LINCOLN, NE – Today, Governor Jim Pillen shared with members of the 109th Nebraska Legislature the headline he felt best summarized this session: Positive, lasting impact serves Nebraskans well. During his sine die, or end-of-session address, the Governor hit on multiple areas of achievement, including passage of the overwhelming majority of his own priority bills.
On two occasions during his speech, Gov. Pillen gave recognition to special guests in attendance. Members of the Nebraska State Patrol, friends of Trooper Kyle McAcy, were applauded for their service to the state. They were on scene the day Trooper McAcy died while assisting motorists in a snowstorm.
The second recognition was of WWII veteran Wayne Davy of Columbus. The former Marine was there to represent the many veterans who have been honored with special medallions as part of a program involving the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs (NDVA). Gov. Pillen has worked with the agency to present the medals to veterans, signifying the 80th anniversary since the end of the war.
Below are some of the legislative highlights from the 2025 session including those that align with his four priority areas – kids, taxes, agriculture and values:
Passage of one of the most historically conservative and fiscally responsible state budgets, accomplished by cutting wasteful spending and putting idle pillowcase money to work while also maintaining investments in education, property tax relief, and the safety of the state.
Gov. Pillen signed the following bills into law that protect our kids from online distractions and harm and to give parents more control over kids’ use of social media.
LB140 – Requires public school boards to adopt policies for restricting cell phone use bell to bell
LB383 – Creates the Parental Rights in Social Media Act, requiring parental consent for creation of social media accounts for minors and establishes criminal penalties for AI-generated child pornography
LB504 – As part of the Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act, online services are required to protect user data, implement design features that reduce harm resulting from compulsive use and it gives parents access to their child’s privacy and account settings
Gov. Pillen signed the following bill into law to review and recommend changes to Nebraska’s TEEOSA school funding formula to help keep property taxes under control.
LB303 – Creates the 18-member School Finance Review Commission, which will evaluate the current TEEOSA formula governing Nebraska school funding
LB261 – Increases property tax relief by $105 million in 2026 and $170 million in 2027
Gov. Pillen signed the following bills into law designed to grow agriculture and the economy.
LB246 – Bans lab-grown meat from being manufactured, distributed, or sold in Nebraska
LB317 – Merges the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources with the Nebraska Department of Environment & Energy to create the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and Environment
LB650 – Eliminates or adjusts sales tax exemptions and provides and changes sunset dates for a variety of tax incentives
LB526 – Preserves needed electrical service to homes, businesses and other Nebraska customers by establishing requirements for cryptocurrency mining operations
Gov. Pillen signed the following bills into law that defend conservative Nebraska values.
LB89 – The Stand With Women Act protects girls and women by prohibiting biological males from joining female sports teams
LB645 – Puts an additional $1,000 in teachers’ pockets annually, stabilizes contribution rates to the School Employees Retirement System and increases survivor benefits through the Nebraska State Patrol Retirement System
LB346 – “Cleans out the closets” by ending or reassigning the duties of over 40 different boards, commission, committees or councils
LB 644 – Creates the Foreign Adversary & Terrorist Agent Registration Act and the Crush Transnational Repression in Nebraska Act to establish registration and reporting requirements for certain foreign entities
In addition to the legislative achievements outlined above, Gov. Pillen made several new appointments to key state agencies including Department of Labor Commissioner Katie Thurber, Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent Bryan Waugh, and Department of Water, Energy and Environment Director Jesse Bradley.
For years, astronomers have predicted a dramatic fate for our galaxy: a head-on collision with Andromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbour. This merger – expected in about 5 billion years – has become a staple of astronomy documentaries, textbooks and popular science writing.
But in our new study published in Nature Astronomy, led by Till Sawala from the University of Helsinki, we find the Milky Way’s future might not be as certain previously assumed.
By carefully accounting for uncertainties in existing measurements, and including the gravitational influence of other nearby galaxies, we found there is only about a 50% chance the Milky Way and Andromeda will merge in the next 10 billion years.
Why did we think a collision was inevitable?
The idea that the Milky Way and Andromeda are on a collision course goes back more than a century. Astronomers discovered Andromeda is moving toward us by measuring its radial velocity – its motion along our line of sight – using a slight change in the colour of its light called the Doppler shift.
But galaxies also drift sideways across the sky, a movement known as proper motion or transverse velocity. This sideways motion is incredibly difficult to detect, especially for galaxies millions of light years away.
Earlier studies often assumed Andromeda’s transverse motion was small, making a future head-on collision seem almost certain.
What’s different in this study?
Our study did not have any new data. Instead, we took a fresh look at existing observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia mission.
Unlike earlier studies, our work incorporates the uncertainty in these measurements, rather than assuming their most likely values.
We simulated thousands of possible trajectories for the Milky Way and Andromeda trajectories, slightly varying the assumed initial conditions – things such as the speed and position of the two galaxies – each time.
When we started from the same assumptions the earlier studies made, we recovered the same results. However, we were also able to explore a larger range or possibilities.
We also included two additional galaxies that influence the future paths of the Milky Way and Andromeda: the Large Magellanic Cloud, a massive satellite galaxy currently falling into the Milky Way, and M33, also known as the Triangulum Galaxy, which orbits Andromeda.
The new study took into account the gravitational effect of the Triangulum Galaxy, which orbits Andromeda. ESO, CC BY
These companion galaxies exert gravitational tugs that change the motions of their hosts.
M33 nudges Andromeda slightly toward the Milky Way, increasing the chance of a merger. Meanwhile, the Large Magellanic Cloud shifts the Milky Way’s motion away from Andromeda, reducing the likelihood of a collision.
Taking all of this into account, we found that in about half of the simulated scenarios, the Milky Way and Andromeda do not merge at all within the next 10 billion years.
What happens if they do – or don’t – collide?
Even if a merger does happen, it’s unlikely to be catastrophic for Earth. Stars in galaxies are separated by enormous distances, so direct collisions are rare.
But over time, the galaxies would coalesce under gravity, forming a single, larger galaxy – probably an elliptical one, rather than the spirals we see today.
If the galaxies don’t merge, they may settle into a long, slow orbit around each other – close companions that never quite collide. It’s a gentler outcome, but it still reshapes our understanding of the Milky Way’s distant future.
Other galaxies show examples of three future scenarios for the Milky Way and Andromeda: galaxies passing in the night, a close encounter, a full collision and merger. NASA / ESA
What comes next?
The biggest remaining uncertainty is the transverse velocity of Andromeda. Even small changes in this sideways motion can make the difference between a merger and a near miss. Future measurements will help refine this value and bring us closer to a clearer answer.
We don’t yet have a definitive answer about our own galaxy’s future. But exploring these possibilities shows just how much we’re still learning about the universe – even close to home.
Ruby Wright receives funding from the Forrest Research Foundation.
Alexander Rawlings receives funding from the University of Helsinki Research Foundation and the European Research Council.
These changes will have huge impacts on coastal ecosystems around the world, including coral reefs. To understand these future impacts, it can be useful to understand similar events from history.
Our new research, published today in Nature Communications, does just that. It reveals how the Great Barrier Reef in northern Australia responded to a dramatic rise in sea level some 13,000 to 10,000 years ago.
A hotly debated event
Several “meltwater pulse events” have been documented in the past. These occur when ice sheets disintegrate in a catastrophic fashion, resulting in a rapid surge in global sea levels.
One of these events, known as “meltwater pulse 1B”, remains hotly debated. It occurred roughly 11,500 years ago.
Early evidence from reef cores in Barbados suggested a sharp sea-level rise of approximately 14 metres between 11,450 and 11,100 years ago, with rates of roughly 40 millimetres per year.
Remarkably, this rate is about ten times faster than the current global rise.
However, this record conflicts with others, including from Tahiti and now from the Great Barrier Reef, which suggests a more gradual rise in sea levels.
Learning from geological archives
Somewhat paradoxically shallow-water reef systems can “drown” because corals, and other reef organisms, depend on light for photosynthesis. If the water gets too deep too fast, the reef will no longer keep up with the rise and it will drown.
But drowning can also occur due to other factors, such as increased temperature, sediment and nutrients, which can also add extra environmental stress to the reef – again making it more difficult to grow vertically and keep up with sea level rise.
Cores gathered from drowned fossil coral reefs preserved along the continental shelf edge of the Great Barrier Reef contain crucial information about historic corals, coralline algae and microbial reef structures known as microbialites. They offer a unique geologic time machine to better understand how past periods of rapid global sea level rise affected reef growth.
These geological archives also provide important clues about how ice sheets behaved in response to rapid global warming.
In 2010, an expedition of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program used a geotechnical drill ship to sample below the seafloor and reconstruct the growth and demise of the Great Barrier Reef over the past roughly 30,000 years. Five distinct stages were identified in response to major global climatic and oceanographic disturbances.
In this new study, we focused on a key reef stage called Reef 4. It formed between 13,000 and 10,000 years ago, just prior to the start of the modern reef as we know it.
We refer to this reef as the “proto-Great Barrier Reef”. Once a shallow-water barrier reef system, it now exists in a fossilised form at roughly 50 metres water depth and is now the home to deeper reef communtites in the mesophotic zone 30 to 150 metres below the surface.
The RV Great Ship Maya was used to recover fossil reef samples from the Great Barrier Reef in 2010. G.Tulloch/European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
An impressive ability to keep pace
Our study shows the Great Barrier Reef didn’t drown during meltwater pulse 1B. In fact, it continued to thrive with clear evidence of healthy, shallow-water reef assemblages (living in waters less than ten metres deep) persisting right through the rise in sea levels.
The reef not only survived but continued to grow upwards at rates between 4–6 millimetres per year. This rate of growth is comparable to modern healthy reef growth rates, demonstrating an impressive ability to keep pace.
We also calculated that the maximum possible sea-level rise during meltwater pulse 1B was between 7.7 and 10.2 metres over roughly 350 years. This equates to between 23 and 30 millimetres per year, but was likely less.
This is less than the Barbados estimate, and more consistent with observations from Tahiti where no sharp sea-level jump was found.
Importantly, this indicates that even the upper sea level rise bounds are within the survival limits of resilient reef systems such as the Great Barrier Reef – especially when environmental stressors, such as ocean warming, ocean acidification and sedimentation are low.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee recently expressed utmost concern about the current state of the Great Barrier Reef. Darkydoors/Shutterstock
Limits to a reef’s resilience
Although the Great Barrier Reef survived sea level rise roughly 11,000 years ago, the world was very different back then.
Coral reefs faced less stress from human impacts. And ocean temperatures were rising more slowly.
But today’s reefs are already struggling, with UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee recently expressing “utmost concern” about the state of the Great Barrier Reef in particular.
This is due to warming, acidification and pollution. And these additional challenges decrease reefs’ ability to cope with rapid sea-level rise.
Our findings suggest abrupt sea-level jumps of more than 11 metres are unlikely to occur without major instabilities in ice sheets. The fact that such collapses likely didn’t happen during meltwater pulse 1B offers some reassurance. But we’re in uncharted territory now, particularly with the Antarctic ice sheet displaying early signs of instability.
Our study also shows the Great Barrier Reef has been remarkably resilient, adapting to changing sea levels and continuing to grow even as the ocean rose rapidly. This resilience, however, had limits. Ultimately, the reef we examined drowned roughly 10,000 years ago, likely due to a combination of environmental stressors, including increased sediment flux. At this time the shallow water reef ecosystem migrated landward to form the modern Great Barrier, leaving behind only deeper, mesophotic reef communities.
The lessons from the past are clear: reefs can adapt to environmental changes but there are limits.
Protecting modern reefs will require more than understanding their past. It means reducing emissions and limiting other environmental stresses such as sediment and nutrient runoff where possible.
Jody Webster receives funding from the Australian Research Council and ANZIC IODP.
Juan Carlos Braga receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Spanish Government.
Marc Humblet receives funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
Stewart Fallon receives funding from the Australian Research Council and ANZIC IODP.
Yusuke Yokoyama receives funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Japan Science and Technology Agency.
In Girl on Girl, journalist Sophie Gilbert crafts a compelling narrative about how movies, TV, celebrities and pop stars construct a culture that encourages women to internalise misogyny – and even rewards them for it. She traces how this manifests over time, from the 1990s to now, through the sexualisation of young girls in teen “sex” comedies, reality TV makeovers, the mainstreaming of pornography and more.
The book is a useful primer on how largely white, American-centric popular culture makes women’s exploitation commonplace.
It moves swiftly between examples, which could be confusing for readers unfamiliar with the different worlds inhabited by various figures. They include socialite and early reality star Paris Hilton; musician Amy Winehouse, who made headlines with her addiction challenges; and “riot grrrl” feminist rocker Kathleen Hanna.
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves – Sophie Gilbert (John Murray)
Girl on Girl does not necessarily break new ground. It does, however, bring together disparate strands of our cultural conversation, largely relying on existing research and cultural commentary. Western popular culture, it argues, provides women with a narrow set of ideals.
Gilbert’s book depicts popular culture as a vehicle for teaching women what kinds of behaviour are acceptable and desirable. These lessons are packaged in alluring parcels, like the Real Housewives, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Pamela Anderson. Gilbert cleverly draws a line from Madonna as provocateur to the hatred of women oozing from early 2000s rom-coms, the TikTok Trad Wives and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s failed presidential bids.
In the book’s early pages, Gilbert shows how Hanna’s punk slogan of “Girl Power” was “appropriated” by the Spice Girls (who she describes as “sexy women who behaved like toddlers at a wedding”) in 1996. In the process, “Girl Power” went from signalling a movement charged by anger at “diminishment and abuse”, to a feminism of individual empowerment that “made you want to immediately go shopping”. It was then “almost instantly appropriated by brands”.
Packaging empowerment
Popular culture may seem fluffy and inconsequential, but Gilbert emphatically connects it to the material consequences of misogyny. This includes the rolling back of abortion rights in the United States, the election of alt-right men who openly despise women and the normalisation of gendered harassment, violence and abuse.
Gilbert persuasively argues “popular culture is a strikingly predictive and transformative force with regard to the status of women and other historically marginalised groups”.
It’s not just that women are routinely degraded and dehumanised for entertainment. It’s that this cruel spectacle has been normalised over many decades – and has been packaged and sold as empowering and “good for women”.
Gilbert draws connections between the exploitation behind supermodel Kate Moss’s rise to prominence in the 1990s (she was bullied into posing for toplessphotographs), the ritualised humiliation of early 2000s reality TV and the 2010 publication of “crotch shots” of an 18-year-old Miley Cyrus. In doing so, she charts the varied ways popular media normalises women’s exploitation.
Her investigation complicates the seemingly effortless and empowering facade of these models of femininity. For instance, the stylist for Moss’ 1990 topless shoot for The Face magazine cover that launched her to fame remembers it as “fun” and “instinctual”, while decades later, Moss recalls crying when coerced into taking her top off.
She also remembers feeling “vulnerable and scared” during the 1992 topless Calvin Klein shoot with Mark Wahlberg. “I think they played on my vulnerability,” she said.
Girl on Girl effectively translates the ideas feminist scholars have been unpicking for decades. Its sustained and thoughtful engagement with these ideas is what distinguishes it from similar books of journalism on the gender politics of popular culture.
A common limitation of such books is the false assumption that these ideas are new. However, Gilbert weaves together Rosalind Gill’s postfeminism as a sensibility, Brenda Weber’s work on makeover TV and Kate Manne’s theorisation of misogyny with popular media examples.
In a chapter on the impossible expectations of contemporary femininity, Gilbert applies Gill’s concept of “midriff advertising”, or “low-slung hipster jeans and ten inches of tanned, taut stomach”, to 2000s “it-girl” Nicole Richie. She explains how she was variously shamed for being too fat and then too thin. This led, Gilbert writes:
to her elevation in status from Paris’s sassy sidekick to size-double-zero aughts fashion emblem, a frail, childlike figure whose accessories were so big they threatened to topple her.
Feminism: everywhere and nowhere
Gilbert’s book is not wholly negative. She also charts the rise (and often fall) of those who push back against the status quo.
In a chapter on “confessional auteurs”, she considers Girls creator Lena Dunham. In another, which considers extreme, violent sex in art, she looks at French filmmaker and novelist Catherine Breillat. In Breillat’s 1999 film, Romance, about a young woman “driven almost to madness” by her boyfriend’s refusal to have sex with her, Gilbert writes:
Breillat stages what she seems to understand as stereotypical male ideals – a woman desperate for sex, a woman bound and gagged – and renders them in ways that make them both psychologically explosive and wholly unsexy.
In the final chapter on “rewriting the path towards power”, she explores the impact of recent feminist-leaning TV, such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag and Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You.
Rather than ignoring feminism’s paradoxes and inconsistencies, Gilbert leans into how it is at once everywhere (in advertisements, behind Beyoncé at the VMAs, on t-shirts) and nowhere (rendered toothless, depoliticised, neoliberal).
Gilbert thoughtfully teases apart the contradictions and schisms in women’s culture (both popular and everyday) to consider the mixed messaging around sexuality, empowerment, femininity and success.
The challenge of interrogating influential celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift is that they tend to embody extreme versions of idealised femininity. Their bodies are at once an instrument of their work and a canvas, on which much is projected. Culturally, they uphold and promote very narrow ideas of heterosexual desirability, perfection and beauty.
Gilbert grapples with how the elevation of beauty as a defining feminine virtue results in fat shaming and fashion policing of everyday women. Discussing the Kardashian-Jenners, she writes:
Their constantly changing faces and bodies present the human form as a perfectible project ready to be molded and painted and tucked in any way that will encourage engagement and sell products.
It is hard to look at the increase in plastic surgery procedures and the prevalence of weight-loss medication usage and not blame celebrities, reality TV and social media influencers. But these women didn’t create this world, they just figured out how to succeed in it. Should we expect them to dismantle the system that empowers them?
Gilbert’s book zeroes in on how popular feminist thinking expects women to change, rather than systems. The responsibility for inequitable institutions – like unpaid parental leave, restricted reproductive healthcare and hostile work cultures – is moved onto individual women to solve. They are expected to bear the burden, rather than society being expected to invest in systemic change. For instance: paid parental leave, affordable accessible healthcare and employment quotas.
The effects are twofold, absolving institutional responsibility and inscribing narcissistic, individualistic ways of thinking.
Consuming our way to enlightenment
Girl on Girl circles around, but never directly takes on a crucial question: should we expect popular culture to do the work of feminism? Can we consume our way to equal pay, reproductive rights, freedom from violence and respect in the workplace? We are encouraged – by popular media itself – to think so.
This is particularly prominent across online media aimed at women. It views content through the lens of feminism and curates “feminist popular culture” as a recognisable category. This is used to tell us contemporary audiences can – and should – be feminist consumers.
The idea of consuming our way to enlightenment has been sold to us on multiple fronts. Yet feminism was never mainstream. From its early days to now, it has been a scrappy insurgency.
The prominence of “girl power” and “girl bosses” may have lulled us into a false sense of security, but conditions for women (globally and locally) still need improving.
Despite its limitations, we need feminism in media and everyday culture. Kristen Stewart recently reflected, on her directorial debut at Cannes: “having a female body is an overtly political act, if you can get out of bed in the morning and not hate yourself”.
Jessica Ford 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.
Imagine getting a positive pregnancy test and then – just a few days later – learning you’ll be prime minister. In hindsight, being willing and able to deal with the unexpected would become the hallmark of former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s political career.
She had always stood out as a leader, but her tumultuous political journey followed none of the predictable pathways. Readers of her memoir will relive what this was like, from her feelings about motherhood through to meeting world leaders.
Review: A Different Kind of Power – Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House)
The title of her book promises more than just that, however. Many people hope for a different kind of leader, but what personal qualities or strengths do such leaders need? More generally, can the personal qualities that contribute to great leadership be learned and applied by others?
The answer seems to be a qualified yes. Since leaving office, Ardern has become something of a global influencer. But as her career pivots towards celebrity appearances and international agencies, her memoir also serves as a leadership manifesto – especially for women, or aspirants of any gender, who suffer self-doubt.
The limits of empathy
In her formative years, working as an assistant to Labour leader Helen Clark, Ardern relates how she let political opponents get under her skin. Was she “too thin-skinned” for politics? She soon learned “you could be sensitive and survive”. Better still, she could use her sensitivity as a strength.
But “it is different for women in the public eye”, she writes. Derogatory terms were used against her, such as the “show pony” epithet coined by a senior woman journalist. There were questions about whether she had “substance”. These things could undermine people’s belief in her competence – perhaps even her own self-belief.
What she did about this is instructive. Lashing out at jibes and cartoon images would make her look “humourless and too sensitive”. The “trick” was to respond in a way that would “take the story nowhere”. She became adept at that, deflecting comments aimed at putting her down.
This also meant being a feminist but not using feminism as her ideological platform. Other than admonishing a TV presenter that it was “unacceptable” for him to ask whether a sitting prime minister could take maternity leave, she generally let others do the outrage and avoided becoming an even bigger target for culture warriors.
But A Different Kind of Power asks the question: different from what? Ardern’s political career has been a challenge, if not a rebuke, to leaders who indulge in egotistical, competitive, always-be-winning behaviour. Need one even mention Donald Trump?
Instead, Ardern offers kindness and empathy. The approach showed its true strength in the days following the terrorist atrocity in Christchurch in 2019. At a time when anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiments were growing, Ardern embraced the victims. “They are us”, she declared. Emotions that could have generated a cycle of blame were guided by her towards sharing of grief and aroha.
Like any political virtue, though, empathy has limitations: it touches those whose suffering commands our attention, but it is partial. Effective social policy also requires an impartial administration and redistribution of resources. Leaders must ensure public goods are delivered equitably to those in need, which calls for rational planning.
And sometimes a national emergency may call for actions that feel unfair or insensitive to some.
Pandemic politics
COVID-19 was that emergency. It created deep uncertainty for governments, and there was no “kind” pathway forward. The Ardern government did an exemplary job, saving many lives, and the Labour Party was rewarded at the 2020 election with an unprecedented 50% of the party vote. But Ardern’s retelling of that time is surprisingly brief, especially given her pivotal role.
She put herself daily at the centre of it all, patiently explaining the public health responses. During this battle with a virus, however, she couldn’t inoculate against the political consequences and shifts in public opinion.
As the pandemic wore on, many New Zealanders whose businesses had been shut down, who had been isolated in their homes, who had difficulty returning home from abroad or who’d been ostracised for not getting vaccinated, weren’t feeling much empathy or kindness from their government. And they felt they were being silenced. This sentiment grew far beyond the activists who had made themselves heard on parliament grounds in early 2022.
Ardern refused to meet with those protestors. “How could I send a message that if you disagree with something, you can illegally occupy the grounds of parliament and then have your demands met?”
But she (or a senior minister) could have heard their demands and explained why they couldn’t be met. Her refusal to listen left the field open to veteran populist Winston Peters, who exploited the opportunity, launching his campaign to return to parliament – in which he now sits and Ardern doesn’t.
While vaccine mandates were a key concern for protestors, it’s disappointing that, to this day, Ardern blames the dissenters, as if they were “not us” – kicked out of the “team of five million”. She attributes the dissent solely to their “mistrust”. Refusing to listen – not just to protestors, but to deeper shifts in public opinion – would cost Labour dearly.
Induced by the pandemic fiscal stimulus, inflation peaked at 7.3% in June 2022. By that time, two switches had occurred: the National Party was ahead in polls and a majority were saying the country was heading in the wrong direction. In January 2023, then, Ardern resigned as prime minister. She believed, probably correctly, that it would be “good for my party and perhaps it would be good for the election”.
Power and parenthood: Jacinda Ardern with her partner Clarke Gayford and their baby daughter, 2018. Getty Images
The toll of leadership
But she also reveals in her memoir that a cancer scare influenced the decision – a false alarm, but a sign perhaps that the job was taking its toll. Her leaving could “take the heat out of the politics”, she reasoned. And anyway, she was tired, stressed and losing her patience.
The leadership change to Chris Hipkins – and a devastating cyclone – boosted Labour’s polling for a while. But their 1,443,545 party votes in 2020 fell to 767,540 in the October 2023 election.
Hundreds of thousands of voters had turned their backs on the Labour Party, and the COVID response wasn’t solely to blame. There were also controversial or failed policies – such as restructuring water services, a proposed unemployment insurance scheme, and Māori co-governance initiatives – that were ruthlessly exploited by the political opposition. These were all initiated under Ardern, although unmentioned in her memoir.
Her book is more about subjective self-doubt and empathy. She doesn’t critically examine her own policies. Nor does she express empathy for those who felt disadvantaged or excluded by them – granting as always that emergency measures had been necessary. And, as she heads further into an international career, there’s no expression of empathy for those who now need it most, be they children in Gaza or refugees in South Sudan.
It’s disappointing Ardern doesn’t define key words: empathy, leadership or power, for example. There are different ways to understand them, and definitions carry assumptions. But she’s not addressing academics or political analysts. Her audience is primarily American – a much larger and more lucrative market than her home country. With the Democrats struggling to find direction and leadership after last year’s losses, Ardern – who poses no threat to anyone’s political ambitions there – offers some inspiration.
Some may fault it for avoiding those harder questions about her time at the top, but Ardern’s memoir interweaves an authentically retold personal story with high political drama. It tells of one woman’s struggle with morning sickness, childbirth, breastfeeding and motherhood, even while taking on extraordinary public responsibilities and media exposure. It’s still amazing how she managed to do all that.
I was a personal acquaintance of Jacinda, when she was a list MP in Auckland Central.
Southeast Asia is embracing a digital revolution. With the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence, e-commerce, and cloud computing, the region is now home to some of the most ambitious data centre developments in the world.
But while digital technology is transforming Southeast Asia’s economy, ASEAN’s legal and regulatory systems remain stuck in the pre-digital era.
This raises a critical question: Can ASEAN truly build a sustainable, resilient data centre industry without modernising its laws?
Malaysia: Digital ambition vs outdated laws
Malaysia offers a vivid case in point. In 2024, Malaysia attracted more than US$23.3 billion in data centre investments from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services.
These investments are seen as driving Malaysia’s modern digital economy. This new development is set to place Malaysia firmly in place as Southeast Asia’s tech hub.
However, while the infrastructure may be cutting-edge, the laws behind it are far from ready.
Here where the problems lie:
1. Malaysia’s National Land Code (Revised 2020)–which governs zoning, land use planning, land administration and registration, was drafted in a time when the concept of data centres didn’t even exist – The law gives state and land authorities greater power than the planning authority over conditions and restrictions.
2. The Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172) gives local planning authorities wide control, even over the technical professional agencies such as the Department of Environment, Department of Public Works, Department of Irrigation and Drainage and Department of Mineral and Geoscience creating approval bottlenecks and confusion for developers. Bypassing the process can result in fines or demolition.
3. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), as required under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127), are critical for large-scale developments, including data centres which have potential environmental impact. While enforcement is generally consistent, challenges can arise in ensuring compliance across all projects due to weak oversight and different standards or interpretations from one state to another in Malaysia.
4. Data centres must also meet 1974 and 1984 rules on street, drainage, building and fire safety to be sustainable and operationally safe. Ongoing commitments to modernise these regulations cater to the evolving needs of contemporary infrastructure, public needs and national aspirations.
5. The Planning Guidelines for Data Centres introduced in 2024 to address the environmental shortcomings, provide clearer direction on land use, energy, and water requirements– but they remain advisory and are not legally binding.
Worse still, it cannot overcome the country’s dual governance structure, where federal and state authorities often work in silos—especially on administrative matters—due to how powers are divided under the Federal Constitution. The conflicting legal environment has caused uncertainty for investors, bottlenecks for regulators and developers, and extra economic costs.
For the public, this can mean slower progress in building digital infrastructure, which affects internet speed, access to services, and job opportunities in the tech industry.
Similar issues across ASEAN
Other ASEAN countries face similar problems. Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines struggle with fragmented regulations, outdated zoning laws, and weak environmental oversight.
This concern is highlighted in the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025, which warns that without legal and regulatory reform, ASEAN could fall behind in the global digital race. Similarly, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 calls for predictable, transparent, and harmonised regulations to attract infrastructure investments. Yet progress has been glacial.
The ASEAN Smart Cities Framework also calls for more sustainable digital infrastructure. It urges member states to break down bureaucratic silos by adopting cross-sector governance models.
But these regional policies will only work if member states are fully committed to enforcing them. Without this, they remain aspirational rather than actionable.
Singapore has enforced sustainability through its Code for Environmental Sustainability of Buildings, adapting cooling systems to tropical climates.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi uses the Estidama Pearl Rating System, ensuring high energy and water efficiency in all large-scale developments.
These examples show that sustainable data centres are possible—but only with clear rules, strong enforcement, and cooperation across all levels of government.
A strategic move for ASEAN
So, what can ASEAN do?
First, ASEAN should align its laws on land administration, planning, environment, and construction to make it easier for data systems to connect across borders and attract international investment. This would help ASEAN move closer to the goals set in the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025 and the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint.
Second, countries like Malaysia and Indonesia need better coordination between federal/central, state and local governments to accelerate land approvals and give investors more clarity.
Third, ASEAN could create shared sustainability standards for data centres, linking them to its land use planning and environmental rights goals and aligning them with global ESG benchmarks.
Data centres are fast becoming the beating heart of ASEAN’s digital economy. But this heart cannot be supported by legal frameworks that belong to a bygone era. If ASEAN wants a truly sustainable digital future, it needs laws that balance growth, environmental concerns, and public interests.
If ASEAN learns from Malaysia’s experience, it could become a global model for smart, sustainable digital infrastructure. But ignoring these lessons could lead to long-term costs—for its people, investors, and the environment.
Professor Dr. Nuarrual Hilal Md Dahlan tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.
“Christopher Luxon must end any further speculation that his Government is on the climate denial bandwagon. After wasting a year playing around with the mythical ‘no additional warming’ idea, international alarm bells are ringing,” says Green Party co-leader and Climate Change spokesperson, Chlöe Swarbrick.
“The Climate Change Commission is clear that any entertainment of ‘no additional warming’ from agricultural gasses would mean households and businesses across the rest of the economy carrying a far higher burden.
“International experts are rightfully calling out this accounting trick. It’s about fixing numbers on a page while the real world burns.
“While the Government doesn’t tend to show any care for people and the planet, perhaps they would understand that pushing ahead with this agenda poses huge risks for our international exports, climate and trade agreements.
“The Greens haveshownhow we can reduce real-world emissions five times faster than the Government’s ‘plan,’ while reducing the cost of living and improving our quality of life.
“New Zealanders deserve so much better than this Government’s low ambitions for our country,”says Chlöe Swarbrick.
* The Green Party has raised this issue multiple times. Please see some examples below
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Teaching Fellow in Politics and International Relations, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Imagine getting a positive pregnancy test and then – just a few days later – learning you’ll be prime minister. In hindsight, being willing and able to deal with the unexpected would become the hallmark of former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s political career.
She had always stood out as a leader, but her tumultuous political journey followed none of the predictable pathways. Readers of her memoir will relive what this was like, from her feelings about motherhood through to meeting world leaders.
Review: A Different Kind of Power – Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House)
The title of her book promises more than just that, however. Many people hope for a different kind of leader, but what personal qualities or strengths do such leaders need? More generally, can the personal qualities that contribute to great leadership be learned and applied by others?
The answer seems to be a qualified yes. Since leaving office, Ardern has become something of a global influencer. But as her career pivots towards celebrity appearances and international agencies, her memoir also serves as a leadership manifesto – especially for women, or aspirants of any gender, who suffer self-doubt.
The limits of empathy
In her formative years, working as an assistant to Labour leader Helen Clark, Ardern relates how she let political opponents get under her skin. Was she “too thin-skinned” for politics? She soon learned “you could be sensitive and survive”. Better still, she could use her sensitivity as a strength.
But “it is different for women in the public eye”, she writes. Derogatory terms were used against her, such as the “show pony” epithet coined by a senior woman journalist. There were questions about whether she had “substance”. These things could undermine people’s belief in her competence – perhaps even her own self-belief.
What she did about this is instructive. Lashing out at jibes and cartoon images would make her look “humourless and too sensitive”. The “trick” was to respond in a way that would “take the story nowhere”. She became adept at that, deflecting comments aimed at putting her down.
This also meant being a feminist but not using feminism as her ideological platform. Other than admonishing a TV presenter that it was “unacceptable” for him to ask whether a sitting prime minister could take maternity leave, she generally let others do the outrage and avoided becoming an even bigger target for culture warriors.
But A Different Kind of Power asks the question: different from what? Ardern’s political career has been a challenge, if not a rebuke, to leaders who indulge in egotistical, competitive, always-be-winning behaviour. Need one even mention Donald Trump?
Instead, Ardern offers kindness and empathy. The approach showed its true strength in the days following the terrorist atrocity in Christchurch in 2019. At a time when anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiments were growing, Ardern embraced the victims. “They are us”, she declared. Emotions that could have generated a cycle of blame were guided by her towards sharing of grief and aroha.
Like any political virtue, though, empathy has limitations: it touches those whose suffering commands our attention, but it is partial. Effective social policy also requires an impartial administration and redistribution of resources. Leaders must ensure public goods are delivered equitably to those in need, which calls for rational planning.
And sometimes a national emergency may call for actions that feel unfair or insensitive to some.
Pandemic politics
COVID-19 was that emergency. It created deep uncertainty for governments, and there was no “kind” pathway forward. The Ardern government did an exemplary job, saving many lives, and the Labour Party was rewarded at the 2020 election with an unprecedented 50% of the party vote. But Ardern’s retelling of that time is surprisingly brief, especially given her pivotal role.
She put herself daily at the centre of it all, patiently explaining the public health responses. During this battle with a virus, however, she couldn’t inoculate against the political consequences and shifts in public opinion.
As the pandemic wore on, many New Zealanders whose businesses had been shut down, who had been isolated in their homes, who had difficulty returning home from abroad or who’d been ostracised for not getting vaccinated, weren’t feeling much empathy or kindness from their government. And they felt they were being silenced. This sentiment grew far beyond the activists who had made themselves heard on parliament grounds in early 2022.
Ardern refused to meet with those protestors. “How could I send a message that if you disagree with something, you can illegally occupy the grounds of parliament and then have your demands met?”
But she (or a senior minister) could have heard their demands and explained why they couldn’t be met. Her refusal to listen left the field open to veteran populist Winston Peters, who exploited the opportunity, launching his campaign to return to parliament – in which he now sits and Ardern doesn’t.
While vaccine mandates were a key concern for protestors, it’s disappointing that, to this day, Ardern blames the dissenters, as if they were “not us” – kicked out of the “team of five million”. She attributes the dissent solely to their “mistrust”. Refusing to listen – not just to protestors, but to deeper shifts in public opinion – would cost Labour dearly.
Induced by the pandemic fiscal stimulus, inflation peaked at 7.3% in June 2022. By that time, two switches had occurred: the National Party was ahead in polls and a majority were saying the country was heading in the wrong direction. In January 2023, then, Ardern resigned as prime minister. She believed, probably correctly, that it would be “good for my party and perhaps it would be good for the election”.
Power and parenthood: Jacinda Ardern with her partner Clarke Gayford and their baby daughter, 2018. Getty Images
The toll of leadership
But she also reveals in her memoir that a cancer scare influenced the decision – a false alarm, but a sign perhaps that the job was taking its toll. Her leaving could “take the heat out of the politics”, she reasoned. And anyway, she was tired, stressed and losing her patience.
The leadership change to Chris Hipkins – and a devastating cyclone – boosted Labour’s polling for a while. But their 1,443,545 party votes in 2020 fell to 767,540 in the October 2023 election.
Hundreds of thousands of voters had turned their backs on the Labour Party, and the COVID response wasn’t solely to blame. There were also controversial or failed policies – such as restructuring water services, a proposed unemployment insurance scheme, and Māori co-governance initiatives – that were ruthlessly exploited by the political opposition. These were all initiated under Ardern, although unmentioned in her memoir.
Her book is more about subjective self-doubt and empathy. She doesn’t critically examine her own policies. Nor does she express empathy for those who felt disadvantaged or excluded by them – granting as always that emergency measures had been necessary. And, as she heads further into an international career, there’s no expression of empathy for those who now need it most, be they children in Gaza or refugees in South Sudan.
It’s disappointing Ardern doesn’t define key words: empathy, leadership or power, for example. There are different ways to understand them, and definitions carry assumptions. But she’s not addressing academics or political analysts. Her audience is primarily American – a much larger and more lucrative market than her home country. With the Democrats struggling to find direction and leadership after last year’s losses, Ardern – who poses no threat to anyone’s political ambitions there – offers some inspiration.
Some may fault it for avoiding those harder questions about her time at the top, but Ardern’s memoir interweaves an authentically retold personal story with high political drama. It tells of one woman’s struggle with morning sickness, childbirth, breastfeeding and motherhood, even while taking on huge public responsibilities and media exposure. It’s still amazing how she managed to do all that.
I was a personal acquaintance of Jacinda, when she was a list MP in Auckland Central.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Egypt’s New Urban Communities Authority and a Chinese-Egyptian joint venture have signed a comprehensive operation and maintenance agreement for the Central Business District (CBD) in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital.
According to the agreement, Horizon Operations Management (Egypt) Co., Ltd. will be responsible for the operation of the CBD project, initially focusing on property and municipal management.
This photo taken on Sept. 18, 2024 shows a view of the Central Business District (CBD) of Egypt’s new administrative capital, east of Cairo, Egypt. (Xinhua/Wang Dongzhen)
According to a statement by the Egyptian cabinet, Egyptian Minister of Housing Sherif El-Sherbiny said during pre-signing talks that the agreement covers the maintenance and management of important facilities and the provision of integrated urban services to residents, tourists, and businesses in the CBD.
El-Sherbiny emphasized that this move represents a significant transition in Egypt’s approach to public facility management — from traditional models to performance-based governance rooted in quality and sustainability.
The signing ceremony on Sunday was also attended by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, China’s Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Dong Jianguo, and representatives of China State Construction Engineering Corporation, which led the construction of the CBD.
Located in the heart of the desert some 50 km east of the capital Cairo, the CBD is one of the key projects of the China-Egypt joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. The project includes 20 commercial and residential skyscrapers as well as supporting municipal infrastructure, among which is a 385.8-meter-high iconic tower, the tallest building in Africa.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
People in traditional Chinese costumes take part in a celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in New York, the United States, on June 1, 2025. (Photo by Qin Mingwei/Xinhua)
A parade was held in Manhattan, New York City (NYC), to celebrate the traditional culture of Asian Americans on Sunday, drawing hundreds of participants and spectators.
The celebration was hosted by the Chinese-American organization Better Chinatown Society, as part of national celebrations of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which is observed in May in the United States.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chinese Consul General in New York Chen Li, and representatives from the Better Chinatown Society addressed the crowd, emphasizing the importance of cultural exchange and community empowerment for Asian and Chinese Americans.
The celebration plays a positive role in uniting community members in the United States to defend their rights, spread culture and strengthen the friendship between the United States and China, and other global countries, according to Chen.
“We should uphold the spirit of openness and inclusiveness, respect different systems, develop international people exchanges and cooperation and work together to build a community with a shared future,” Chen noted.
The national anthems of China and the United States were played during the event, stirring patriotic feelings among the audience from diverse backgrounds.
The performers showcased lion dances, Sichuan opera face-changing and Cantonese singing, drawing rounds of applause.
The event attracted thousands of citizens to line the streets and watch. Norma Anderson, a visitor from Sacramento, California, said she was particularly impressed by the lion dance and the variety of traditional Chinese costumes.
“Every era and region in China and Asia has different clothing, which is so beautiful and amazing,” said Anderson.
Jimmy Li, a Chinese American who lives in Flushing, NYC, said the celebration reminded him of his hometown.
“I’m an immigrant from Guangdong, and hearing Cantonese songs in New York moved me to tears,” Li said. “This is cultural transmission.”
This is the fourth Asian Heritage parade held in New York. May was officially designated AAPI Heritage Month in 1992 in the United States.
The month-long observance provides an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the AAPI community’s contributions to American culture, society and history over the centuries.
Lion dances are staged in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in New York, the United States, on June 1, 2025. (Photo by Qin Mingwei/Xinhua)
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
The U.S. Trump administration on Monday filed an appeal with the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the federal court’s injunction that had prevented federal agencies from carrying out large-scale workforce reductions and reorganizations.
In the appeal, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued that “controlling the personnel of federal agencies lies at the heartland” of the president’s authority, and “the Constitution does not erect a presumption against presidential control of agency staffing, and the president does not need special permission from Congress to exercise” his core constitutional powers.
On May 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the Trump administration’s appeal, upholding the temporary injunction issued earlier by Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The injunction barred federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget from moving forward with broad-scale layoffs and structural reorganizations.
The Ninth Circuit held that implementing extensive layoffs and reorganizations would seriously impair many areas, including the national food safety system and veterans’ healthcare, and therefore such actions should be suspended while the litigation proceeds.
On May 9, Illston issued a two-week temporary injunction requiring federal agencies to halt enforcement of the administrative order signed by President Donald Trump in February, as well as the subsequent memorandum issued by the Office of Management and Budget. She also ordered agencies to rescind any layoff notices issued under the president’s order, to reinstate positions for employees placed on administrative leave, and to provide appropriate compensation.
In her ruling, Illston stated that the president must obtain congressional approval in order to reform federal agencies. Agencies may not undertake mass reorganizations or layoffs without authorization from Congress.
On May 22, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California further ruled to extend the injunction indefinitely. The Department of Justice filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit the following day.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Boosted by China’s trade-in program for consumer products, the country saw strong growth in retail sales of cars, home appliances and electronic products in the first five months of this year, indicating steady growth in the overall consumption market, latest data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.
The trade-in program has driven total retail sales of consumer goods in the country to 1.1 trillion yuan ($152.8 billion) as of Saturday, the ministry said on Sunday.
China has vowed to implement solid supporting measures to boost domestic consumption. The plan outlines the issuance of ultra-long special treasury bonds totaling 300 billion yuan to bolster the consumer goods trade-in program this year, double the figure in 2024.
In the first five months of this year, around 175 million units of subsidies were distributed directly to consumers with the trade-in program, according to the ministry.
“We will continue to expand the scope of the trade-in program and organize diverse consumption promotional events,” said Li Gang, director-general of the ministry’s Department of Market Operation and Consumption Promotion, at an earlier news conference in Beijing.
“China’s consumption market boasts strong resilience and great potential, and is full of vitality. The basic trend of recovery and improvement remains unchanged for the long term,” Li said.
Over the five-month period, there were more than 4.12 million applications for car trade-in subsidies. In addition, nearly 50 million consumers purchased home appliances through trade-in activities, and they bought over 77 million units of 12 types of household appliances, the ministry said.
During the same period, more than 53 million consumers bought 56 million digital products, including mobile phones. Meanwhile, over 6.5 million electric bicycles were traded for new ones, and consumers traded over 57 million home decoration, kitchen and bathroom products for new ones, the ministry said.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said that the trade-in program started earlier this year, and the subsidy policy was well implemented. Different regions have introduced corresponding consumption promotional policies.
“China’s automobile consumption market began to pick up in March, and the market saw a peak in customers during the May Day holiday,” Cui said.
In the first four months of this year, new energy vehicles accounted for over 53 percent of the car trade-in activities in the country, according to the association.
Since the introduction of the trade-in program in early 2024, more than 120 million consumers have used the subsidies, the Commerce Ministry said.
In the Government Work Report delivered in March, boosting consumption was listed as a top priority among this year’s tasks.
Denis Cheng, consumer sector leader at Ernst & Young China, said that China’s overall consumption market is expected to show a stable and positive growth trend this year, supported by the government’s favorable policies.
“The trade-in program has directly created benefits for consumers and enhanced their confidence and willingness to shop. For goods consumption, the trade-in program has continued to be effective, and sales of key commodities such as automobiles, home appliances and home furnishings are improving,” Cheng said.
He added that further efforts have been made to expand the scope of the program, and it is expected to promote sustained release of the consumption potential of durable goods.
Xu Dongsheng, deputy president of China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said the introduction of the trade-in policy will continue to encourage consumers to upgrade their home appliances to smarter ones and help drive industrial upgrading.
Lily Chen, a 35-year-old office worker in Beijing, recently bought a new washing machine and enjoyed a discount of about 2,000 yuan with national subsidies. Benefiting from the trade-in policy, she also got 50 yuan for exchanging the old one, and the retailer took away the old machine.
LITTLE ROCK—Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today that eight defendants have been sentenced by United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky to federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Each of the defendants previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
On August 1, 2023, Jaylen Ester, aka Sumo; Adrian Perry; Miguel Thompson; James Chenault, aka LJ; Saundra Lunsford; Carma Brown; April Reyes; and Briana McElroy were indicted by a federal grand jury in a 13-count indictment. All defendants were indicted on Count 1, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
The defendants each pled guilty to Count 1 of the Indictment and Judge Rudofsky sentenced each of them to federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.
Defendant
Age
City/State
Sentencing Date
Sentence
Adrian Perry
39
England, Arkansas
6-2-2025
180 months,
5 years’ supervised release
Briana McElroy
34
Dardanelle, Arkansas
4-15-2025
60 months,
4 years’ supervised release
Miguel Thompson
42
Russellville, Arkansas
4-15-2025
197 months,
5 years’ supervised release
Jaylen Ester aka Sumo
31
North Little Rock, Arkansas
1-16-2025
192 months,
5 years’ supervised release
April Reyes
41
Russellville, Arkansas
12-16-2024
60 months,
4 years’ supervised release
Saundra Lunsford
30
Russellville, Arkansas
12-10-2024
60 months,
4 years’ supervised release
James Chenault aka LJ
42
Russellville, Arkansas
11-4-2024
210 months,
5 years’ supervised release
Carma Brown
38
Russellville, Arkansas
10-22-2024
41 months,
4 years’ supervised release
Multiple defendants had significant criminal histories, and defendants Perry, Thompson, Chenault are classified as career offenders. Perry’s criminal history includes convictions for possession of cocaine with purpose to deliver and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. The criminal history for Ester includes convictions for residential burglary and robbery. During Ester’s sentencing, the United States presented evidence to the court of his arrest for terroristic act, felon in possession of a firearm, and aggravated assault in an incident where Ester shot at an occupied residence with children present.
Thompson’s criminal history includes four convictions for delivery of marijuana, three convictions for possession with intent to deliver marijuana, intimidating a witness, delivery of methamphetamine, three convictions for possession with intent to deliver oxycodone, and terroristic act. Chenault’s criminal history includes three convictions for delivery of marijuana, battery and domestic battery, escape, possession of methamphetamine and cocaine with intent to deliver, and four convictions for delivery of cocaine or methamphetamine, aggravated assault, and possession of firearms by certain persons.
“Because fentanyl is so deadly and because it is being sent to our country by foreign adversaries ostensibly to result in the deaths of many Americans, our office will continue to regard the distribution of fentanyl as a violent crime which commands our office’s full attention,” said Ross. “Protecting our citizens from violent crime is the basic responsibility of law enforcement and so prosecuting those involved with distributing deadly drugs is part of the core mission at the Department of Justice. If you are involved in distributing the poisons of fentanyl and methamphetamine, we will not concern ourselves with trying to empathize with you as to why you made such despicable decisions; rather, we will commit to fully prosecuting you and seeking to keep you away from our communities through incarceration.”
Through an investigation, law enforcement officers learned that from 2020 through approximately December 2022, the defendants were distributing fentanyl for redistribution in the River Valley and central Arkansas areas.
In November 2021, information was received that Ester travelled to and from Little Rock and Russellville trafficking fentanyl from his girlfriend’s apartment. During surveillance of the girlfriend’s apartment, law enforcement officers observed the girlfriend leave in their vehicle. At this time law enforcement officers knocked on the door and Ester opened it and then attempted to shut the door, but law enforcement officers prevented the door from closing. Law enforcement officers observed children and Ester, a parolee who has a search waiver on file and felony warrants, inside the apartment. During a search of the apartment, law enforcement officers located fentanyl, marijuana, and close to $3,000 in cash. Law enforcement also recovered a bag of fentanyl tablets Ester’s girlfriend discarded, which Ester admitted was intended for distribution. Ester admitted obtaining thousands of fentanyl tablets and hundreds of pounds of marijuana for distribution.
On December 22, 2021, law enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop in which Perry, who had warrants, was a passenger. During a search of the vehicle, law enforcement officers located a can of Coke in the center console that contained 13 fentanyl pills. During a search of Perry’s person, law enforcement officers located $3,262.00.
In May 2022, law enforcement recovered fentanyl tablets and marijuana during an incident involving Chenault, and during the execution of a search warrant at Chenault and Lunsford’s residence located 142 whole fentanyl pills and ten partial fentanyl pills, over 300 grams of marijuana, and over 5 grams of methamphetamine. In July 2022, law enforcement recovered over 1,000 fentanyl tablets and cocaine from Thompson and McElroy after a traffic stop and search of Thompson’s residence. In August 2022, law enforcement recovered fentanyl tablets, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia from Reyes’s residence. In November 2022, law enforcement conducted multiple controlled purchases of fentanyl from Brown. On November 22, 2022, law enforcement officers conducted a home visit at Thompson’s residence and recovered methamphetamine, marijuana, and fentanyl.
“Sending career criminals like this to prison is another example of our commitment to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to protect our communities from those who spread fentanyl poison in our neighborhoods,” said ATF New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Joshua Jackson. “Bringing our expertise and resources to target individuals and organizations that plague our communities with drug trafficking is a top priority for ATF. The sentence imposed today sends a message to the community that drug traffickers will be held accountable.”
“The Russellville Police Department is proud to have played a role in the successful prosecution of those responsible for distributing these deadly drugs in our community,” said David Ewing, Chief of Police, Russellville Police Department. “This outcome reflects our ongoing commitment to working alongside our federal partners to combat the fentanyl crisis and protect the safety and well-being of our citizens.”
“I’m so proud of the dedicated people I have working with me in the Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force. Their cooperation with other local law enforcement in Pope County is so important in aggressively addressing criminal activity in our county – primarily drug sales and trafficking,” said Jeff Phillips, Fifth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney. “I also want to thank the federal authorities in partnering with us to make a difference in our community.”
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force, and the Russellville Police Department.
# # #
Additional information about the office of the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at
HOUSTON – A 33-year-old Houston resident has been ordered to federal prison following his convictions for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Fredrick Douglass Shelton pleaded guilty Feb. 13.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt has now ordered Shelton to serve 324 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court recognized the families of the deceased and commented on the disturbing fact that after the deaths, Shelton continued to sell fentanyl with a verbal warning to customers that the drugs are strong. In handing down the sentence, Judge Hoyt noted Shelton’s history of drug dealing and conduct during this offense which made him question whether there is anywhere Shelton could be safely housed.
“The defendant’s conduct in this case vividly illustrates his utter disregard for human life and the safety of others,” said Ganjei. “Not only was his fentanyl trafficking linked to three overdose deaths, but he also left a 10-month-old baby alone, surrounded by guns and drugs (including fentanyl), while he was out dealing. With today’s sentencing—made possible by collaboration with our partners—this dangerous individual is now off the street for decades to come, and Houstonians are safer for it.”
The investigation began following evidence linking three fatal fentanyl overdoses to Shelton. He had sold large quantities of highly potent fentanyl to numerous individuals in the Houston area.
As Shelton left his residence to conduct yet another drug transaction, law enforcement conducted a search at his residence. They found large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, narcotics packaging equipment and firearms strewn throughout the residence in a disorderly fashion, including on counters, scales and the floor.
Authorities also discovered Shelton had left his 10-month-old child in the residence alone and exposed to the narcotics.
Shelton will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI Houston Field Office and Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation with the assistance of the Montgomery County Narcotics Enforcement Team and sheriff’s offices in Montgomery and Harris Counties. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart Tallichet prosecuted the case.
Over 4.78 million young people are now registered on the National Pathway Management Network, with more than 1.67 million earning opportunities secured to date through the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), Deputy Minister in the Presidency Nonceba Mhlauli said.
Mhlauli said this reflects the strength of the PYEI approach in aggregating demand, coordinating partners and enabling pathways that enhance young people’s economic participation.
Addressing the media in Pretoria on the PYEI fourth quarter report of the 2024/2025 financial year on Monday, the Deputy Minister said the programme continues to make meaningful strides in unlocking sustainable earning opportunities for young people across South Africa.
The report covered the period from January to March 2025.
WATCH | Deputy Minister briefs media on the PYEI report
According Mhlauli, over R70 million had been disbursed to 11 implementing partners, including R30 million in this quarter alone.
“We are particularly proud of the continued momentum of the Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund, which uses an innovative pay-for-performance model to incentivise the placement of young people into sustained, quality jobs, has made steady progress in its pilot phase.”
Mhlauli said by the end of March 2025, over 5,400 young people had been enrolled reaching 65% of the programme’s enrolment target.
“More than 3 000 young people had been placed into quality jobs and over R70 million had been disbursed to 11 implementing partners including R30 million in this quarter alone. These jobs are not just temporary placements.
“They are quality jobs, defined by duration, income level, and growth potential. We are already seeing shifts in employer practices as a result to better accommodate excluded young people,” Mhlauli said.
The Deputy Minister said government remains committed to building a connected, demand-led ecosystem that not only creates opportunities but also drives systems change in the labour market.
“As always, the success of this initiative is due to the ongoing collaboration between government, private sector, development partners, and the young people themselves.
“We will continue sharing our progress through these quarterly reports. As always, detailed data and insights are available on the PYEI dashboard at www.stateofthenation.gov.za .
“We also invite our youth to register on SAYouth.Mobi which is a zero-rated site where they will access information about the PYEI as well as all youth empowerment related matters,” she explained.
Launched in 2020 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the PYEI is a direct response to the challenge that too many young people are not transitioning from learning to earning.
The PYEI is South Africa’s most comprehensive effort yet to address this crisis. Its goal is to transition young people successfully from learning to earning.
The PYEI coordinates, accelerates, and enhances existing programmes while driving innovation and creating pathways to earning for young people at scale.
To this end, the intervention brings together the strengths of numerous government institutions and social partners to deliver more opportunities for young people. The PYEI integrates with other interventions coordinated by the Project Management Office in the Presidency to drive structural reforms and enable job creation.
The PYEI seeks to coordinate, accelerate and enhance existing programmes while driving innovation and creating pathways to earning for young people at scale.
The PYEI is focused on four pillars namely: • Implementation of the Pathway Management Network, • Implementation of demand-led training through a ‘pay for performance’ model • Rollout of the revitalised National Youth Service, • And Implementation of interventions to stimulate local economies through the establishment of Local Ecosystem Enablement Fund.
At a briefing on the PYEI third quarter report in February, the Deputy Minister said the initiative remains a cornerstone of national efforts to address the persistent challenge of youth unemployment by ensuring that young South Africans have access to economic opportunities.
“Over 53 379 earning opportunities were secured through the National Pathway Management Network (NPMN), bringing the total to 1.57 million opportunities since the inception of the PYEI,” the Deputy Minister said at the briefing in February. – SAnews.gov.za
A range of projects led by community groups have been allocated a share of $303,119 from Auckland Council in the latest round of Ngā Hapori Momoho | Thriving Communities grants for 2024/2025, approved by the Community Committee on 27 May.
The grants support regional goals in the council’s Ngā Hapori Momoho | Thriving Communities Strategy 2022-2032, with the vision for a fairer, more sustainable Tāmaki Makaurau where every Aucklander belongs. The goals aim to improve financial security, improve health outcomes, and grow community and intercultural connection.
Committee chair, Councillor Angela Dalton says the funding recognises the organisations behind these projects as experts at what they do, changing lives for the better in line with council objectives.
“Initiatives funded in this round include a transitional housing service for women, a programme teaching traditional Māori parenting skills, and a support service for young people experiencing sexual harm,” Cr Dalton says.
Deputy chair, Councillor Julie Fairey agrees that this year’s successful applicants will provide a broad spectrum of community benefits, from strengthening wellbeing for rainbow youth to supporting food rescue.
“The council is proud to be able to support a wide range of community activities through these grants, acknowledging the skills of local groups and supporting them in their important mahi. This is the stuff that helps our communities to thrive,” says Cr Fairey.
Ngā Hapori Momoho | Thriving Communities grants are allocated to regionally significant groups, services, events and activities to benefit residents across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
General Manager Community Wellbeing Kenneth Aiolupotea says demand for council funding continues to grow with the highest number of applications ever received for the current round of Ngā Hapori Momoho grants, up 25 per cent from last year, with a total of 119 applications submitted.
“It is really great news that each of the 11 successful applicants have been approved for close to maximum funding, with grants ranging from $26,000 to $28,500 allocated,” Kenneth says.
Organisations delivering strong Māori outcomes were among 11 community groups that each receive a welcome boost this year for their work to improve welfare, health and belonging for Aucklanders in need.
“In addition, four of the successful applicants are Māori organisations and another two are delivering projects with strong Māori outcomes. Together, these six applicants account for 56 per cent of the total recommended funding, which is an important measure for the council.”
In the last funding round for 2023/2024, six of the 13 applicants funded were from Māori organisations or delivered strong Māori outcomes, and together they received 50 per cent of the allocated funding.
All applications were assessed by a panel to determine eligibility, capability, and how well they meet the grants funding criteria, which is available online. Unsuccessful applicants will be supported to reapply for future funding.
The Community Committee has reviewed whether change is needed for future funding rounds to keep meeting the best outcomes. Members have resolved to continue investing in projects that increase whānau and community financial security, improve health outcomes and grow community and intercultural connection for allocations from 2026 through to 2028.
Find out more
The full eligibility criteria and funding priorities are explained in the Ngā Hapori Momoho / Thriving Communities Grants Guidelines, available on the Auckland Council website.
Key dates
Applications for the next round of the 2022-2032 Ngā Hapori Momoho / Thriving Communities Grants are expected to open in November 2025.
The Ngā Hapori Momoho / Thriving Communities Strategy 2023-2024 document is available on the Auckland Council website.
Ngā Hapori Momoho | Thriving Communities grants for 2024/2025:
Applicant
Project
Amount Recommended
Auckland City Mission – Te Tāpui Atawhai
Te Whare Hīnātore – a transitional housing service to reconnect wāhine with their whānau and provide the skills to live independently
$28,500
Auckland Pride Incorporated
Strengthening connections and wellbeing for Rainbow Youth
$28,500
Breathing Space Charitable Trust
Creative wellbeing professional development program for community organisations working alongside at-risk youth and young women
$28,500
EcoMatters Environment Trust
Improving health outcomes through teaching Aucklanders how to keep their house warm and dry and how to save money by reducing water and energy usage
$26,629
ECPAT Child Alert Trust (ECPAT NZ)
Youth engagement programme – supporting youth who are at risk of or have survived sexual exploitation
$28,500
KiwiHarvest
Food rescue and distribution to recipient charities
$28,500
Momentum Charitable Trust
Life and financial skills at Auckland Region Probation Centres
$27,374
Mya Steele-Fonokalafi
Ngākau Aroha parenting – inspiring and empowering whānau to apply tūpuna parenting skills
$26,104
TAIORA
Hauora training for Ngāti Whātua Iwi – training iwi and marae leaders with skills to support young people
$28,500
Te Whare Hukahuka Ltd
Ka Eke Poutama – rangatahi governance skills and pathways into governance roles programme
$28,263
OKE Charity
Working with schools – building outdoor classrooms, hands-on workshops, and community events
Provisional justified trust is a pathway to justified trust for Top 500 groups that are tax assured but are yet to implement a tax governance framework.
Provisional justified trust provides eligible groups with a pause in assurance activities so that the group can dedicate their resources to implementing effective tax governance.
Eligibility for provisional justified trust
Top 500 groups that haven’t achieved justified trust will be eligible for provisional justified trust if:
all material tax issues arising from the group’s income earning activities and the ways in which wealth has been extracted have been assured up to the penultimate year lodged (for example, the group has achieved full tax assurance)
the Top 500 group commits to implementing an effective tax governance framework within 12 months.
When a Top 500 group has achieved full tax assurance for the first time, they will have the option to enter provisional justified trust. Top 500 groups in the general category that have previously achieved full tax assurance, and had one year of monitoring and maintenance, will have the option to enter provisional justified trust at the end of each assurance refresh engagement.
Approach to provisional justified tax
There are 2 approaches to provisional justified trust for Top 500 groups: one that applies to predominantly passive investment groups and another for all other groups.
Passive investor groups, in general, tend to treat their tax issues correctly, so the provisional justified trust approach for passive investor groups doesn’t require operational effectiveness testing of the group’s tax governance before the group can achieve justified trust.
For all other groups, the provisional justified trust approach maintains the requirement to test the group’s tax governance for operational effectiveness, including extending timeframes where necessary to allow for the group’s lodgment cycle, before the group can achieve justified trust.
Passive investor groups
The Top 500 program defines a passive investor group as groups that generate 90% or more of their income from passive income sources, with limited to no business activity done by the group.
This may include investments:
held with banks (such as term deposits)
in securities such as shares, funds, and bonds (whether held directly, through a family office, or managed externally)
in commercial and residential property assets
that involve certain rights to income (such as mining royalties).
Eligible passive investor groups will have 12 months from entering provisional justified trust to develop an effective tax governance framework, including over any wealth extraction activities and material related-party transactions. During this 12-month period, no assurance activities will be carried out. Our passive investor guide for Top 500 groups provides examples that may help groups with passive investments to develop tax governance over their material tax issues.
The group must produce a draft tax governance framework across the 4 key principles of tax governance within 6 months of entering provisional justified trust. Effective tax governance criteria for Top 500 private groups and the following content provides guidance regarding the criteria for achieving a high level of assurance for tax governance.
Guidelines for passive investor groups
The ATO case team will have 2 months to provide the group with feedback on their draft tax governance framework.
The group will have a further 2 months to make any required amendments, and then return the framework to the ATO case team for final assessment.
For tax governance, only the effectiveness of the design of the Top 500 group’s tax governance framework will be assessed by the ATO case team. Operational effectiveness testing is not required as part of our case team’s assessment.
If the Top 500 group doesn’t develop an effective tax governance framework within 12 months, they will be removed from provisional justified trust and assurance activities will restart from the last assured financial year.
If they design an effective tax governance framework, they will enter justified trust. The 3-year monitoring and maintenance period will start from the financial year following the year that provisional justified trust was provided.
At the end of the 3 years of monitoring and maintenance, we may ask the Top 500 group to show us they have tested the operational effectiveness of their tax governance framework. This is to assure that the group has been following the prescribed processes and procedures.
Non-passive investor groups
Unlike Top 500 groups that are considered passive investors, non-passive investor groups require effectiveness testing of the tax governance framework before being placed in justified trust. The following procedure is to be followed.
Guidelines for non-passive investor groups
The Top 500 group will have 12 months from entering provisional justified trust to develop an effective tax governance framework, including over any wealth extraction activities and material related-party transactions. During this 12-month period, no assurance activities will be carried out.
The Top 500 group must produce a draft tax governance framework across the 4 key principles of tax governance within 6 months of entering provisional justified trust. Our effective tax governance criteria for Top 500 groups provides guidance regarding the criteria for achieving a high level of assurance for tax governance.
The ATO case team will have 2 months to provide the group with feedback on their draft tax governance framework.
The Top 500 group will have a further 2 months to make any required amendments, and then return the framework to the ATO case team for final assessment.
For practical reasons around timing, groups may be granted a further 6 months of provisional justified trust (with scope to extend by an additional 6 months where necessary to cover the group’s lodgment cycle) to provide evidence that their tax governance framework is operating effectively.
If the Top 500 group doesn’t develop an effective tax governance framework within the stipulated timeframe, they will be removed from provisional justified trust and assurance activities will restart from the last assured financial year.
If the Top 500 group implements an effective tax governance framework, and provides evidence that the framework is operating effectively, they will enter justified trust. The 3-year monitoring and maintenance period will start from the lodgment year following the year that provisional justified trust was provided.
Example of the timeline for groups taking the provisional trust pathway
Lodgment year
Engagement approach
Engagement completed (may vary depending on lodgement cycle)
2023
Full Tax Assurance (Standard assurance engagement)
2025
2024
Provisional justified trust (Break from assurance engagement)
2026
2025
Monitoring & Maintenance (1st year of Justified Trust; operational effectiveness testing of tax governance if required)
2027
2026
Monitoring & Maintenance (2nd year of Justified Trust)
2028
2027
Monitoring & Maintenance (3rd year of Justified Trust)
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Polls began early Tuesday nationwide to pick South Korea’s new president.
The election is scheduled to last from 6:00 a.m. local time (2100 GMT Monday) to 8:00 p.m. (1100 GMT Tuesday) at 14,295 polling stations across the country.
The presidential race was triggered by the removal of former conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol from office over his botched martial law bid.
Recent surveys showed that Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party continued to have around 50 percent of support, holding a big lead over Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party with about 30 percent.
Lee lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon, then candidate of the People Power Party, by the country’s narrowest margin of 0.73 percentage points.
An early voting was carried out between May 29 and May 30. Among over 44 million eligible voters, 34.74 percent cast preliminary votes.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Ukrainian and Russian delegations made modest but concrete progress in renewed peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, raising cautious hopes for a potential easing of hostilities through expanded humanitarian measures, including the largest prisoner exchange since the onset of the conflict.
The second round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia is held in Istanbul, Türkiye, June 2, 2025. Ukrainian and Russian delegations resumed peace negotiations on Monday in Istanbul, aiming to bring an end to the ongoing conflict, television footage showed. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye/Handout via Xinhua)
The roughly 90-minute session marked the second round of direct talks between the two sides in recent weeks. Turkish officials described the outcome as “cautiously optimistic.”
“The talks did not end negatively,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said, characterising the tone as constructive despite persistent divisions over the broader conflict.
AGREEMENTS ON HUMANITARIAN MEASURES
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who chaired the negotiations, said on the social media platform X that the delegations built on previously agreed points, including measures related to humanitarian exchanges.
“There is an agreement on new categories and an increased number of prisoner swaps,” Fidan said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, leading Kiev’s delegation, proposed a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, the return of displaced children and young soldiers, and the release of prisoners. Umerov called for “real efforts to end the war,” and suggested holding a third round of talks between June 20 and 30, as part of a broader push toward a possible leaders’ summit.
Russia’s delegation, led by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed agreement on what he described as the largest prisoner exchange since the conflict began. “All severely wounded and seriously ill soldiers will be exchanged, along with all captured servicemen under the age of 25,” he said.
Medinsky added that Moscow would return the bodies of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers and proposed a two- to three-day ceasefire in specific front-line areas to enable body recovery. He also confirmed that discussions on the return of displaced Ukrainian children were underway, with Kiev submitting a list of 339 names. “We will work on this,” he said.
Medinsky noted that a preliminary meeting with Umerov had helped set the stage for Monday’s negotiations.
INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS
The United Nations (UN) welcomed the progress on humanitarian issues. “We obviously welcome any agreement that will bring the exchange of prisoners or remains,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the meeting as a “significant achievement,” saying the number of prisoners exchanged had surpassed 1,000, with some bodies returned outside formal channels. Erdogan also said Türkiye was prepared to host a high-level summit involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and potentially U.S. President Donald Trump.
Russian media, citing unnamed sources, reported that the next round of talks was likely to be held again in Istanbul.
TALKS SHADOWED BY ESCALATING AIRSTRIKES
The renewed negotiations come amid a backdrop of intensified military actions. Ukrainian officials said more than 40 Russian warplanes were damaged or destroyed in a drone strike on Sunday that targeted air bases deep inside Russian territory, including in the Arctic, Siberia, and Far East regions.
Vasyl Malyuk, head of Ukraine’s Security Service, described the operation, which hit sites in three time zones simultaneously, as “a major slap in the face to Russia’s military power.” Ukrainian officials claimed nearly a third of Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet was either destroyed or rendered inoperable.
The Russian Defense Ministry accused the “Kiev regime” of launching first-person-view drone attacks on multiple airfields. It said airstrips in the Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions were targeted, but that the strikes were repelled. Fires at airfields in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions were extinguished, with no casualties reported.
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump believes the conflict in Ukraine “needs to come to an end.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank Pallone (6th District of New Jersey)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) released the following statement on the Trump administration’s decision to shut down Job Corps centers, including one in Edison, NJ:
“Donald Trump ran on being a job creator, but all he’s done is destroy opportunity. Now he’s shutting down Job Corps centers in New Jersey, gutting a program that helps young people train for real careers and build better lives.
“In Edison alone, Job Corps has trained and advanced the lives and careers of thousands of students with over 300 currently enrolled.
“Job Corps has served as a lifeline – especially for low-income students – offering training in high-demand fields and a path to stability. This move doesn’t just cut a program; it pulls the ladder up behind the next generation.
“Trump’s economic legacy is becoming crystal clear: layoffs, trade chaos, rising prices, and now, a full-on attack on workforce development. I won’t sit back while he undermines our communities. I’ll keep fighting to protect the investments that actually help people get ahead.”
Ashton Stripling, the Edison Job Corps Center Director, added:
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm we have received official notice that the Job Corps program received an official letter of termination of convenience. This is not just a program—this is a lifeline. As a former Job Corps student who rose through the ranks to become Director of the Edison campus, I can personally attest to the power of this program to transform lives.
“For so many of our students, this place is more than just a school—it’s their home, their source of food, clothing, stability, and the education they need to build a future. With this closure, hundreds of young people are at risk of being displaced, and many will return to environments lacking the very support systems they came here to escape.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01)
$158.45 million in federal Community Project Funding (CPF) requests will support essential local projects
WASHINGTON D.C.— As the U.S. House of Representatives begins marking up appropriations bills in the House this week,Representative Melanie Stansbury (NM-01)submitted 15 Congressionally funded community projects, totaling $158,450,000 for communities across New Mexico in the upcoming 2026 budget process. Since coming to office, Rep. Stansbury has secured CPF funding for 37 projects focused on tackling New Mexico’s biggest challenges in public safety, housing, healthcare, education, protecting our lands and waters, and investing in our future.
“I came to Congress to support the needs of New Mexico using every tool available,” saidRep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01). “As the Administration targets funding and resources our communities depend on, Community Project Funding is one of the most powerful tools we have to deliver investments necessary to support lasting and generational change for communities across our state. These 15 projects will help deliver vital healthcare and behavioral health services in rural communities, help seniors and families experiencing homelessness, help tackle the fentanyl crisis and public safety issues, protect our cultural heritage, and deliver water to communities across the state. I am proud to work with the state, local, and tribal leaders who are working every day to address these needs on the ground.”
After more than a decade, Congress resumed congressionally directed spending for community projects four years ago. Since then, Rep. Stansbury has secured millions in funding for fire, emergency, and public safety services, housing and food assistance, healthcare and behavioral health programs, economic development, and youth and education programs across the state. Past submissions for Fiscal Year 2022,Fiscal Year 2023,and Fiscal Year 2024 budgets are available online. Last year,Rep. Stansbury submitted $104 million in CPF requests to support New Mexico, but Republicans stripped FY25 Community Project Funding from their Continuing Resolution.
This year Rep. Stansbury submitted 15 projects to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration, pending approval through the Congressional budget and appropriations process. Projects this year were restricted to a limited number of federal programs, and only state, local, and Tribal governments and eligible entities are permitted to receive funding. The House Appropriations Committee will consider these requests alongside other submissions as part of the FY 2026 appropriations process, which begins with Appropriations Committee markups this week.
Once the Appropriations Committee approves projects, they will be subject to passage in both Chambers of Congress before being signed into law. This process will likely extend into fall, with the Fiscal Year 2016 beginning on October 1.
A summary of the 15 projects submitted by Rep Stansbury is provided below:
Investing in Public Safety Across the State
Lincoln County, Regional Wildfire Mitigation Public Safety and Training Complex – $3,000,000 Funding will support building a new Regional Public Safety and Training Center to help address wildfires and boost the region’s ability to hire, train, certify, and retain firefighters.
Fort Sumner, Fire and Rescue Fire Station – $ 1,300,000 Funding will support building a new fire station in Fort Sumner to serve the community on the West side of the Pecos River, allowing timely emergency response and a new community hub in the Sunny Side subdivision.
State Police Department, Technical Capabilities Improvements – $1,650,000 Funding will enable NM State Police to improve wireless and other technical capabilities statewide. This includes improving 5G technologies, cellular routers, and Automated License Plate Readers, increasing real-time situational awareness and allowing for more informed and rapid decision-making for first responders.
Albuquerque Police Department, Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Mobile Lab Vehicle – $800,000 Funding will enable the City of Albuquerque to add a new CSI Mobile Lab vehicle to update its current fleet and help meet expanded public safety needs across the Albuquerque metro area.
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, Public Safety Vehicles – $1,000,000 Funding will support BCSO’s replacement of an aging fleet of vehicles to enhance operations and reduce maintenance costs to meet public safety needs across the Bernalillo County area.
Addressing Rural Healthcare and Behavioral Health Needs
Valencia County, Acute Care Hospital – $8,000,000 Funding will support construction of a state-of-the-art acute care hospital in Los Lunas, designed to meet the healthcare needs of the growing rural communities of Valencia County. This hospital will be a critical lifeline for local residents increasing access to both emergency and inpatient care.
Sandoval County, Behavioral Health Clinic – $8,000,000 Funding will support the construction of a comprehensive behavioral health and resource center in the Town of Bernalillo, in partnership with a broad set of local, tribal, and county stakeholders to address community needs related to addiction, housing, mental health and family services. This center will serve a large number of rural and remote communities across Sandoval County, providing a first-of-its-kind regional hub for urgent and ongoing medical and behavioral health needs.
Addressing Homelessness, Housing Insecurity, and Supporting Vulnerable Families
Bernalillo County, Affordable Housing – $2,000,000 Funding will provide housing for low- and moderate-income families in Downtown Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. This project will provide safe and stable temporary housing for seniors and families in need of housing support.
Albuquerque, Transitional Housing for Families – $1,000,000 Funding will support the purchase and rehabilitation of transitional housing for vulnerable families experiencing crisis. This project will help families grow out of emergency and short-term shelters and into longer term housing while they continue to get back on their feet.
Albuquerque, Senior Stability Shelter – $1,700,000 Funding will support building a new permanent shelter for seniors who are experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in Albuquerque. This project will provide safe and stable permanent housing in a vulnerable part of the city.
Protecting Our Water Infrastructure
Middle Rio Grande Pueblos, Rio Grande Pueblo Irrigation Infrastructure – $82,700,000 Funding will provide long-overdue support for improving acequia and irrigation infrastructure for the six middle Rio Grande Pueblos and addressing deferred maintenance, repairs, and upgrades needed for improvements in agricultural irrigation on Pueblo lands.
City of Santa Rosa, Drinking Water Pipelines Project – $4,000,000 Funding will support construction of a major project for improving drinking water supplies in the City of Santa Rosa and replacing aging infrastructure impacting drinking water pipelines.
Town of Bernalillo, Wastewater Project – $20,000,000 Funding will support the rehabilitation of the Town of Bernalillo’s aging wastewater treatment plant, extending the service life of its infrastructure and future growth in the community to protect water supplies.
Village of Corrales, Wastewater Treatment Facility – $20,000,000 Funding will help install a treatment facility and expand wastewater collection across the Village of Corrales to protect local groundwater from septic system contamination, conserve water resources by recycling treated wastewater, and supporting long-term sustainability.
Protecting our Cultural Heritage and Historic Buildings
Estancia and East Mountains, Estancia Town Hall Renovation – $3,300,000 Funding will support planning and capital improvement repairs of the historic Estancia Community Center. The community center serves as a vital hub, offering access to essential services, educational programs, and support for generations of New Mexicans.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
Government protects thousands of miles of bus services from being scrapped
Bus Services Bill will give local leaders the power to shape the bus services their communities rely on.
bus passengers across the UK – particularly the vulnerable – will be protected from sudden cuts to their services thanks to the Bus Services Bill, which has passed its second reading
Local Transport Minister visits Blackpool, seeing first-hand how locally controlled bus routes are restoring trust in public transport
empowering local leaders, government invests recent record £1 billion to improve bus services and drive up living standards by delivering the Plan for Change
Thousands of bus passengers who rely on vital routes to get to work, school or the doctors will be protected from sudden and uninformed cuts to services thanks to the government’s Bus Services Bill.
In a move that will protect thousands of miles of vital bus routes, the Bus Services Bill will end the plight of bus routes being scrapped at short notice, tightening requirements for cancelling vital bus routes – especially those used by vulnerable or disadvantaged passengers.
Councils will identify socially necessary local services, and working with bus operators, put in place strict requirements before these services can be changed or cancelled.
As the Bus Services Bill reached its second reading in the House of Commons yesterday (2 June 2025), the Transport Secretary called for greater accountability and reliability for bus services. MPs have also begun to have their say on proposals to protect vital services and empower local authorities to make the decisions that will benefit their communities.
The bill, which has already passed through the House of Lords, will improve access to opportunities that drive up living standards and so grow the economy, as part of the Plan for Change.
Buses remain the most used form of public transport across England, but approximately 300 million miles of bus services operating outside London were slashed from 2010 to 2024, with passengers left frustrated at the lack of accountability.
MPs also debated how the bill will allow local authorities to emulate the success of locally controlled bus networks.
To mark the milestone, the Local Transport Minister, Simon Lightwood, visited Blackpool last week to hear first-hand from passengers how the locally controlled Blackpool Transport buses have put their needs first to deliver services that allow them to access jobs and social opportunities that drive up their quality of life.
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said:
We’re committed to giving local leaders the power to shape the bus services their communities rely on. Our Bus Services Bill is a big step forward, protecting vital services that people depend on to get to work, school, or essential appointments.
We have taken a decisive step towards better buses, building on our £1 billion investment to improve and maintain bus services, keeping people connected, driving up living standards and growing the economy in line with our Plan for Change.
The plans will lift the ban on local authorities establishing their own bus companies, making it easier for them to control services and shape routes to work better for local people.
As part of this, the government will also reduce some of the complexities and red tape involved in bus franchising, including reducing the minimum period between local areas taking control and being allowed to run services.
The bill will also empower local authorities to work alongside private operators to improve bus services if they choose not to pursue full ownership.
The government is also investing a near £38 million to bring 319 new zero emission buses to communities across England, while nearly £1 billion is being invested in England to improve bus infrastructure with new bus stops and digital timetables, introduce more frequent and more reliable buses and expand fare discounts.
The bill will also improve safety for both passengers and staff by mandating that staff, including drivers, undertake training to recognise and respond to incidents of criminal and anti-social behaviour, including acts of violence against women and girls.
Mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:
Deregulation of buses came at the expense of passengers, with a shrinking network, high fares and a service not fit for the rapid growth and scale of ambition we are seeing in Greater Manchester.
As the first area to bring buses back under local control, our Bee Network is putting people and businesses before profit, reversing decades-long decline in buses with rapidly growing numbers of passengers served by a more reliable, affordable and integrated network. This is central to supporting economic growth, higher productivity, access to new jobs, homes and public services and opening up opportunity for all.
This bill is vital to reforming transport networks across the country, putting power back in the hands of locally accountable leaders to ensure services work for the communities they serve.
North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, said:
On my first day as mayor, I started the legal process to bring buses back under public control because good public transport is how we unlock growth and opportunity for local people. I hear every day from people fed up with poor bus services.
This can’t go on, so I’m pleased the government is working with mayors and local authorities to bring in legislation that will support our effort to improve bus networks across the country. It is crucial we fix the broken bus market so we can provide the reliable, affordable public transport people need.
Professor Karen Lucas, Director of Manchester Urban Institute, said:
The new buses bill will finally put a halt to the decimation of socially necessary services after years of unregulated cuts that have left many vulnerable people and low-income and rural communities stranded. This is a good first step in the right direction, but more local action is needed.
Lydia Horbury, Bus Users UK Director for England, said:
The protection of socially necessary bus services is vital to ensuring that everyone – regardless of age, income, or ability – can access education, employment, healthcare and their wider community. For too long, communities have been left stranded by sudden cuts to lifeline routes.
Strengthening the framework around these services, as proposed in the Bus Services Bill, is a crucial step toward building a truly inclusive and reliable transport network outside London. We support any measures which empower local authorities to safeguard these routes and the passengers who depend on them.
Ben Plowden of Campaign for Better Transport said:
Buses are the most used form of public transport, connecting millions of people to jobs and education, shops and services, friends and family. Preserving vital bus services has long been central to our campaigning, so the new protections in the Bus Services Bill are very welcome indeed.
Protecting existing services and identifying and filling gaps in the network is the way to ensure everyone can access opportunities and stay connected.
Jason Prince, Director of the Urban Transport Group, said:
The government has moved rapidly to bring about better buses by providing local leaders with the right tools to improve services for their communities. We welcome the Bus Services Bill and its commitment to back passengers and the services they rely upon.
“Today, Canada’s First Ministers met in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to build a stronger, more competitive, and more resilient Canadian economy. This marks the first time that a First Ministers’ Meeting has taken place in Saskatchewan in over 40 years.
“First Ministers expressed their deep concern regarding the wildfire situations across Canada, including in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and pledged to continue to provide assistance and support to impacted provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities.
“First Ministers discussed the federal government’s plan to remove trade barriers and advance major projects of national interest, including by tabling their One Canadian Economy legislation, so Canada can be stronger at home and abroad.
“First Ministers agreed to work together to accelerate major projects in support of building a strong, resilient, and united Canada. As a first step, First Ministers discussed projects of national interest which fit the following criteria, subject to consultation with Indigenous Peoples whose rights may be affected:
Strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience, and security.
Offer undeniable benefits to Canada and support economic growth.
Have a high likelihood of successful execution.
Are a high priority for Indigenous leaders.
Have clean growth potential, such as the use of clean technologies and sustainable practices.
“First Ministers also agreed to continue the discussion on projects of national interest, working with provincial and territorial governments.
“This is a first step in implementing a broader set of reforms to overhaul the project assessment process. A significantly improved, streamlined project assessment process is necessary for Canada to grow its economy to become the strongest in the G7 and a global energy superpower.
“First Ministers are committed to immediately begin to address project approval and permitting efficiency and timelines for all projects. Premiers welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to ensuring all federal assessment decisions are rendered within two years, beginning with projects of national interest. First Ministers also agreed to work toward efficiently and effectively implementing ‘one project, one review’ with the goal of a single assessment for all projects, in a manner that respects federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdiction, enhancing co-ordination activities on permitting and eliminating duplication. This will help kickstart economic growth and ensure that projects get built in a timely manner. First Ministers pledged to fulfil the Crown’s duty to consult with Indigenous Peoples and discussed ways to strengthen Indigenous ownership and partnerships to provide Indigenous communities with generational economic opportunities.
“Nation-building infrastructure and corridors, such as highways, railways, ports, airports, pipelines, nuclear projects, clean and conventional energy projects, and electricity transmission systems, are crucial for driving Canadian productivity growth, energy security, and economic competitiveness. First Ministers agreed that Canada must work urgently to get Canadian natural resources and commodities to domestic and international markets, such as critical minerals and decarbonized Canadian oil and gas by pipelines, supported by the private sector, that provide access to diversified global markets, including Asia and Europe. First Ministers also agreed to build cleaner and more affordable electricity systems to reduce emissions and increase reliability toward achieving net zero by 2050. In order to generate economic and social benefits, this work must be done by bringing together the right conditions, including Indigenous equity and participation, and deferring to provincial and territorial environmental assessments, where applicable.
“First Ministers also discussed needed investments in dual-use infrastructure in Northern and Arctic communities that will address Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and security goals, meet local community needs, advance national energy independence, and unlock the North’s economic potential. Indigenous equity and participation will be pivotal to the success of these projects. Premiers acknowledged the federal commitment to move quickly to improve Canada’s defence capabilities and meet international spending targets.
“Through recent federal, provincial, and territorial efforts and actions led by the Committee on Internal Trade and the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, significant progress has been made toward removing internal trade barriers and further facilitating the movement of goods, services, and workers across the country. Recognizing there is more work to do, First Ministers committed to unlock multilateral, economy-wide mutual recognition and labour mobility, while respecting Québec’s specificity. First Ministers directed the Committee on Internal Trade to rapidly conclude a comprehensive Mutual Recognition Agreement covering consumer goods, in alignment with the Committee on Internal Trade discussions, with implementation by December 2025. In addition, they directed their Ministers of Transport to work together to rapidly expand the trucking pilot. They also agreed to a 30-day service standard for pan-Canadian credential recognition.
“First Ministers also stressed the importance of creating a new economic and security relationship with the United States to remove the unjustified American tariffs – including longstanding unjustified duties on softwood lumber – and create a more stable and predictable trade environment. They underscored they all have a role to play to achieve this.
“The federal government committed to working urgently to remove Chinese tariffs on Canadian agriculture and seafood products. First Ministers emphasized the critical importance of regular and ongoing engagement with China at the highest level to improve the overall trade relationship. In the face of ongoing tariffs, they also discussed opportunities to diversify trade and broaden market access for Canadian exporters.
“First Ministers emphasized the importance of joint efforts to maintain safe and secure communities, including by enhancing the criminal justice system through meaningful and urgent bail and sentencing reforms supporting law enforcement, addressing delays in the criminal justice process, and reviewing risk assessment for sentencing and release of repeat sex offenders and individuals charged with intimate partner violence and gender-based violence crimes. First Ministers recognized the devastating impact the toxic illegal drug supply is having on Canadian communities and committed to dismantling the illicit drug trade, including fentanyl and its precursors. First Ministers directed federal-provincial-territorial Attorneys General and Ministers of Justice and Public Safety to bring forward an action plan to promote safe and vibrant communities for consideration at a future meeting.
“First Ministers agreed to continue to work collaboratively and address the priorities of all Canadians in every region of the country. To that end, they will meet regularly to drive action on shared priorities vital to Canada’s security and economic resilience.”
“For nearly 40 years, Albertans have come together during the first week of June to honour and celebrate our province’s seniors. Seniors’ Week is a time to celebrate the heart of our communities – the seniors whose hard work and dedication helped shape Alberta into the province we know today.
“That’s why I’m proud to officially declare June 2-8, 2025, as Seniors’ Week in Alberta.
“Alberta is home to approximately 830,000 seniors – a number which is projected to grow to more than one million by 2033. As our senior population grows, Alberta’s government remains committed to ensuring older Albertans can age with dignity, surrounded by the communities they helped create.
“Our government supports a wide range of services for seniors, so they can get the help they need, when they need it. This includes the Alberta Seniors Benefit, emotional and social supports, housing assistance, safe spaces, and help with everyday tasks like housekeeping, home and yard maintenance, and transportation.
“Seniors’ Week is a great opportunity to establish connections between generations. When people of all ages connect with one another, it helps create strong and resilient communities built on wisdom from the past and optimism for the future.
“After nearly four decades of celebrating seniors during the first week of June, I am honoured to take part in this proud Alberta tradition. From recreational activities and pancake breakfasts to barbecues and formal dinners, there are events throughout the week to celebrate seniors all over the province. Seniors can also enjoy free admission to provincial museums all week.
“This Seniors’ Week, I encourage all Albertans to take some time to connect with seniors in their lives and communities. When people of all ages connect with one another, it helps create strong, resilient communities built on wisdom from the past and optimism for the future.
Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn
WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) underscored the urgency of addressing our national debt in the Senate’s version of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and detailed additional priorities for the legislation, including extending the Trump tax cuts to avoid an average tax increase of $3,000 in Texas and implementing work requirements for means-tested programs. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.
“One of the most important things that we need to do in this budget reconciliation process is to finally come to grips with our national debt.”
“We are now spending more money on interest on the national debt than we are to defend our nation, which is the number one job of the federal government.”
“If we want the United States to maintain its standing in the world, if we want to be able to have the resources to defend the nation and deter our adversaries, we have to at least begin to get our fiscal house in order, and this bill — the big, beautiful bill from the House — we’re going to make it even more beautiful here in the Senate.”
“I was happy to see that the House bill included work requirements that go into effect in 2026, and I hope the Senate will include this policy in our bill as well.”
“Failure is not an option. If the President’s tax cuts are not extended, the American people will face the largest tax increase in American history… back home in Texas, my constituents will see their taxes increase on average $3,000 next year.”
“As I’ve traveled my state as I did during the course of this most recent recess, my constituents have emphasized to me time and time again how much they are depending on these tax cuts being renewed, especially our small businesses that have depended on the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to hire more staff, to purchase equipment that they could then expense, and to provide additional benefits to their employees.”
“All of these small businesses, which are the primary job-creating engine in America, would be hurt, and would suffer increased costs, and have to cut somewhere in their business.”
“The American people are depending on us to pass the President’s agenda through this One Big Beautiful Bill.”
OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D. today issued a statement following the California Superior Court’s decision invalidating Measure A, which attempted to amend Fresno County’s charter to move elections for district attorney and sheriff away from the presidential cycle to the gubernatorial cycle. Attorney General Bonta and Secretary of State Weber filed a lawsuit challenging Measure A last year, arguing that Measure A is preempted by a state law that explicitly requires counties to hold these elections during the presidential election cycle, which traditionally has higher turnout. In its decision, the Superior Court permanently blocks Fresno County from enforcing Measure A, finding that the measure violates California’s election law.
“There is nothing more fundamental to American democracy than the right to vote and make your voice heard,” said Attorney General Bonta. “With Measure A, Fresno County threatened to undermine that fundamental right, intentionally seeking to move elections for sheriff and district attorney to off years when voters are far less likely to show up and cast a ballot. Our democracy works best when everyone can participate. I’m proud to have worked with Secretary of State Weber to have permanently blocked this unlawful measure.”
“Our democracy works best when more citizens can participate in our elections,” said Secretary of State Weber. “Today’s ruling helps ensure more voices are heard through the ballot box in Fresno County’s elections for district attorney and sheriff.”
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
ISTANBUL, June 2 (Xinhua) — The latest round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, held in Istanbul on Monday with the mediation of Turkey, ended with certain positive changes, especially in the humanitarian sphere.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli confirmed that the talks, which took place behind closed doors, “did not end negatively.”
Following the meeting, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation, stated at a press conference that during the negotiations the parties had achieved concrete humanitarian results.
R. Umerov said that Ukraine presented its agenda to Russia, proposing a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, as well as the release of prisoners and the return of young servicemen and children.
Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who headed the Russian delegation, for his part announced that Russia would return 6,000 bodies of its fallen servicemen to Ukraine.
According to V. Medinsky, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange all seriously wounded and servicemen aged 18-25. In addition, Russia proposed declaring a ceasefire with Ukraine for two to three days in certain sections of the front, he added.
The previous round of direct talks between the two countries took place in Istanbul on May 16, the first time the two sides met in person since March 2022. During that round, an agreement was reached on a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange, the largest exchange since the conflict began. –0–
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev held a working meeting with Novosibirsk Region Governor Andrey Travnikov. The main topics were socio-economic development, the agro-industrial complex and environmental issues in the region.
The economy of Novosibirsk Oblast is developing dynamically, production is growing in various industries, including metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and other areas. Both budget revenues and social expenditures have grown. The volume of individual housing construction is growing significantly in the region.
Andrey Travnikov noted positive dynamics in the livestock industry, in particular in meat production, following the results of 2024. Growth continued this year.
In the Novosibirsk Region, five investment projects in various economic sectors are being implemented within the framework of the curatorship institute. The total investment volume is estimated at 73 billion rubles.
Dmitry Patrushev noted that the region should pay special attention to increasing the population’s income, creating highly productive jobs, and reducing unemployment.
The meeting also discussed the results of the implementation of the national project “Ecology” in the region. In the Novosibirsk Region, projects have been implemented to eliminate unauthorized landfills, create solid municipal waste disposal facilities, clean water bodies and reforestation. More than 1.4 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for these purposes. Within the framework of the new national project “Ecological Well-Being”, which started this year, work in these areas will be continued. During the meeting, special attention was paid to the reform of the solid municipal waste management system, in particular the sustainable work of regional operators.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Tashkent, June 2 (Xinhua) — From June 1 to 2, Vice Chairwoman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Shen Yueyue visited Uzbekistan and took part in the 2nd China-Uzbekistan Interregional Forum, where she delivered a speech.
During the visit, she met with the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, the Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis (upper house of parliament) of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev, and also held a friendly exchange of views with Deputy Prime Minister Zulaykho Makhkamova.
Shen Yueyue noted that under the strategic leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the China-Uzbekistan all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era has entered an accelerated development trajectory. The Chinese side is ready to work with Uzbekistan to implement the agreements reached by the heads of the two states, strengthen political mutual trust, deepen all-round mutually beneficial cooperation, promote cultural and humanitarian exchanges, and jointly build a community of shared future for China and Uzbekistan from a higher starting point, bringing even more benefits to the two countries and their peoples, the vice-chairwoman of the CPPCC National Committee emphasized.
Prime Minister A. Aripov, for his part, asked Shen Yueyue to convey sincere greetings to Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang and noted that Uzbekistan and China are good partners, distinguished by mutual benefit and common gain, as well as reliable friends who support each other. Uzbekistan is ready to deepen cooperation with China in such areas as the economy, trade, investment, cultural, humanitarian and interregional exchanges, to promote high-quality construction of the “Belt and Road”, the head of the Uzbek government assured. -0-
Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Geneva/Abuja, 2 June 2025 – The international Organization for Migration (IOM) is deeply saddened by the devastating floods that struck Niger State, in Nigeria’s North-Central Region, on the night of 29 May 2025.
According to latest data from IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix, more than 3,000 people have reportedly been affected, with at least 153 lives lost and 11 reported injuries. The floods have destroyed homes, farmlands, water sources, essential infrastructure and health facilities, leaving families without shelter, food, clean water and access to critical health services.
IOM is working in close coordination with the Federal and State Governments, through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to support response efforts. IOM has deployed a team of enumerators to assess the damage and identify urgent needs.
Together with government authorities and local and international partners, IOM is mobilizing urgent assistance to provide life-saving support to those affected.
IOM extends its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to all those impacted by this heartbreaking disaster.
