Efforts to end the relentless siege of Gaza have been set back by the abrupt end to peace talks in Qatar.
Both the United States and Israel have withdrawn their negotiating teams, accusing Hamas of a “lack of desire to reach a ceasefire”.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff says it would appear Hamas never wanted a deal:
While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith. We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people in Gaza
State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott reads Steve Witkoff’s statement on the collapse of the Gaza peace talks.
The disappointing development coincides with mounting fears of a widespread famine in Gaza and a historic decision by France to formally recognise a Palestinian state.
French President Emmanuel Macron says there is no alternative for the sake of security of the Middle East:
True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine
What will these developments mean for the conflict in Gaza and the broader security of the Middle East?
‘Humanitarian catastrophe’
The failure to reach a truce means there is no end in sight to the Israeli siege of Gaza which has devastated the territory for more than 21 months.
Amid mounting fears of mass starvation, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Gaza is in the grip of a “humanitarian catastrophe”. He is urging Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law:
Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.
According to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, more than 100 people – most of them children – have died of hunger. One in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, with the number of cases rising every day.
Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini says with little food aid entering Gaza, people are
neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses […] most children our teams are seeing are emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying if they don’t get the treatment they urgently need.
The UN and more than 100 aid groups blame Israel’s blockade of almost all aid into the territory for the lack of food.
Lazzarini says UNRWA has 6,000 trucks of emergency supplies waiting in Jordan and Egypt. He is urging Israel – which continues to blame Hamas for cases of malnutrition – to allow the humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
It included a 60-day truce, during which time Hamas would release ten living Israeli hostages and the remains of 18 others. In exchange, Israel would release a number of Palestinian prisoners, and humanitarian aid to Gaza would be significantly increased.
During the ceasefire, both sides would engage in negotiations toward a lasting truce.
While specific details of the current sticking points remain unclear, previous statements from both parties suggest the disagreement centres on what would follow any temporary ceasefire.
Israel is reportedly seeking to maintain a permanent military presence in Gaza to allow for a rapid resumption of operations if needed. In contrast, Hamas is demanding a pathway toward a complete end to hostilities.
A lack of mutual trust has dramatically clouded the negotiations.
From Israel’s perspective, any ceasefire must not result in Hamas regaining control of Gaza, as this would allow the group to rebuild its power and potentially launch another cross-border attack.
However, Hamas has repeatedly said it is willing to hand over power to any other Palestinian group in pursuit of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. This could include the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which governs the West Bank and has long recognised Israel.
Support for a Palestinian state
Israeli leaders have occasionally paid lip service to a Palestinian state. But they have described such an entity as “less than a state” or a “state-minus” – a formulation that falls short of both Palestinian aspirations and international legal standards.
In response to the worsening humanitarian situation, some Western countries have moved to fully recognise a Palestinian state, viewing it as a step toward a permanent resolution of one of the longest-running conflicts in the Middle East.
Macron’s announcement France will officially recognise a full Palestinian state in September is a major development.
France is now the most prominent Western power to take this position. It follows more than 140 countries – including more than a dozen in Europe – that have already recognised statehood.
While largely symbolic, the move adds diplomatic pressure on Israel amid the ongoing war and aid crisis in Gaza.
However, the announcement was immediately condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed recognition “rewards terror” and
risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it.
Annexing Gaza?
A Palestinian state is unacceptable to Israel.
Further evidence was recently presented in a revealing TV interview by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak who stated Netanyahu had deliberately empowered Hamas in order to block a two-state solution.
Instead there is mounting evidence Israel is seeking to annex the entirety of Palestinian land and relocate Palestinians to neighbouring countries.
Given the current uncertainty, it appears unlikely a new ceasefire will be reached in the near future, especially as it remains unclear whether the US withdrawal from the negotiations was a genuine policy shift or merely a strategic negotiating tactic.
Ali Mamouri 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.
France intends to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday in hopes of bringing peace to the region, but the plan drew angry rebukes from Israel and the United States.
Macron, who unveiled the decision on X, published a letter sent to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas confirming France’s intention to press ahead with Palestinian recognition and work to convincing other partners to follow suit.
“True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine,” Macron said.
“I will make this solemn announcement at the United Nations General Assembly next September.”
Home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, France will become the first major Western country to recognise a Palestinian state, potentially fuelling a movement so far dominated by smaller nations generally more critical of Israel.
The news sparked anger in Israel and Washington.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the decision by one of Israel’s closest allies and a G7 member, saying such a move “rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy.”
In a post on X, he added, “A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it.
“Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel.”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the move as “a disgrace and a surrender to terrorism,” adding that Israel would not allow the establishment of a “Palestinian entity that would harm our security, endanger our existence.”
In response, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “strongly rejects (Macron’s) plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly.”
In a post on X, he said, “This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.”
Earlier, Canada also pressed Israel to seek peace, with Prime Minister Mark Carney condemning its “failure to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza” and reiterating support for a two-state solution.
Carney also accused Israel of violating international law over the blocking of Canadian-funded aid to civilians in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
“Canada calls on all sides to negotiate an immediate ceasefire in good faith,” he added.
“We reiterate our calls for Hamas to immediately release all the hostages, and for the Israeli government to respect the territorial integrity of the West Bank and Gaza.”
In a diplomatic cable in June, the United States said it opposed steps to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state, even saying it could go against U.S. foreign policy interests and draw consequences.
In June, Washington’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a U.S. foreign policy goal.
President Donald Trump has himself expressed doubts about a two-state solution, proposing a U.S. takeover of Gaza in February, that was condemned by rights groups, Arab states, Palestinians and the U.N. as a proposal of “ethnic cleansing”.
Macron had been leaning towards recognising a Palestinian state for months as part of a bid to keep the idea of a two-state solution alive, despite the pressure not to do so.
French officials initially weighed up the move ahead of a United Nations conference, which France and Saudi Arabia had planned to co-host in June to lay out parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel’s security.
The conference was postponed under U.S. pressure and after the 12-day Israel-Iran air war began, during which the closure of regional airspace made it hard for representatives of some Arab states to attend.
It was rescheduled and downgraded to a ministerial event on July 28 and July 29, with a second event taking place with heads of state and government on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September.
CREATING MOMENTUM
The decision to make the announcement ahead of next week’s conference aimed to give the French team at the United Nations a framework to work with other countries that are also considering recognising a Palestinian state or have misgivings in doing so.
Diplomats say Macron has faced resistance from allies such as Britain and Canada over his push for the recognition of a Palestinian state. About 40 foreign ministers will be in New York next week.
Israeli officials have spent months lobbying to prevent what some have called “a nuclear bomb” for bilateral ties.
Sources familiar with the matter say Israel’s warnings to France have ranged from scaling back intelligence sharing to complicating Paris’ regional initiatives – even hinting at possible annexation of parts of the West Bank.
Israel has been waging a devastating war in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and says recognising a Palestinian state now would be equivalent to rewarding Hamas.
Thanking France, the Palestinian Authority’s Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh said on X that Macron’s decision reflected “France’s commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state.”
Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Gaza ceasefire talks for consultations on Thursday, with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff accusing the Palestinian militant group Hamas of failing to act in good faith in the talks.
It marked the latest setback in efforts to secure a deal that would bring a ceasefire to Gaza, secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and bring respite to Palestinians suffering a sharply worsening humanitarian crisis.
Witkoff said mediators had made a great effort but “Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith”. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,” he wrote on X.
Hamas said it was surprised by Witkoff’s remarks, adding that the group’s position had been welcomed by mediators and had opened the door to reaching a comprehensive agreement.
“The movement affirms its keenness to continue negotiations and engage in them in a manner that helps overcome obstacles and leads to a permanent ceasefire agreement,” Hamas added in a statement early on Friday.
An Israeli official with knowledge of the talks said Hamas’ response to the latest ceasefire proposal “does not allow for progress without a concession” by the group but that Israel intended to continue discussions.
Both Israel and Hamas are facing pressure at home and abroad to reach a deal following almost two years of war, with the humanitarian situation inside Gaza deteriorating and Israelis worried about the conditions in which hostages are being held.
Dozens of people have starved to death in Gaza the last few weeks as a wave of hunger crashes on the enclave, according to local health authorities.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the suffering and starvation in Gaza was an “unspeakable and indefensible” humanitarian catastrophe and called on Israel to urgently let in aid.
“While the situation has been grave for some time, it has reached new depths and continues to worsen. We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe,” Starmer said in a statement.
He will hold an emergency call with French and German partners on Friday to discuss what could be done to “stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need,” he said.
The Gaza health ministry said two more people had died of malnutrition. The head of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said the two were patients suffering from other illnesses who died after going without food for several days.
Earlier in the day, there had been some apparent signs of progress in the mediation.
A senior Hamas official told Reuters that there was still a chance of reaching a ceasefire deal but it would take a few days because of what he called Israeli stalling.
A senior Israeli official had been quoted by local media as saying the new text was something Israel could work with.
But, Israel’s Channel 12 said a rapid deal was not within reach, with gaps remaining between the two sides, including over where the Israeli military should withdraw to during any truce.
Witkoff’s team did not immediately respond to a request to explain the Hamas demands that led to his withdrawal of the U.S. negotiators.
The Hostages Families Forum, representing the family members of those held in Gaza, expressed concern at the recall of the Israeli team. “Each day that passes endangers the hostages’ chances of recovery and risks losing the ability to locate the fallen or gain vital intelligence about them,” it said.
PEPPER SPRAY FIRED AT AID SITE
Women going to fetch aid for their families on Thursday said U.S. contractors organising distribution asked them to come to pick up goods and then fired tear gas and pepper spray at them.
“The Americans said ‘go, go’, and then said no, get back. They sprayed us with pepper spray so we went away. Five minutes later they shot tear gas at us … is this American humanitarian aid?” said Mervat al-Sakani.
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the aid organisation – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – said a limited amount of pepper spray was used “to prevent civilian injury due to overcrowding”, adding that GHF “didn’t want people to get hurt.” The spokesperson said women-only aid distribution had been “a major success” overall.
GHF, a U.S.-and Israeli-backed organization, began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May.
The U.N. has called the GHF’s model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies.
The U.N. rights office said on July 15 it had recorded at least 875 killings within the preceding six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in Gaza – the majority of them close to GHF distribution points.
Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military. The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with “lessons learned”.
Israel, which cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March and reopened it with new restrictions in May, says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent Hamas diverting it.
Israel says it has let in enough food for Gazans, and blames the United Nations for being slow to deliver it; the U.N. says it is operating as effectively as possible under conditions imposed by Israel.
The war began when Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in its October 7 attacks on Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has since killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza health authorities.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night condemned French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
The French president wrote on the social media platform X earlier in the night that, “consistent with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine.”
Macron added that he will make this “solemn announcement” before the upcoming 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly
In a statement from his office, Netanyahu said, “Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.”
“A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel, not to live in peace beside it,” he said.
In a statement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said, “A Palestinian state will be a Hamas state, just as the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip twenty years ago led to Hamas taking control of it.”
Macron’s move follows his earlier declaration in April, saying that France would recognize the Palestinian state during an international conference on Palestine, co-chaired with Saudi Arabia in New York in June. But under pressure from the United States, the international conference has been postponed until the end of July.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
China’s Chen Yufei is set to face South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young in the women’s singles quarterfinals at the badminton China Open, after both shuttlers defeated respective rivals on Thursday.
Tokyo Olympic champion Chen showed resilience, rallying from one game down to beat teammate Gao Fangjie 13-21, 21-5, 21-9.
“We know each other very well, but a tournament is different from daily training. Whoever performs better on the court will win,” said the 27-year-old Chen.
Her next opponent An secured a comfortable 21-13, 21-15 win over fellow South Korean Sim Yu-jin in the second round. Chen, who lost to An in the quarterfinals of the Japan Open just six days ago, is eager for revenge.
“I’ll learn from last week’s defeat and go all out to challenge her,” she added.
In the men’s singles, home favorite Shi Yuqi advanced with a straight-game victory over Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen. Fifth-seeded Li Shifeng of China also progressed, defeating Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong, China 21-17, 21-9.
Meanwhile, a major upset unfolded as Indonesia’s fourth seed Jonatan Christie was edged out by unseeded French shuttler Christo Popov in a three-game battle, 21-12, 13-21, 21-16.
In the women’s doubles, top-seeded Chinese duo Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning cruised into the quarterfinals with a dominant 21-9, 21-13 win over American players Lauren Lam and Allison Lee.
China also shone in the mixed doubles, as Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping, Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin and Guo Xinwa/Chen Fanghui all claimed victories to reach last eight.
HONOLULU – The U.S. Coast Guard completed participation July 11 in Operation Nasse, a three-month operation conducted by Australia, France, New Zealand, and the U.S. to safeguard the marine resources of Pacific Island nations.
For breaking news follow us on twitter @USCGHawaiiPac
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The 55th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) has concluded in Paris. Five Russian schoolchildren won three gold and two silver medals at the prestigious intellectual tournament.
Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko and Minister of Education of Russia Sergei Kravtsov congratulated the children on their successful performance.
“On the instructions of President Vladimir Putin, we are creating all the conditions for revealing the talents of children and young people, and once again our schoolchildren have proven that Russians are the best! At the International Physics Olympiad in Paris, the Russian team won medals, and most of them were of the highest value. In total, this year our children have already won 21 medals at prestigious international Olympiads. This is a worthy result not only of the persistence and work of the schoolchildren themselves, but also of the systematic work of teachers. I am sure that these achievements will be an excellent motivation for new victories,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
According to the results of the 55th International Physics Olympiad, gold medals were awarded to Mikhail Aronov (P.L. Kapitsa Phystech Lyceum, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region), Grigory Grechkin (School of the Center for Pedagogical Excellence, Moscow) and Ivan Lukin (P.L. Kapitsa Phystech Lyceum, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region). Silver medalists were Egor Krivoshchekov (Lyceum No. 124, Barnaul, Altai Krai) and Pavel Rukovchuk (P.L. Kapitsa Phystech Lyceum, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region). All of them are winners of the All-Russian School Olympiad of the 2024/2025 academic year, medalists of the 2025 Asian Physics Olympiad.
“You have once again confirmed the leading positions of the national education system in the international arena: three gold and two silver at the competition in France among several dozen participating countries! With your successes, you make a significant contribution to the popularization of physics. I am sure that you have every chance to play a significant role in achieving technological leadership in our country. I wish you not to stop there, to strive for victories not only in studies, but also in life, to confidently achieve your goals,” said Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov.
During the Olympiad trials, IPhO participants demonstrated their knowledge and skills in physics in two rounds. The first was devoted to solving theoretical problems covering at least four sections of the subject studied in high school. In the second, experimental round, students completed laboratory work.
Russian high school students underwent training for IPhO at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) under the guidance of the coach of the Russian physics team, Vitaly Shevchenko, Director of Pre-University Training at MIPT.
The Russian national team in Paris was led by Mikhail Osin, associate professor of the Department of General Physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
The International Physics Olympiad is an annual international intellectual tournament for secondary school students. In 2025, the competition brought together more than 400 participants from 87 countries. Taking into account the results of this tournament, the number of medals won by Russian teams at major international Olympiads in 2025 reached 21.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast issued the following statement in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France will recognize the “State of Palestine:”
“Choosing to reward terrorism, hostage taking, and genocide against Jews is the wrong choice.”
The dispute dates to 1953 when France first mapped the border, but tensions resurfaced in May after the death of a Cambodian soldier in a border skirmish.
Secretary-General António Guterres is “following with concern” reports of the clashes, his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York.
“The Secretary-General urges both sides to exercise maximum restraint and address any issues through dialogue and in a spirit of good neighbourliness, with a view to finding a lasting solution to the dispute,” he said.
Inter-agency humanitarian assistance in Syria
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) led an inter-agency visit to Rural Damascus governorate in Syria on Thursday to assess needs and provide assistance to more than 500 families displaced by recent violence in nearby Sweida governorate.
The UN agencies visited the Sayyeda Zeinab community and plan to visit the neighbouring Dar’a Governorate in the coming days, where humanitarians are supporting tens of thousands of people displaced by violence.
In Rural Damascus and Dar’a, OCHA and its partners are expanding protection services for displaced people. This includes psychosocial first aid and case management support for children.
Also on Thursday, the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed urgent food assistance to displaced families. The agency additionally continues to provide assistance across the country, including to Syrians returning home after a decade of conflict.
Limited access to Sweida
On Wednesday, a second convoy from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) arrived in Sweida, with UN agencies providing support.
The convoy included food, wheat flour, fuel, medicines and health supplies. Medical supplies were delivered to the Sweida national hospital, and wheat flour was dispatched to bakeries.
Across Sweida, Rural Damascus and Dar’a governorates, the UN has distributed over 1,600 dignity kits to displaced women and girls. UN partners are also providing recreational activities, awareness sessions on gender-based violence and support for women and children.
But despite efforts in neighbouring governorates and increasing support in Sweida, full and direct access to the conflict-ridden governorate itself is limited due to security constraints.
Nonetheless, the UN is continuing dialogue with Syrian authorities to facilitate direct access to Sweida.
Nationwide attacks in Ukraine
OCHA further reported that at least five civilians were killed, and 46 others injured, in attacks across several regions of Ukraine over the past two days.
Kharkiv in the northeast was one of the more affected regions, where a glide bomb strike injured at least 16 people on Thursday, and fighting killed three and injured five others on Wednesday.
Additionally, overnight attacks in central Ukraine injured seven people in Cherkasy and four in Odesa City, damaging homes, health centres, schools, shopping areas and a market.
Civilians in the southern Kherson region, the eastern Donetsk region and the southeast Zaporizhzhia region were also affected.
Evacuations and humanitarian response
Following the overnight attacks in Cherkasy and Odesa, aid workers assisted first responders by providing first aid, meals, shelter materials, hygiene kits, emotional support and legal assistance to affected families.
Amid the hostilities, nearly 600 people were evacuated from the Donetsk region, and, in the past day, another 24 were evacuated from the northeastern region of Sumy.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) returned to Naval Station Mayport July 23, concluding a five-month deployment across multiple geographic theaters, including the U.S. 4th and 6th Fleet areas of operations.
The crew departed Feb. 18, 2025, with their mission focused on strengthening international maritime security and relations with partner nations in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. Shortly after arrival on station, Thomas Hudner welcomed the Honorable Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, who recognized Thomas Hudner’s high-performing Sailors during his tour of Naval Support Activity (NSA) Guantanamo Bay facilities.
Upon departing NSA Guantanamo Bay, Thomas Hudner conducted trilateral operations in the Caribbean Sea with the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), the United Kingdom Royal Navy River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Medway (P 223) and the Royal Netherlands Navy Holland-class offshore patrol vessel HNLMS Groningen (P843), enhancing interoperability among Allied naval forces. Thomas Hudner also conducted freedom of navigation operations off the coast of Cuba, reinforcing the U.S. Navy’s commitment to unity, security, and stability in the Caribbean, Central and South American maritime regions.
“The crew of Thomas Hudner has consistently proven their unwavering commitment in safeguarding America’s national security interests and maintaining the U.S. Navy’s maritime dominance worldwide,” said Cmdr. Cameron Ingram, commanding officer of Thomas Hudner. “I could not be more proud of my team!”
Throughout their deployment in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility, Thomas Hudner’s crew trained and engaged in a variety of activities, from maritime security operations to joint exercises with Allied and partner navies in the European theater.
Thomas Hudner participated in several notable exercises, including Formidable Shield 2025, executed alongside 11 NATO Allies in the North and Norwegian Seas and North Atlantic Ocean. During Formidable Shield 2025, Thomas Hudner executed joint, live-fire Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) training utilizing NATO command and control reporting structures to enhance interoperability among Allied naval forces.
Thomas Hudner also conducted several port visits and collaborative operations with Norway, the United Kingdom, Spain and Greece, reinforcing the U.S. Navy’s commitment to unity, security and stability in the region. During the 81st anniversary of D-Day landings in Normandy, Thomas Hudner also had the honor of representing the U.S. Navy and hosting a reception with Adm. Stuart B. Munsch, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, and various other distinguished government and military leaders in the European theater.
Following operations in U.S. 6th Fleet’s northern flank, Thomas Hudner was assigned to conduct national tasking in the Eastern Mediterranean supporting Operation Cobalt Shield. Through this mission, Thomas Hudner successfully conducted maritime security operations and promoted regional stability while executing ballistic missile defense operations.
Thomas Hudner served as the flagship for multiple distinguished visitors throughout her deployment, including the Honorable Pete Hegseth, U.S. Defense Secretary; Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Christopher Grady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Alvin Holsey, commander, U.S. Southern Command; Adm. Stuart B. Munsch, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa; and members of the German, French and Royal navies.
“Over the course of a five-month deployment, USS Thomas Hudner and her exceptional crew exemplified the strength of American naval power and international cooperation,” said Capt. Aaron Anderson, Commander, Naval Surface Group Southeast. “Their efforts reflect the strength of our commitment to maritime security and cooperation with our Allies.”
Thomas Hudner is a multi-mission air warfare, undersea warfare, naval surface fire support, surface warfare and ballistic missile defense surface combatant capable of supporting carrier battle groups and amphibious forces, operating independently, or operating as the flagship of a surface action group.
U.S. 2nd Fleet, reestablished in 2018 in response to the changing global security environment, develops and employs maritime ready forces to fight across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., Allied, and partner interests.
For more U.S. 2nd Fleet news and photos, visit facebook.com/US2ndFleet, https://www.c2f.usff.navy.mil/, X – @US2ndFleet, and https://www.linkedin.com/company/commander-u-s-2nd-fleet.
Priority question for written answer P-002982/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Isabella Lövin (Verts/ALE)
In July 2024, The Financial Times[1] reported that the Commission had dropped infringement proceedings launched in 2021 against France, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium for failing to enforce the EU’s ban on discarding unwanted fish at sea. These proceedings aimed to ensure compliance with the landing obligation, requiring catches, including by-catch, to be landed and counted against quotas. The Financial Times reported that the Commission ‘quietly’ dropped the cases without explanation, and that no evidence was seen that the breaches had been addressed.
Experts have long warned that undocumented discards undermine quota monitoring and the scientific data underpinning fishing limits. Commission staff working document SWD(2025)0149 of 6 June 2025 echoed these warnings, citing a ‘lack of effective control measures adopted by Member States to date’[2], making such violations ‘very difficult to detect and confirm’. The European Fisheries Control Agency’s 2024 Annual Report[3] also found ‘low occurrence’ of detecting landing obligation infringements, while a recent report by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency[4] found ‘ineffective monitoring and enforcement’ of this rule at Member State level.
Considering the above:
1.Did the Commission receive any evidence that the identified non-compliance was corrected before closing the five cases?
2.Has it since verified that compliance has improved in the Member States concerned?
Question for written answer E-002880/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Nikolas Farantouris (The Left)
Reliable and substantiated international reports[1] reveal that a large part of the EU’s IPA funds to Türkiye have been channelled by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Government into funding espionage operations across Europe. The Turkish Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs are alleged to have used hundreds of millions of euro to gather intelligence against Member States. The issue is further complicated by the fact that Türkiye is becoming a major producer of biometric passports and is already printing passports on behalf of Hungary and France,[2] while cooperation with the new Al-Jolani regime in Syria has also recently been announced.[3]
In light of the above:
1.What measures does the Commission intend to put in place to monitor the funds received by Türkiye in the framework of pre-accession assistance?
2.Does the Commission intend to request the return of any funds not used for the purposes for which they were granted to Türkiye?
3.Does the Commission intend to take measures to protect the biometric data of European citizens from non-EU countries such as Türkiye, which are involved in the collection and processing of such sensitive data?
Question for written answer E-002999/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 André Rougé (PfE)
Nickel is vital for the strategic and industrial autonomy of Europe, which is dependent on production from China and Indonesia (in partnership with China) for 80 % of its nickel. That figure rises to 90 % for refined nickel.
With Greek and Cypriot production shutting down and Finnish mineral reserves only meeting a small proportion of our countries’ needs, the New Caledonian nickel deposit is the main, if not the only, one in the world that is under EU sovereignty. In fact, the overseas territory is home to 25 % of the world’s lateritic nickel reserves.
At a time when the EU is aiming to secure its supply chain with the Critical Raw Materials Act, New Caledonia is the only territory in a position to ensure that the EU stands a chance of producing 30 to 40 % of net-zero technologies.
1.In light of this, what action does the Commission intend to take to restore the competitiveness of French nickel from New Caledonia?
2.What trade measures does the Commission intend to adopt to counter the influx of Indonesian nickel – produced without complying with environmental, social and governance standards – and to prevent the objectives established in the Critical Raw Materials Act from becoming more and more difficult to achieve?
MOFA response to UK-France leaders’ declaration reaffirming commitment to Taiwan Strait peace and stability
July 11, 2025Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom and President Emmanuel Macron of France met in London on July 10 for the 37th UK-France summit. In a declaration issued after their meeting, the two leaders said that European security was inextricably linked to the Indo-Pacific and that they would strengthen their coordination and work together for a free, open, and sovereign Indo-Pacific. They also jointly reaffirmed their commitment to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, in the South and East China Seas, and in the Taiwan Strait, calling for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung sincerely welcomes and appreciates this declaration.The fact that the leaders of the United Kingdom and France once again expressed their commitment to cross-strait peace and stability following a similar statement released after the G7 leaders’ summit in June demonstrates that maintaining Taiwan Strait peace and stability has become a matter of international consensus. As a responsible and democratic member of the international community, Taiwan will continue to work with democratic partners around the world to contribute to the freedom, openness, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and jointly defend the rules-based international order.
MOFA response to statements in French government’s updated Indo-Pacific strategy concerning Taiwan and cross-strait security
July 20, 2025On July 18, the French government released its newest Indo-Pacific strategy report (La stratégie indopacifique de la France), which pointed out that China’s growing assertiveness in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea was undermining security in the Indo-Pacific region. The report warned that a high-intensity conflict in the Taiwan Strait would have major repercussions, such as on the global economy, and would run the risk of expanding to other areas. In addition, it reaffirmed the French government’s commitment to preserving cross-strait peace and stability, as well as its opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, threat, or coercion, and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait disputes.While the 2022 version of the report noted France’s concerns over tensions across the Taiwan Strait, this year’s version added France’s high regard for cross-strait peace and stability and opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung deeply appreciates and welcomes the statements in the new report.The joint declaration following the UK-France summit on July 10, France’s the National Strategic Review 2025 of July 14, and the updated Indo-Pacific strategy all express concern over and support for cross-strait peace and stability, demonstrating that the issue has become a matter of international consensus and interest. Upholding the spirit of integrated diplomacy, Taiwan will continue to strengthen collaboration with France and other democratic partners to jointly defend freedom and democracy and safeguard peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Details 2025-07-22 President Lai meets cross-party Irish Oireachtas delegation On the morning of July 22, President Lai Ching-te met with a cross-party delegation from the Oireachtas (parliament) of Ireland. In remarks, President Lai stated that Taiwan and Ireland are both guardians of the values of freedom and democracy. He indicated that Taiwan will continue to take action and show the world that it is a trustworthy democratic partner that can contribute to the international community, saying that we look forward to building an even closer partnership with Ireland as we work together for the well-being of our peoples and for global democracy, peace, and prosperity. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: Deputy Speaker John McGuinness is a dear friend of Taiwan who also chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association. Thanks to his efforts over the years, support for Taiwan has grown stronger in the Oireachtas. I thank him and all of our guests for traveling such a long way to demonstrate support for Taiwan and open more doors for exchanges and cooperation. Europe is Taiwan’s third largest trading partner and largest source of foreign investment. Ireland is a European stronghold for technology and innovative industries. Just like Taiwan, Ireland is an export-oriented economy. Our industrial structures are highly complementary. We hope that Taiwan’s electronics manufacturing and machinery industries can explore deeper cooperation with Ireland’s ICT software and biopharmaceutical fields, creating win-win outcomes. In May, the Irish government launched its National Semiconductor Strategy, outlining a vision to become a global semiconductor hub. Taiwan is home to the world’s most critical semiconductor ecosystem, and our own industrial development closely parallels that of Ireland. Moreover, we aspire to build non-red technological supply chains with democratic partners. I believe that going forward, Taiwan and Ireland can bolster collaboration so as to upgrade the competitiveness of our respective semiconductor industries. Together, we can help build a values-based economic system for democracies. I was delighted to receive congratulations from Deputy Speaker McGuinness on my election. Taiwan and Ireland are both guardians of the values of freedom and democracy. This visit from our guests further attests to our common beliefs. As authoritarianism continues to expand, Taiwan will continue to take action and show the world that it is a trustworthy democratic partner that can contribute to the international community. We look forward to building an even closer partnership with Ireland as we work together for the well-being of our peoples and for global democracy, peace, and prosperity. Deputy Speaker McGuinness then delivered remarks, stating that he has been to Taiwan on many occasions and that it is a great honor to join President Lai and his staff at the Presidential Office. He said that Ireland has continued to build its strong relationship with Taiwan based on our democratic values and the interests that we have in trade throughout the world, strengthening this relationship based on culture, education, and more. Noting that he served with many other diplomats from Taiwan, he said all had the same goal, which was to further the interests of the Ireland-Taiwan friendship and to ensure that it grows and prospers. The deputy speaker then extended to President Lai the delegation’s best wishes for his term in office, stating that they commit to the same values as the previous friendship groups that have been visiting Taiwan. He went on to say that some members of the group are newly elected, representing the next generation of the association, and that they are committed to working together with Taiwan to stand strong in the defense of democracy. Deputy Speaker McGuinness also noted that the father of Deputy Ken O’Flynn, one of the delegation members, played an important role as a former chairman of the association, remarking that it is good to see such continuity taking place. Deputy Speaker McGuiness said that he believes the world is facing huge challenges and uncertainty in terms of our markets and trade with one another. He said we have to watch for what the United States will do next and be conscious of what China is doing, emphasizing that the European Union stands strong in the center of this, while Ireland plays a huge role in the context of democracy, trade, and the betterment of all things for the citizens that they represent. The deputy speaker then stated that while we focus on the development of AI that is extremely important for all of us, we can work together to ensure that we control AI rather than AI controlling us. He also remarked that we cannot lose sight of our traditional trading means, saying that we have to keep all of our trade together, expand on that trade, and then take on the new technologies that come before us. Deputy Speaker McGuinness concluded his remarks by thanking President Lai for receiving the delegation, stating that they commit to their continuation of support for Taiwan and for democracy. Also in attendance were Deputies Malcolm Byrne and Barry Ward, and Senator Teresa Costello.
Details 2025-07-22 President Lai meets official delegation from European Parliament’s Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield On the morning of July 22, President Lai Ching-te met with an official delegation from the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS). In remarks, President Lai thanked the committee for choosing to visit Taiwan for its first trip to Asia, demonstrating the close ties between Taiwan and Europe. President Lai emphasized that Taiwan, standing at the very frontline of the democratic world, is determined to protect democracy, peace, and prosperity worldwide. He expressed hope that we can share our experiences with Europe to foster even more resilient societies. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: Firstly, on behalf of the people of Taiwan, I extend a warm welcome to your delegation, which marks another official visit from the European Parliament. The Special Committee on the EUDS aims to strengthen societal resilience and counter disinformation and hybrid threats. Having been constituted at the beginning of this year, the committee has chosen to visit Taiwan for its first trip to Asia, demonstrating the close ties between Taiwan and Europe and the unlimited possibilities for deepening cooperation on issues of concern. I am also delighted to see many old friends of Taiwan gathered here today. I deeply appreciate your longstanding support for Taiwan. Taiwan and the European Union enjoy close trade and economic relations and share the values of freedom and democracy. However, in recent years, we have both been subjected to information manipulation and infiltration by foreign forces that seek to interfere in democratic elections, foment division in our societies, and shake people’s faith in democracy. Taiwan not only faces an onslaught of disinformation, but also is the target of gray-zone aggression. That is why, after taking office, I established the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee at the Presidential Office, with myself as convener. The committee is a platform that integrates domestic affairs, national defense, foreign affairs, cybersecurity, and civil resources. It aims to strengthen the capability of Taiwan’s society to defend itself against new forms of threat, pinpoint external and internal vulnerabilities, and bolster overall resilience and security. The efforts that democracies make are not for opposing anyone else; they are for safeguarding the way of life that we cherish – just as Europe has endeavored to promote diversity and human rights. The Taiwanese people firmly believe that when our society is united and people trust one another, we will be able to withstand any form of authoritarian aggression. Taiwan stands at the very frontline of the democratic world. We are determined to protect democracy, peace, and prosperity worldwide. We also hope to share our experiences with Europe and deepen cooperation in such fields as cybersecurity, media literacy, and societal resilience. Thank you once again for visiting Taiwan. Your presence further strengthens the foundations of Taiwan-Europe relations. Let us continue to work together to uphold freedom and democracy and foster even more resilient societies. EUDS Special Committee Chair Nathalie Loiseau then delivered remarks, saying that the delegation has members from different countries, including France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Belgium, and different political parties, but that they have in common their desire for stronger relations between the EU and Taiwan. Committee Chair Loiseau stated that the EU and Taiwan, having many things in common, should work more together. She noted that we have strong trade relations, strong investments on both sides, and strong cultural relations, while we are also facing very similar challenges and threats. She said that we are democracies living in a world where autocracies want to weaken and divide democracies. She added that we also face external information manipulation, cyberattacks, sabotage, attempts to capture elites, and every single gray-zone activity that aims to divide and weaken us. Committee Chair Loiseau pointed out another commonality, that we have never threatened our neighbors. She said that we want to live in peace and we care about our people; we want to defend ourselves, not to attack others. We are not being threatened because of what we do, she emphasized, but because of what we are; and thus there is no reason for not working more together to face these threats and attacks. Committee Chair Loiseau said that Taiwan has valuable experience and good practices in the area of societal resilience, and that they are interested in learning more about Taiwan’s whole-of-society approach. They in Europe are facing interference, she said, mainly from Russia, and they know that Russia inspires others. She added that they in the EU also have experience regulating social media in a way which combines freedom of expression and responsibility. In closing, the chair said that they are happy to have the opportunity to exchange views with President Lai and that the European Parliament will continue to strongly support relations between the EU and Taiwan. The delegation also included Members of the European Parliament Engin Eroglu, Tomáš Zdechovský, Michał Wawrykiewicz, Kathleen Van Brempt, and Markéta Gregorová.
Details 2025-07-17 President Lai meets President of Guatemalan Congress Nery Abilio Ramos y Ramos On the morning of July 17, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation led by Nery Abilio Ramos y Ramos, the president of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala. In remarks, President Lai thanked Congress President Ramos and the Guatemalan Congress for their support for Taiwan, and noted that official diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Guatemala go back more than 90 years. As important partners in the global democratic community, the president said, the two nations will continue moving forward together in joint defense of the values of democracy and freedom, and will cooperate to promote regional and global prosperity and development. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I recall that when Congress President Ramos visited Taiwan in July last year, he put forward many ideas about how our countries could promote bilateral cooperation and exchanges. Now, a year later, he is leading another cross-party delegation from the Guatemalan Congress on a visit, demonstrating support for Taiwan and continuing to help deepen our diplomatic ties. In addition to extending a sincere welcome to the distinguished delegation members who have traveled so far to be here, I would also like to express our concern and condolences for everyone in Guatemala affected by the earthquake that struck earlier this month. We hope that the recovery effort is going smoothly. Official diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Guatemala go back more than 90 years. In such fields as healthcare, agriculture, education, and women’s empowerment, we have continually strengthened our cooperation to benefit our peoples. Just last month, Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo and the First Lady led a delegation on a state visit to Taiwan. President Arévalo and I signed a letter of intent for semiconductor cooperation, and also witnessed the signing of cooperation documents to establish a political consultation mechanism and continue to promote bilateral investment. This has laid an even sounder foundation for bilateral exchanges and cooperation, and will help enhance both countries’ international competitiveness. Taiwan is currently running a semiconductor vocational training program, helping Guatemala cultivate semiconductor talent and develop its tech industry, and demonstrating our determination to share experience with democratic partners. At the same time, we continue to assist Taiwanese businesses in their efforts to develop overseas markets with Guatemala as an important base, spurring industrial development in both countries and increasing economic and trade benefits. I want to thank Congress President Ramos and the Guatemalan Congress for their continued support for Taiwan’s international participation. Representing the Guatemalan Congress, Congress President Ramos has signed resolutions in support of Taiwan, and has also issued statements addressing China’s misinterpretation of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758. Taiwan and Guatemala, as important partners in the global democratic community, will continue moving forward together in joint defense of the values of democracy and freedom, and will cooperate to promote regional and global prosperity and development. Congress President Ramos then delivered remarks, first noting that the members of the delegation are not only from different parties, but also represent different classes, cultures, professions, and departments, which shows that the diplomatic ties between Guatemala and the Republic of China (Taiwan) are based on firm friendships at all levels and in all fields. Noting that this was his second time to visit Taiwan and meet with President Lai, Congress President Ramos thanked the government of Taiwan for its warm hospitality. With the international situation growing more complex by the day, he said, Guatemala highly values its longstanding friendship and cooperative ties with Taiwan, and hopes that both sides can continue to deepen their cooperation in such areas as the economy, technology, education, agriculture, and culture, and work together to spur sustainable development in each of our countries. Congress President Ramos said that the way the Taiwan government looks after the well-being of its people is an excellent model for how other countries should promote national development and social well-being. Accordingly, he said, the Guatemalan Congress has stood for justice and, for a second time, adopted a resolution backing Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly. Regarding President Arévalo’s state visit to Taiwan the previous month, Congress President Ramos commented that this high-level interaction has undoubtedly strengthened the diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Guatemala and led to more opportunities for cooperation. Congress President Ramos emphasized that democracy, freedom, and human rights are universal values that bind Taiwan and Guatemala together, and that he is confident the two countries’ diplomatic ties will continue to grow deeper. In closing, on behalf of the Republic of Guatemala, Congress President Ramos presented President Lai with a Chinese translation of the resolution that the Guatemalan Congress proposed to the UN in support of Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, demonstrating the staunch bonds of friendship between the two countries. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Guatemala Ambassador Luis Raúl Estévez López.
Details 2025-07-08 President Lai meets delegation led by Foreign Minister Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste of Republic of Haiti On the morning of July 8, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste of the Republic of Haiti and his wife. In remarks, President Lai noted that our two countries will soon mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations and that our exchanges have been fruitful in important areas such as public security, educational cooperation, and infrastructure. The president stated that Taiwan will continue to work together with Haiti to promote the development of medical and health care, food security, and construction that benefits people’s livelihoods. The president thanked Haiti for supporting Taiwan’s international participation and expressed hope that both countries will continue to support each other, deepen cooperation, and face various challenges together. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I am delighted to meet and exchange ideas with Minister Jean-Baptiste, his wife, and our distinguished guests. Minister Jean-Baptiste is the highest-ranking official from Haiti to visit Taiwan since former President Jovenel Moïse visited in 2018, demonstrating the importance that the Haitian government attaches to our bilateral diplomatic ties. On behalf of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I extend a sincere welcome. Next year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between our two countries. Our bilateral exchanges have been fruitful in important areas such as public security, educational cooperation, and infrastructure. Over the past few years, Haiti has faced challenges in such areas as food supply and healthcare. Taiwan will continue to work together with Haiti through various cooperative programs to promote the development of medical and health care, food security, and construction that benefits people’s livelihoods. I want to thank the government of Haiti and Minister Jean-Baptiste for speaking out in support of Taiwan on the international stage for many years. Minister Jean-Baptiste’s personal letter to the World Health Organization Secretariat in May this year and Minister of Public Health and Population Bertrand Sinal’s public statement during the World Health Assembly both affirmed Taiwan’s efforts and contributions to global public health and supported Taiwan’s international participation, for which we are very grateful. I hope that Taiwan and Haiti will continue to support each other and deepen cooperation. I believe that Minister Jean-Baptiste’s visit will open up more opportunities for cooperation for both countries, helping Taiwan and Haiti face various challenges together. In closing, I once again offer a sincere welcome to the delegation led by Minister Jean-Baptiste, and ask him to convey greetings from Taiwan to Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and the members of the Transitional Presidential Council. Minister Jean-Baptiste then delivered remarks, saying that he is extremely honored to visit Taiwan and reaffirm the solid and friendly cooperative relationship based on mutual respect between the Republic of Haiti and the Republic of China (Taiwan), which will soon mark its 70th anniversary. He also brought greetings to President Lai from Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council and Prime Minister Fils-Aimé. Minister Jean-Baptiste emphasized that over the past few decades, despite the great geographical distance and developmental and cultural differences between our two countries, we have nevertheless established a firm friendship and demonstrated to the world the progress resulting from the mutual assistance and cooperation between our peoples. Minister Jean-Baptiste pointed out that our two countries cooperate closely in agriculture, health, education, and community development and have achieved concrete results. Taiwan’s voice, he said, is thus essential for the people of Haiti. He noted that Taiwan also plays an important role in peace and innovation and actively participates in global cooperative efforts. Pointing out that the world is currently facing significant challenges and that Haiti is experiencing its most difficult period in history, Minister Jean-Baptiste said that at this time, Taiwan and Haiti need to unite, help each other, and jointly think about how to move forward and deepen bilateral relations to benefit the peoples of both countries. Minister Jean-Baptiste said that he is pleased that throughout our solid and friendly diplomatic relationship, both countries have demonstrated mutual trust, mutual respect, and the values we jointly defend. He then stated his belief that Haiti and Taiwan will together create a cooperation model and future that are sincere, friendly, and sustainable. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Francilien Victorin of the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti in Taiwan.
Details 2025-07-01 President Lai meets delegation from 2025 Taiwan International Ocean Forum On the afternoon of July 1, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation from the 2025 Taiwan International Ocean Forum (TIOF). In remarks, President Lai noted that the people of Taiwan will continue to work with democratic partners throughout the world in a maritime spirit of freedom and openness to contribute to ocean governance and jointly ensure maritime security. He expressed hope that their visit will help forge stronger friendships between Taiwan and international maritime partners, so that all can work together to spur shared maritime prosperity and sustainable development for the next generation. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I want to thank our guests for coming here to the Presidential Office. The 2025 TIOF will take place tomorrow and the day after, and I thank you all for making the long trip to Taiwan to attend the event and share your valuable insights and experiences. This year’s forum will focus on strategies for strengthening maritime security and pathways to achieving a sustainable blue economy. By attending this forum, our guests are highlighting their commitment to safeguarding the oceans, and beyond that, taking concrete action to demonstrate support for Taiwan. I once again offer deepest gratitude on behalf of the people of Taiwan. Taiwan holds a key position on the first island chain, is one of the world’s top 10 shipping nations, and accounts for close to 10 percent of global container shipping by volume. As such, Taiwan occupies a unique and important position in maritime strategy. For Taiwan, the ocean is more than just a basis for survival and development; it is also an important driver of national prosperity. In my inaugural address last year, I spoke of a threefold approach to further Taiwan’s development. One of these involves further developing our strengths as a maritime nation. Our government must actively help deepen our connections with the ocean, and must continue to promote green shipping, a sustainable fishing industry, marine renewable energy, and other forms of industrial transformation. It must also make use of marine technology and digital innovation to create a new paradigm that balances environmental, economic, and social inclusion concerns. This will help enhance Taiwan’s responsibilities and competitiveness as a maritime nation. Taiwan is surrounded by ocean, and our territorial waters are a natural protective barrier. However, continued gray-zone aggression from China creates serious threats and challenges to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Our government continues to invest resources to deal with increasingly complex maritime security issues. In addition to building coast guard patrol vessels, we must also step up efforts to build underwater, surface, and airborne unmanned vehicles and smart reconnaissance equipment, so as to demonstrate Taiwan’s determination to defend democracy and freedom and commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Oceans are Taiwan’s roots, and provide the channels by which we engage with the world. The people of Taiwan will continue to work with democratic partners throughout the world in a maritime spirit of freedom and openness to contribute to ocean governance and jointly ensure maritime security. The TIOF was first launched in 2020, and has now become an important platform for enhancement of cooperation between Taiwan and other countries. I hope that our distinguished guests will reap great benefits at this year’s forum, and further hope that this visit will help forge stronger friendships between Taiwan and international maritime partners, so that all can work together to spur shared maritime prosperity and sustainable development for the next generation. Chairman of The Washington Times Thomas McDevitt, a member of the delegation, then delivered remarks, noting first that July 4th, this Friday, is Independence Day in America. Independence is a sacred, powerful word which has great meaning in this part of the world, he said. Chairman McDevitt indicated that Taiwan has truly become a global beacon of democracy and a key partner for many nations. He then quoted President Lai’s 2024 inaugural address: “We will work together to combat disinformation, strengthen democratic resilience, address challenges, and allow Taiwan to become the MVP of the democratic world.” Chairman McDevitt went on to say that he appreciated the president’s speech with regard to his philosophical depth, sensitivity, and both moral and political clarity. He said that he was deeply moved by the speech, but within a few days of it, China responded with military activities and many threats. The chairman then emphasized that we are in a civilization crisis. Chairman McDevitt mentioned that President Lai has begun a series of 10 lectures, and remarked that they would help the world to understand the identity and the nature of Taiwan, as well as the situation we are in in the world. On behalf of all the delegation, Chairman McDevitt thanked the president for his leadership in dealing with these issues thoughtfully. Chairman McDevitt concluded with a line from the Old Testament which states that if the people have no vision, they will perish. He said that he believes Taiwan’s president has led the people of Taiwan, and the world, with a vision of how to navigate this great civilization crisis together. The delegation also included Members of the Japanese House of Representatives Kikawada Hitoshi, Aoyama Yamato, and Genma Kentaro, and Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom Gavin Williamson.
Details 2025-05-20 President Lai interviewed by Nippon Television and Yomiuri TV In a recent interview on Nippon Television’s news zero program, President Lai Ching-te responded to questions from host Mr. Sakurai Sho and Yomiuri TV Shanghai Bureau Chief Watanabe Masayo on topics including reflections on his first year in office, cross-strait relations, China’s military threats, Taiwan-United States relations, and Taiwan-Japan relations. The interview was broadcast on the evening of May 19. During the interview, President Lai stated that China intends to change the world’s rules-based international order, and that if Taiwan were invaded, global supply chains would be disrupted. Therefore, he said, Taiwan will strengthen its national defense, prevent war by preparing for war, and achieve the goal of peace. The president also noted that Taiwan’s purpose for developing drones is based on national security and industrial needs, and that Taiwan hopes to collaborate with Japan. He then reiterated that China’s threats are an international problem, and expressed hope to work together with the US, Japan, and others in the global democratic community to prevent China from starting a war. Following is the text of the questions and the president’s responses: Q: How do you feel as you are about to round out your first year in office? President Lai: When I was young, I was determined to practice medicine and save lives. When I left medicine to go into politics, I was determined to transform Taiwan. And when I was sworn in as president on May 20 last year, I was determined to strengthen the nation. Time flies, and it has already been a year. Although the process has been very challenging, I am deeply honored to be a part of it. I am also profoundly grateful to our citizens for allowing me the opportunity to give back to our country. The future will certainly be full of more challenges, but I will do everything I can to unite the people and continue strengthening the nation. That is how I am feeling now. Q: We are now coming up on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and over this period, we have often heard that conflict between Taiwan and the mainland is imminent. Do you personally believe that a cross-strait conflict could happen? President Lai: The international community is very much aware that China intends to replace the US and change the world’s rules-based international order, and annexing Taiwan is just the first step. So, as China’s military power grows stronger, some members of the international community are naturally on edge about whether a cross-strait conflict will break out. The international community must certainly do everything in its power to avoid a conflict in the Taiwan Strait; there is too great a cost. Besides causing direct disasters to both Taiwan and China, the impact on the global economy would be even greater, with estimated losses of US$10 trillion from war alone – that is roughly 10 percent of the global GDP. Additionally, 20 percent of global shipping passes through the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters, so if a conflict breaks out in the strait, other countries including Japan and Korea would suffer a grave impact. For Japan and Korea, a quarter of external transit passes through the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters, and a third of the various energy resources and minerals shipped back from other countries pass through said areas. If Taiwan were invaded, global supply chains would be disrupted, and therefore conflict in the Taiwan Strait must be avoided. Such a conflict is indeed avoidable. I am very thankful to Prime Minister of Japan Ishiba Shigeru and former Prime Ministers Abe Shinzo, Suga Yoshihide, and Kishida Fumio, as well as US President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, and the other G7 leaders, for continuing to emphasize at international venues that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are essential components for global security and prosperity. When everyone in the global democratic community works together, stacking up enough strength to make China’s objectives unattainable or to make the cost of invading Taiwan too high for it to bear, a conflict in the strait can naturally be avoided. Q: As you said, President Lai, maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is also very important for other countries. How can war be avoided? What sort of countermeasures is Taiwan prepared to take to prevent war? President Lai: As Mr. Sakurai mentioned earlier, we are coming up on the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. There are many lessons we can take from that war. First is that peace is priceless, and war has no winners. From the tragedies of WWII, there are lessons that humanity should learn. We must pursue peace, and not start wars blindly, as that would be a major disaster for humanity. In other words, we must be determined to safeguard peace. The second lesson is that we cannot be complacent toward authoritarian powers. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. They will keep growing, and eventually, not only will peace be unattainable, but war will be inevitable. The third lesson is why WWII ended: It ended because different groups joined together in solidarity. Taiwan, Japan, and the Indo-Pacific region are all directly subjected to China’s threats, so we hope to be able to join together in cooperation. This is why we proposed the Four Pillars of Peace action plan. First, we will strengthen our national defense. Second, we will strengthen economic resilience. Third is standing shoulder to shoulder with the democratic community to demonstrate the strength of deterrence. Fourth is that as long as China treats Taiwan with parity and dignity, Taiwan is willing to conduct exchanges and cooperate with China, and seek peace and mutual prosperity. These four pillars can help us avoid war and achieve peace. That is to say, Taiwan hopes to achieve peace through strength, prevent war by preparing for war, keeping war from happening and pursuing the goal of peace. Q: Regarding drones, everyone knows that recently, Taiwan has been actively researching, developing, and introducing drones. Why do you need to actively research, develop, and introduce new drones at this time? President Lai: This is for two purposes. The first is to meet national security needs. The second is to meet industrial development needs. Because Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines are all part of the first island chain, and we are all democratic nations, we cannot be like an authoritarian country like China, which has an unlimited national defense budget. In this kind of situation, island nations such as Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines should leverage their own technologies to develop national defense methods that are asymmetric and utilize unmanned vehicles. In particular, from the Russo-Ukrainian War, we see that Ukraine has successfully utilized unmanned vehicles to protect itself and prevent Russia from unlimited invasion. In other words, the Russo-Ukrainian War has already proven the importance of drones. Therefore, the first purpose of developing drones is based on national security needs. Second, the world has already entered the era of smart technology. Whether generative, agentic, or physical, AI will continue to develop. In the future, cars and ships will also evolve into unmanned vehicles and unmanned boats, and there will be unmanned factories. Drones will even be able to assist with postal deliveries, or services like Uber, Uber Eats, and foodpanda, or agricultural irrigation and pesticide spraying. Therefore, in the future era of comprehensive smart technology, developing unmanned vehicles is a necessity. Taiwan, based on industrial needs, is actively planning the development of drones and unmanned vehicles. I would like to take this opportunity to express Taiwan’s hope to collaborate with Japan in the unmanned vehicle industry. Just as we do in the semiconductor industry, where Japan has raw materials, equipment, and technology, and Taiwan has wafer manufacturing, our two countries can cooperate. Japan is a technological power, and Taiwan also has significant technological strengths. If Taiwan and Japan work together, we will not only be able to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and security in the Indo-Pacific region, but it will also be very helpful for the industrial development of both countries. Q: The drones you just described probably include examples from the Russo-Ukrainian War. Taiwan and China are separated by the Taiwan Strait. Do our drones need to have cross-sea flight capabilities? President Lai: Taiwan does not intend to counterattack the mainland, and does not intend to invade any country. Taiwan’s drones are meant to protect our own nation and territory. Q: Former President Biden previously stated that US forces would assist Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. President Trump, however, has yet to clearly state that the US would help defend Taiwan. Do you think that in such an event, the US would help defend Taiwan? Or is Taiwan now trying to persuade the US? President Lai: Former President Biden and President Trump have answered questions from reporters. Although their responses were different, strong cooperation with Taiwan under the Biden administration has continued under the Trump administration; there has been no change. During President Trump’s first term, cooperation with Taiwan was broader and deeper compared to former President Barack Obama’s terms. After former President Biden took office, cooperation with Taiwan increased compared to President Trump’s first term. Now, during President Trump’s second term, cooperation with Taiwan is even greater than under former President Biden. Taiwan-US cooperation continues to grow stronger, and has not changed just because President Trump and former President Biden gave different responses to reporters. Furthermore, the Trump administration publicly stated that in the future, the US will shift its strategic focus from Europe to the Indo-Pacific. The US secretary of defense even publicly stated that the primary mission of the US is to prevent China from invading Taiwan, maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific, and thus maintain world peace. There is a saying in Taiwan that goes, “Help comes most to those who help themselves.” Before asking friends and allies for assistance in facing threats from China, Taiwan must first be determined and prepared to defend itself. This is Taiwan’s principle, and we are working in this direction, making all the necessary preparations to safeguard the nation. Q: I would like to ask you a question about Taiwan-Japan relations. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, you made an appeal to give Japan a great deal of assistance and care. In particular, you visited Sendai to offer condolences. Later, you also expressed condolences and concern after the earthquakes in Aomori and Kumamoto. What are your expectations for future Taiwan-Japan exchanges and development? President Lai: I come from Tainan, and my constituency is in Tainan. Tainan has very deep ties with Japan, and of course, Taiwan also has deep ties with Japan. However, among Taiwan’s 22 counties and cities, Tainan has the deepest relationship with Japan. I sincerely hope that both of you and your teams will have an opportunity to visit Tainan. I will introduce Tainan’s scenery, including architecture from the era of Japanese rule, Tainan’s cuisine, and unique aspects of Tainan society, and you can also see lifestyles and culture from the Showa era. The Wushantou Reservoir in Tainan was completed by engineer Mr. Hatta Yoichi from Kanazawa, Japan and the team he led to Tainan after he graduated from then-Tokyo Imperial University. It has nearly a century of history and is still in use today. This reservoir, along with the 16,000-km-long Chianan Canal, transformed the 150,000-hectare Chianan Plain into Taiwan’s premier rice-growing area. It was that foundation in agriculture that enabled Taiwan to develop industry and the technology sector of today. The reservoir continues to supply water to Tainan Science Park. It is used by residents of Tainan, the agricultural sector, and industry, and even the technology sector in Xinshi Industrial Park, as well as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Because of this, the people of Tainan are deeply grateful for Mr. Hatta and very friendly toward the people of Japan. A major earthquake, the largest in 50 years, struck Tainan on February 6, 2016, resulting in significant casualties. As mayor of Tainan at the time, I was extremely grateful to then-Prime Minister Abe, who sent five Japanese officials to the disaster site in Tainan the day after the earthquake. They were very thoughtful and asked what kind of assistance we needed from the Japanese government. They offered to provide help based on what we needed. I was deeply moved, as former Prime Minister Abe showed such care, going beyond the formality of just sending supplies that we may or may not have actually needed. Instead, the officials asked what we needed and then provided assistance based on those needs, which really moved me. Similarly, when the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 or the later Kumamoto earthquakes struck, the people of Tainan, under my leadership, naturally and dutifully expressed their support. Even earlier, when central Taiwan was hit by a major earthquake in 1999, Japan was the first country to deploy a rescue team to the disaster area. On February 6, 2018, after a major earthquake in Hualien, former Prime Minister Abe appeared in a video holding up a message of encouragement he had written in calligraphy saying “Remain strong, Taiwan.” All of Taiwan was deeply moved. Over the years, Taiwan and Japan have supported each other when earthquakes struck, and have forged bonds that are family-like, not just neighborly. This is truly valuable. In the future, I hope Taiwan and Japan can be like brothers, and that the peoples of Taiwan and Japan can treat one another like family. If Taiwan has a problem, then Japan has a problem; if Japan has a problem, then Taiwan has a problem. By caring for and helping each other, we can face various challenges and difficulties, and pursue a brighter future. Q: President Lai, you just used the phrase “If Taiwan has a problem, then Japan has a problem.” In the event that China attempts to invade Taiwan by force, what kind of response measures would you hope the US military and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces take? President Lai: As I just mentioned, annexing Taiwan is only China’s first step. Its ultimate objective is to change the rules-based international order. That being the case, China’s threats are an international problem. So, I would very much hope to work together with the US, Japan, and others in the global democratic community to prevent China from starting a war – prevention, after all, is more important than cure.
Source: Republic of Taiwan – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MOFA response to French government’s National Strategic Review 2025 conveying concern over Taiwan and cross-strait security
July 15, 2025
On July 14, the French government released its National Strategic Review 2025, which mentioned the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan six times. The report noted that China has continued to strengthen its military capabilities, increase the intensity of military exercises around Taiwan, exert pressure on Taiwan through military force and other means, and fuel tensions and instability in the region.
The 2022 version of the policy document also stated that China’s military expansion had threatened the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. However, this year’s report devoted more attention to China’s threats against Taiwan. It also expressed France’s concerns regarding Taiwan and cross-strait security. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung warmly welcomes and deeply appreciates the strategic review.
Through the report, France has once again expressed concern over cross-strait security and reiterated the importance of Taiwan. The review follows from the joint declaration issued after President Emmanuel Macron of France met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom in London on July 10 for the 37th UK-France summit. In the declaration, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes that Taiwan, as an indispensable member of the Indo-Pacific region, will continue to work with France and other democratic partners to defend freedom and democracy and staunchly uphold peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Indo-Pacific.
Source: Republic of Taiwan – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MOFA response to statements in French government’s updated Indo-Pacific strategy concerning Taiwan and cross-strait security
July 20, 2025
On July 18, the French government released its newest Indo-Pacific strategy report (La stratégie indopacifique de la France), which pointed out that China’s growing assertiveness in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea was undermining security in the Indo-Pacific region. The report warned that a high-intensity conflict in the Taiwan Strait would have major repercussions, such as on the global economy, and would run the risk of expanding to other areas. In addition, it reaffirmed the French government’s commitment to preserving cross-strait peace and stability, as well as its opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, threat, or coercion, and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait disputes.
While the 2022 version of the report noted France’s concerns over tensions across the Taiwan Strait, this year’s version added France’s high regard for cross-strait peace and stability and opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung deeply appreciates and welcomes the statements in the new report.
The joint declaration following the UK-France summit on July 10, France’s the National Strategic Review 2025 of July 14, and the updated Indo-Pacific strategy all express concern over and support for cross-strait peace and stability, demonstrating that the issue has become a matter of international consensus and interest.
Upholding the spirit of integrated diplomacy, Taiwan will continue to strengthen collaboration with France and other democratic partners to jointly defend freedom and democracy and safeguard peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Marine protected areas cover more than 8% of the world’s oceans today, but they can get a bad rap as being protected on paper only.
While the name invokes safe havens for fish, whales and other sea life, these areas can be hard to monitor. High-profile violations, such as recent fishing fleet incursions near the Galapagos Islands and ships that “go dark” by turning off their tracking devices, have fueled concerns about just how much poaching is going undetected.
But some protected areas are successfully keeping illegal fishing out.
In a new global study using satellite technology that can track large ships even if they turn off their tracking systems, my colleagues and I found that marine protected areas where industrial fishing is fully banned are largely succeeding at preventing poaching.
What marine protected areas aim to save
Picture a sea turtle gliding by as striped butterfly fish weave through coral branches. Or the deep blue of the open ocean, where tuna flash like silver and seabirds wheel overhead.
These habitats, where fish and other marine life breed and feed, are the treasures that marine protected areas aim to protect.
The value of marine protected areas for people and nature.
A major threat to these ecosystems is industrial fishing.
These vessels can operate worldwide and stay at sea for years at a time with visits from refrigerated cargo ships that ferry their catch to port. China has an extensive global fleet of ships that operate as far away as the coast of South America and other regions.
The global industrial fishing fleet – nearly half a million vessels – hauls in about 100 million metric tons of seafood each year. That’s about a fivefold increase since 1950, though it has been close to flat for the past 30 years. Today, more than one-third of commercial fish species are overfished, exceeding what population growth can replenish.
Large fleets of fishing boats, supported by refrigerator ships to ferry their catch to shore, can stay at sea for months at a time. VCG/VCG via Getty Images
Some marine protected areas ban industrial fishing. These are the gold standard for conservation, and research shows they can be effective ways to increase the amount of sea life and diversity of species.
The plentiful fish in better-protected areas can also attract poachers. In one high-profile case, a Chinese vessel was caught inside the Galápagos Marine Reserve with 300 tons of marine life, including 6,000 dead sharks, in 2017. This crew faced heavy fines and prison time. But how many others go unseen?
Shining a light on the ‘dark fleet’
Much of what the world knows about global industrial fishing comes from the automatic identification system, or AIS, which many ships are required to use. This system broadcasts their location every few seconds, primarily to reduce the risk of collisions at sea. Using artificial intelligence, researchers can analyze movement patterns in these messages to estimate when and where fishing is happening.
Synthetic aperture radar still has limits – primarily difficulty detecting small boats and less frequent coverage than AIS – but it’s still a leap forward. In one study of coastal areas using both technologies, we found in about 75% of instances fishing vessels detected by synthetic aperture radar were not being tracked by AIS.
New global analysis shows what really happens
Two studies published in the journal Science on July 24, 2025, use these satellite datasets to track industrial fishing activity in marine protected areas.
We combined AIS vessel tracking, synthetic aperture radar satellite imagery, official marine protected area rules, and implementation dates showing exactly when those bans took effect. The analysis covers nearly 1,400 marine protected areas spanning about 3 million square miles (7.9 million square kilometers) where industrial fishing is explicitly prohibited.
AIS transponder signals over 2017-2021 (top) and synthetic aperture radar data (bottom) both show industrial fishing activity (yellow) mostly avoiding Carrington Point State Marine Reserve, a protected area off California’s Santa Rosa Island. Jennifer Raynor, Sara Orofino and Gavin McDonald
The results were striking:
Most of these protected areas showed little to no signs of industrial fishing.
We detected about five fishing vessels per 100,000 square kilometers on average in these areas, compared to 42 on average in unprotected coastal areas.
96% had less than one day per year of alleged illegal fishing effort.
The second study uses the same AIS and synthetic aperture radar data to examine a broader set of marine protected areas – including many that explicitly allow fishing. They document substantial fishing activity in these areas, with about eight times more detections than in the protected areas that ban industrial fishing.
Combined, these two studies lead to a clear conclusion: Marine protected areas with weak regulations see substantial industrial fishing, but where bans are in place, they’re largely respected.
We can’t tell whether these fishing bans are effective because they’re well enforced or simply because they were placed where little fishing happened anyway. Still, when violations do occur, this system offers a way for enforcement agencies to detect them.
A reason for optimism
These technological advances in vessel tracking have the potential to reshape marine law enforcement by significantly reducing the costs of monitoring.
Agencies such as national navies and coast guards no longer need to rely solely on costly physical patrols over huge areas. With tools such as the Global Fishing Watch map, which makes vessel tracking data freely available to the public, they can monitor activity remotely and focus patrol efforts where they’re needed most.
A French navy officer documents a fishing boat’s location in February 2024. Satellites make it easier to monitor activity on the ocean. Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images
Beyond marine protected areas, these technologies also have the potential to support tracking a broad range of human activities, such as oil slicks and deep-sea mining, making companies more accountable in how they use the ocean.
Jennifer Raynor receives funding from National Geographic Pristine Seas. She is a trustee at Global Fishing Watch, one of the primary data providers for this study.
During Coldplay’s “jumbotron song” — the concert segment where cameras pan over the crowd — the big screen landed on Andy Byron, then-CEO of data firm Astronomer, intimately embracing Kristin Cabot, the company’s chief people officer. Both are married to other people.
The moment, captured on video and widely circulated on social media, shows the pair abruptly recoiling as Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin says: “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
Martin’s comment — seemingly light-hearted at the time — quickly took on a different tone as online sleuths identified the pair and uncovered their corporate roles and marital statuses. Within days, Byron resigned from his position as CEO while Cabot is on leave.
This spectacle raises a deeper question: why does infidelity, especially among the powerful, provoke such public outcry. Literary tradition offers some insight: intimate betrayal is never truly private. It shatters an implicit social contract, demanding communal scrutiny to restore trust.
When trust crumbles publicly
French philosopher Paul Ricoeur’s notion of “narrative identity” suggests we make sense of our lives as unfolding stories. The promises we make (and break) become chapters of identity and the basis of others’ trust. Betrayal ruptures the framework that stitches private vows to public roles; without that stitch, trust frays.
Byron’s stadium exposure turned a marital vow into a proxy for professional integrity. Public betrayal magnifies public outcry because leaders symbolize stability; their personal failings inevitably reflect on their institutions.
When Astronomer’s board stated the expected standard “was not met,” they were lamenting the collapse of Byron’s narrative integrity — and, by extension, their company’s.
This idea — that private morality underpins public order — is hardly new. In Laws, ancient Greek philosopher Plato described adultery as a disorder undermining family and state. Roman philosopher Seneca called it a betrayal of nature, while statesman Cicero warned that breaking fides (trust) corrodes civic bonds.
The social cost of infidelity in literature
Literature rarely confines infidelity to the bedroom; its shockwaves fracture communities.
French sociologist Émile Durkheim’s idea of the “conscience collective” holds that shared moral norms create “social solidarity.” As literature demonstrates, violations of these norms inevitably undermines communal trust.
‘Anna Karenina’ by Leo Tolstoy. (Penguin Random House)
Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1875-77) dramatizes the social fracture of betrayal. Anna’s affair with Count Vronsky not only defies moral convention but destabilizes the aristocratic norms that once upheld her status.
As the scandal leads to her ostracization, Anna mourns the social world she has lost, realizing too late that “the position she enjoyed in society… was precious to her… [and] she could not be stronger than she was.”
In Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (1857), Emma Bovary’s extramarital affairs unravel the networks of her provincial town, turning private yearning for luxury and romance into public contagion.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850) makes this explicit: Hester Prynne’s scarlet “A” turns her sin into civic theatre. Public shaming on the scaffold, the novel suggests, delineates moral boundaries and seeks to restore social order — a process that prefigures today’s “digital pillories,” where viral moments subject individuals to mass online judgment and public condemnation.
Domestic crumbs and digital scaffolds
Contemporary narratives shift the setting but uphold the same principle: betrayal devastates the mundane rituals that build trust.
‘Heartburn’ by Nora Ephron. (Penguin Random House)
Nora Ephron’s autobiographical novel Heartburn (1983), based on her own marriage’s collapse to investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, weaponizes domesticity.
Heartburn’s protagonist Rachel Samstat delivers her emotions through recipes — “Vinaigrette” as a marker of intimacy and betrayal, “Lillian Hellman’s Pot Roast” as a bid for domestic stability and “Key Lime Pie,” hurled at her cheating husband — become symbols of a life undone by public infidelity.
Ephron’s satire, later adapted into a film, anticipates our digital age of exposure, where private pain fuels public consumption and judgment.
‘Dept. of Speculation’ by Jenny Offill. (Penguin Random House)
Jenny Offill’s Dept. of Speculation (2014), which draws from her own life, shows another perspective: betrayal as quiet erosion.
Offill never depicts the affair directly; instead, the husband’s absences, silences and an off-hand reference to “someone else” create a suffocating dread. This indirection shows betrayal’s power lies in its latent potential, slowly dismantling a life built on trust before any overt act.
Both works underscore betrayal’s impact on the collective conscience: a lie fractures a family as fundamentally as a CEO’s indiscretion erodes institutional trust. Power magnifies the fallout by turning private failings into public symbols of fragility. Even hidden betrayal poisons the shared rituals binding any group, making the notion of “private” unsustainable long before any public revelation.
The limits of power
Literature acknowledges power’s protective veneer from consequence — and its limits.
Theodore Dreiser’s Trilogy of Desire (1912–47), modelled on the Gilded Age robber baron Charles Yerkes, follows the rise of financier Frank Cowperwood, whose power shields him — until it doesn’t. Even his vast empire proves vulnerable once his adultery becomes public. The very networks that protected him grow wary.
Though many critics of the elite are themselves morally compromised in the trilogy, Cowperwood’s transgression becomes a weapon to discredit him. His brief exile shows that power may defer, but cannot erase, the costs of betrayal. Once trust fractures, even the powerful become liabilities. They do not fall less often — only more conspicuously.
Gender also plays a role in shaping these narratives. Male protagonists like Cowperwood rebound as tragic anti-heroes, their moral failings recast as flaws of character. By contrast, women — think Flaubert’s Emma Bovary or Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne — are branded cautionary figures, their transgressions stigmatized rather than mythologized.
This imbalance in assigning consequences reveals a deeper societal judgment: while broken trust demands repair, the path to restoration often depends on the transgressor’s gender.
The unblinking eye
From Tolstoy’s salons to TikTok’s scroll, literature offers no refuge from betrayal’s ripple effects. When private trust visibly fractures, communal reflexes kick in.
Scarlet letters, exile or a CEO’s resignation all aim to heal the collective trust. The jumbotron, like Hester’s scaffold, is the latest instrument in this age-old theatre of exposure.
Jumbotrons. Scaffolds. Same operating system. Same shame.
Jason Wang 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.
Africa24 Group (https://Africa24TV.com/), the largest media group in Africa and broadcaster of four HD television channels, has signed a landmark partnership agreement with the Ivorian MMA Federation (Mixed Martial Arts) to promote, broadcast, and elevate the profile of MMA in Côte d’Ivoire and across the continent.
This strategic collaboration aims to spotlight local and regional talent through exclusive reports on athletes, dedicated programming on all MMA competitions, and the promotion of core values of the sport such as discipline, self-improvement, respect, and inclusion.
Unrivaled Distribution and Audience Reach for Sports in Africa
The growth of MMA and sports across Africa represents a key priority for Africa24 Group — creating opportunities for youth, fostering a professional sports ecosystem, and positioning Africa as a global reservoir of emerging talent in one of the world’s fastest-growing disciplines.
This partnership will further enrich the unique editorial offering of Africa24 Sport, the continent’s first and only 24/7 African sports news and competitions channel.
“This agreement with the Ivorian MMA Federation is a positive step forward for sports fans across Africa. Africa24 Group is committed to delivering high-quality content through a platform accessible to all. This new milestone should benefit all sports, national and continental federations, and Olympic committees across Africa. It’s about building a shared platform that ensures maximum visibility, unparalleled exposure, and unprecedented reach for every sport on the continent,” said Constant NEMALE, Founder and President of Africa24 Group.
Through this partnership, Africa24 reinforces its ambition to connect African sports to the world, while actively contributing to the professionalization of MMA in Africa — to the great satisfaction of the Ivorian MMA Federation.
“Mixed Martial Arts in Côte d’Ivoire is evolving fast. The sport is growing steadily, backed by a strong organizational structure and promising momentum. I believe it has a bright future both in Côte d’Ivoire and across Africa,”said Jackson Parfait TAPÉ, President of the Ivorian MMA Federation.
“MMA needs greater visibility, not only in Côte d’Ivoire but also globally. This partnership between the Ivorian MMA Federation (FIMMA) and Africa24 Sport is precisely aimed at showcasing a sport that is taking root and expanding in our country,”added Guillaume BEDA, Vice President of the Ivorian MMA Federation.
As a key partner for sports development in Africa, Africa24 Group is mobilizing all its resources to serve MMA enthusiasts. Throughout the duration of this partnership, Africa24’s channels will broadcast all MMA competitions, with dedicated magazine shows and a team of expert journalists and passionate analysts delivering world-class coverage.
With Africa24 Group, expect nothing less than exceptional sports entertainment.
AFRICA24 – Together, Let’s Transform Africa
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of AFRICA24 Group.
Contact: Communications Department Africa24 Group Gaëlle Stella Oyono Email: onana@africa24tv.com Tel: +237 694 90 99 88
Social Media: @ africa24tv
About Africa24: Launched in 2009, Africa24 Group is the continent’s leading TV and digital media network. It is the top media brand among decision-makers and senior executives in Africa and beyond. Africa24 operates four HD television channels available 24/7 via major global networks:
AFRICA24 TV: The continent’s first French-language news channel
AFRICA24 English: The reference English-language African news channel
AFRICA24 Sport: The first African sports news and competition channel
AFRICA24: The flagship channel for Africa’s creative industries
Africa24 also operates myafrica24, the first HD streaming platform dedicated to Africa, accessible worldwide on all devices (smartphones, computers, tablets, and smart TVs).
With global distribution through top operators and platforms (Canal+, Bouygues, Orange, Bell…), Africa24 is available in over 80 million households and boasts a digital community of more than 8 million followers across web and social media. Africa24 is the go-to media platform for global leaders seeking to engage with Africa-related topics.
About the Ivorian MMA Federation: The Ivorian MMA Federation is responsible for the organization, regulation, and promotion of Mixed Martial Arts in Côte d’Ivoire. The federation supports athletes, upholds sports ethics, and promotes MMA as both an elite sport and a powerful tool for social inclusion.
We are living in an age of anxiety. People face multiple existential crises such as climate change and conflicts that could potentially escalate into nuclear war.
So how do people cope with competing threats like this? And what happens to climate anxiety when wars suddenly erupt and compete for our attention?
Climate change affects our physical and mental health, directly through extreme climate-related droughts, wildfires and intense storms. It also affects some people indirectly through so-called “climate anxiety”. This term covers a range of negative emotions and states, including not just anxiety, but worry and concern, hopelessness, anger, fear, grief and sadness.
A team of researchers led by Caroline Hickman from the University of Bath surveyed 10,000 children and young people (aged 16 to 25 years) in ten countries (Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, the UK and the US). They found that 45% of respondents said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily lives. It was worse for respondents from developing countries.
Climate anxiety can potentially serve a positive function. Anger, for example, can push people to act to help mitigate the effects of climate change.
But it can also lead to “eco-paralysis”, a feeling of being overwhelmed, inhibiting people from taking any effective action, affecting their sleep, work and study, as a result of them dwelling endlessly on the problem.
Climate anxiety is not included in the American Psychiatric Association’s authoritative guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders. In other words, it is not officially recognised as a mental disorder.
Some say this is a good thing. The author and Stanford academic Britt Wray wrote: “The last thing we want is to pathologise this moral emotion, which stems from an accurate understanding of the severity of our planetary health crisis.”
But if it is not officially recognised, will people take it seriously enough? Will they just dismiss people who suffer from it as “snowflakes” – too sensitive and too easily hurt by the hard realities of life. This is a major dilemma.
I explore how climate anxiety relates to other types of clinical anxiety in my recent book, Understanding Climate Anxiety, recognising that there are adaptive and non-adaptive forms of anxiety.
According to Steven Taylor, a clinical psychologist from the University of British Columbia, adaptive anxiety can “motivate climate activism, such as efforts to reduce one’s carbon footprint”. Maladaptive anxiety, however, may “take the form of anxious passivity”, he warned, where the person feels anxious but utterly helpless.
Identifying different types of climate anxiety, understanding their precursors and how they interact with personality is a major psychological challenge. Identifying ways of alleviating climate anxiety and making it more adaptive, and focused on possible climate mitigation, is a major societal challenge.
But there’s another important issue. Some global leaders, including Donald Trump, don’t believe in human-induced climate change, claiming it’s “one of the great scams”. He seems to view climate anxiety as an overblown reaction to propaganda pumped out by a biased media.
This can make the experience much worse for those who feel anxious but then having their feelings dismissed.
Some psychologists argue that climate anxiety can be a form of pre-traumatic stress disorder. This hypothesis arose from observations of climate scientists and their growing feelings of anger, distress, helplessness and depression as the climate situation has worsened.
In 2015, researchers devised a new clinical measure to assess pre-traumatic stress reactions using items found in the diagnostic and statistical manual for post-traumatic stress disorder, but now focused on the future rather than the past, asking about “repeated, disturbing dreams of a possible future stressful experience”, for example.
They tested Danish soldiers before their deployment in Afghanistan and found that “involuntary intrusive images and thoughts of possible future events … were experienced at the same level as post-traumatic stress reactions to past events before and during deployment”.
They also found that soldiers who experienced higher levels of pre-traumatic stress before deployment had an increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder after their return from the war zone. Their hypervigilance primed their nervous system to react more strongly when anything untoward occurred.
This would suggest that we need to take stress reactions to future anticipated events such as climate change very seriously.
The crisis response
But how important is climate anxiety in the context of these other threats? Researchers assessed the emotional state and mental health of people aged 18 to 29 years in five countries (China, Portugal, South Africa, the US and UK) focusing on three global issues: climate change, an environmental disaster (the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan), and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
They found the strongest emotional engagement was with the ongoing wars, with climate change a close second, and the radiation leak third. The strongest emotional responses to the wars were concern, sadness, helplessness, disgust, outrage and anger. For climate change, the strongest responses were concern, sadness, helplessness, disappointment and anxiety.
All three crises made young people feel concerned, sad, and very importantly helpless, but climate change has this burning level of anxiety added into the bubbling mix.
It seems that climate anxiety still has this undiminished power regardless of all the other awful things that are currently happening in the world, and I suspect the stigma of being dismissed as “snowflakes” makes this particular fear response all the more unbearable.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?_
Geoff Beattie has received funding from the British Academy and the AHRC to investigate psychological barriers to climate change mitigation and the effects of climate change on emotional responses.
For the past few weeks the headlines about Gaza have focused on the hundreds of people who have been killed while queueing for food. The aid distribution system put in place in May, backed by the US and Israel and run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has proved to be chaotic and allegedly resulted in violence, with both Israel Defense Forces personnel and armed Palestinian gangs blamed for killing about 1,000 people in the two months the new system has been operating.
Now the headlines are focusing on the growing number of people dying of starvation.
Harrowing reports from the Gaza Strip report almost daily on the children dying of malnutrition in hospitals and clinics that simply don’t have the food to keep them alive. Writing in the Guardian this week, a British volunteer surgeon working in one of Gaza’s hospitals, Nick Maynard, described patients who “deteriorate and die, not from their injuries, but because they are too malnourished to survive surgery”.
The UK and 27 other countries this week has condemned the “drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians” who are trying to get food and water. And yet, writes Simon Mabon, still the world’s leaders look on: “Most are apparently content to condemn – but little action has been taken.”
Mabon, a professor of international relations at Lancaster University, quotes the latest report from the IPC, which monitors food security in conflict situations. It estimates that 500,000 people in Gaza are considered to be facing “catastrophe”, while a further 1.1 million fall into the “emergency” risk category. Both categories anticipate a steadily rising death rate among civilians in Gaza.
So how can Israel’s allies apply pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to bring an end to the violence and allow Palestinian civilians access to the food, water and medical supplies they so desperately need?
Mabon canvasses a range of options. First of all, countries that have yet to recognise the state of Palestine can do so. It’s nonsense, Madon believes, to talk of a two-state solution – as the UK government does – when you haven’t actually recognised the second state in the equation.
Then they could stop selling arms to Israel. Many countries already have. But the US still issues export licenses for some weapons that are sold to Israel.
There are a plethora of other things world leaders could do to pressure Israel. Mabon recommends having a look at what the world did to isolate South Africa during the apartheid years, measures which eventually helped bring about meaningful change there.
As for Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister is reported to be considering an early election. In previous months this looked like a move freighted with jeopardy. An election loss brought on by a disenchanted electorate, heartbroken at the hostage situation and exhausted by the conflict, would probably mean having to face the charges of corruption which have hung over him for more than five years.
But recent polls have suggested a bump in popularity following his 12-day campaign against Iran. Netanyahu is nothing if not a clever political manipulator. But Brian Brivati, a professor of contemporary history and human rights at Kingston University, believes that to have a chance of winning, the prime minister will need to fight a campaign on three narratives of his government’s success: securing the release of the hostages, defeating Hamas and delivering regional security. “It is a tall order,” Brivati concludes.
Anyone following the situation in Gaza over the past 18 months will have encountered Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for Palestine’s occupied territories. For three years she has monitored the human rights situation in Gaza and the West Bank, delivering trenchant criticism of Israel’s conduct and those who, by their inaction – and sometimes contrivance – have enabled it.
Earlier this months, the US government imposed sanctions on Albanese, because – as US secretary of state Marco Rubio insisted – she has engaged with the International Criminal Court (also subject to US sanctions) “in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel”. Also she has written “threatening letters to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American companies”.
Alvina Hoffman, an expert in diplomatic affairs and human rights at SOAS, University of London, explains what a special rapporteur does and why their work is so valuable in the defence of human rights.
To Istanbul, where delegations from Russia and Ukraine met yesterday for their third round of face-to-face talks. All 40 minutes of them. There was another agreement of prisoner swaps and the two sides decided to set up some working groups to look into various political, military and humanitarian issues – but online rather in person.
The brevity of the talks came as no surprise to Stefan Wolff. Wolff, an expert in international security at the University of Birmingham who has provided commentary for The Conversation throughout the conflict in Ukraine, points out that both sides remain wedded to their maximalist war aims. For Russia, this is for Ukraine to accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea and four provinces of eastern Ukraine, a ban on Ukraine’s membership of Nato and a much reduced military capacity. For Ukraine, it is getting their territory back and Russian acceptance of their national sovereignty, meaning it gets to determine for itself what alliances it seeks.
Donald Trump has told Vladimir Putin that, if there’s no ceasefire in 50 days, he’ll apply harsh secondary sanctions on the countries buying Russian oil and that he plans to supply Ukraine with American weapons (via Nato’s European member states, that is). Wolff believes both sides will now play the waiting game. They will calculate their next move after September 2, when the 50 days run out, and when they know more about what the US president plans to do.
Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, faces pressure from his own people. There have been days of protest at his decision to bring two formerly independent anti-corruption organisations under the direct control of the government. He argues that this was necessary to prevent Russian infiltration, while critics are saying that the Ukrainian president has launched a power grab designed to prevent independent investigation of alleged corruption against people close to him.
Jenny Mathers says these protests, which involve people from all political shades, including people who have fought in the defence of Ukraine since 2022, some with visible injuries, represents a fracture of the “informal agreement between the government and society to show a united front to the world while the war continues”.
Ukrainians protest after Zelensky signs law clamping down on anticorruption agencies.
It’s not as if Zelensky is in clear and present danger of losing his job. His party holds a majority of seats in the Ukrainian parliament, so he governs without having to depend on coalition partners. And the country’s constitution prohibits the holding of elections in wartime – whatever Putin, who regularly insists that Zelensky is an illegitimate leader because he is governing past his term limit, might think. Plus his approval rating sits at 65%.
Zelensky has been quick to soften his stance on this. Mathers says that political corruption is a very sore point in Ukraine, where there was decades of it until the Maidan protests of 2013-14 unseated the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. As she writes here, “the ‘Revolution of Dignity’ that rejected Yanukovych’s leadership and his policies was also a resounding demonstration of the strength of Ukraine’s civil society and its determination to hold its elected officials to account. Zelensky would be rash not to heed that.
He also knows it’s important for him to present a squeaky clean image to his supporters in the west. So while the protests may not present an immediate threat to his own position, he knows that unless he acts to root out corruption in Ukraine, it’ll be a threat to the future of the country itself.
But ethicist Marcel Vondermassen from the University of Tübingen believes another recent decision by the Ukrainian government is storing up trouble for the future. Ukraine has recently announced its decision to pull out of the Ottawa convention, the treaty that forbids the use of anti-personnel landmines.
In doing so, he’s following the example of Finland, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia which have all also quite the treaty in recent months for fear of Russian aggression.
But as Vondermassen points out, landmines don’t usually switch themselves off when a conflict ends and people are still being killed an maimed in former conflict zones around the world. Often it is farmers at work or children at play who are the victims. If other ways to protect countries from aggression aren’t pursued, as he puts it, in future decades we’ll still be “counting thousands of child casualties … from the landmines laid in the 2020s”.
Thailand-Cambodia: centuries-old dispute flares again
A dispute between the two south-east Asian countries that has been simmering since May flared into life yesterday when five Thai soldiers patrolling the border region were injured after stepping on a landmine – the second such incident in the past week. Both countries have sealed their border and there have been tit-for-tat ambassadorial expulsions.
Cambodia fired rockets and artillery into Thailand, killing 12 civilians. Thailand in turn has launched airstrikes against Cambodia. Both countries are blaming the other for starting it.
Petra Alderman, an expert in south-east Asian politics from London School of Economics and Political Science, traces the origins of this row, which go back to the colonial era in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Travis Van Isacker, Senior Research Associate, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol
On a cold, wet November evening, Issa Mohamed Omar and more than 30 other men, women and children set off from their informal camp near the northern French port city of Dunkirk. They walked through the darkness in near-silence for around two hours, until they reached the beach from where they hoped to start a new and better life.
As they arrived, five men were busy pumping up an inflatable dinghy and attaching an outboard engine. These people smugglers had charged each of their customers more than a thousand euros for a trip that costs someone with the right passport less than a hundred.
The travellers were given life-vests, arranged into rows and counted. “There are 33 of you,” one of the smugglers said. For many on board, this was not their first attempt at reaching England.
Most came from Iraqi Kurdistan, including Kazhal Ahmed Khidir Al-Jammoor from Erbil, who was travelling with her three children: Hadiya, Mubin and Hasti Rizghar Hussein, respectively aged 22, 16 and seven.
A father and son from Egypt were shown how the engine worked and provided a GPS device and directions to Dover, around 35 miles (60km) to the west across the Channel. Mohamed Omar would later recall:
The Egyptian man was put in charge of steering the boat by the smugglers. He was travelling with his son, who looked like he was in his late teens or maybe early 20s. I do not know how they came to be the driver and navigator.
There were also at least three Ethiopian nationals – one of whom, father-of-two Fikiru Shiferaw from Addis Ababa, sent his wife Emebet at home in Ethiopia a final WhatsApp voice message:
We have already boarded the boat. We are on the way. I will turn off my phone now. Goodnight, I will call you tomorrow morning.
These were the last words she would ever receive from her husband.
What happened to Fikiru Shiferaw and the other passengers on the night of November 23-24 2021 has been the subject of the UK’s Cranston Inquiry which, during March 2025, heard from 22 witnesses to the disaster, including officers involved in the UK’s search-and-rescue (SAR) response. Chaired by former High Court judge Sir Ross Cranston, the independent inquiry also heard from Mohamed Omar from Somalia – one of only two survivors – as well as family members of many of the dead and missing.
These hearings not only shed light on the actions of UK Border Force and His Majesty’s Coastguard officers during the failed rescue operation – designated Incident Charlie – in the early hours of November 24, but the agencies’ approach to “small boat crossings” in general dating back to 2017.
According to the testimonies, officers had been operating under extreme pressure in the months leading up to the disaster. Kevin Toy, master of the Border Force ship Valiant which was sent out to search for the missing dinghy that night, explained that in the run-up to the incident, “night after night” he could see his crew were “utterly exhausted” by the end of their shifts.
The evidence shows the British government was aware of the growing risk that Border Force and HM Coastguard could be overwhelmed by the rising number of small boat crossings – and that people might die as a result. In May 2020, a document produced by the Department for Transport acknowledged that “SAR resources can be overwhelmed if current incident numbers persist”. At least three senior HM Coastguard officers identified the same risk in August 2021.
Multiple communication failures have also been exposed by the inquiry – among British officers, with their opposite numbers in France, and between both countries’ emergency services and the increasingly desperate people aboard the sinking dinghy.
Despite numerous distress calls and GPS coordinates being shared via WhatsApp, a rescue boat failed to reach the travellers in time. Amid the confusion, when their calls stopped, the coastguard assumed Charlie’s passengers had been picked up and were safe. In fact, they were perishing in the cold waters of the Channel over more than ten hours.
The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.
As part of my research into the digital transformation of the UK-France border, I attended the inquiry and have studied the many statements, call transcripts, operational logs, emails and meeting minutes it has made public. Initially, I wanted to understand how the November 2021 disaster became a watershed moment in the UK government’s response to people trying to cross the Channel by small boat or dinghy, catalysing the transformation of the UK’s maritime border into the hyper-surveilled space it is today.
But, after speaking to representatives for Mohamed Omar and the bereaved families as well as migrant rights organisations, larger questions have emerged. In particular, given the inquiry’s singular focus on this one catastrophic event in November 2021, those I spoke to are concerned that its recommendations will be unable to prevent further deaths from occurring in the Channel, which have risen dramatically over the last 18 months.
How ‘small boat crossings’ began
Since the UK and France began operating “juxtaposed” border controls in the early 1990s (meaning border checks occur before departure), asylum seekers trying to reach England have had to make irregular journeys across the Channel. Until 2018, these were typically aboard trains and ferries – after sneaking on to a lorry or through a French port’s perimeter security.
At the time of the “Jungle” camp near Calais in 2015-16, media coverage of collective attempts by its residents to enter French ports spiked UK government investment in the border. Between 2014 and 2018, it gave its French counterpart at least £123 million to “strengthen the border and maintain juxtaposed controls”. These funds paid for French police to patrol the ports and border cities, regularly evict migrants’ living sites, and finance detention and relocation centres.
As admitted by then-home secretary Sajid Javid in 2019, this increased security led people to find other ways across the Channel. Beginning in the winter of 2018, smugglers organised journeys in small, seaworthy vessels they had stolen from marinas along the French coast. These “small boats” continue to lend their name to this migration phenomenon – yet the unseaworthy inflatable dinghies used today, with no keel or rigid hull, are not worthy of the name.
Even in the context of the usual sensationalism surrounding irregular migration to the UK, small boat journeys were met with an especially intense response, both politically and in the media.
When 101 people crossed between Christmas and New Year in 2018, Javid declared it a major incident. Ever since, “stopping the boats” has been one of the UK government’s highest priorities. Despite small boat arrivals making up only 29% of UK asylum claimants in 2018-24, billions of pounds have been spent to try and control the route.
Frosty relations and the ‘pushback’ plan
As Channel crossings rose sharply over 2020-21, worsening relations between France and the UK due to Brexit complicated how the two governments worked together to respond. In his testimony, former clandestine Channel threat commander Dan O’Mahoney – appointed by Javid’s successor, Priti Patel, to “make small boat crossings unviable” – described relations between the two countries as already “very frosty” when he began in August 2020.
After France’s then-interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, axed a plan for UK vessels to take rescued migrants back to Dunkirk, O’Mahoney was tasked by senior ministers to come up with an alternative. The resulting “pushback” plan, called Operation Sommen, involved Border Force officers on jet skis driving into migrant dinghies to turn them back as they crossed the border line into UK waters. When France learned of the plan, O’Mahoney recalled:
They thought it went counter to their and our obligations around safety of life at sea … They objected to it very strongly, and it affected our already quite strained relationship with them further.
Operation Sommen was abandoned in April 2022 before having ever been used in anger. However, preparations were said to have taken up “a very considerable amount of time and resource” at both the Home Office and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency – and had “a detrimental effect” on the UK’s overall SAR response to small boat crossings.
At a meeting of senior officials in June 2021 to discuss Operation Sommen, ministers had made clear that the “numbers of people crossing [was] a political problem” – and that improving SAR capabilities did not “fit with [the] narrative of taking back control of borders”.
Although senior HM Coastguard officers recognised “it is extremely difficult to locate small boats or communicate with those onboard”, the inquiry heard that officers did not recall receiving “any small boat training before November 2021”, other than in the procedure to allow Border Force to push them back to French waters.
The head of Border Force’s Maritime Command, Stephen Whitton, told the inquiry he was under “a huge amount of pressure” to prevent small boat crossings, while also “providing the bulk of the support to search and rescue”. Despite carrying out 90% of all small boat rescues in the Channel and “regularly being overwhelmed”, Border Force Maritime Command received “no additional assets to manage the search and rescue response” before November 2021.
‘The pressure we were under’
When the decision was taken for Border Force – a law enforcement rather than search-and-rescue organisation – to be the primary responders to small boat crossings in 2018, only around 100 people were crossing each month. Yet by the time of the disaster three years later, according to an internal Home Office document, the total for 2021 was “already more than 25,000”.
At the inquiry, O’Mahoney stated: “As 2021 went on, it became much clearer that … frankly, we just needed more [rescue] boats.” Whitton admitted that before the disaster, Border Force, HM Coastguard, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and other support organisations were all “on our knees in terms of the pressure we were under, and it was getting hugely challenging”.
The evidence shows this pressure was acutely felt inside Dover’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, which sits atop the port’s famous white cliffs offering a commanding view of the Channel. Inside, Coastguard officers coordinate SAR operations and control vessel traffic in the Dover Strait – one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
On the night of November 23-24, three coastguard officers were on search-and-rescue duty: team leader Neal Gibson, maritime operations officer Stuart Downs, and a trainee – unnamed by the inquiry – who was officially only present as an observer.
HM Coastguard’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Dover overlooking the Channel. Travis Van Isacker, CC BY-NC-SA
Staffing appears to have been a longstanding issue at the Dover coastguard station where, according to divisional commander Mike Bill, there was “poor retention of staff” and “experience and competence weren’t the best”. Only the day before the disaster, during a migrant red days meeting – convened when, due to good weather, the probability of Channel crossers is considered “highly likely” – chief coastguard Peter Mizen had warned that only having two qualified officers at Dover on nights “isn’t enough”.
Over recent months, as the station had become busier responding to small boat crossings and in the wake of an unsuccessful recruitment drive, staff were having to work flat-out throughout their shifts, and were being asked to come in on scheduled days off.
On the night of November 23-24, owing to staff shortages, team leader Gibson told the inquiry he had to cover traffic control duties for three hours from 10.30pm. This meant he was away from the SAR desk at 00.41am, when a message arrived from the national rescue coordination centre along the coast in Fareham, stating that the Coastguard’s scheduled surveillance aeroplanes would not be flying over the Channel that night due to fog.
The officers were told they would be “effectively blind” – and should not allow themselves “to be drawn into relaxing and expecting a normal migrant crossing night”. The message warned: “This has the potential to be very dangerous.”
‘Their boat – there’s nothing left’
According to Mohamed Omar, the sea was calm when he and the other passengers departed the French beach around 9pm UK time. Giving his evidence to the Cranston Inquiry from Paris – he still cannot travel to the UK – a ship approached them around an hour into their voyage:
They came up to us to see what we were doing, and shone a light on us. I remember seeing a French flag on the boat. It was a big boat and I am certain it was the French coastguard. I had heard from people I met in the camp in Dunkirk that this happened sometimes, and that the French boat would follow until you reached English waters.
In fact, Mohamed Omar said, the French ship left the travellers again after about an hour. Shortly after this, the problems began.
A French warship patrols the shore of Mardyck in northern France, close to where Charlie is thought to have departed. Travis Van Isacker, CC BY-NC-SA
Around 1am, seawater began entering the dinghy. By now, it was in the vicinity of the Sandettie lightvessel, around 20 miles north-east of Dover. At first, passengers managed to bail out the 13°C water – but soon the flooding became uncontrollable. The dinghy’s inflatable tube began losing pressure, and a couple of the Kurdish men used air pumps to try to keep it inflated. Others tried to prevent panic spreading among the passengers.
Many onboard began to make frantic calls for rescue. What were reported to be leaked transcripts of some of these calls were published by French newspaper Le Monde a year after the sinking. They showed the first distress call from the dinghy was received by the French coastguard at 12.48am. Speaking in English, the caller said there were 33 people on board a “broken” boat.
According to Le Monde, three minutes later, another call was transferred to the French maritime rescue coordination centre at Cap Gris-Nez by an emergency operator who reported: “Apparently their boat – there’s nothing left.” Following procedure, the French coastguard officer asked the caller to send a GPS position by WhatsApp so she could “send a rescue boat as soon as possible”. At 1.05am UK time, the GPS position arrived.
Rather than send a French boat, Le Monde reported that the officer phoned her counterparts in Dover to warn them a dinghy 0.6 nautical miles from the border line would soon be crossing into UK waters. On the other end of the line was the trainee officer, who was handling routine calls that night despite officially only being an observer.
After the call finished, according to Downs’s evidence to the inquiry, the trainee mistakenly told him the dinghy was thought to be “in good condition” – information he recorded in the log for Incident Charlie. This miscommunication may have affected the urgency of the UK’s SAR response, preventing HM Coastguard and Border Force from appreciating the severe distress the “broken” dinghy was in.
Just before 1am, the French coastguard had sent its migrant tracker spreadsheet, containing information on all small boat crossings that night, to HM Coastguard for the first time. It showed four migrant dinghies at sea – which Gris-Nez had been aware of “for many hours”, according to Gibson.
The issue of the French coastguard appearing to withhold information about active small boat crossings had been raised by HM Coastguard’s clandestine operations liaison officer during a July 2021 review. And earlier that very evening, Gibson told one of his colleagues:
Sometimes they just seem to keep it quiet. Like we’ll not get anything – then we’ll get a tracker at three in the morning with 15 incidents, and they go: ‘Mostly these are in your search-and-rescue region.’ Wonderful.
At 1.20am, Downs phoned Border Force Maritime Command in Portsmouth to request a Border Force vessel search for the dinghy Charlie. He provided the GPS position received from his French counterpart and the number of people onboard – but also the incorrect information that “they think it’s in good condition”.
Ten minutes later, the Valiant, Border Force’s 42-metre patrol ship stationed at Dover, was tasked to proceed towards the Sandettie lightvessel. At the same time, the first direct call to the Dover rescue coordination centre came in from Charlie. The distressed caller said they were “in the water” and that “everything [was] finished”.
Around 15 minutes later, at 1.48am, Gibson took a call from 16-year-old Mubin Rizghar Hussein, who spoke good English. Despite the noise and commotion, he managed to provide Gibson with a WhatsApp number – in order to share their GPS position. The transcript of this call records voices shouting in the background: “It’s finished. Finished. Brother, it’s finished.”
A ‘grave and imminent threat to life’
Gibson told the inquiry that after his call with Rizghar Hussein, he had a “gut feeling that this doesn’t feel quite as usual”. By “usual” he meant what was, according to maritime operations officer Downs, a commonly held belief at the Dover coastguard station that with “nine out of ten”“ callers from small boats: “It would generally be overstated that the boat … was sinking, people were drowning … Whatever was going on would be overstated.”
Acting on his gut feeling, at 2.27am Gibson took the unprecedented decision to broadcast a Mayday Relay – denoting a “grave and imminent threat to life”. By maritime law, this alert required other vessels to offer their assistance.
Gibson told the inquiry he did this to get the French warship Flamant to respond. He could see on his radar screen that Flamant was closest to Charlie’s position and was the best vessel to rescue the people if the dinghy really was sinking.
Why the Flamant did not respond is at the centre of an ongoing criminal investigation in France into two of the warship’s officers and five coastguards from Gris-Nez, for “non-assistance of persons in distress”. This investigation’s strict confidentiality obligation means the inquiry was unable to access any information from the French side about their operations that night.
At 2.01 and again at 2.14am, HM Coastguard had received new GPS positions via WhatsApp showing the dinghy to be more than a mile inside UK waters.
Valiant, having been tasked at 1.30am, only exited the port of Dover at 2.22am and would need at least another hour to reach the Sandettie. Despite this, no other vessel was sent to join the search. At 3.11am, when asked during a call by Border Force Maritime Command whether Charlie was “still a Mayday situation”, Gibson replied: “Well, they’ve told me it’s full of water.”
With a total of four small boats being shown in the Channel that night by the French tracker spreadsheet, Gibson suggested there could be as many as 110 people on board these dinghies – beyond Valiant’s capacity for taking on survivors. Nevertheless, Border Force and HM Coastguard opted to “wait and see what the numbers are, and whether Valiant can deal with that … We don’t want to call any other assets out just yet.”
In a call with Christopher Trubshaw, captain of the Coastguard rescue helicopter stationed at Lydd on the Kent coast, aviation tactical commander Dominic Golden explained that Border Force was “not prepared to bring in their crews who are pretty knackered” unless “we can convince them there are people in real danger”. He then asked Trubshaw to search the Channel for the small boats shown in the French tracker, as the surveillance aeroplanes had been unable to take off.
In her closing submission to the inquiry, Sonali Naik, a legal representative of the survivors and bereaved families, highlighted Golden’s “dismissive attitude” towards Charlie’s distress when he gave Trubshaw the reason for the request, which included the following:
As usual, the catalogue of phone calls is beginning to trickle in … You know, the classic ‘I am lost, I am sinking, my mother’s wheelchair is falling over the side’ etc. ‘Sharks with lasers surrounding boat’ and ‘we are all dying’ type of thing.
Nevertheless, Golden asked the helicopter crew to pack a liferaft. “I can’t imagine we’re going to need it but … potentially you get to play with one of your new toys.”
While Golden described his words as “unwise” or “flippant”, Naik said they were “more than that” – suggesting they revealed rescuers’ general perceptions of the occupants of small boats and the widely held scepticism towards their distress calls.
‘We are dying. Where is the boat?’
With the water inside rising fast and their dinghy collapsing, Charlie’s increasingly desperate passengers kept trying to get rescuers to appreciate how dire their situation was.
At 2.31am in the Dover rescue coordination centre, Gibson received a second call from Mubin Rizghar Hussein, who pleaded: “We are dying, where is the boat?”
Gibson replied: “The boat is on its way but it has to get …” only to be interrupted by Rizghar Hussein saying: “We all die. We all die.”
“I get that,” Gibson told the terrified teenager, “but unfortunately, you’re going to be patient and all stay together, because I can’t make the boat come any quicker.” He ended the call saying:
You need to stop making calls because every time you make a call, we think there’s another boat out there – and we don’t want to accidentally go chasing for another boat when it’s actually your boat we’re looking for.
Gibson broke down briefly when recounting this second call during his evidence to the inquiry, explaining:
If you don’t understand what’s fully going on and you’re getting ‘we’re all going to die’, it’s quite a distressing situation to find yourself in, sitting at the end of a phone – effectively helpless. You know where they are, you want to get a boat to them, and you can’t.
Call records also show that coastguards on both sides of the Channel passed responsibility for rescuing the sinking dinghy off to one another. According to Le Monde, during one call a passenger told the French coastguard officer he was “in the water” – to which she replied: “Yes, but you are in English waters.”
The transcript of the last call before Charlie capsized, made at 3.12am, reveals that Downs asked “where are you?” 17 times – despite the caller being unable to answer anything beyond “English waters”. The maritime operations officer finished by instructing the caller to hang up and dial 999: “If it won’t connect on 999, then you’re probably still in French waters.”
In her closing submission, Naik pointed to “discriminatory stereotypes and attitudes towards migrants on small boats which fatally affected the SAR response” for Charlie – as rescuers, in her words, “jumped to premature conclusions”. According to survivor Mohamed Omar:
Because we have been seen as refugees … that’s the reason why I believe the rescue, they did not come at all. We feel like we were … treated like animals.
Fatal assumptions
At 3.27am, Border Force’s ship Valiant arrived at Charlie’s last recorded GPS position (from 2.14am) – but found nothing. Its master, Kevin Toy, decided to head north-easterly towards the Sandettie lightvessel, the way the tide was flowing.
En route, Valiant spotted two other dinghies in the darkness using its night vision – one still making its way towards the English coast, the other stopped in the water. The stationary dinghy was in greater danger from the Channel’s shipping traffic, so Valiant went to it and began rescuing those onboard – radioing back that it had “engaged unlit migrant crafts stopped in the water” with approximately 40 people onboard.
In the Dover rescue coordination centre, Gibson assumed this dinghy could be Charlie and gave Mubin Rizghar Hussein’s name and telephone number so Valiant’s crew could verify whether he was on board. At 4.16am, Gibson himself tried calling the WhatsApp number that Rizghar Hussein had shared, but the call failed.
At 4.20am, Valiant completed its first rescue of the morning. Two more followed after the Coastguard helicopter spotted two other dinghies in the Sandettie area – but nobody in the water. A near-capacity Valiant then returned to Dover just after 8am with 98 survivors on board.
None of the three rescued dinghies matched the description of Charlie. All were in good condition, differently coloured, and with disparate numbers of people onboard – yet the misplaced assumption Charlie had been rescued persisted amid the night’s murky information environment. Gibson stated that, while he had soon received additional information matching Valiant’s first rescue to a different dinghy, he was still “fairly certain Charlie had been picked up”.
“Once Valiant had picked up these [three] boats,” he explained, “we no longer received calls from Charlie, and a call to a known phone number on Charlie failed.” As a result, neither Valiant nor the Coastguard helicopter were sent back out to continue searching for the stricken dinghy.
In fact, Gibson’s call to Rizghar Hussein’s WhatsApp number did not fail because Charlie’s passengers had been rescued – nor because they had thrown their phones into the sea when Border Force arrived. Rather, it was because the dinghy had capsized and everyone had fallen into the Channel’s freezing waters.
‘No one came to our rescue’
In harrowing evidence to the inquiry, Mohamed Omar explained how, as one side of the dinghy deflated, the passengers – “hysterical and crying” – panicked and moved to the opposite side. This shift in weight caused the dinghy to capsize:
The screaming when the boat tipped and people fell in the water was deafening. I have never heard anything as desperate as this. I was not thinking about whether we were going to be rescued any more; it was all about how to stay alive.
As the passengers were thrown into the water, the dinghy flipped on top of them. Mohamed Omar described having to swim out from underneath to catch a breath: “It was dark and I could not really see. It was extremely cold and the sea was rough.”
As he surfaced, he saw Halima Mohammed Shikh, a mother of three also from Somalia and travelling alone, struggling as she couldn’t swim. She screamed his name for help, and he tried to get her back to what was left of the dinghy – but couldn’t. “I think she was one of the first people to drown,” he told the inquiry.
Others managed to cling to the broken inflatable, hoping rescue was on its way – but “no one came to our rescue”. Pushed and pulled by the waves, some lost their grip and drifted away before dawn. Mohamed Omar recalled:
All night, I was holding on to what remained of the boat. In the morning, I could hear the people were screaming and everything. It’s something I cannot forget in my mind.
By the time the sun finally rose at 7.26am, he estimated that no more than 15 people were left clinging to the broken dinghy – adrift on the tide in a busy shipping lane:
I do not recall speaking with anyone in the water. Those who were alive were half-dead. There was nothing we could do any more. I could see bodies floating all around us in the water. I presume most people were either already dead or were unconscious.
Shortly afterwards, Mohamed Omar said he let go of the dinghy and began to swim, thinking to himself: “I am going to die [but] I don’t want to die here. At least if I die whilst swimming, I won’t feel it.”
He swam towards a boat he could see in the distance and, as he got closer, began to wave his life jacket for attention. A French woman, out fishing with her family, saw him and jumped in the water to save him.
As he finished telling his story, Mohamed Omar told the inquiry: “I’m a voice for those people who passed away.”
Bodies are found
Around 1pm on the afternoon of November 24, 12 hours after the first distress calls from Charlie, a French commercial fishing vessel began finding bodies in the sea nine miles north-west of Calais. But as the news came in, no one at HM Coastguard or Border Force appears to have made the connection with Incident Charlie.
Days later, when the accounts of Mohamed Omar’s fellow survivor, Mohammed Shekha Ahmad from Iraqi Kurdistan, and a relative of two of the deceased emerged, the Home Office refuted their claims that the dinghy had sunk in UK waters as “completely untrue”.
However, five days after the disaster, Gibson contacted the small boats tactical commander to share his concerns that the reported deaths could be from Charlie. He had read a news article in which “the survivor states a male called Mubin called the emergency services, which could possibly be the ‘Moomin’ [sic] I spoke to”.
On December 1, clandestine Channel threat commander O’Mahoney responded to a question from the UK’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, as to whether the migrants whose bodies had been found in French waters had made distress calls to the UK authorities. O’Mahoney told the committee:
We are looking into that. To manage your expectation, though, it may never be possible to say with absolute accuracy whether that boat was in UK waters [and] I cannot tell you with any certainty that the people on that particular boat called the UK authorities.
Thanks largely to their grieving families tireless pursuit of the truth, however, it is now possible to say definitively that Charlie had been in UK waters – and that a number of its passengers spoke to HM Coastguard officers.
It was only after these families raised concerns that the disaster had involved the UK authorities that the Department for Transport commissioned a safety investigation into the incident in January 2022. A lawyer for the bereaved families suggested to me that without the threat of legal action, the Department for Transport “would likely not have done anything” – despite this being Britain’s worst maritime disaster for decades. Meanwhile, according to inquiry evidence, the Home Office is understood not to have conducted an internal review or investigation into its role in the disaster.
After a frustrating two years of waiting for the survivors and bereaved families, the Marine Accidents Investigations Branch published its report – which both confirmed most of their accounts and substantiated their criticisms of the SAR response.
Soon afterwards, the Cranston Inquiry was announced. Despite no bodies having been recovered in UK waters, it has been run almost like an inquest. In his final report – to be published by the end of 2025 – Sir Ross Cranston has promised to “consider what lessons can be learned and, if appropriate, make recommendations to reduce the risk of a similar event occurring”.
A ‘crucial and unique opportunity’
HM Coastguard and Border Force officers have repeatedly told the inquiry how the UK’s approach to small boat search-and-rescue has changed since the November 2021 disaster. More officers have been hired, Border Force has contracted additional boats to conduct rescues, information sharing has improved, and cooperation with French colleagues is better. Today, there are significantly more rescue ships on both sides of the Channel which can intervene faster when dinghies come to be in distress, and have undoubtedly saved many lives.
There has also been massive investment in drones, aeroplanes and powerful shore-based cameras to reduce the risk that HM Coastguard loses “maritime domain awareness” again if some of its surveillance aircraft are unable to fly. New technology automatically translates coastguard officers’ messages into different languages and extracts live GPS locations and images from travellers’ mobile devices.
Such investments make it unlikely that another dinghy could be lost in the middle of the Channel after its passengers call for help, in the way Charlie so catastrophically was.
Nevertheless, people continue dying while attempting to cross the Channel – with 2024 having been by far the deadliest year yet. At least 69 people lost their lives, according to the Refugee Council. So far in 2025, 24 people are documented as dead or missing at the UK-France border by Calais Migrant Solidarity, amid a record number of attempted crossings for the first half of the year.
Some migrants’ rights NGOs have suggested the UK’s “stop the boats” policies, and European efforts to disrupt the supply chain of dinghies and other equipment used in crossings, has driven such deadly overcrowding.
But it is also unlikely that the circumstances surrounding more recent deaths in the Channel will ever be investigated as thoroughly as Incident Charlie, if at all. Lawyers for the bereaved families have therefore been keen to highlight the Cranston Inquiry’s “crucial and unique opportunity” not only to look back and offer answers about one of Britain’s worst maritime disasters in recent decades – but to look forwards and “prevent the further loss of life at sea”.
The survivors, families and migrants’ rights organisations who contributed their evidence thus hope the inquiry’s recommendations go beyond purely operational and administrative improvements to search-and-rescue, to address the fundamental role that UK, France and European border policies play in why more people are dying in the Channel, despite the improvements to search-and-rescue strategies and resources.
Above all, they ask why only some people are able to travel to the UK in comfort and safety while others must make the journey in precarious, overcrowded inflatable dinghies – and thus entrust their lives to the search-and-rescue services whose success can never be guaranteed. As Halima Mohammed Shikh’s cousin, Ali Areef, told the inquiry:
It makes me feel sick to think about crossing the Channel in a ferry where others including a member of my family lost their lives because there was no other way to cross. I will never take a ferry across the Channel again.
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Travis Van Isacker gratefully acknowledges the support of the Economic and Social Research Council
(UK) (Grant Ref: ES/W002639/1).
Societe Generale announces that it has carried out a capital decrease through the cancellation of treasury shares and successfully completed a capital increase as part of the 32nd Global Employee Share Ownership Programme.
Capital decrease through cancellation of treasury shares
On 10 July 2025, the Board of Directors, upon authorization of the Extraordinary General Meeting of 22 May 2024, decided to reduce Societe Generale’s share capital by cancellation of 22,667,515 treasury shares as of 24 July 2025, i.e. 2.8% of the share capital. These shares were repurchased from 10 February to 8 April 2025 included for the purpose of cancellation for an amount of EUR 872 million.
This amount of share buy-back and the amount of the resulting capital decrease have been determined by the Board of Directors in application of the distribution policy to shareholders for the 2024 financial year. This amount was also determined primarily to fully offset, for shareholders not participating in it, the dilutive impact of the capital increase of the 32nd Global Employee Share Ownership Programme.
Capital increase as part of the Global Employee Share Ownership Programme
On 24 July 2025, the Chief Executive Officer, upon authorization of the Extraordinary General Meeting of 22 May 2024, and delegation of the Board of Directors, noted the completion of the capital increase following the 2025 Global Employee Share Ownership Programme. The capital increase amounts to a total of EUR 269,310,884.40 and has resulted in the issuance of 7,531,065 new shares, i.e. 0.97% of the share capital after the share capital decrease carried out as a consequence of the previously mentioned share buy-back or 0.94% of the share capital prior to this decrease.
The positive impact of this capital increase on the CET1 ratio will be around 7 basis points and will be effective in the capital ratio at the end of Q3 25.
Approximately 51,000 Group employees and eligible retired former employees in 31 countries have subscribed to this transaction.
Employee share ownership is a collective programme at Societe Generale to involve employees in the development of the company and to enable them to benefit from long-term value creation.
New amount of share capital
Following these two transactions, the share capital of Societe Generale is EUR 981,475,408.75, divided into 785,180,327 shares with a nominal value of EUR 1.25 each.
Societe Generale is a top tier European Bank with around 119,000 employees serving more than 26 million clients in 62 countries across the world. We have been supporting the development of our economies for 160 years, providing our corporate, institutional, and individual clients with a wide array of value-added advisory and financial solutions. Our long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients, our cutting-edge expertise, our unique innovation, our ESG capabilities and leading franchises are part of our DNA and serve our most essential objective – to deliver sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders.
The Group runs three complementary sets of businesses, embedding ESG offerings for all its clients:
French Retail, Private Banking and Insurance, with leading retail bank SG and insurance franchise, premium private banking services, and the leading digital bank BoursoBank.
Global Banking and Investor Solutions, a top tier wholesale bank offering tailored-made solutions with distinctive global leadership in equity derivatives, structured finance and ESG.
Mobility, International Retail Banking and Financial Services, comprising well-established universal banks (in Czech Republic, Romania and several African countries), Ayvens (the new ALD I LeasePlan brand), a global player in sustainable mobility, as well as specialized financing activities.
Committed to building together with its clients a better and sustainable future, Societe Generale aims to be a leading partner in the environmental transition and sustainability overall. The Group is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe).
In case of doubt regarding the authenticity of this press release, please go to the end of the Group News page on societegenerale.com website where official Press Releases sent by Societe Generale can be certified using blockchain technology. A link will allow you to check the document’s legitimacy directly on the web page.
The State of Qatar has reiterated its rejection of the use of food and the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war, calling on the international community to compel Israel to allow the safe, sustained, and unobstructed entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, to be distributed by international humanitarian organizations.
This came in a statement delivered by HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani during the UN Security Council quarterly open debate on The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question (MEPQ), held at UN Headquarters in New York.
Her Excellency emphasized that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond description, amid widespread famine, the collapse of infrastructure and the healthcare system, the spread of disease, and a death toll surpassing 58,000, including nearly 18,000 children.
She affirmed the State of Qatar strong condemnation of Israel ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and residential areas, stressing that the forced displacement of Palestinians in any form constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
Her Excellency also stated that Qatar has made sincere efforts, in coordination with Egypt and the United States, to reach a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. She noted that past diplomatic efforts had yielded tangible results through previously reached agreements, and that current mediation efforts are ongoing to bridge the gap between the parties and secure an urgent agreement.
She further condemned the statements made by Israel Minister of Justice regarding the annexation of the West Bank, describing them as a continuation of illegal settlement policies and a flagrant violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 2334. She also denounced the approval of new settlement construction and the attacks carried out by settlers as part of an ongoing series of crimes against the unarmed Palestinian population. She called for urgent international action to protect civilians and to ensure accountability for those responsible.
Her Excellency conveyed Qatar condemnation of attempts by the Israeli occupation to alter the religious and historical status of holy sites, including the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli officials and settlers, the closure of the Jerusalem Fund, and the transfer of authority over Al Ibrahimi Mosque to a Jewish religious council.
She said Qatar warned of the risks of regional spillover due to the conflict and condemned Israel attacks on Syria, reaffirming its support for the Syrian Arab Republic sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, and the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people for stability and development.
She also reaffirmed the State of Qatar’s principled and unwavering support for Lebanon, its unity and territorial integrity, and called for the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from all Lebanese territory, urging all parties to uphold the ceasefire agreement.
Her Excellency expressed the State of Qatar welcome of the upcoming United Nations High-Level International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution to be co-chaired next week by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French Republic. Qatar hopes the conference will yield tangible results and clear international commitments, serving as a foundational step toward full UN membership for the State of Palestine.
Her Excellency concluded by reaffirming Qatar principled and consistent stance in support of a just and sustainable solution to the Palestinian issue, based on international legitimacy and ensuring the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. She stressed that Qatar will spare no effort in facilitating and supporting efforts toward achieving this goal.
Second Quarter and First Half 2025 financial report available
Paris, July 24, 2025 – Lectra informs its shareholders, in compliance with Article 221-4-IV of the General Regulation of the Autorité des marchés financiers, that the Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the Second Quarter and First Half of 2025 is available on the company’s website: www.lectra.com
It is also available, upon request, at the company’s headquarters 16-18 rue Chalgrin, 75016 Paris (email: investor.relations@lectra.com ).
Copy of this document was filed with the AMF.
About Lectra :
At the forefront of innovation since its founding in 1973, Lectra provides industrial intelligence technology solutions—combining software in SaaS mode, cutting equipment, data, and associated services—to players in the fashion, automotive and furniture industries. With boldness and passion, Lectra accelerates the transformation and success of its customers in a world in perpetual motion thanks to the key technologies of Industry 4.0: AI, big data, cloud and the Internet of Things.
The Group is present in more than one hundred countries. It operates three production sites for its cutting equipment, located in France, China and the United States. Lectra’s 3,000 employees are driven by three core values: being open-minded thinkers, trusted partners and passionate innovators. They all share the same concern for social responsibility, which is one of the pillars of Lectra’s strategy to ensure its sustainable growth and that of its customers.
Lectra reported revenues of €527 million in 2024, including €77 million coming from its SaaS offerings. The company is listed on Euronext, and is included in the CAC All Shares, CAC Technology, EN Tech Leaders and ENT PEA-PME 150 indices.
Lectra – World Headquarters et siège social : 16–18, rue Chalgrin • 75016 Paris • France Tél. +33 (0)1 53 64 42 00 – lectra.com Société anonyme au capital de 37 966 274 €. RCS Paris B 300 702 305
Volta Finance Limited (VTA / VTAS) June 2025 monthly report
NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION, OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES
Guernsey, July 24, 2025
AXA IM has published the Volta Finance Limited (the “Company” or “Volta Finance” or “Volta”) monthly report for June 2025. The full report is attached to this release and will be available on Volta’s websiteshortly (www.voltafinance.com).
Performance and Portfolio Activity
Dear Investors,
In June, Volta Finance achieved a net performance of +0.4% bringing the cumulative performance from August 2024 to date to +11.2%. Both the CLO Debt and CLO Equity assets of the Volta Finance portfolio delivered positive returns, in the context of a positive momentum across credit markets after the volatility induced by tariffs.
June marked a return to a “risk on” environment, with strong gains in U.S. equity markets amid significant weakening of the US Dollar. This shift was fuelled by easing trade tensions and moderating inflation. Despite inflation levels being close to target, the Fed decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25%-4.50% during their June meeting while elaborating on the unpredictable effects of Trump’s tariffs. In Europe, sentiment was mixed, with major indices ending the month flat. The ECB cut rates by 25 basis points while Christine Lagarde signalled a likely pause in future rate cuts. This easing comes as the eurozone inflation has returned to the central bank’s target of 2%.
However, significant uncertainties still loom as we enter summer. Only a handful of countries reached agreements with their U.S. counterparts and the approaching deadline could trigger further disruptions notably in supply chains. The sudden escalation of the Iran/Israel situation, culminating in the U.S. bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities, also raised concerns regarding the stability of the region and added disruptions to oil supplies. This led to a spike in crude oil prices and increased interest in traditional safe-haven assets although they retraced by the end of the month due to a temporary resolution of the conflict.
Credit markets shrugged those worries off and hedged close to the tightest levels experienced over the last year. For instance, the European High Yield index (Xover) settled at 283bps (from 300bps), close to the 280bps resistance level. On the Loan side, Euro Loans closed roughly unchanged at 97.70px (Morningstar European Leveraged Loan Index) while US Loans closed c. 40c up at 97.00px. Primary CLO levels moved sideways across all rated tranches, providing stability and the right environment for CLO formation. In terms of performance, US High Yield returned +1.9% over the month while Euro Loans were up +0.13% and US Loans +0.80%.
The median CCC assets exposure in CLO portfolios remained stable at 4.5% in the US, slightly above the exposure of European CLOs to CCCs (4.1%). Loan maturity walls continued to transition towards 2030 and beyond, with the next significant refinancing deadlines in 2028 and 2031 in the US, while loan recoveries remained significantly higher than bonds at approximately 62% vs 48%.
In terms of activity, the month was particularly busy as we faced some CLO debt redemptions (€4.8m) and actively replaced risk to maintain overall risk exposure unchanged. We purchased BB (600bps context), single-B (up to 900bps) and Equity risk from both the Primary and Secondary markets. Cash stood at 11% at the end of the month. Volta Finance’s cashflow generation was slightly up at €28.3m equivalent in interests and coupons over the last six months, representing close to 21% of June’s NAV on an annualized basis.
Over the month, Volta’s CLO Equity tranches returned +1.6%** while CLO Debt tranches returned +1.0% performance**. The EUR/USD move to 1.18 had an impact on our long dollar exposure in terms of performance (0.4%).
As of end of June 2025, Volta’s NAV was €273.0m, i.e. €7.46 per share.
*It should be noted that approximately 0.14% of Volta’s GAV comprises investments for which the relevant NAVs as at the month-end date are normally available only after Volta’s NAV has already been published. Volta’s policy is to publish its NAV on as timely a basis as possible to provide shareholders with Volta’s appropriately up-to-date NAV information. Consequently, such investments are valued using the most recently available NAV for each fund or quoted price for such subordinated notes. The most recently available fund NAV or quoted price was 0.07% as at 30 May 2025, 0.07% as at 31 March 2025.
** “performances” of asset classes are calculated as the Dietz-performance of the assets in each bucket, taking into account the Mark-to-Market of the assets at period ends, payments received from the assets over the period, and ignoring changes in cross-currency rates. Nevertheless, some residual currency effects could impact the aggregate value of the portfolio when aggregating each bucket.
CONTACTS
For the Investment Manager AXA Investment Managers Paris François Touati francois.touati@axa-im.com +33 (0) 1 44 45 80 22
Corporate Broker Cavendish Securities plc Andrew Worne Daniel Balabanoff +44 (0) 20 7397 8900
***** ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED
Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market for listed securities. Volta’s home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands.
Volta’s Investment objectives are to preserve its capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its Shareholders through dividends that it expects to distribute on a quarterly basis. The Company currently seeks to achieve its investment objectives by pursuing exposure predominantly to CLO’s and similar asset classes. A more diversified investment strategy across structured finance assets may be pursued opportunistically. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets.
*****
ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the BNP Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 2,800 professionals and €859 billion in assets under management as of the end of June 2024.
*****
This press release is published by AXA Investment Managers Paris (“AXA IM”), in its capacity as alternative investment fund manager (within the meaning of Directive 2011/61/EU, the “AIFM Directive”) of Volta Finance Limited (the “Volta Finance”) whose portfolio is managed by AXA IM.
This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer for sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are “U.S. persons” for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or otherwise in circumstances where such offer would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration from the Securities Act. Volta Finance does not intend to register any portion of the offer of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States.
*****
This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.
***** This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be, “forward-looking statements”. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “believes”, “anticipated”, “expects”, “intends”, “is/are expected”, “may”, “will” or “should”. They include the statements regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and its impact on the long-term return of Volta Finance’s investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance’s actual results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. AXA IM does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements.
Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved.
The figures provided that relate to past months or years and past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance or construed as a reliable indicator as to future performance. Throughout this review, the citation of specific trades or strategies is intended to illustrate some of the investment methodologies and philosophies of Volta Finance, as implemented by AXA IM. The historical success or AXA IM’s belief in the future success, of any of these trades or strategies is not indicative of, and has no bearing on, future results.
The valuation of financial assets can vary significantly from the prices that the AXA IM could obtain if it sought to liquidate the positions on behalf of the Volta Finance due to market conditions and general economic environment. Such valuations do not constitute a fairness or similar opinion and should not be regarded as such.
Editor: AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS PARIS, a company incorporated under the laws of France, having its registered office located at Tour Majunga, 6, Place de la Pyramide – 92800 Puteaux. AXA IMP is authorized by theAutorité des Marchés Financiersunder registration number GP92008 as an alternative investment fund manager within the meaning of the AIFM Directive.
Volta Finance Limited (VTA / VTAS) June 2025 monthly report
NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION, OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES
Guernsey, July 24, 2025
AXA IM has published the Volta Finance Limited (the “Company” or “Volta Finance” or “Volta”) monthly report for June 2025. The full report is attached to this release and will be available on Volta’s websiteshortly (www.voltafinance.com).
Performance and Portfolio Activity
Dear Investors,
In June, Volta Finance achieved a net performance of +0.4% bringing the cumulative performance from August 2024 to date to +11.2%. Both the CLO Debt and CLO Equity assets of the Volta Finance portfolio delivered positive returns, in the context of a positive momentum across credit markets after the volatility induced by tariffs.
June marked a return to a “risk on” environment, with strong gains in U.S. equity markets amid significant weakening of the US Dollar. This shift was fuelled by easing trade tensions and moderating inflation. Despite inflation levels being close to target, the Fed decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25%-4.50% during their June meeting while elaborating on the unpredictable effects of Trump’s tariffs. In Europe, sentiment was mixed, with major indices ending the month flat. The ECB cut rates by 25 basis points while Christine Lagarde signalled a likely pause in future rate cuts. This easing comes as the eurozone inflation has returned to the central bank’s target of 2%.
However, significant uncertainties still loom as we enter summer. Only a handful of countries reached agreements with their U.S. counterparts and the approaching deadline could trigger further disruptions notably in supply chains. The sudden escalation of the Iran/Israel situation, culminating in the U.S. bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities, also raised concerns regarding the stability of the region and added disruptions to oil supplies. This led to a spike in crude oil prices and increased interest in traditional safe-haven assets although they retraced by the end of the month due to a temporary resolution of the conflict.
Credit markets shrugged those worries off and hedged close to the tightest levels experienced over the last year. For instance, the European High Yield index (Xover) settled at 283bps (from 300bps), close to the 280bps resistance level. On the Loan side, Euro Loans closed roughly unchanged at 97.70px (Morningstar European Leveraged Loan Index) while US Loans closed c. 40c up at 97.00px. Primary CLO levels moved sideways across all rated tranches, providing stability and the right environment for CLO formation. In terms of performance, US High Yield returned +1.9% over the month while Euro Loans were up +0.13% and US Loans +0.80%.
The median CCC assets exposure in CLO portfolios remained stable at 4.5% in the US, slightly above the exposure of European CLOs to CCCs (4.1%). Loan maturity walls continued to transition towards 2030 and beyond, with the next significant refinancing deadlines in 2028 and 2031 in the US, while loan recoveries remained significantly higher than bonds at approximately 62% vs 48%.
In terms of activity, the month was particularly busy as we faced some CLO debt redemptions (€4.8m) and actively replaced risk to maintain overall risk exposure unchanged. We purchased BB (600bps context), single-B (up to 900bps) and Equity risk from both the Primary and Secondary markets. Cash stood at 11% at the end of the month. Volta Finance’s cashflow generation was slightly up at €28.3m equivalent in interests and coupons over the last six months, representing close to 21% of June’s NAV on an annualized basis.
Over the month, Volta’s CLO Equity tranches returned +1.6%** while CLO Debt tranches returned +1.0% performance**. The EUR/USD move to 1.18 had an impact on our long dollar exposure in terms of performance (0.4%).
As of end of June 2025, Volta’s NAV was €273.0m, i.e. €7.46 per share.
*It should be noted that approximately 0.14% of Volta’s GAV comprises investments for which the relevant NAVs as at the month-end date are normally available only after Volta’s NAV has already been published. Volta’s policy is to publish its NAV on as timely a basis as possible to provide shareholders with Volta’s appropriately up-to-date NAV information. Consequently, such investments are valued using the most recently available NAV for each fund or quoted price for such subordinated notes. The most recently available fund NAV or quoted price was 0.07% as at 30 May 2025, 0.07% as at 31 March 2025.
** “performances” of asset classes are calculated as the Dietz-performance of the assets in each bucket, taking into account the Mark-to-Market of the assets at period ends, payments received from the assets over the period, and ignoring changes in cross-currency rates. Nevertheless, some residual currency effects could impact the aggregate value of the portfolio when aggregating each bucket.
CONTACTS
For the Investment Manager AXA Investment Managers Paris François Touati francois.touati@axa-im.com +33 (0) 1 44 45 80 22
Corporate Broker Cavendish Securities plc Andrew Worne Daniel Balabanoff +44 (0) 20 7397 8900
***** ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED
Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market for listed securities. Volta’s home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands.
Volta’s Investment objectives are to preserve its capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its Shareholders through dividends that it expects to distribute on a quarterly basis. The Company currently seeks to achieve its investment objectives by pursuing exposure predominantly to CLO’s and similar asset classes. A more diversified investment strategy across structured finance assets may be pursued opportunistically. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets.
*****
ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the BNP Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 2,800 professionals and €859 billion in assets under management as of the end of June 2024.
*****
This press release is published by AXA Investment Managers Paris (“AXA IM”), in its capacity as alternative investment fund manager (within the meaning of Directive 2011/61/EU, the “AIFM Directive”) of Volta Finance Limited (the “Volta Finance”) whose portfolio is managed by AXA IM.
This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer for sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are “U.S. persons” for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or otherwise in circumstances where such offer would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration from the Securities Act. Volta Finance does not intend to register any portion of the offer of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States.
*****
This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.
***** This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be, “forward-looking statements”. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “believes”, “anticipated”, “expects”, “intends”, “is/are expected”, “may”, “will” or “should”. They include the statements regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and its impact on the long-term return of Volta Finance’s investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance’s actual results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. AXA IM does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements.
Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved.
The figures provided that relate to past months or years and past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance or construed as a reliable indicator as to future performance. Throughout this review, the citation of specific trades or strategies is intended to illustrate some of the investment methodologies and philosophies of Volta Finance, as implemented by AXA IM. The historical success or AXA IM’s belief in the future success, of any of these trades or strategies is not indicative of, and has no bearing on, future results.
The valuation of financial assets can vary significantly from the prices that the AXA IM could obtain if it sought to liquidate the positions on behalf of the Volta Finance due to market conditions and general economic environment. Such valuations do not constitute a fairness or similar opinion and should not be regarded as such.
Editor: AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS PARIS, a company incorporated under the laws of France, having its registered office located at Tour Majunga, 6, Place de la Pyramide – 92800 Puteaux. AXA IMP is authorized by theAutorité des Marchés Financiersunder registration number GP92008 as an alternative investment fund manager within the meaning of the AIFM Directive.
First half 2025: stable revenues and limited decline in EBITDA in a context of increased volatility in Q2
Revenues: 261.3 million euros (stable)*
EBITDA before non-recurring items: 40.4 million euros (-4%)*
Annual objectives are no more relevant, in the absence of visibility
(*) At actual exchange rates
April 1 – June 30
January 1 – June 30
2025
2024
Variation 2025/2024
2025
2024
Variation 2025/2024
(in millions of euros)
Actual exchange rates
Like-for-like(1)
Actual exchange rates
Like-for-like(1)
Revenues
126.8
132.7
-4%
-2%
261.3
262.3
0%
-1%
ARR (2)(3)
–
–
–
–
90.9
88.9
+2%
+6%
EBITDA before non-recurring items (3)
19.2
21.2
-9%
-3%
40.4
42.2
-4%
-4%
EBITDA margin before non-recurring items
15.2%
15.9%
-0.7 point
-0.2 point
15.4%
16.1%
-0.7 point
-0.7 point
Net income
5.3
4.4
20%
–
11.1
11.1
0%
–
Consolidated Shareholders’ Equity (2)
–
–
–
–
343.8
374.4
–
–
Net cash (+) / Net debt (-) (2)
–
–
–
–
-34.1
-20.6
–
–
(1) At constant exchange rates and comparable scope (2) As of June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024 (3) The definition of performance indicators is included in the Financial report as of 30 June 2025
Paris, July 24, 2025. Today, Lectra’s Board of Directors, chaired by Daniel Harari, reviewed the consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2025, which have been subject to a limited review by the Statutory Auditors.
A PARADIGM SHIFT AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL
The deterioration in the global economic situation since early March continued throughout the second quarter, extending to all geographical areas and all sectors of activity. The US tariff announcements on April 2 came as a shock that increased the uncertainty weighing on the business climate, particularly for the Group’s customers, who are highly exposed to international trade.
While the direct impact of these measures is limited for Lectra, the indirect impacts, linked to the reactions of the customers concerned, together with the lack of visibility, have led to a pause in their investment decisions. The Group’s customers — brands and subcontractors alike — must adapt to this new economic situation, whether in terms of pricing policy, production, investment or future strategy, and are waiting for negotiations to be concluded before choosing their options.
The 90-day suspension of reciprocal tariffs, announced on April 9 and due to end on July 9 was followed by further announcements. The frequent changes in the decisions of the US administration and the negotiations still underway have contributed to persistent uncertainty.
The direct impacts of tariffs remain limited, and are under control
European and Chinese exports to the United States account for less than 10% of Lectra’s sales. Starting in April, Lectra has taken several measures to deal with the new commercial situation: the Group has reflected the full impact of customs tariffs on price lists in the United States for equipment, consumables and parts and maintenance contracts. It also rerouted some shipments to Mexico to avoid customs formalities and removed several products from the Chinese and American catalogs.
Indirect impacts are characterized by high customer wait-and-see position
Lectra’s three strategic markets are highly exposed to tariffs.
Particularly in the fashion and automotive sectors, the United States’ dependence on imports is very strong. Whatever the outcome of the negotiations, the need to diversify sources of supply and their countries of origin seems clear and will require additional production capacities and relocations.
In the Group’s three strategic markets, the turbulence of the last few months represents medium- and long-term development opportunities for Lectra, irrespective of the tariff rates ultimately decided, and will necessarily lead to structural changes in the industrial landscape and supply chains.
2. Q2 2025
The slowdown that affected the Americas and Automotive from mid-March onwards spread to all geographies and sectors. Indeed, the successive announcements, then the shock of “Liberation Day” on April 2, have led to a strong wait-and-see attitude from customers. New systems orders were accordingly 27% lower in the second quarter.
Q2 2025 revenues were down 4% on an actual basis and 2% on a like-for-like basis, reflecting the continued slowdown that began in mid-March.
EBITDA before non-recurring items (€19.2 million) declined 3%, resulting in a recurring EBITDA margin before non-recurring items of 15.2%, down 0.7 percentage point on an actual basis (0.2 percentage point like-for-like).
Considering the amortization of intangible assets (€5.7 million), income from operations before non-recurring items was down 6% on a like-to-like basis, to €8.9 million. Net income reached €5.3 million, up 20% on an actual basis, driven by a reduction in tax expense.
3. FIRST HALF 2025
To facilitate analysis of the Group’s results, the financial statements are compared to those published in 2024 that consolidated Launchmetrics as of January 23 (“actual”) and, for the analysis of variations, to the 2024 Proforma statements that consolidate Launchmetrics as of January 1, expressed at 2024 exchange rates (like-for-like”). Proforma revenues and EBITDA increased by €2.5 million and €0.3 million respectively compared to the reported financial statements.
H1 2025 revenues amounted to €261.3 million, down 1%. This breaks down into €69.3 million in non-recurring revenues, down 7%, and €192.0 million in recurring revenues (73% of revenues), up 2%, including €43.6 million in revenues from SaaS subscription contracts (17% of revenues, +13%).
The ARR at June 30, 2025 was €90.9 million, up 6% on a like-for-like basis (+2% on an actual basis) compared to the level at the end of 2024, confirming the relevance of Lectra’s strategy.
In a context of declining revenues, the gross margin reached €190.0 million, up 1%, and the gross margin rate stood at 72.7%, up 1 point, thanks to the favorable sales mix and strengthened cost control.
EBITDA before non-recurring items reached €40.4 million, down 4%, with an EBITDA margin before non-recurring items of 15.4%, down 0.6 point.
Income from operations before non-recurring items amounted to €19.2 million, down 9%.
Net income, following a tax expense of 3.6 million euros, was stable at 11.1 million euros.
Free cash flow before non-recurring items remained high in the first half of 2025 at € 33.0 million, reflecting good management of the working capital requirement, which was negative by €41.6 million, benefiting from lower receivables and a further reduction in inventories.
As of June 30, 2025, the Group’s balance sheet remained very strong: shareholders’ equity stood at €343.8 million and net debt at €34.1 million after disbursement of the second tranche of Launchmetrics’ share capital (€20.5 million), the acquisition of Glengo Turkey (€1.7 million), and dividend payments (€15.2 million). Net debt consisted in financial debt of €94.6 million and cash of €60.6 million, reflecting the continued deleveraging of the company.
4. OUTLOOK
In the Annual Financial Report 2024 published February 12, 2025, Lectra reiterated its long-term vision, as well as the objectives of its 2023-2025 strategic roadmap. The Group then underlined, in a deteriorating environment, its resilient nature, the quality of its fundamentals, and the pursuit of its strategy with a focus on the development of its SaaS business.
Following the series of announcements on tariffs, the 2025 outlook had not been updated when the first quarter 2025 results were published on April 24, 2025.
At the end of the second quarter, there were still no signs of significant improvement that would point to an upturn in activity. The economic and political context remains uncertain and continues to lead to a strong wait-and-see attitude on the part of the Group’s customers. In this context, the annual objectives announced by the Group in February 2025 are no more relevant.
The Company remains attentive to the evolution of the situation and relies on its solid fundamentals, notably its low net debt and high free cash flow generation, to pursue its strategy.
The 2024 Annual Financial Report, as well as the Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations and the financial statements for H1 2025 are available on lectra.com. Q3 and the first nine months of 2025 earnings will be published on October 29, 2025 after market.
About Lectra
At the forefront of innovation since its founding in 1973, Lectra provides industrial intelligence technology solutions—combining software in SaaS mode, cutting equipment, data, and associated services—to players in the fashion, automotive and furniture industries. With boldness and passion, Lectra accelerates the transformation and success of its customers in a world in perpetual motion thanks to the key technologies of Industry 4.0: AI, big data, cloud and the internet of things.
The Group is present in more than one hundred countries. It operates three production sites for its cutting equipment, located in France, China and the United States. Lectra’s 3,000 employees are driven by three core values: being open-minded thinkers, trusted partners and passionate innovators. They all share the same concern for social responsibility, which is one of the pillars of Lectra’s strategy to ensure its sustainable growth and that of its customers.
Lectra reported revenues of €527 million in 2024, including €77 million coming from its SaaS offerings. The company is listed on Euronext, and is included in the CAC All Shares, CAC Technology, EN Tech Leaders and ENT PEA-PME 150 indices.
Lectra – World Headquarters et siège social: 16–18, rue Chalgrin • 75016 Paris • France Tel. +33 (0)1 53 64 42 00 – lectra.com A French Société Anonyme with capital of € 37,966,274. RCS Paris B 300 702 305
