuses, starfish, corals,
Matariki and our diminishing night sky: light pollution from cities and satellites is making stars harder to see
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shea Esterling, Senior Lecturer Above the Bar, University of Canterbury Zhang Jianyong/Xinhua via Getty Images This week, Aotearoa New Zealand officially celebrates Matariki for the fourth time, marked by the reappearance in the night sky of the star cluster also known as the Pleiades. Yet, ironically, the
Why a US court allowed a dead man to deliver his own victim impact statement – via an AI avatar
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James D Metzger, Senior Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney Composite image: Arrington Watkins Architects / AI avatar: YouTube/StaceyWales, CC BY In November 2021, in the city of Chandler, Arizona, Chris Pelkey was shot and killed by Gabriel Horcasitas in a road rage altercation. Horcasitas was
What’s the difference between food poisoning and gastro? A gut expert explains
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and Clinical Academic Gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock If you’ve got a dodgy tummy, diarrhoea and have been vomiting, it’s easy to blame a “tummy bug” or “off food”. But which is it? Gastro or food poisoning? What’s the difference anyway? What’s gastroenteritis?
Sharks come in many different shapes and sizes. But they all follow a centuries-old mathematical rule
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodie L. Rummer, Professor of Marine Biology, James Cook University Rachel Moore From hand-sized lantern sharks that glow in the deep sea to bus-sized whale sharks gliding through tropical waters, sharks come in all shapes and sizes. Despite these differences, they all face the same fundamental challenge:
Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace
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Solomon Islanders safe but unable to leave Israel amid war on Iran
RNZ Pacific The Solomon Islands Foreign Ministry says five people who completed agriculture training in Israel are safe but unable to come home amid the ongoing war between Israel and Iran. The ministry said in a statement that the Solomon Islands Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was closely monitoring the situation and maintaining
We tracked Aussie teens’ mental health. The news isn’t good – and problems are worse for girls
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scarlett Smout, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank, University of Sydney skynesher/Getty Images We know young people in Australia and worldwide are experiencing growing mental health challenges. The most recent national survey
Australia could become the world’s first net-zero exporter of fossil fuels – here’s how
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Would a corporate tax cut boost productivity in Australia? So far, the evidence is unclear
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Jaws at 50: how two musical notes terrified an entire generation
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Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jeffrey Fields, Professor of the Practice of International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Relations between the United States and Iran have been fraught for decades – at least since the U.S. helped overthrow a democracy-minded prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, in August 1953. The U.S. then supported the long, repressive reign of the Shah of Iran, whose security services brutalized Iranian citizens for decades.
The two countries have been particularly hostile to each other since Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979, resulting in economic sanctions and the severing of formal diplomatic relations between the nations.
Since 1984, the U.S. State Department has listed Iran as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” alleging the Iranian government provides terrorists with training, money and weapons.
Some of the major events in U.S.-Iran relations highlight the differences between the nations’ views, but others arguably presented real opportunities for reconciliation.
In 1951, the Iranian Parliament chose a new prime minister, Mossadegh, who then led lawmakers to vote in favor of taking over the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, expelling the company’s British owners and saying they wanted to turn oil profits into investments in the Iranian people. The U.S. feared disruption in the global oil supply and worried about Iran falling prey to Soviet influence. The British feared the loss of cheap Iranian oil.
President Dwight Eisenhower decided it was best for the U.S. and the U.K. to get rid of Mossadegh. Operation Ajax, a joint CIA-British operation, convinced the Shah of Iran, the country’s monarch, to dismiss Mossadegh and drive him from office by force. Mossadegh was replaced by a much more Western-friendly prime minister, handpicked by the CIA.
After more than 25 years of relative stability in U.S.-Iran relations, the Iranian public had grown unhappy with the social and economic conditions that developed under the dictatorial rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Pahlavi enriched himself and used American aid to fund the military while many Iranians lived in poverty. Dissent was often violently quashed by SAVAK, the shah’s security service. In January 1979, the shah left Iran, ostensibly to seek cancer treatment. Two weeks later, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile in Iraq and led a drive to abolish the monarchy and proclaim an Islamic government.
In October 1979, President Jimmy Carter agreed to allow the shah to come to the U.S. to seek advanced medical treatment. Outraged Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, taking 52 Americans hostage. That convinced Carter to sever U.S. diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980.
Two weeks later, the U.S. military launched a mission to rescue the hostages, but it failed, with aircraft crashes killing eight U.S. servicemembers.
The shah died in Egypt in July 1980, but the hostages weren’t released until Jan. 20, 1981, after 444 days of captivity.
In September 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, an escalation of the two countries’ regional rivalry and religious differences: Iraq was governed by Sunni Muslims but had a Shia Muslim majority population; Iran was led and populated mostly by Shiites.
The U.S. was concerned that the conflict would limit the flow of Middle Eastern oil and wanted to ensure the conflict didn’t affect its close ally, Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. supported Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in his fight against the anti-American Iranian regime. As a result, the U.S. mostly turned a blind eye toward Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran.
U.S. officials moderated their usual opposition to those illegal and inhumane weapons because the U.S. State Department did not “wish to play into Iran’s hands by fueling its propaganda against Iraq.” In 1988, the war ended in a stalemate. More than 500,000 military and 100,000 civilians died.
The U.S. imposed an arms embargo after Iran was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984. That left the Iranian military, in the middle of its war with Iraq, desperate for weapons and aircraft and vehicle parts to keep fighting.
The Reagan administration decided that the embargo would likely push Iran to seek support from the Soviet Union, the U.S.’s Cold War rival. Rather than formally end the embargo, U.S. officials agreed to secretly sell weapons to Iran starting in 1981.
The last shipment, of anti-tank missiles, was in October 1986. In November 1986, a Lebanese magazine exposed the deal. That revelation sparked the Iran-Contra scandal in the U.S., with Reagan’s officials found to have collected money from Iran for the weapons and illegally sent those funds to anti-socialist rebels – the Contras – in Nicaragua.
On the morning of July 8, 1988, the USS Vincennes, a guided missile cruiser patrolling in the international waters of the Persian Gulf, entered Iranian territorial waters while in a skirmish with Iranian gunboats.
Either during or just after that exchange of gunfire, the Vincennes crew mistook a passing civilian Airbus passenger jet for an Iranian F-14 fighter. They shot it down, killing all 290 people aboard.
The U.S. called it a “tragic and regrettable accident,” but Iran believed the plane’s downing was intentional. In 1996, the U.S. agreed to pay US$131.8 million in compensation to Iran.
In August 1997, a moderate reformer, Mohammad Khatami, won Iran’s presidential election.
U.S. President Bill Clinton sensed an opportunity. He sent a message to Tehran through the Swiss ambassador there, proposing direct government-to-government talks.
Shortly thereafter, in early January 1998, Khatami gave an interview to CNN in which he expressed “respect for the great American people,” denounced terrorism and recommended an “exchange of professors, writers, scholars, artists, journalists and tourists” between the United States and Iran.
However, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei didn’t agree, so not much came of the mutual overtures as Clinton’s time in office came to an end.
In his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush characterized Iran, Iraq and North Korea as constituting an “Axis of Evil” supporting terrorism and pursuing weapons of mass destruction, straining relations even further.
In August 2002, an exiled rebel group announced that Iran had been secretly working on nuclear weapons at two installations that had not previously been publicly revealed.
That was a violation of the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which Iran had signed, requiring countries to disclose their nuclear-related facilities to international inspectors.
One of those formerly secret locations, Natanz, housed centrifuges for enriching uranium, which could be used in civilian nuclear reactors or enriched further for weapons.
Starting in roughly 2005, U.S. and Israeli government cyberattackers together reportedly targeted the Natanz centrifuges with a custom-made piece of malicious software that became known as Stuxnet.
That effort, which slowed down Iran’s nuclear program was one of many U.S. and international attempts – mostly unsuccessful – to curtail Iran’s progress toward building a nuclear bomb.
In May 2003, senior Iranian officials quietly contacted the State Department through the Swiss embassy in Iran, seeking “a dialogue ‘in mutual respect,’” addressing four big issues: nuclear weapons, terrorism, Palestinian resistance and stability in Iraq.
Hardliners in the Bush administration weren’t interested in any major reconciliation, though Secretary of State Colin Powell favored dialogue and other officials had met with Iran about al-Qaida.
When Iranian hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president of Iran in 2005, the opportunity died. The following year, Ahmadinejad made his own overture to Washington in an 18-page letter to President Bush. The letter was widely dismissed; a senior State Department official told me in profane terms that it amounted to nothing.
After a decade of unsuccessful attempts to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Obama administration undertook a direct diplomatic approach beginning in 2013.
Two years of secret, direct negotiations initially bilaterally between the U.S. and Iran and later with other nuclear powers culminated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, often called the Iran nuclear deal.
Two years of secret, direct negotiations conducted bilaterally at first between the U.S. and Iran and later with other nuclear powers culminated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, often called the Iran nuclear deal.
Iran, the U.S., China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom signed the deal in 2015. It severely limited Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium and mandated that international inspectors monitor and enforce Iran’s compliance with the agreement.
In return, Iran was granted relief from international and U.S. economic sanctions. Though the inspectors regularly certified that Iran was abiding by the agreement’s terms, President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in May 2018.
On Jan. 3, 2020, an American drone fired a missile that killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Analysts considered Soleimani the second most powerful man in Iran, after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
At the time, the Trump administration asserted that Soleimani was directing an imminent attack against U.S. assets in the region, but officials have not provided clear evidence to support that claim.
Iran responded by launching ballistic missiles that hit two American bases in Iraq.
Hamas’ brazen attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, provoked a fearsome militarized response from Israel that continues today and served to severely weaken Iran’s proxies in the region, especially Hamas – the perpetrator of the attacks – and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Trump saw an opportunity to forge a new nuclear deal with Iran and to pursue other business deals with Tehran. Once inaugurated for his second term, Trump appointed Steve Witkoff, a real estate investor who is the president’s friend, to serve as special envoy for the Middle East and to lead negotiations.
Negotiations for a nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran began in April, but the countries did not reach a deal. They were planning a new round of talks when Israel struck Iran with a series of airstrikes on June 13, forcing the White House to reconsider is position.
Jeffrey Fields receives funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Schmidt Futures.
– ref. US and Iran have a long, complicated history, spanning far beyond Israel’s strikes on Tehran – https://theconversation.com/us-and-iran-have-a-long-complicated-history-spanning-far-beyond-israels-strikes-on-tehran-259240
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Top two seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper both advanced to the second round of the men’s singles at the Queen’s Club Championships on Tuesday.
Spain’s Alcaraz arrived in London fresh off his second consecutive French Open title. The world No. 2 overcame a late challenge from lucky loser Alex Walton to win his first grass-court match of the season 6-4, 7-6(7).
Alcaraz had initially been scheduled to face fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the opening round, but the world No. 28 withdrew just hours before the match due to illness following his recent wedding.
“I didn’t know his game, which shot is his best,” Alcaraz talked about his opponent Walton from Australia. “What I tried is not to think about him but myself. I tried to play as good as I can and that’s all.”
Earlier, Draper thrilled the home crowd at Andy Murray Arena with a commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over American Jenson Brooksby.
“I feel good. I feel confident. I feel relaxed. Like I said on court, I’m happy to be home. I’m happy to be playing in front of home crowd,” said the 23-year-old British No. 1.
Draper will next face Australian Alexei Popyrin, while Alcaraz is set to play compatriot Jaume Munar.
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Cameron Shackell, Sessional Academic, School of Information Systems, Queensland University of Technology
Our cultural touchstones series looks at influential works.
Gilles Deleuze was one of the most original and imaginative thinkers of postwar France. A lifelong teacher, he spent most of his career at the University of Paris VIII, influencing generations of students but largely shunning the mantle of public intellectual.
His complex, creative books mix philosophy, literature, film and politics – not to give clear answers, but to spark new ways of thinking.
Postscript on the Societies of Control, published 35 years ago in the countercultural L’Autre Journal is Deleuze at his most accessible and prophetic.
Written at a time when the Cold War was ending, computers were becoming more common, and the internet was beginning to connect institutions, the essay describes the emergence of a new kind of society – one not ruled by a single stern voice but by the soft hum of networks.
Postscript was written as an update to the work of Deleuze’s contemporary Michel Foucault, who had died in 1984. Deleuze called it a “postscript” not just because of its brevity (it’s only around 2,300 words in English translation) but to highlight he wasn’t refuting Foucault, just building on his work.
From the 18th to early 20th centuries, Foucault had argued, Western societies were “disciplinary societies”. Schools, factories, prisons and hospitals – institutions with walls, schedules, routines and clear expectations – moulded behaviour. People were trained, observed, tested and corrected as they passed from one institution to the next.
Read more:
‘A dark masterpiece’: Foucault’s Discipline and Punish at 50
But in the late 20th century, Deleuze saw something shifting. He thought the stodgy old disciplinary institutions were “in a generalized crisis” due to technological advances and a new form of capitalism that demanded more flexibility in workers and consumers.
New systems of management and technology were starting to reshape people without sending them through traditional institutions. Deleuze wrote presciently, for example, that “perpetual training tends to replace the school, and continuous control to replace the examination”.
In business, he saw a growing idea of “salary according to merit”, transforming work into “challenges, contests, and highly comic group sessions” – something much at odds with the old model of the standard wage and the assembly line. Traditional government institutions like hospitals and the classic factory were embracing the model of the corporation, driven always by a profit motive and the need for better human tools.
To Deleuze, all this meant people were becoming more “free-floating” – they could be still playing socially useful roles but were being gently steered into them. This greater freedom, however, required a new system to keep everyone in line. He called this “modulation” to underline its dynamic, enveloping nature.
Deleuze described modulation as “a self-deforming cast that will continuously change from one moment to the other”. He meant that people were beginning to live in an environment where everything shape-shifts to encourage or discourage us in the right direction without explicitly putting up walls.
A prime example of how modulation has since become commonplace is nudging – the use of psychological techniques, often subtle and data-driven, to shape people’s behaviour.
Nudging didn’t really exist in 1990, but governments and tech companies use nudges all the time now. We’re nudged to eat healthier, buy, save, recycle, donate. Web sites use “dark patterns” – tricky designs that steer (or nudge) us toward certain choices. Social media feeds use algorithms to exclude us if we say the wrong thing. In fact, entire teams of behavioural scientists operate behind the scenes to manipulate many aspects of our lives.
Nudges can be good and can save us from poor choices, but their newfound moral acceptability (sometimes called libertarian paternalism) is very much a clue that Deleuze’s control society has arrived.
Deleuze, who died in 1995, wrote Postscript before the advent of the smartphone, but he foresaw that an “electronic collar” would assume a central role in society. He envisaged a “computer that tracks each person’s position – licit or illicit – and effects a universal modulation.”
Smartphones more than fit the bill. In the old disciplinary ways, they track where we go, what we search for, what we buy, how many steps we take, even how well we sleep. But if we apply Deleuze’s ideas to these phones, detailed surveillance is no longer their most important function. Our phones present and curate options.
In effect, they shape how we see the world. When you scroll through news or social media, for instance, you’re reading about a version of the world built just for you, designed to keep you looking, clicking and reacting – and keep you very finely attuned to what is acceptable or dangerous behaviour.
In Deleuze’s terms, this is pure modulation: not a forceful “No” but a softly spoken, “How about this?” Your phone doesn’t lock you in – it draws you in. It shapes what you see, rewards your cooperation, ignores your silence, and always keeps score. And it does this 24/7. You might unlock it hundreds of times a day. And each time it’s updated to guide your next move more precisely.
At the same time our phones quietly turn us into a set of credentials useful for regulating physical access to workplaces, bank accounts, information: In the societies of control, writes Deleuze, “what is important is no longer either a signature or a number, but a code: the code is a password.”
Deleuze warned that, in a control society: “Individuals have become ‘dividuals,’ and masses have become samples, data, markets, or ‘banks.’” A dividual to Deleuze is a person transformed into a set of data points and metrics.
You are your credit rating, your search history, your likes and clicks – a different dataset to every institution. Such fragments are used to make decisions about you until they effectively replace you. In fact, for Deleuze a dividual has internalised this treatment and thinks of themselves as a net worth, a mortgage size, a car value – psychological anchors for control.
He illustrates this point with healthcare, predicting a
new medicine ‘without doctor or patient’ that singles out potential sick people and subjects at risk, which in no way attests to individuation.
How many health decisions are now made for us collectively before we ever see a doctor? We should be grateful for advances in public health and epidemiology, but this has certainly impacted our individuality and how we are treated.
An unsettling part of Deleuze’s perspective is that control doesn’t usually feel like control. It’s often dressed up as convenience, efficiency or progress. You set up internet-linked video cameras because then you can work from home. You agree to long terms and conditions because your banking app won’t work otherwise.
One problem is there are no longer clear barriers we can rail against. As Deleuze said:
In disciplinary societies one was always starting again (from school to the barracks, from the barracks to the factory), while in control societies one is never finished with anything.
Control doesn’t always crush – it can enable. Digital networks bring real freedom, economic possibility, even joy. We move more easily – both mentally and geographically – than ever before. But while we move, it always inside a kind of invisible map shaped by capitalism.
It’s no conspiracy because nobody has the whole map. So it’s difficult to work out exactly what action, if any, to take. As Deleuze concludes: “The coils of a serpent are even more complex than the burrows of a molehill.”
Postscript doesn’t offer a political program beyond the sardonic comment that:
Many young people strangely boast of being ‘motivated’ […] It’s up to them to discover what they’re being made to serve.
There are ways to resist control. Some people demand more privacy or digital rights. Others opt out selectively – logging off, turning off, refusing to be nudged. Some look to art as a way of resisting its smooth grip. These acts – however small – may offer what Deleuze and his collaborator, the French psychiatrist and philosopher Félix Guattari, called lines of flight: creative ways to move not just against control, but beyond it.
The real message of Postscript, however, is its invitation to consider a timeless perspective. Any society must have a way to make people useful. So, what kind of society do we want? What kinds of restrictions are we willing to live under? And, crucial to this current age, how explicit should control be?
Cameron Shackell 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.
– ref. Computers tracking us, an ‘electronic collar’: Gilles Deleuze’s 1990 Postcript on the Societies of Control was eerily prescient – https://theconversation.com/computers-tracking-us-an-electronic-collar-gilles-deleuzes-1990-postcript-on-the-societies-of-control-was-eerily-prescient-254579
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Cameron Shackell, Sessional Academic, School of Information Systems, Queensland University of Technology
Our cultural touchstones series looks at influential works.
Gilles Deleuze was one of the most original and imaginative thinkers of postwar France. A lifelong teacher, he spent most of his career at the University of Paris VIII, influencing generations of students but largely shunning the mantle of public intellectual.
His complex, creative books mix philosophy, literature, film and politics – not to give clear answers, but to spark new ways of thinking.
Postscript on the Societies of Control, published 35 years ago in the countercultural L’Autre Journal is Deleuze at his most accessible and prophetic.
Written at a time when the Cold War was ending, computers were becoming more common, and the internet was beginning to connect institutions, the essay describes the emergence of a new kind of society – one not ruled by a single stern voice but by the soft hum of networks.
Postscript was written as an update to the work of Deleuze’s contemporary Michel Foucault, who had died in 1984. Deleuze called it a “postscript” not just because of its brevity (it’s only around 2,300 words in English translation) but to highlight he wasn’t refuting Foucault, just building on his work.
From the 18th to early 20th centuries, Foucault had argued, Western societies were “disciplinary societies”. Schools, factories, prisons and hospitals – institutions with walls, schedules, routines and clear expectations – moulded behaviour. People were trained, observed, tested and corrected as they passed from one institution to the next.
Read more:
‘A dark masterpiece’: Foucault’s Discipline and Punish at 50
But in the late 20th century, Deleuze saw something shifting. He thought the stodgy old disciplinary institutions were “in a generalized crisis” due to technological advances and a new form of capitalism that demanded more flexibility in workers and consumers.
New systems of management and technology were starting to reshape people without sending them through traditional institutions. Deleuze wrote presciently, for example, that “perpetual training tends to replace the school, and continuous control to replace the examination”.
In business, he saw a growing idea of “salary according to merit”, transforming work into “challenges, contests, and highly comic group sessions” – something much at odds with the old model of the standard wage and the assembly line. Traditional government institutions like hospitals and the classic factory were embracing the model of the corporation, driven always by a profit motive and the need for better human tools.
To Deleuze, all this meant people were becoming more “free-floating” – they could be still playing socially useful roles but were being gently steered into them. This greater freedom, however, required a new system to keep everyone in line. He called this “modulation” to underline its dynamic, enveloping nature.
Deleuze described modulation as “a self-deforming cast that will continuously change from one moment to the other”. He meant that people were beginning to live in an environment where everything shape-shifts to encourage or discourage us in the right direction without explicitly putting up walls.
A prime example of how modulation has since become commonplace is nudging – the use of psychological techniques, often subtle and data-driven, to shape people’s behaviour.
Nudging didn’t really exist in 1990, but governments and tech companies use nudges all the time now. We’re nudged to eat healthier, buy, save, recycle, donate. Web sites use “dark patterns” – tricky designs that steer (or nudge) us toward certain choices. Social media feeds use algorithms to exclude us if we say the wrong thing. In fact, entire teams of behavioural scientists operate behind the scenes to manipulate many aspects of our lives.
Nudges can be good and can save us from poor choices, but their newfound moral acceptability (sometimes called libertarian paternalism) is very much a clue that Deleuze’s control society has arrived.
Deleuze, who died in 1995, wrote Postscript before the advent of the smartphone, but he foresaw that an “electronic collar” would assume a central role in society. He envisaged a “computer that tracks each person’s position – licit or illicit – and effects a universal modulation.”
Smartphones more than fit the bill. In the old disciplinary ways, they track where we go, what we search for, what we buy, how many steps we take, even how well we sleep. But if we apply Deleuze’s ideas to these phones, detailed surveillance is no longer their most important function. Our phones present and curate options.
In effect, they shape how we see the world. When you scroll through news or social media, for instance, you’re reading about a version of the world built just for you, designed to keep you looking, clicking and reacting – and keep you very finely attuned to what is acceptable or dangerous behaviour.
In Deleuze’s terms, this is pure modulation: not a forceful “No” but a softly spoken, “How about this?” Your phone doesn’t lock you in – it draws you in. It shapes what you see, rewards your cooperation, ignores your silence, and always keeps score. And it does this 24/7. You might unlock it hundreds of times a day. And each time it’s updated to guide your next move more precisely.
At the same time our phones quietly turn us into a set of credentials useful for regulating physical access to workplaces, bank accounts, information: In the societies of control, writes Deleuze, “what is important is no longer either a signature or a number, but a code: the code is a password.”
Deleuze warned that, in a control society: “Individuals have become ‘dividuals,’ and masses have become samples, data, markets, or ‘banks.’” A dividual to Deleuze is a person transformed into a set of data points and metrics.
You are your credit rating, your search history, your likes and clicks – a different dataset to every institution. Such fragments are used to make decisions about you until they effectively replace you. In fact, for Deleuze a dividual has internalised this treatment and thinks of themselves as a net worth, a mortgage size, a car value – psychological anchors for control.
He illustrates this point with healthcare, predicting a
new medicine ‘without doctor or patient’ that singles out potential sick people and subjects at risk, which in no way attests to individuation.
How many health decisions are now made for us collectively before we ever see a doctor? We should be grateful for advances in public health and epidemiology, but this has certainly impacted our individuality and how we are treated.
An unsettling part of Deleuze’s perspective is that control doesn’t usually feel like control. It’s often dressed up as convenience, efficiency or progress. You set up internet-linked video cameras because then you can work from home. You agree to long terms and conditions because your banking app won’t work otherwise.
One problem is there are no longer clear barriers we can rail against. As Deleuze said:
In disciplinary societies one was always starting again (from school to the barracks, from the barracks to the factory), while in control societies one is never finished with anything.
Control doesn’t always crush – it can enable. Digital networks bring real freedom, economic possibility, even joy. We move more easily – both mentally and geographically – than ever before. But while we move, it always inside a kind of invisible map shaped by capitalism.
It’s no conspiracy because nobody has the whole map. So it’s difficult to work out exactly what action, if any, to take. As Deleuze concludes: “The coils of a serpent are even more complex than the burrows of a molehill.”
Postscript doesn’t offer a political program beyond the sardonic comment that:
Many young people strangely boast of being ‘motivated’ […] It’s up to them to discover what they’re being made to serve.
There are ways to resist control. Some people demand more privacy or digital rights. Others opt out selectively – logging off, turning off, refusing to be nudged. Some look to art as a way of resisting its smooth grip. These acts – however small – may offer what Deleuze and his collaborator, the French psychiatrist and philosopher Félix Guattari, called lines of flight: creative ways to move not just against control, but beyond it.
The real message of Postscript, however, is its invitation to consider a timeless perspective. Any society must have a way to make people useful. So, what kind of society do we want? What kinds of restrictions are we willing to live under? And, crucial to this current age, how explicit should control be?
Cameron Shackell 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.
– ref. Computers tracking us, people as data points: Gilles Deleuze’s 1990 Postcript on the Societies of Control was eerily prescient – https://theconversation.com/computers-tracking-us-people-as-data-points-gilles-deleuzes-1990-postcript-on-the-societies-of-control-was-eerily-prescient-254579
Source: United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC)
Three major French financial institutions, including two of the country’s largest banks and the state’s public investment arm, have announced their rejection of deep sea mining during the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) last week in Nice.
The three institutions are:
BNP Paribas – France’s largest and Europe’s second largest bank. BNP Paribasconfirms it does not invest in deep sea mining projects due to the intrinsic environmental and social risks involved.
Crédit Agricole – The second largest bank in France and the world’s largest cooperative financial institution. Crédit Agricole stated it will not finance deep sea mining projects until it has been proven that such operations pose no significant harm to marine ecosystems.
Groupe Caisse des Dépôts – The public investment arm of the French Government, which also holds a majority stake in La Banque Postale. The Group has pledged to exclude all financing and investment in companies whose main activity is deep sea mining, as well as in deep sea mining projects.
Amundi Asset Management also made a statement that it seeks to avoid investment in companies “involved in deep sea mining and/or exploration”.
This now brings to 24 the number of financial institutions who exclude deep sea mining in some form.
Deep Sea Mining Campaign Finance Advocacy Officer Andy Whitmore says: “This is a truly significant outcome from UNOC. Until recently no French financiers had matched their Government’s position calling for a ban. This UN Ocean Conference, co-hosted by France, was the perfect opportunity for the most important national players to step up and be counted”
These financial announcements are a sign of global concern pushing itself on to the agenda. World leaders renewed calls for a global moratorium on the dangerous industry, with French President Emmanuel Macron denouncing it as “madness”, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres responding to recent announcements from President Trump by warning that the deep sea “cannot become the Wild West.” Slovenia, Latvia, Cyprus and the Marshall Islands also announced their support for a moratorium or precautionary pause, bringing the number of like-minded countries to 37.
Andy Whitmore concluded “the events at UNOC have added further momentum to the financial establishment rejecting deep sea mining. The recent unseemly rush to mine is creating push-back from the financial world, as much as from governments and civil society.”
Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister
The Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) gathered in Kananaskis, Alberta, from June 15-17, 2025, with the objective of building stronger economies by making communities safer and the world more secure, promoting energy security and accelerating the digital transition, as well as fostering partnerships of the future.
Five decades after its founding in 1975, the G7 continues to demonstrate its value as a platform for advanced economies to coordinate financial and economic policy, address issues of peace and security, and cooperate with international partners in response to global challenges.
G7 Leaders focused on economic developments. In a context of rising market volatility and shocks to international trade, as well as longer-term trends toward fragmentation and global imbalances, they discussed the need for greater economic and financial stability, technological innovation, and an open and predictable trading regime to drive investment and growth. They considered ways to collaborate on global trade to boost productivity and grow their economies, emphasizing energy security and the digital transition. They acknowledged that both are underpinned by secure and responsible critical mineral supply chains and that more collaboration is required, within and beyond the G7. Leaders undertook to safeguard their economies from unfair non-market policies and practices that distort markets and drive overcapacity in ways that are harmful to workers and businesses. This includes de-risking through diversification and reduction of critical dependencies. Leaders welcomed the new Canada-led G7 initiative – the Critical Minerals Production Alliance – working with trusted international partners to guarantee supply for advanced manufacturing and defence.
G7 Leaders expressed support for President Trump’s efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. They recognized that Ukraine has committed to an unconditional ceasefire, and they agreed that Russia must do the same. G7 Leaders are resolute in exploring all options to maximize pressure on Russia, including financial sanctions. The G7 met with President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Mark Rutte to discuss their support for a strong and sovereign Ukraine, including budgetary defence and recovery and reconstruction support.
G7 Leaders reiterated their commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East. They exchanged on the evolving situation, following Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the active conflict between Israel and Iran. Leaders discussed the importance of unhindered humanitarian aid to Gaza, the release of all hostages and an immediate and permanent ceasefire. Leaders also talked about the need for a negotiated political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that achieves lasting peace. Leaders affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, and were clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. They underlined the importance of protecting civilians. They expressed their readiness to coordinate to safeguard the stability of international energy markets. They urged that the resolution of this crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza. G7 Leaders released a statement on recent developments between Israel and Iran.
Leaders highlighted the importance of a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific, based on the rule of law, and discussed growing economic cooperation with the region. They stressed the importance of constructive and stable relations with China, while calling on China to refrain from market distortions and harmful overcapacity, tackle global challenges and promote international peace and security. Leaders discussed their ongoing serious concerns about China’s destabilizing activities in the East and South China Seas and the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. They expressed concern about DPRK’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and the need to jointly address DPRK cryptocurrency thefts fueling these programs. The need to resolve the abductions issue was also raised. Leaders acknowledged the links between crisis theatres in Ukraine, the Middle East and Indo-Pacific. Leaders discussed other instances of crisis and conflict, including in Africa and Haiti.
The G7 Leaders underscored their resolve to ensure the safety and security of communities. They condemned foreign interference, underlining the unacceptable threat of transnational repression to rights and freedoms, national security and state sovereignty. Leaders highlighted the importance of ongoing collaboration to promote border security and counter migrant smuggling and illicit synthetic drug trafficking, noting recent successes. They stressed the need to work with countries of origin and transit countries. Leaders discussed the impacts of increasingly extreme weather events around the world. They highlighted the need for more international collaboration to prevent, fight and respond to wildfires, which are destroying homes and ecosystems, and driving pollution and emissions.
The G7 welcomed participation in the Summit by the President of South Africa, Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, President of the Republic Korea, Lee Jae-myung, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, as well as UN Secretary General, António Guterres, and President of the World Bank, Ajaypal Singh Banga. Together, they identified ways to collaborate on energy security in a changing world, with a focus on advancing technology and innovation, diversifying and strengthening critical mineral supply chains, building infrastructure, and mobilizing investment. They discussed just energy transitions as well as sustainable and innovative solutions to boost energy access and affordability, while mitigating the impact on climate and the environment. They talked about the consequences of growing conflicts for shared prosperity, including energy security, and the need to work towards a shared peace.
Leaders and guests had a productive discussion on the importance of building coalitions with reliable partners – existing and new – that include the private sector, development finance institutions and multilateral development banks, to drive inclusive economic growth and advance sustainable development. The upcoming United Nations’ Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development was raised as an opportunity to continue these discussions, including on private capital mobilization.
G7 Leaders agreed to collaborate with partners on concrete outcomes that deliver for everyone. To this end, they agreed to six joint statements. Their commitments included:
G7 Leaders welcomed the endorsement by many outreach partners of the Critical Minerals Action Plan and the Kananaskis Wildfire Charter.
Discussions at the Kananaskis Summit were informed by the recommendations of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC), which stressed the social and economic benefits of gender equality, and of all G7 engagement groups.
The G7 remains committed to working with domestic and international stakeholders and partners, including local governments, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, industry and international organizations, to advance shared priorities.
The G7 will continue its work under Canada’s presidency throughout 2025, and looks forward to France’s leadership in 2026.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
The UK’s growing cyber security sector will be boosted by millions in new investment and a new Cyber Growth Action Plan, as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
The UK’s growing and cutting edge cyber security sector will be boosted by millions in new investment and a roadmap for growth, as part of the Plan for Change.
The government has today [Wednesday 18 June] set out the Cyber Growth Action Plan that will chart a course for the UK’s thriving cyber industry, including the technologies, processes, and services designed to protect digital systems, to continue to grow – with the sector already generating £13.2 billion in annual revenue and supporting over 67,000 jobs in 2024.
Led by independent experts at University of Bristol and Imperial College London’s Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance, the Plan will examine the strengths of the UK’s cyber sector and provide a roadmap for its future growth. This will culminate with a set of recommendations later this summer for government to plot out what steps can be taken to deliver maximum impact.
On top of this, up to £16 million in new investment has been announced in 2 cyber sector programmes to kickstart growth. Up to £10 million in additional funding will be invested in the CyberASAP programme over the next 4 years, which will support the UK’s cutting edge academic cyber sector to turn their research into commercial companies. The programme has already supported the creation of 34 spin-out companies which have raised over £43 million in investment. The new funding aims to generate a further 25 spin-outs by 2030 and attract £30 million in additional investment.
To build on the work of the government’s current cyber accelerator Cyber Runway, up to £6 million will be also allocated to support cyber startups and SMEs – helping firms scale, access new markets through trade missions, and strengthen the UK’s wider cyber ecosystem. By backing researchers and entrepreneurs, these programmes will ensure the UK remains a global leader in cyber innovation and growth. This investment will unlock more jobs, support innovation, and bolster Britain’s cyber security.
Cyber Security Minister Feryal Clark said:
Cyber security is essential to our economic strength and national resilience. Today’s announcement is backed by investment showing we’re serious about making the UK a global leader in cyber innovation and protection.
Through our Plan for Change, we’re backing the sector to create high-quality jobs through the Cyber Growth Action Plan and ensuring our public services are built on secure foundations with the expert support of the Government Cyber Advisory Board.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said:
Today’s investment will help to turn innovative ideas into successful businesses up and down the country, and the new research will support our mission to grow the economy.
Recent cyber attacks show just how important it is we foster the development of the sector – delivering the double dividend of high paying jobs as well as strengthening the country’s cyber security.
The Growth Action Plan is due to report later this summer and will feed into the forthcoming National Cyber Strategy, ensuring the UK remains resilient and competitive in an increasingly interconnected world. This is central to the government’s Plan for Change, aimed at driving innovation, creating high-quality jobs and securing long-term economic resilience.
The review is set to cover the supply and demand of cyber goods and services such as protective monitoring and encryption, to understand opportunities for growth. The research will aim to spot new trends and potential areas to capitalise on – as well as explore emerging technologies including AI and Quantum, and identify opportunities to strengthen Britain’s competitive edge. This will in turn protect our digital economy and the new growth which is fundamental to the government’s Plan for Change.
Simon Shiu, Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Bristol and leading the project, said:
The UK Cyber Sector is successful and growing, but so too are the challenges as demonstrated by recent events which have affected businesses and consumers. Based on input from all parts of the Cyber Sector, this project will make independent recommendations to accelerate growth in Cyber, but also to increase cyber-resilience in the other sectors critical to UK security, industry, and prosperity.
Professor Nigel Brandon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial, said:
The Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance (CSEP) at Imperial is uniquely placed to work with the University of Bristol on this important work in a rapidly growing and key sector for the UK economy. This work is aligned with our ambition to help drive economic growth by boosting the UK’s innovation capacity, productivity and competitiveness.
Senior cybersecurity experts from defence, big tech companies, AI labs, academia and more are also advising the government on public sector cybersecurity. Cyber leaders from BAE Systems, Santander, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Google DeepMind will form the new iteration of the Government Cyber Advisory Board, which will play a key role in supporting the government’s goal to strengthen the public sector’s cyber resilience. This aligns with the government Cyber Security Strategy and underpins the delivery of secure digital services across government.
The cyber sector will be a key focus of the upcoming Industrial Strategy – becoming a central pillar of the government’s Plan for Change to kick-start growth and put more money in people’s pockets across the UK. Cyber security has become a central part of the government’s plans to secure the economy and drive growth across the country as part of its Plan for Change.
Earlier this year, the Technology Secretary set out his ambition for the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill which includes proposals to protect the UK’s supply chains, critical national services, and IT service providers and suppliers and is expected to be introduced to Parliament later this year.
As part of the new measures, hospitals and energy suppliers are set to boost their cyber defences, protecting public services and safeguarding growth.
You can find the Terms of Reference for the growth review here.
The new board members of the Government Cyber Advisory Board include:
Daniel Cuthbert (industry co-chair):
It is an honour to co-chair the UK Government Cyber Advisory Board (GCAB). Our strength comes from the close partnership between public and private sector experts, drawing on a wide range of experience to help protect the UK. As cyber threats continue to evolve, strong cyber security is essential to safeguarding our economy, protecting public services, and supporting everyday life. The diversity of expertise on the board plays a vital role in ensuring the UK remains resilient, innovative and secure.
Ian Thompson:
The Government Cyber Advisory Board plays a vital role in bringing together expertise from across government and a wide set of industry sectors. This cross-sector collaboration not only accelerates the sharing of best practices and experience but also ensures balanced perspectives and mutual learning — something I’m personally finding invaluable.
Sarah Armstrong-Smith:
From laggards to leaders – in an era where cyber-attacks are coming thick and fast, GCAB has the opportunity to take a commanding role, setting the right path and principles for how the UK should respond to this systemic threat. This requires a whole-of-society approach to build collective resilience that inspires confidence in times of uncertainty.
Cate Pye:
I’m delighted to be part of the GCAB, it is a really pivotal part of making sure that the whole of the UK contribute to our cyber security as this becomes increasingly essential to the way we live and work. It is also an exemplar of how government and industry can work as one team to really change the way both government and the private sector pragmatically address cyber challenges together, building trust and competency in both.
Asif Matadar:
It has been an absolute honour to serve as an inaugural member of the Government Cyber Advisory Board. This initiative has already delivered concrete improvements in how government organisations anticipate and mitigate cyber threats, embedding best practice across government. I am therefore delighted that my term has been extended for a further year, during which I will continue to apply my expertise in incident response, cyber skills development and emerging technologies to support the UK government’s mission of building a world‑class, resilient cyber estate by 2030.
Euan Birch:
GCAB reflects the best of trusted public-private partnerships, embedding strategic collaboration and shared responsibility at the heart of government. As a member, I value the opportunity to support government in its mission to strengthen the UK’s resilience to cyber attacks and help secure its position as a global leader.
Heather Bedson:
Being part of the GCAB is an opportunity to drive change and improve the Government’s cyber resilience by using expertise from a wide range of industries. I enjoy being part of the GCAB, as it’s an opportunity to share my experiences while collaborating with colleagues across the sector who I might not have otherwise met.
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Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed June 13 in San Diego alleging that 13 Guatemalan nationals are part of a Guatemala-based cocaine trafficking organization operating out of La Mesilla and Democracia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, which is on the Guatemala-Mexico border. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The indictment was returned on May 31, 2019. Among the individuals charged are Baldemar Calderon-Carrillo, aka “Don Valde,” and his son, Walfre Donaldo Calderon-Calderon, aka “El Teniente Jr.”
On June 13, special agents with ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Diego received information that Calderon-Carrillo, the lead defendant in the indictment, had been killed during a June 8 shootout with Mexican authorities. U.S. agents continue to obtain information confirming the details of Calderon-Carrillo’s death. Video of the incident was posted on various news outlets and on social media showing Mexican law enforcement in a shootout with members of a drug trafficking organization.
In January 2023, one of Calderon-Carrillo’s sons, Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon, aka “Panon,” who is charged in the same indictment, was arrested in Paris, France. Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon was extradited to the United States from France in March 2024 and pleaded guilty in February to international cocaine distribution conspiracy charges.
As part of his plea agreement, Calderon-Calderon admitted that since at least 2017, up to and including May 31, 2019, he conspired with others to distribute cocaine in Guatemala and elsewhere, knowing and having reasonable cause to believe the cocaine would be unlawfully imported into the United States.
Calderon-Calderon admitted that he participated in the distribution of large quantities of cocaine in Guatemala on behalf of a drug trafficking organization based in La Mesilla, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. From Huehuetenango, the cocaine was transported to co-conspirators operating near the Guatemala-Mexico border, into Mexico, and ultimately smuggled into the United States. As part of his plea agreement, Calderon-Calderon admitted that the conspiracy involved at least 550 kilograms of cocaine. On May 30, Calderon-Calderon was sentenced to 87 months in prison.
The remaining defendants charged in the indictment are fugitives.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Mokhtari.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and French authorities provided substantial assistance to secure the arrest and extradition of Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon.
Source: Government of Qatar
Riyadh – 18 June 2025
Statement of the Co-Chairs of the United Nations High-Level International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution — France and Saudi Arabia — and of the Co-Chairs of its Working Groups – Qatar, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Norway, Senegal, Spain, Türkiye, United Kingdom, the European Union, and the League of Arab States:
We express our deep concern over the recent developments and continued escalation in the region, which has regrettably necessitated the decision to suspend the United Nations High-Level International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. These events are a stark reminder of the fragility of the current situation and the urgent need to restore calm, uphold international norms, and reinvigorate diplomacy.
In light of these circumstances, we reaffirm our full commitment to the objectives of the Conference and to continuing its work without interruption. The Roundtables, to be convened shortly, will proceed as an integral part of the Conference process. Building on the contributions of the Working Groups, they will serve to consolidate clear and coordinated commitments and reaffirm the collective resolve to implement the two-State solution.
The Co-Chairs will announce the convening of the high-level segment at the soonest possible opportunity, in line with their commitment to continuing the work and objectives of the Conference.
Now more than ever, the situation compels us to double our efforts to call for upholding international law, respecting the sovereignty of states, and advancing peace, liberty, and dignity for all peoples of the region. We remain resolute in our shared determination to support all efforts to bring an end to the war in Gaza, achieve a just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian question through the implementation of the two-State solution, and ensure stability and security for all countries in the region.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University
The first term of the Albanese government was defined by its fight against inflation, but the second looks like it will be defined by a need to kick start Australia’s sluggish productivity growth.
Productivity is essentially the art of earning more while working less and is critical for driving our standard of living higher.
The Productivity Commission, tasked with figuring out how to get Australia’s sluggish productivity back on track, is pushing hard for corporate tax cuts as a key part of their plan for building a “dynamic and resilient economy”.
The idea? Lower taxes will attract more foreign investment, get businesses spending again and eventually boost workers’ productivity.
Commission chair, Danielle Wood, said last week while the commission wanted to create more investment opportunities, it was aware this would hit the budget bottom line:
So we’re looking at ways to spur investment while finding other ways we might be able to pick up revenue in the system.
The general company tax rate is currently 30% for large firms, and there’s a reduced rate of 25% for smaller companies with an overall turnover of less than A$50 million.
The Productivity Commission’s theory makes sense: if you make capital cheaper and you should get more of it flowing in.
A larger stock of capital means there is more to invest in Australian workers. This should make us more productive and help boost workers’ wages. And looking overseas, the evidence mostly backs this up.
A meta-analysis of 25 studies covering the US, UK, Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland,
Denmark, Portugal and Finland found every percentage point you slice off the corporate tax rate brings in about 3.3% more foreign direct investment.
Other research shows multinational companies really do move their operations to places with lower tax rates. This explains why we’re seeing this race to the bottom across Europe and North America, with countries constantly trying to undercut each other.
Research on location decisions shows how multinationals reshuffle their operations based on effective average tax rates.
Even within the United States, a US study found increases in corporate tax rates lead to big reductions in employment and wage income. However, corporate tax cuts can boost economic activity – though typically only if they are implemented during recessions.
Here in Australia we don’t have much local evidence to go on, and what we do have is pretty puzzling.
This matters because Australia’s corporate tax system has some unique features that may make overseas evidence less relevant. We have dividend imputation (franking credits), different treatment of capital gains, access to immediate reimbursement for some small business expenses and complex capitalisation rules that limit debt deductions for multinationals.
The Federal Government is focussed on improving productivity. In this five-part series, we’ve asked leading experts what that means for the economy, what’s holding us back and their best ideas for reform.
A study by a group of Australian National University economists looked at how the tax system affects business investment. They examined the [2015 and 2016 corporate tax cuts] for small businesses using data on business investment from the Australian Bureau of Statistics combined with tax data from the Australian Tax Office.
The findings were mixed. After the 2015 cut, firms already investing in buildings and equipment spent more — that is, the policy boosted investment only at the intensive margin.
By contrast, there was no evidence it enticed firms that had not been investing to start doing so. The follow-up cut in 2016 had even less bite. Its estimated effect on investment was so small it is statistically indistinguishable from zero.
It remains unclear why the previous corporate tax reductions largely failed to produce a measurable increase in investment. Perhaps the tax cut itself was simply too modest. Or the available data was too volatile to capture its effects.
But it runs contrary to what economic theory tells us to expect. This should give us pause for thought.
For politicians thinking about another round of corporate tax cuts, this creates an uncomfortable situation. We’ve got solid evidence from overseas it works, but only one weak data point from Australia, plus a lot of head-scratching about why the second cut didn’t move the dial.
Fortunately, the Productivity Commission has the in-house expertise to further investigate this question.
Before we make further cuts to the company tax rate, we should have an in-depth study of these two tax cuts replicating and extending the previous work to see what effect – if any – they had on investment, employment, productivity and Australian living standards.
Until we can solve these puzzles, Australia’s debate over corporate tax rates will keep spinning its wheels. Much like our national productivity itself.
Isaac Gross 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.
– ref. Would a corporate tax cut boost productivity in Australia? So far, the evidence is unclear – https://theconversation.com/would-a-corporate-tax-cut-boost-productivity-in-australia-so-far-the-evidence-is-unclear-258575
Source: France-Diplomatie – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development
Press conference by M. Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic (excerpts)¹ (Nuuk, June 15, 2025)
(Check against delivery)
(…)
GREENLAND
THE PRESIDENT – Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, let me first thank the Greenlandese authorities for their warm welcome. And let me thank you, Madam Prime Minister, for having organized this trip a few weeks after the State visit of your king and your queen to France. (…)
In the current situation, Greenland has been put back at the centre of geopolitical challenges, and the Arctic’s peaceful, scientific calling is today under threat. Due to its strategic positioning within the Arctic region and its natural resources, the Kingdom of Denmark’s autonomous territory has become a coveted space and the focus of predatory ambitions. (…) I want to begin by sending a message of Europe’s solidarity and France’s support for Denmark, Greenland and the people of Greenland; a message of respect for your sovereignty and respect for your choices – choices on security, economic and social development and the sustainable management of natural resources; a message of support for your territorial integrity and for the inviolability of your borders, which are not negotiable.
Together with its European Union partners, France will continue to uphold its principles according to the United Nations Charter. (…) In a few words, everybody thinks – in France, in the European Union – that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken. We had very fruitful exchanges with Mr Prime Minister and Madam Prime Minister about strategic issues in the Arctic, and obviously security and the posture of our great challengers, Russia and China, the increasing cooperation between these two powers in the region and elsewhere, and the fact that we want to clearly stand with you in order to face these challenges. And France is ready to increase its cooperation with the seven allies of the Arctic, especially in the framework of the Arctic Council and in the framework of the NB8, the eight Nordic and Baltic countries. And clearly NATO is a place where this coordination and interoperability is seriously organized. (…)
I reminded your authorities that France is ready to do more with you in terms of security, the economy and education and to help develop concrete projects on the ground, be it hydroelectric power or other projects. I also told the two prime ministers of our proposal to open a consulate general here in Nuuk. (…) A few minutes ago we saw very clearly together the direct impact of climate change here as well. And let me tell you that, facing these challenges, we are ready as well to do much more together. The new maritime route in the new northern sea routes should be preserved, and the region should be preserved, as well, from any type of conflictuality and any type of over-exploitations by other powers. (…)
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, we see here very clearly that we have to follow up our efforts and to do much more again, together. (…) France is indeed ready to strengthen its scientific and academic cooperation, particularly with regard to studying the long-term impact of global warming in the Arctic. (…)
Finally, the European Union has also had a presence in Greenland for a long time. Europe is ready to support Greenland’s economic and social development, whether it concerns decarbonized energy, infrastructure, education, sustainable fisheries or critical raw materials. That’s the purpose of the strategic partnership signed in 2023 between the European Union and Greenland, which should enable us to develop sustainable value chains in the strategic raw materials sector; we’d now like to speed up the implementation of this project. (…)
The situation in Greenland is clearly a wake-up call for all the Europeans. And let me tell you very directly that you are not alone. And when a strategic message is sent to you, I want just for you to know that it’s clearly perceived by the Europeans as targeting a European land. And this flag you have here is our common flag. And we know our common values, and we know our long-standing choices. And this is why it’s very important for French people and all the European people to convey very clearly this message of solidarity and the fact that we stand with you now, for today and for tomorrow. (…)
Long live Greenland! Long live Denmark! Long live the friendship between Denmark and France, and long live Europe! (…)
How will this visit to Greenland affect your conversation with Donald Trump at the G7?
THE PRESIDENT – Look, I informed him about this trip, and I think it makes clear that the Europeans are ready to face the challenges we are and we have here, meaning climate change, economic development and strategic challenges, but at the same time it provides a message that we are ready, all of us, to take our responsibilities in a respectful and cooperative way. (…) And I’m optimistic, because I think there is a way forward in order to clearly build a better future in cooperation and not in provocation or confrontation. (…)
G7/UKRAINE/MIDDLE EAST
We were talking a moment ago about the G7, which gets under way in a few hours, in the middle of a war, in the middle of a conflict between Israel and Iran. What do you think the G7 countries can do? Donald Trump has said he’s open to President Putin mediating. What do you think?
THE PRESIDENT – (…) We must talk about the two major conflicts, the Middle East and Ukraine. And for me, the G7 must aim to bring everyone back together, and therefore, for Ukraine, secure as soon as possible a ceasefire that allows a robust, lasting peace to be built. So I think it’s a question of whether President Trump is prepared to put forward much tougher sanctions against Russia if it refuses to respond to the proposal he made several months ago now and which President Zelenskyy responded to in March. So this is one of the points we’ll be discussing a few days before the NATO summit. And for me, that forum is also the one in which we Europeans must re-engage with the Americans and our other Canadian and Japanese allies, whose great steadfastness and great solidarity regarding the Ukraine conflict I want to highlight here.
On the Middle East, I believe we’re all united on one position. No one wants to see Iran acquire nuclear weapons, but everyone would like the discussions and negotiations to resume. And here too, the United States of America has a genuine ability to get everyone back round the table, given that, along with the Europeans, it’s an important protagonist in any nuclear agreement, and above all, Israel’s dependence on American weapons and ammunition gives the US an ability to negotiate. I don’t believe that Russia, which is today engaged in a high-intensity conflict and has decided not to adhere to the United Nations Charter for several years now, can be a mediator in any way. I think it’s our collective responsibility to try and re-engage as soon as possible and, first of all, prevent any escalation and get all the protagonists back around the negotiating table. (…)
ISRAEL/IRAN/GAZA
On Friday you emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself; you even said that France was prepared to contribute to Israel’s defence. Can you tell us if France has helped Israel in any kind of way since Friday, and if it intends to do so in the coming days? And aren’t you afraid that by backing these Israeli strikes in Iran, France is helping to encourage a scenario similar to what we’ve experienced in Gaza, i.e. a very bloody escalation?
THE PRESIDENT – I very clearly said on Friday that France was worried about nuclear proliferation, about the IAEA’s report and Iran’s ongoing nuclear activities, and that Iran constitutes a very clear, existential threat for Israel, given what the Iranian regime is saying every day, but [also] a threat for the whole region and even us, because Iran’s activity programme, its ballistic programme and its nuclear programme are threats. But that doesn’t mean I’ve backed anything, and I also said very clearly that France didn’t take part in the operations conducted on 13 June or the following days. And I repeated that France’s position was clear and consistent.
We believe that these issues – i.e. ballistic and nuclear proliferation – must be resolved around a negotiating table in an international framework and must then lead to monitoring ensured by the relevant international agencies. So we’re calling for all parties involved to return to discussions as soon as possible and for no escalation to be carried out. We haven’t contributed to any defensive operation since then, because haven’t been asked to, and I was able to give my opinion and talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Iran’s President Pezeshkian yesterday, and President Trump, and convey exactly the same messages, i.e. urge a resumption of discussions as swiftly as possible on the nuclear and ballistic issue, call for all strikes to be stopped as soon as possible, wherever they come from, and resolve the issue of collective security as soon as possible.
Finally, I repeated on both Friday and Saturday to all the protagonists how what is happening today, and is obviously worrying us all a great deal in the region, mustn’t make us forget the situation in Gaza. The ceasefire is an imperative. The humanitarian situation is unacceptable. So we’ve absolutely got to secure a ceasefire, get all the hostages released and resume humanitarian aid in Gaza. (…)./.
¹M. Macron spoke in French and English.
Source: France-Diplomatie – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development
Press conference by M. Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic (excerpts)¹ (Nuuk, June 15, 2025)
(Check against delivery)
(…)
GREENLAND
THE PRESIDENT – Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, let me first thank the Greenlandese authorities for their warm welcome. And let me thank you, Madam Prime Minister, for having organized this trip a few weeks after the State visit of your king and your queen to France. (…)
In the current situation, Greenland has been put back at the centre of geopolitical challenges, and the Arctic’s peaceful, scientific calling is today under threat. Due to its strategic positioning within the Arctic region and its natural resources, the Kingdom of Denmark’s autonomous territory has become a coveted space and the focus of predatory ambitions. (…) I want to begin by sending a message of Europe’s solidarity and France’s support for Denmark, Greenland and the people of Greenland; a message of respect for your sovereignty and respect for your choices – choices on security, economic and social development and the sustainable management of natural resources; a message of support for your territorial integrity and for the inviolability of your borders, which are not negotiable.
Together with its European Union partners, France will continue to uphold its principles according to the United Nations Charter. (…) In a few words, everybody thinks – in France, in the European Union – that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken. We had very fruitful exchanges with Mr Prime Minister and Madam Prime Minister about strategic issues in the Arctic, and obviously security and the posture of our great challengers, Russia and China, the increasing cooperation between these two powers in the region and elsewhere, and the fact that we want to clearly stand with you in order to face these challenges. And France is ready to increase its cooperation with the seven allies of the Arctic, especially in the framework of the Arctic Council and in the framework of the NB8, the eight Nordic and Baltic countries. And clearly NATO is a place where this coordination and interoperability is seriously organized. (…)
I reminded your authorities that France is ready to do more with you in terms of security, the economy and education and to help develop concrete projects on the ground, be it hydroelectric power or other projects. I also told the two prime ministers of our proposal to open a consulate general here in Nuuk. (…) A few minutes ago we saw very clearly together the direct impact of climate change here as well. And let me tell you that, facing these challenges, we are ready as well to do much more together. The new maritime route in the new northern sea routes should be preserved, and the region should be preserved, as well, from any type of conflictuality and any type of over-exploitations by other powers. (…)
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, we see here very clearly that we have to follow up our efforts and to do much more again, together. (…) France is indeed ready to strengthen its scientific and academic cooperation, particularly with regard to studying the long-term impact of global warming in the Arctic. (…)
Finally, the European Union has also had a presence in Greenland for a long time. Europe is ready to support Greenland’s economic and social development, whether it concerns decarbonized energy, infrastructure, education, sustainable fisheries or critical raw materials. That’s the purpose of the strategic partnership signed in 2023 between the European Union and Greenland, which should enable us to develop sustainable value chains in the strategic raw materials sector; we’d now like to speed up the implementation of this project. (…)
The situation in Greenland is clearly a wake-up call for all the Europeans. And let me tell you very directly that you are not alone. And when a strategic message is sent to you, I want just for you to know that it’s clearly perceived by the Europeans as targeting a European land. And this flag you have here is our common flag. And we know our common values, and we know our long-standing choices. And this is why it’s very important for French people and all the European people to convey very clearly this message of solidarity and the fact that we stand with you now, for today and for tomorrow. (…)
Long live Greenland! Long live Denmark! Long live the friendship between Denmark and France, and long live Europe! (…)
How will this visit to Greenland affect your conversation with Donald Trump at the G7?
THE PRESIDENT – Look, I informed him about this trip, and I think it makes clear that the Europeans are ready to face the challenges we are and we have here, meaning climate change, economic development and strategic challenges, but at the same time it provides a message that we are ready, all of us, to take our responsibilities in a respectful and cooperative way. (…) And I’m optimistic, because I think there is a way forward in order to clearly build a better future in cooperation and not in provocation or confrontation. (…)
G7/UKRAINE/MIDDLE EAST
We were talking a moment ago about the G7, which gets under way in a few hours, in the middle of a war, in the middle of a conflict between Israel and Iran. What do you think the G7 countries can do? Donald Trump has said he’s open to President Putin mediating. What do you think?
THE PRESIDENT – (…) We must talk about the two major conflicts, the Middle East and Ukraine. And for me, the G7 must aim to bring everyone back together, and therefore, for Ukraine, secure as soon as possible a ceasefire that allows a robust, lasting peace to be built. So I think it’s a question of whether President Trump is prepared to put forward much tougher sanctions against Russia if it refuses to respond to the proposal he made several months ago now and which President Zelenskyy responded to in March. So this is one of the points we’ll be discussing a few days before the NATO summit. And for me, that forum is also the one in which we Europeans must re-engage with the Americans and our other Canadian and Japanese allies, whose great steadfastness and great solidarity regarding the Ukraine conflict I want to highlight here.
On the Middle East, I believe we’re all united on one position. No one wants to see Iran acquire nuclear weapons, but everyone would like the discussions and negotiations to resume. And here too, the United States of America has a genuine ability to get everyone back round the table, given that, along with the Europeans, it’s an important protagonist in any nuclear agreement, and above all, Israel’s dependence on American weapons and ammunition gives the US an ability to negotiate. I don’t believe that Russia, which is today engaged in a high-intensity conflict and has decided not to adhere to the United Nations Charter for several years now, can be a mediator in any way. I think it’s our collective responsibility to try and re-engage as soon as possible and, first of all, prevent any escalation and get all the protagonists back around the negotiating table. (…)
ISRAEL/IRAN/GAZA
On Friday you emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself; you even said that France was prepared to contribute to Israel’s defence. Can you tell us if France has helped Israel in any kind of way since Friday, and if it intends to do so in the coming days? And aren’t you afraid that by backing these Israeli strikes in Iran, France is helping to encourage a scenario similar to what we’ve experienced in Gaza, i.e. a very bloody escalation?
THE PRESIDENT – I very clearly said on Friday that France was worried about nuclear proliferation, about the IAEA’s report and Iran’s ongoing nuclear activities, and that Iran constitutes a very clear, existential threat for Israel, given what the Iranian regime is saying every day, but [also] a threat for the whole region and even us, because Iran’s activity programme, its ballistic programme and its nuclear programme are threats. But that doesn’t mean I’ve backed anything, and I also said very clearly that France didn’t take part in the operations conducted on 13 June or the following days. And I repeated that France’s position was clear and consistent.
We believe that these issues – i.e. ballistic and nuclear proliferation – must be resolved around a negotiating table in an international framework and must then lead to monitoring ensured by the relevant international agencies. So we’re calling for all parties involved to return to discussions as soon as possible and for no escalation to be carried out. We haven’t contributed to any defensive operation since then, because haven’t been asked to, and I was able to give my opinion and talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Iran’s President Pezeshkian yesterday, and President Trump, and convey exactly the same messages, i.e. urge a resumption of discussions as swiftly as possible on the nuclear and ballistic issue, call for all strikes to be stopped as soon as possible, wherever they come from, and resolve the issue of collective security as soon as possible.
Finally, I repeated on both Friday and Saturday to all the protagonists how what is happening today, and is obviously worrying us all a great deal in the region, mustn’t make us forget the situation in Gaza. The ceasefire is an imperative. The humanitarian situation is unacceptable. So we’ve absolutely got to secure a ceasefire, get all the hostages released and resume humanitarian aid in Gaza. (…)./.
¹M. Macron spoke in French and English.
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Paris, 17 June 2025
Capitalised terms used herein shall have the meaning specified for such terms in the Caisse Française de Financement Local base prospectus to the €75,000,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme dated 10 June 2025 (the “Base Prospectus”).
Caisse Française de Financement Local has decided to issue on 19 June 2025 – Euro 10,000,000 Floating Rate Obligations Foncières due 19 June 2035.
The Base Prospectus dated 10 June 2025 approved by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers is available on the website of the Issuer (https://sfil.fr/caffil-notre-filiale/), at the registered office of the Issuer: 112-114, avenue Emile Zola, 75015 Paris, France, and at the office of the Paying Agent indicated in the Base Prospectus.
The Final Terms relating to the issue will be available on the website of the AMF (www.amf-france.org) and of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (www.bourse.lu), at the office of the Issuer and at the office of the Paying Agent.
Attachment
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Paris, 17 June 2025
Capitalised terms used herein shall have the meaning specified for such terms in the Caisse Française de Financement Local base prospectus to the €75,000,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme dated 10 June 2025 (the “Base Prospectus”).
Caisse Française de Financement Local has decided to issue on 19 June 2025 – Euro 10,000,000 Floating Rate Obligations Foncières due 19 June 2035.
The Base Prospectus dated 10 June 2025 approved by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers is available on the website of the Issuer (https://sfil.fr/caffil-notre-filiale/), at the registered office of the Issuer: 112-114, avenue Emile Zola, 75015 Paris, France, and at the office of the Paying Agent indicated in the Base Prospectus.
The Final Terms relating to the issue will be available on the website of the AMF (www.amf-france.org) and of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (www.bourse.lu), at the office of the Issuer and at the office of the Paying Agent.
Attachment
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday welcomed by his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney as the Indian leader arrived for the G7 Outreach Summit.
Confirming the meeting between Carney and PM Modi at the G7 Summit, the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on social media platform X said: “Building bridges for global progress and cooperation. PM @MarkJCarney of Canada welcomed PM @narendramodi at the #G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada.”
Earlier, PM Modi met with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa separately on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.
These interactions came just weeks after India’s Operation Sindoor, a targeted strike on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-oOcupied Kashmir, following the Pahalgam terror attacks on April 22.
The MEA said, “At the Summit, the Prime Minister will exchange views with leaders of G-7 countries, other invited outreach countries and Heads of International Organisations on crucial global issues, including energy security, technology and innovation, particularly the AI-energy nexus and Quantum-related issues.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Calgary on Monday morning to attend the G7 Summit at Kananaskis, his first visit to Canada in a decade.
He is set to discuss various topics of development, such as energy security, technology and innovation with world leaders.
PM Modi said he will discuss important global issues and emphasise the priorities of the Global South.
The Kananaskis gathering on June 16 to 17 is the Prime Minister’s sixth consecutive participation in the G7 Summit.
Canadian PM Carney had extended an invite to PM Modi in an attempt to rebuild ties after India-Canada relations nosedived following former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations on the killing of a Khalistani terrorist.
In the last few months, the security officials of India and Canada resumed contact and both sides were looking at the possibility of appointing new High Commissioners.
During his nearly 24-hour stay in Canada, Prime Minister Modi will not only attend the Outreach Session of the Summit but also hold several significant bilateral meetings with various world leaders before leaving for Zagreb early Wednesday, India time.
The three-nation visit, PM Modi had stated while leaving New Delhi, is also to thank partner countries for their steadfast support to India in its fight against cross-border terrorism, and to galvanise global understanding on tackling terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
“Landed in Calgary, Canada, to take part in the G7 Summit. Will be meeting various leaders at the Summit and sharing my thoughts on important global issues. Will also be emphasising the priorities of the Global South,” PM Modi posted on his X handle after arriving in Canada.
The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal grouping of seven of the world’s advanced economies — France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada and the European Union.
At the Summit, PM Modi will be interacting with G7 leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen along with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.
(With IANS inputs)
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday welcomed by his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney as the Indian leader arrived for the G7 Outreach Summit.
Confirming the meeting between Carney and PM Modi at the G7 Summit, the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on social media platform X said: “Building bridges for global progress and cooperation. PM @MarkJCarney of Canada welcomed PM @narendramodi at the #G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada.”
Earlier, PM Modi met with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa separately on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.
These interactions came just weeks after India’s Operation Sindoor, a targeted strike on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-oOcupied Kashmir, following the Pahalgam terror attacks on April 22.
The MEA said, “At the Summit, the Prime Minister will exchange views with leaders of G-7 countries, other invited outreach countries and Heads of International Organisations on crucial global issues, including energy security, technology and innovation, particularly the AI-energy nexus and Quantum-related issues.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Calgary on Monday morning to attend the G7 Summit at Kananaskis, his first visit to Canada in a decade.
He is set to discuss various topics of development, such as energy security, technology and innovation with world leaders.
PM Modi said he will discuss important global issues and emphasise the priorities of the Global South.
The Kananaskis gathering on June 16 to 17 is the Prime Minister’s sixth consecutive participation in the G7 Summit.
Canadian PM Carney had extended an invite to PM Modi in an attempt to rebuild ties after India-Canada relations nosedived following former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations on the killing of a Khalistani terrorist.
In the last few months, the security officials of India and Canada resumed contact and both sides were looking at the possibility of appointing new High Commissioners.
During his nearly 24-hour stay in Canada, Prime Minister Modi will not only attend the Outreach Session of the Summit but also hold several significant bilateral meetings with various world leaders before leaving for Zagreb early Wednesday, India time.
The three-nation visit, PM Modi had stated while leaving New Delhi, is also to thank partner countries for their steadfast support to India in its fight against cross-border terrorism, and to galvanise global understanding on tackling terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
“Landed in Calgary, Canada, to take part in the G7 Summit. Will be meeting various leaders at the Summit and sharing my thoughts on important global issues. Will also be emphasising the priorities of the Global South,” PM Modi posted on his X handle after arriving in Canada.
The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal grouping of seven of the world’s advanced economies — France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada and the European Union.
At the Summit, PM Modi will be interacting with G7 leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen along with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.
(With IANS inputs)
