Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Continuous heavy rainfall in southwest China’s Yunnan Province has triggered geological disasters and caused house collapses and road disruptions, affecting thousands of residents.
As of 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, torrential rains in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture had affected 5,885 people from 1,652 households, damaging 27 houses, and destroying or damaging 16 bridges. Road disruptions were reported at 97 locations. A popular scenic area and a sightseeing platform had been temporarily closed.
As of 8:00 p.m., Nujiang had urgently relocated 1,797 residents, with no fatalities reported so far.
Meanwhile, in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, landslides, mudslides and floods have blocked multiple roads, with dense fog further complicating transportation. The Meri Snow Mountain scenic zone was temporarily closed after flash floods forced the evacuation of 300 tourists.
Local transport authorities of Diqing have deployed workers and machinery to repair damaged roads. In Deqen County, crews of local fire department have rescued 138 trapped residents and relocated 331 others to safety.
Meteorological authorities warn that more rainfall is expected in both prefectures in coming days, maintaining a high risk of landslides, mudflows, and flash floods.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Visitors try specialties of Harbin at the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province, April 16, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
China’s consumer goods trade-in program has generated 1.1 trillion yuan (about $153.1 billion) in sales in the first five months this year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday.
As of Saturday, nationwide trade-ins had fueled a surge in transactions, including 4.12 million vehicles, 77.62 million units of household appliances and 56.63 million units of digital products — such as mobile phones, among others, data from the ministry showed.
The program, part of China’s broader efforts to spur domestic demand, has boosted a sustained recovery in the country’s consumer spending, according to the ministry.
In the government work report released in March 2025, boosting consumption was listed as a top priority among this year’s tasks.
Retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country’s consumption strength, rose 4.7 percent year on year in the first four months of 2025, accelerating from the 4.6-percent growth recorded in the first quarter of the year, official data revealed.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Bangladeshi interim government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus delivers a speech during the China-Bangladesh Conference on Investment and Trade in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 1, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
Bangladeshi interim government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Sunday urged Chinese investors to make Bangladesh their home and production hub.
During his speech at the China-Bangladesh Conference on Investment and Trade, Yunus said Chinese companies are the masters of manufacturing, and Bangladesh wants to be their partner.
He said the interim government has been steadfast in implementing reforms, enhancing the investment climate, streamlining regulatory frameworks and ensuring a conducive environment for business operations.
Yunus invited Chinese investors to explore the extensive opportunities that Bangladesh offers in textiles, endowments, pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, fisheries, food, and information technology.
The conference attracted more than 400 representatives from Chinese and Bangladeshi enterprises and business associations.
Thank you to the conference organizers for inviting me to speak today. I have attended this conference several times and I’m honored to be on the program this year. Today, I will speak on the U.S. economic outlook and the implications for monetary policy.1 I will focus my comments on two issues: first, the effects of tariffs on inflation persistence, and second, the divergence of household inflation expectations and financial market measures of inflation expectations. The theme of this conference is structural shifts and monetary policy. The key structural shift that is affecting the economies of both the United States and South Korea is the recent change in U.S. trade policy, and a substantial share of my remarks will address how this shift is affecting the U.S. outlook. The variability in tariff announcements this year, including the whipsawing of court rulings and doubling of metal tariffs last week, has created considerable uncertainty about where trade policy will settle. In mid-April, based on how things looked at the time, I proposed two scenarios to consider in framing an outlook and a preferred stance of monetary policy: a large tariff scenario and a smaller tariff scenario.2 In both cases, I assumed that the tariff increases would lead to a one-time boost to prices that would temporarily raise inflation, after which inflation would return to its underlying rate. This temporary increase could play out with a prompt rise in inflation that could recede quickly, or it could occur more gradually with a more modest increase that would recede more slowly. As I will explain, crucial to this judgment is my assumption that longer-term inflation expectations remain anchored. The large-tariff scenario I described assumed an average, trade-weighted tariff for goods imports of 25 percent, which is close to where things stood after the 90-day tariff suspensions announced April 9, and my scenario assumed that this would remain in place for some time. In that case, I argued that inflation based on the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index could reach a peak of 5 percent on an annualized basis this year if businesses passed through all of the tariff costs to consumers. If firms absorbed some of the tariff increase, then inflation might peak around 4 percent. I also argued that an economic slowdown from these higher costs could push the unemployment rate up from 4.2 percent to 5 percent next year. The smaller-tariff scenario assumed a 10 percent average tariff on goods imports would remain in place but that higher country and sector specific tariffs would be negotiated down over time. In this case, inflation may rise to 3 percent on an annualized basis and then dissipate. Growth in output and employment would slow, with the unemployment rate rising but probably not as high as 5 percent. Reported progress on trade negotiations since that speech leaves my base case somewhere in between these two scenarios. The temporary reduction in China tariffs has significantly decreased the trade-weighted average tariff, since China supplied about 13 percent of U.S. goods imports in 2024. But that reduction is only temporary and is due to increase if a trade agreement is not reached by August 12. Meanwhile, tariffs on other countries were temporarily lowered to 10 percent, but it is unclear where they will end up. Furthermore, the Administration continues to say that it plans additional tariffs on specific industries and sectors of the economy. Last week’s court decisions declaring a large share of tariffs illegal introduce additional uncertainty, but there seem to be multiple options for maintaining tariffs, so I will stick with an estimated trade weighted tariff right now of 15 percent on U.S. goods imports, which falls in between my large- and smaller- tariff scenarios. I see the risks of my large tariff scenario having gone down, but there is still considerable uncertainty about the ultimate levels, and thus about the impact on the economic outlook. The context for this uncertainty about tariffs is that hard data on the fundamentals of the economy lately has been mostly positive and supportive of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) economic objectives. There is very little evidence of the effect of trade policy in this data on inflation or economic activity through April, but that may change in the coming weeks. In comparison, there is evidence of tariff effects in the “soft data” based on surveys of consumers, businesses, and investors—indications of an expected slowdown in economic activity and an increase in prices. As of today, I see downside risks to economic activity and employment and upside risks to inflation in the second half of 2025, but how these risks evolve is strongly tied to how trade policy evolves. A careful examination of the hard data on overall economic activity through April shows it has been, on balance, positive. I say this because, while real gross domestic product contracted slightly in the first quarter, private domestic final demand, a measure of spending by consumers and businesses, grew at a healthy annual rate of 2.5 percent in the quarter. Of course, economic policy uncertainty among businesses is very elevated, and this has affected measures of sentiment and confidence for consumers and businesses, which fell to historically low levels in April. One index of this policy uncertainty compiled from newspaper stories, government reports, and the dispersion of the forecasts of private-sector economists rose in April to nearly twice the level seen during the pandemic and the Global Financial Crisis.3 However, consumer sentiment rebounded with the announcement that the China tariffs had been lowered temporarily. And households’ spending should continue to be supported by income from the resilient labor market. In addition, my business contacts have told me that, because of tariff uncertainty, their investment plans are currently on hold but are not canceled. So we may see a slowdown in investment in the near term but a jump back up later this year. Wherever things end up on a continuum between my “large” and “smaller” scenarios, I do expect tariffs will result in an increase in the unemployment rate that will, all else equal, probably linger. Higher tariffs will reduce spending, and businesses will respond, in part, by reducing production and payrolls. We won’t get the jobs report for May until this Friday, but the consensus expectation is that employers added 130,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2 percent. We have seen a reduction in wage pressures over recent months, and the ratio of job vacancies to the number of unemployed people has moderated from as high as 2 a couple of years ago to close to 1 today, which was about where it was before the pandemic. With a balanced labor market, if aggregate demand slows noticeably, businesses will likely look to cut workers. But I believe job cuts would be modest if the smaller-tariff scenario is realized. Most chief executives I have spoken to say that they can maintain their current operations with an effective tariff of 10 percent, looking for efficiencies here and there, and won’t have to significantly reduce their workforces. InflationNow let me turn to the outlook for inflation. Before the recent shift in U.S. trade policy, inflation had been making consistent, but uneven, progress over the past two years toward our 2 percent goal. While that progress seemed to stall at the beginning of 2025, it has resumed the past two months. The same pattern of higher readings at the start of the year, followed by lower readings the next couple of months, also occurred in 2024 and I expect that research will eventually reveal some residual seasonal effect or other factor that has affected at least some prices early in the year. Total PCE inflation for April rose 0.1 percent, and core PCE inflation without energy and food prices increased by the same amount. It was the second monthly reading at 0.1 percent or less, and it means that headline PCE inflation was up 2.1 percent over the 12 months through April and that core was up 2.5 percent. In the absence of the tariff increases, I was expecting inflation would continue to be coming down nicely to our 2 percent goal. But now I expect that the effect of higher tariffs will raise inflation in the coming months. The surge in imports to build up inventories ahead of the April 2 announcement makes the timing of price increases somewhat uncertain. Thinking about the rest of 2025 and 2026, I expect the largest factor driving inflation will be tariffs. As I said earlier, whatever the size of the tariffs, I expect the effects on inflation to be temporary, and most apparent in the second half of 2025. This will be determined not only by the ultimate size of the increase, but also by how exporters and importers respond, something that is highly uncertain. Will foreign exporters discount prices to try and preserve market share? Will domestic importers absorb some of the tariff increases to shore up demand and sales volumes? Will firms simply pass the entire tariff along to consumers? Since about 10 percent of personal spending goes to imported goods, if the ultimate tariff levels are closer to my 10 percent smaller-tariff scenario and if that is fully passed through to consumers, then the tariff would push up prices 1 percent. But based on my conversations with business leaders, I suspect the tariff cost will not be fully passed through and, instead, the burden will be distributed something like 1/3, 1/3, and 1/3 among consumers, importers and exporters. In this case, it would raise inflation three tenths of 1 percent for a short period. However, if the tariffs are higher than 10 percent, more of the increase is likely to be passed on to consumers, as businesses face limits in how much they can absorb and still find a way to remain profitable. I have also heard from business contacts that firms may choose to spread the tariff across non-imported goods. This would increase many goods prices a little instead of boosting import prices by a larger amount. But this approach would not affect the total impact of tariffs on the overall price level. Let me illustrate why using an example. Imagine a firm selling 10 goods with equal sales revenue so that all have an equal weight of 1/10 when aggregating the firm’s average price. Now assume one of the goods is imported. A 10 percent tariff on the imported good that is fully passed through raises the price of the imported good by 10 percent, while the prices of the other nine goods remain unchanged. This pricing strategy raises the average price of all goods by 1 percent. Now, instead, suppose the firm chooses a different strategy and decides to spread the tariff cost across all goods by raising all 10 goods prices by 1 percent. As a result, the price of the imported good increases much less, but the prices of the other nine goods now increase a bit even though they are not subject to tariffs. Under this strategy, the average price of the firm’s goods still goes up 1 percent, and the tariff is fully passed through. So both pricing strategies have the same total effect on the aggregate price level across the firm and, if repeated, across the economy. The same logic applies to passing along the tariff via a sequence of smaller price increases instead of at a single point in time—in the end, the aggregate price level goes up by the same amount regardless of whether it is gradual or immediate. I have heard the concern that some firms may raise prices opportunistically while blaming the tariff increase. There is always a risk that firms blame some purported cost spike for a price increase, but it doesn’t happen often because of the risk of losing market share to competitors or squandering the allegiance of loyal customers. So while this may happen in isolated instances, I do not believe it will be a significant source of additional inflation above and beyond the tariff-induced increase. Inflation PersistenceLet me now turn to the first of two issues about inflation that I want to cover in more detail. This is inflation persistence. The economics behind a tariff increase implies it should have a transitory effect on prices—tariffs raise prices once, but those prices don’t keep going up. I know that hearing “transitory” will certainly remind many people of the consensus on the FOMC in 2021 that the pandemic increases to inflation would be transitory. Inflation turned out to be much more persistent than we thought it would be. Am I playing with fire by taking this position again? It sure looks like it. So why do I believe a tariff-induced inflation spike will not be persistent this time? Looking back to how inflation played out in 2021 and 2022, I believe there were three key factors that increased the persistence of the initial burst of inflation in 2021. First, there was a negative labor supply shock that was more persistent than expected. I believed that once the economy reopened, all of this labor would return. However, many workers left the labor market because of illness, or to care for children and family members, or took early retirement. They never returned. And with every wave of COVID-19, the United States experienced additional waves of early retirements that inhibited the labor supply from returning to its pre-pandemic level. Also, with the service sector shut down, demand surged for goods as spending on travel and other services halted and the negative labor supply shock led to a shortage of workers in goods production, delivery, and sales. Goods industries raised wages to attract workers and then once the economy began to reopen, service-sector firms had to pay higher wages to get workers back. This persistent shortage of labor from these several pandemic-related effects continued through 2021 and 2022 as job vacancies skyrocketed and firms had no choice but to pass along escalating wage increases in the form of higher prices. The second factor driving inflation after the pandemic was that the supply chain disruptions that many expected to be temporary turned out to be more persistent. There were multiple waves of COVID affecting different regions of the world at different times, so that resolving production and transportation problems was constantly disrupted by the ebbing and flowing of the disease. One notable detail is that China’s lockdowns lasted much longer than expected and played an important role in global supply disruptions. The last factor was the quite stimulative fiscal response in the United States. There were hundreds of billions of dollars in grants to businesses to pay idled workers and large transfer payments to households. Furthermore, additional fiscal spending bills in 2021 and 2022 further stimulated aggregate demand. I am willing to admit that, at the time, I underappreciated how the large and sustained fiscal response would combine with highly accommodative monetary policy to overstimulate aggregate demand in an economy that quickly recovered from the early effects of the pandemic. Today I don’t see factors like the three I have described here reinforcing the inflationary effects of higher tariffs. There is no longer a shortage of labor and, at least so far, no indication that tariffs are causing big disruptions in supply chains, as the recent surge in imports that I mentioned should attest. While Congress is putting together a tax bill, as it stands now, a large share of that legislation extends tax cuts that have been on the books for eight years and thus would not be stimulative. Finally, monetary policy is in a very different position—we have shrunk our balance sheet by over $2 trillion and our policy rate is north of 4 percent instead of being at the effective lower bound. So I do not believe one can use 2021 and 2022 as a basis for predicting what will happen to the persistence of inflation arising from tariffs. Inflation ExpectationsNow let’s discuss the second issue of diverging inflation expectations. I have argued that I believe the tariff-induced inflation will be transitory and we should look through it when setting policy as long as longer-term inflation expectations are anchored.4 However, right now, we are seeing a dramatic disparity between household measures of inflation expectations and market-based measures, as well as the inflation expectations of professional forecasters. The University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers show that both near- and longer-term inflation expectations have increased strikingly, on net, in the past few months and currently stand at 6.6 percent and 4.2 percent respectively. Meanwhile, inflation expectation measures based on prices of nominal versus inflation-adjusted securities have not increased very much, with 2-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities inflation compensation around 2.7 percent and 5-year and 10-year around 2.4 percent. Also, the median from the Survey of Professional Forecasters for consumer price inflation 6 to 10 years ahead is at 2.2 percent. This highly unusual discrepancy between inflation expectation measures creates problems for policymakers. Whose expectations should we be paying attention to? I prefer to look at market-based measures of inflation compensation and professional forecasters’ expectations because they have money on the line. Those buying inflation protected-securities lose money if they are wrong. Professional forecasters have clients and firms making financial decisions based on those forecasts and will lose customers if their predictions are wrong. As I used to teach my students, in a capitalist system, competition will drive firms out of business if they make bad decisions. Forecasting mistakes can be costly for consumers, but households aren’t competing with each other and won’t be driven out of business if they make bad decisions. But, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that the household measures of high inflation expectations are correct and financial market participants’ expectations are too low. What are the implications of this mismatch?5 If households actually believe inflation will be 7 percent for several years, workers would be expected to demand at least a 7 percent raise to keep their real wages from falling.6 If firms grant those wage demands, then inflation would rise by roughly 7 percent as the wage increases are passed through. Also, job search and the quits rate should increase as workers look for higher-paying jobs. Is this happening? Although that was the story a few years ago in a tight labor market, I am not now hearing about such an upturn in wage demands from my business contacts, and I don’t see it in wage and compensation data. After several years of outsized pay increases and in a labor market that has loosened significantly from a year or two ago, I think workers don’t have much leverage to ask for raises and are probably more worried about keeping their jobs right now. Furthermore, instead of increasing, the quits rate is below its pre-pandemic level. Given labor market conditions, it seems hard to believe that the high inflation expectations we are seeing in consumer surveys will lead to large nominal wage increases and a second-round burst of inflation. A second point here is that if consumers believed we were about to face high inflation, they would be front-loading purchases, much as importers seem to be front-loading their inventories. But, on the contrary, with the exception of motor vehicles, we haven’t seen a broad surge in the consumer spending, which overall is growing more slowly than it did in the second half of 2024. For financial businesses, they set interest rates of their loans and financial products based on expected inflation. Their views should be embedded in market-based inflation expectations and those of professional forecasters. If they got the forecast wrong and the nominal interest rates on their loans were too low, then their real returns would be dramatically reduced and their profit margins squeezed. I have a hard time believing interest rates are mis-priced so badly. If they were, then households would think the real interest rate on loans is greatly suppressed. Consequently, loan demand for interest-sensitive products like houses, cars, and durable goods should surge. While loan demand appears to be healthy, there are no reports from banks or other financial firms that loan demand is surging. So, based on wage demands, spending patterns, and loan demand, I see no evidence of economic activity that conforms to the inflation views reflected in the University of Michigan household measures, which, like other polling about the economy in recent years, may reflect attitudes about other factors.7 In conclusion, given my belief that any tariff-induced inflation will not be persistent and that inflation expectations are anchored, I support looking through any tariff effects on near term-inflation when setting the policy rate. Fortunately, the strong labor market and progress on inflation through April gives me additional time to see how trade negotiations play out and the economy evolves. Assuming that the effective tariff rate settles close to my lower tariff scenario, that underlying inflation continues to make progress to our 2 percent goal, and that the labor market remains solid, I would be supporting “good news” rate cuts later this year.
1. The views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Open Market Committee. Return to text 2. See Waller (2025) A Tale of Two Outlooks. Return to text 3. See Scott R. Baker, Nick Bloom, and Steven J. Davis (2025), “Economic Policy Uncertainty,” webpage, https://www.policyuncertainty.com/us_monthly.html. Return to text 4. For an interesting history of monetary policymakers “looking through” inflation increases, see Nelson, Edward (2025). “A Look Back at “Look Through,” Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2025-037. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Return to text 5. In what follows, I am focusing solely on the higher level of inflation expectations and not the higher level of inflation uncertainty. The level of inflation and uncertainty about inflation are highly correlated, so it is difficult to disentangle the effects separately. To see how these two effects can alter household behavior, see Dimitris Georgarakos, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Olivier Coibion, and Geoff Kenny (2024), “The Causal Effects of Inflation Uncertainty on Households’ Beliefs and Actions (PDF),” NBER Working Paper Series 33014 (Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, October). Return to text 6. As documented in Nelson (2025), second round wage effects were a general concern of policymakers in the 1970s and 1990s when discussing oil price shocks or how to respond to changes in value-added taxes and exchange rate shocks. Return to text 7. For a discussion of factors that were affecting inflation perceptions during the COVID pandemic, see David Lebow and Ekaterina Peneva (2024), “Inflation Perceptions during the Covid Pandemic and Recovery,” FEDS Notes (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 19). Return to text
Bougainville, an autonomous archipelago currently part of Papua New Guinea, is determined to become the world’s newest country.
To support this process, it’s offering foreign investors access to a long-shuttered copper and gold mine. Formerly owned by the Australian company Rio Tinto, the Panguna mine caused displacement and severe environmental damage when it operated between 1972 and 1989.
Australia views Bougainville as strategically important to “inner security arc”. The main island is about 1,500 kilometres from Queensland’s Port Douglas.
Given this, the possibility of China’s increasing presence in Bougainville raises concerns about shifting allegiances and the potential for Beijing to exert greater influence over the region.
Australia’s tangled history in Bougainville
Bougainville is a small island group in the South Pacific with a population of about 300,000. It consists of two main islands: Buka in the north and Bougainville Island in the south.
Bougainville has a long history of unwanted interference from outsiders, including missionaries, plantation owners and colonial administrations (German, British, Japanese and Australian).
Two weeks before Papua New Guinea received its independence from Australia in 1975, Bougainvilleans sought to split away, unilaterally declaring their own independence. This declaration was ignored in both Canberra and Port Moresby, but Bougainville was given a certain degree of autonomy to remain within the new nation of PNG.
The opening of the Panguna mine in the 1970s further fractured relations between Australia and Bougainville. Landowners opposed the environmental degradation and limited revenues they received from the mine. The influx of foreign workers from Australia, PNG and China also led to resentment. Violent resistance grew, eventually halting mining operations and expelling almost all foreigners.
Under the leadership of Francis Ona, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) fought a long civil war to restore Bougainville to Me’ekamui, or the “Holy Land” it once was.
After the war ended, Australia helped broker the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001. Although aid programs have since begun to heal the rift between Australia and Bougainville, many Bougainvilleans feel Canberra continues to favour PNG’s territorial integrity.
In 2019, Bougainvilleans voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum. Australia’s response, however, was ambiguous.
As Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama, a former BRA commander, told me in 2024:
We are moving forward. And it’s the people’s vision: independence. I’m saying, no earlier than 2025, no later than 2027. My benchmark is 2026, the first of September. I will declare. No matter what happens. I will declare independence on our republican constitution.
Major issues to overcome
Bougainville leaders see the reopening of Panguna mine as key to financing independence. Bougainville Copper Limited, the Rio Tinto subsidiary that once operated the mine, backs this assessment.
But reopening the mine would also require addressing the ongoing environmental and social issues it has caused. These include polluted rivers and water sources, landslides, flooding, chemical waste hazards, the loss of food security, displacement, and damage to sacred sites.
Many of these issues have been exacerbated by years of small-scale alluvial mining by Bougainvilleans themselves, eroding the main road into Panguna.
Some also worry reopening the mine could reignite conflict, as landowners are divided about the project. Mismanagement of royalties could also stoke social tensions.
Violence related to competition over alluvial mining has already been increasing at the mine.
The Bougainville government cannot deal with these complex issues on its own. Nor can it finance the infrastructure and development needed to reopen the mine. This is why it’s seeking foreign investors.
Open for business
Historically, China has a strong interest in the region. According to Pacific researcher Anna Powles, Chinese efforts to build relationships with Bougainville’s political elite have increased over the years.
Chinese investors have offered development packages contingent on long-term mining revenues and Bougainville’s independence. Bougainville is showing interest.
Patrick Nisira, the minister for commerce, trade, industry and economic development, said last year the proposed Chinese infrastructure investment is “aligning perfectly with Bougainville’s nationhood aspirations”.
The government has also reportedly made overtures to the United States, offering a military base in Bougainville in return for support reopening the mine.
Given American demand for minerals, Bougainville could very well end up in the middle of a battle between China and the US over influence in the new nation, and thus in our region.
Which path will Bougainville and Australia take?
There is support in Bougainville for a future without large-scale mining. One minister, Geraldine Paul, has been promoting the islands’ booming cocoa industry and fisheries to support an independent Bougainville.
The new nation will also need new laws to hold the government accountable and protect the people and culture of Bougainville. As Paul told me in 2024:
[…]the most important thing is we need to make sure that we invest in our foundation and that’s building our family and culture. Everything starts from there.
What happens in Bougainville affects Australia and the broader security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific. With September 1 2026 just around the corner, it is time for Australia to intensify its diplomatic and economic relationships with Bougainville to maintain regional stability.
Anna-Karina Hermkens receives funding from the Australian Research Council to follow and analyse Bougainville’s journey towards independence.
Secondly, experts disagree on whether populism is a threat or corrective to democracy. Some think it can be both.
Populism: left or right?
Much of the confusion about populism stems from the fact that it can appear across the ideological spectrum.
This is because “the people” and “the elite” are flexible terms, and populists can characterise them in very different ways.
Right-wing populists tend to characterise “the people” in socio-cultural terms, and often combine their populism with nativism.
Think for instance, of how Trump’s “people” are coded as White Americans.
Or, how Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi evokes Hindu nationalism in his definition of “the people”.
Other prominent right-wing populist leaders include the likes of Viktor Orban of Hungary, Nigel Farage of the United Kingdom, Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, and Australia’s Pauline Hanson.
Left-wing populists, meanwhile, tend to characterise “the people” in socio-economic terms. They often combine their populism with calls for economic redistribution or shifts in power.
In the US, Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential primary campaigns put the working class and people in precarious work at the heart of his “people”.
Other examples of left-wing populism include the Podemos and Syriza parties in Spain and Greece respectively.
This also means the way populists tend to define “the elite” is quite different.
Right-wing populist targets often include:
government and policy elites (think of Trump’s “drain the swamp”)
cultural elites (Trump’s attacks on media as “fake news”)
academics (attacks on the “ivory tower”) and
transnational bodies (such as attacks on the United Nations).
These groups are connected in right-wing populist discourse and purported to be undermining “the people’s” livelihood by abetting increased immigration or the destruction of “traditional values”.
Left-wing populists tend to target business and power elites, who they see as fleecing “the people” economically and keeping them from expressing their popular power (think of Occupy Wall Street’s divide between the 99% and the 1%).
Populists also tend to have a suspicion of transnational organisations. But while right-wing populists tend to focus on the likes of the United Nations and World Health Organisation, left-wing populists are more suspicious of business transnationals such as the World Trade Organization or World Economic Forum.
These metaphors suggest populism has come out of nowhere, and is causing a major and unexpected shock to the system.
But that’s simply not the case.
If anything, the story of 21st century politics has been one in which populism has become “normalised” and “mainstreamed”.
Populists are no longer merely “challenger” parties nor minor parties.
They increasingly are among the top three parties in their respective countries (particularly in Europe), and have won government in places from the US to India to the Netherlands to Italy to Greece.
This success has seen them steadily viewed as viable and “normal” political players.
Meanwhile, mainstream parties and leaders have increasingly adopted elements of populists’ discourse, platforms and political styles, as a way to compete with populists.
This, ironically, has had the effect of legitimising populists in many countries; it makes their policies and discourse look more “acceptable”.
It’s important to be cynical about any pundit crowing about the “death” of populism – or, on the flipside, the idea it has come out of nowhere.
Populism is here to stay. Acknowledging that can help us better understand its appeal, which in turn, can provide hints about how to best deal with it.
Benjamin Moffitt receives or has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.
The Northern Territory government recently announced the Dolphins, the NRL’s newest team that entered the league in 2023, would play a home game at TIO Stadium in Darwin every year from 2026 to 2028.
The Dolphins deal replaces a 12-year partnership between the NT and the Parramatta Eels, which ran from 2014 to 2025.
The NRL announcement came soon after the AFL’s Gold Coast played two “home” games at TIO Stadium during Sir Doug Nicholls Round, which is dedicated to Indigenous players, cultures and communities.
Looking ahead, Darwin will be the only capital city in Australia without an AFL or NRL team when the Tasmania Devils join the AFL in 2028 as its 19th team. The NT is, however, pushing hard to join as the AFL’s 20th club.
So, as the NRL dips its toes into the NT, will the AFL look to defend its territory?
The case for an AFL team in the NT
The “footy case” for a standalone NT team is strong: the Territory has produced rich reservoirs of football talent from Alice Springs to the Arafura Sea, with stars such as Michael Long, the Rioli family (Maurice Snr, Cyril, Dean, Daniel, Willie and Maurice Jnr) and Andrew McLeod dominating games and delighting fans.
According to James Coventry’s book Footballistics, the NT shines in terms of participation rates. Only about 250,000 people live in the Top End, but more than 13% participate in Aussie rules programs compared to 8% in Western Australia, 6% in South Australia and 2% in Victoria. In terms of girls and women, the Territory boasts the highest Aussie rules participation rate in the country.
The NT has traditionally been a strong source of AFL draftees, producing more per capita than any other state or territory except for Victoria and South Australia. Around 10% of AFL players are Indigenous, with many emanating from the NT.
But in recent years, Indigenous numbers have declined. In 2024, 70 men and 21 women players identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander – a decrease of 17% since 2020.
An NT team would surely be a boon for Indigenous players who want to stay local.
In the NRL, about 12% of players identify as Indigenous, although only a handful come from the NT.
How would an AFL team look?
The Territory AFL Team Taskforce, in its strategic business case for the 20th licence, has examined a number of options.
These include current AFL clubs playing more matches in Darwin and Alice Springs, a relocated club, or a Darwin-based standalone NT team that also plays in Alice Springs.
The taskforce has also considered a northern Australia team (Darwin based but also playing in Cairns), although that is a less likely option at this stage given it would be hard to have two home grounds so far apart, along with the need to play some games in Alice Springs.
The NT plan also includes an AFLW team and possibly a reserves team in second tier competitions such as the Victorian Football League (VFL) or maybe even the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) or West Australian Football League (WAFL).
Of course, that’s the footy case. The economic case is much more complex.
Dollars and cents
A standalone NT team would need significant financial assistance from the AFL and governments to be successful.
Even with a significant AFL contribution of A$7.83 million per year, the taskforce forecasted an NT club would need the federal and NT government to fund an operation funding gap of $18.89 million annually.
This would include a new or upgraded stadium, which would “anchor the opportunity to bid for a 20th licence,” according to AFL NT chairman Sean Bowden.
The economic benefit to the NT could be as much as $559 million if the new club was provided with a new stadium. An AFL team would create 160 full-time jobs, bring game day activation of the economy and add $116 million a year in economic output to the Territory economy.
Other considerations
Hand in hand with the economic benefits come the social impacts.
The taskforce has committed to develop pathways for elite AFL and AFLW footballers and also create a safety net of social programs for all Territorians under the umbrella of the NT AFL team.
The taskforce stated having elite pro sports teams could inspire Indigenous children, particularly in remote communities.
A big decision to make
As the NRL continues to make its presence felt in the NT, the AFL faces a big decision as the Territory pushes for a standalone team.
The prospect of Australia’s only indigenous game boasting teams from Tasmania to the Top End, and from the east coast to the west coast in every capital city, would no doubt warm the hearts of all football supporters.
It might also be too much for the AFL, as custodians of the great Australian game, to resist.
Tim Harcourt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Dmitry Chernyshenko took part in the awarding of the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important”
June 1, 2025
Dmitry Chernyshenko took part in the awarding of the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important”
June 1, 2025
Dmitry Chernyshenko took part in the awarding of the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important”
June 1, 2025
Dmitry Chernyshenko took part in the awarding of the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important”
June 1, 2025
Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov took part in the awarding of the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important”
June 1, 2025
First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko took part in the awarding of the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important”
June 1, 2025
Award ceremony for the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important” within the framework of the festival “Movement of the First”
June 1, 2025
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Dmitry Chernyshenko took part in the awarding of the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important”
On Children’s Day, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko awarded the winners of the 1st All-Russian Prize “Conversations about the Important”.
The event became the central event of Children’s Day at the “Movement of the First” festival, which was held at VDNKh. The award is held based on the results of the 2024/2025 academic year and emphasizes the significance and effectiveness of the “Conversations about the Important” project as an effective tool for educating the younger generation.
Sergei Kirienko welcomed the guests and noted the project’s influence on the formation of the educational space in Russia.
“The sense of pride with which the children relate to the Russian flag, to the Russian anthem, is the result of the enormous work of educators, teachers, mentors, educational advisers, mentors of the “Movement of the First”, thanks to the “Conversations about the Important” team and those people who, despite their busy schedules, get involved in the project. The “Conversations about the Important” are attended by the heads of the Government, the Federal Assembly, ministers, heads of the largest corporations, outstanding scientists who drop everything and truly believe that there is nothing more important than to pass on their conviction, their faith to the younger generation,” noted Sergei Kiriyenko.
The First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration also presented an award to one of the winners in the nomination “Best Interview of the Year” – Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation, President of the Research Institute of Emergency Children’s Surgery and Traumatology, surgeon Leonid Roshal. He was chosen by teachers in a public vote.
Dmitry Chernyshenko thanked Sergey Kiriyenko for the educational platform – the Atom pavilion and presented awards to the winners in the nomination “Best Interview of the Year”. They were chosen by parents during a public vote. The awards were received by the author of a documentary film about the Kursk region Maxim Anufriev, primary school teacher Kristina Chokheli, agricultural inventor Nikita Tolstov and Honored Doctor of Russia Viktor Belinsky.
“Thank you to our President Vladimir Putin, who gives such incredible people the opportunity to realize their talents. In this difficult genre of interview, the interviewer’s skill determines how much the interlocutor will open up. People participating in “Conversations about the Important” certainly tell our children very important things. And the one who won today, according to the parents, did it better than anyone else this year,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov, the Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut, the head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) Grigory Gurov, Hero of Russia, Chairman of the Board of the “Movement of the First” Artur Orlov.
“The “Conversations about the Important” classes are held first and foremost for our children. Today we see on stage the heroes who made this project so successful. Thanks to you and teachers all over Russia, our children are proud of their country. This is very important. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank the teachers, directors’ advisors on education, who conduct “Conversations about the Important”, recognizing their enormous value and passing it on to the students. I propose making the “Conversations about the Important” award an annual one and celebrating it every June 1,” said Sergey Kravtsov.
The “Movement of the First” festival is held in all 89 regions from May 31 to June 1 and is dedicated to International Children’s Day. The central venue was VDNKh in Moscow. Over the course of two days, the event became the main space for childhood and youth for the entire country. Here, children and adults see real opportunities for young people in Russia, get acquainted with the values of the “Movement of the First”, and communicate with experts and famous speakers.
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: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Dmitry Chernyshenko at a meeting with participants of the new season of the project “Institute of Advisors on Social Change”
May 31, 2025
Dmitry Chernyshenko, Sergey Kravtsov and Gleb Nikitin talked to the participants of the new season of the project “Institute of Advisors on Social Change”
May 31, 2025
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Dmitry Chernyshenko at a meeting with participants of the new season of the project “Institute of Advisors on Social Change”
On May 30, 2025, in Nizhny Novgorod, at the site of the Corporate University of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (KUPNO), training for participants in the fourth stream of the project “Institute of Advisors for Social Change” started. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov and Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Gleb Nikitin spoke with the participants of the event.
The Institute of Advisors for Social Change project is a cross-sector free program of the People’s Front project “Region of Care” and KUPNO, implemented with the support of the government of the Nizhny Novgorod region with the participation of RANEPA. It unites civil servants, managers and employees of NPOs, representatives of socially responsible businesses and the media and allows for the preparation of leaders of change in the social sphere.
Since the project began, 115 people from 33 regions of Russia have already completed specialized training. More than 40 people have become students of the fourth training stream. They will have to develop projects in such areas as helping teenagers in crisis situations, reorganizing boarding schools, palliative care for children and adults, preventing social orphanhood, and many others. The main goal of the training is to help specialists restructure their work so as to proceed from the interests of the person, while using the strengths of partner organizations.
“Today we could not help but come here, where they train social change advisers, first of all out of respect for you and your work. As the President teaches us, in public administration it is precisely this kind of direct communication that helps make wise decisions and effectively build processes. It is very important to check the real situation and take into account that it can even have a destructive effect if the situation is incorrectly interpreted and unrepresentative data is used. What you do is a great responsibility, you must be professionals of the highest level in order to fully justify the enormous trust that has been placed in you. Especially in such an area as social change. Of course, these changes must be positive,” noted Dmitry Chernyshenko.
“We pay great attention to the education system, it is important that it is consistent – starting with kindergarten, then continuing in school, college, and university. On the instructions of the President of Russia, education in our country is built on the basis of traditional spiritual and moral values. We care about the fact that all children, including children with disabilities, have access to the development of their talents and self-realization,” said Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov.
According to Gleb Nikitin, the Institute of Advisors is a unique project to train leaders of change in the social sphere. The educational program gives participants an impetus to develop social innovations both in their home regions and at the federal level.
“Together with the Region of Care and my advisor Nyuta Federmesser, we started implementing social change projects in the field of working with people with disabilities and disabilities five years ago. And at the initial stage, we went through many difficulties, overcoming the rigidity of the system. Some people had to be made to remember what humanity is. When faced with callousness, sometimes the inability to change something, when a person is having a hard time, feeling bad, you ask yourself: how can this be changed? We understood one thing clearly: we need to work with those who permanently live in social institutions and have health restrictions. All this requires a huge heart and a very special way of thinking. The Institute of Advisors project brought together exactly these people – supporters, caring and charged with changes for the better,” said Gleb Nikitin.
Today, among the graduates of the “Institute of Advisors” of previous years, there are already 22 specialists from the Nizhny Novgorod region. Experts show in practice how to change the work of social institutions for the better, give wards more freedom of choice, fill people’s lives with new meanings.
Director of the Department of State Policy in the Sphere of Education, Supplementary Education and Children’s Recreation of the Ministry of Education, Hero of Russia, participant of the program “Time of Heroes” Igor Yurgin joined the words of Sergey Kravtsov and noted that in the year of the 80th anniversary of the Victory and in the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, it is important to remember that the participants of the SVO defend the values of the state. And among them, the upbringing of children, youth, assistance to children with disabilities is one of the main ones.
The author of the People’s Front project “Region of Care”, adviser to the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Nyuta Federmesser emphasized that systemic changes can be introduced into the work of state institutions only with the assistance of a motivated and caring public and government.
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.
Scotland on track to meet interim peatland restoration target.
**Embargoed until 0001 Monday 2 June**
More than 14,000 hectares of degraded peatlands have been restored across Scotland in the last year, helping to reduce carbon emissions and restore biodiversity.
Peatlands are areas of wet land that support habitats and species that are important for biodiversity, they also protect the wider ecosystem by improving water quality and reducing the severity of flooding.
Covering nearly two million hectares, Scotland is home to two-thirds of the UK’s peatlands. However, nearly three-quarters of Scotland’s peatlands is currently degraded.
The Scottish Government has pledged £250 million to support the restoration of 250,000 hectares of peatlands by 2030, with an interim target of 110,000 hectares by 2026. A total of 90,000 hectares have been restored since 1990 and 14,860 of those were completed throughout the 2024-25 financial year.
Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie said:
“As we celebrate World Peatlands Day, I am very pleased to report Scotland’s Peatland ACTION partnership has put 14,860 hectares of degraded peatlands on the road to recovery last year. This is a new record in one year.
“Restoring peatland benefits our environment by reducing emissions, reducing risks of flooding and wildfires and improving water quality, it also invests in people and skills, creating green jobs in rural communities.
“This means we have exceeded our 2024 Programme for Government commitment and represents a 42% increase over the 10,360 hectares restored during 2023-24. I thank all of our partners for their sustained efforts and tenacity in delivering another milestone figure.”
Nick Halfhide, NatureScot Interim Chief Executive, said:
“As key partners in the Scottish Government’s Peatland ACTION Partnership, NatureScot has successfully facilitated 65% of the restoration work completed in 2024-25. This significant achievement contributes substantially towards the overall target of 250,000 hectares of degraded peatland being put on the road to recovery by 2030.
“Restoring Scotland’s degraded peatlands is essential to addressing both the climate and nature emergencies – it makes a vitally important contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while providing broader benefits for biodiversity and water quality.”
A key delivery partner of the Peatland ACTION Partnership, Forestry and Land Scotland has delivered 1744ha of peatland restoration work across Scotland in the last year surpassing its yearly target of 1500ha. CEO Kevin Quinlan said:
“Forestry and Land Scotland is proud to be supporting the Scottish Government’s commitment to restoring 250,000 hectares of peatlands by 2030 as a key delivery partner in the Peatland ACTION Partnership.
“Every site we restore adds to the scale of the contribution we make in efforts to transform and restore one of Scotland’s largest degraded ecosystems to create a far healthier landscape.”
Background
NatureScot is due to publish the Peatland ACTION Annual Review 2024-25 this week.
Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) while in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for a meeting of Canada’s First Ministers June 1 to 2.
The agreement will see Alberta and Ontario partner to improve the free flow of goods and services between the two provinces. It will also simplify requirements for regulated professions such as skilled trades, making it easier and faster for professionals to work across provincial borders. In addition, the agreement will allow direct-to-consumer sales of Ontario-made and Alberta-made alcohol between the provinces.
Through the MOU, Alberta also welcomes the possibility of working with Ontario and signatories of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA) to explore the potential of welcoming Ontario to into the agreement’s fold. The NWPTA has been foundational to improving the movement of goods, services, investment and workers between Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba for the past 15 years and counting.
“Together, Alberta and Ontario are taking a big step toward a more open, competitive, and united economy. This agreement is about getting results, making it easier for people to work, do business, and grow across provincial lines. It’s time to stop letting outdated rules hold us back and show Canadians what real economic leadership looks like.”
“With President Trump threatening our economy, there’s never been a more important time to boost internal trade and cooperation between provinces. By agreements like this and working together, we’re helping Canada unlock up to $200 billion in economic potential and standing shoulder to shoulder to protect the future of Canadian workers across the country, not just in Ontario.”
The MOU is based on the key principles of opening up Canada’s economy to respond to pressures from tariffs and other protectionist measures that are threatening Canadian workers and businesses. Alberta and Ontario are fully committed to improving Canada’s economic performance and advocating for the federal government to address the underlying conditions necessary to strengthen Canada’s economy and diversifying its markets, including repealing or amending the Impact Assessment Act, Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, Clean Electricity Regulations and the proposed Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap Regulations.
A First Ministers’ Meeting is a gathering of the Prime Minister and provincial and territorial premiers. These meetings are called by the Prime Minister on an as-needed basis to discuss issues of national importance and concern.
Quick facts
Alberta is a leader in removing barriers to internal trade, labour mobility and investment across Canada.
Alberta’s commitment to remove its party-specific exceptions to the Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) has helped facilitate even greater access to the Alberta market for Canadian companies in the areas of government tenders, Crown land acquisition, liquor, energy, forest products and more.
In 2019, Alberta:
Removed 21 of its original 27 exceptions, including all procurement exceptions, representing 80 per cent of Alberta’s exceptions under the CFTA at the time.
Narrowed the scope of two of its retained exceptions to enhance Alberta’s open and competitive liquor market and better reflect the regulatory framework for Alberta’s forestry sector.
Alberta only has eight remaining CFTA exceptions, which are in place for essential regulatory and safety purposes, which include:
Two exceptions for alcohol regulation in the province under Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis;
Two exceptions for preserving the regulatory framework for Alberta’s forestry sector;
One exception that allows Alberta to properly manage and collect royalties in its upstream energy and minerals sector;
One exception for the management and disposal of hazardous materials; and
Two new exceptions that were added in 2024 to allow for the management of legalized cannabis.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
Telecare users and their loved ones across the UK urged to speak to telecoms providers ahead of switch to digital landlines
The 2 million vulnerable people who rely on lifesaving telecare alarms to call for help have today been urged to get in touch with their landline providers so companies can provide additional support for them during the switch to digital landlines.
Telecare users and their loved ones urged to speak to telecoms providers ahead of switch to digital landlines.
Users of lifesaving alarms encouraged to call their providers to access additional free support with the switchover from copper to digital landlines
During the switchover, telecoms companies will send engineers to help customers and test connections of telecare alarms used by 2 million nationwide
Comes as BT and Virgin Media launch national awareness campaign, supported by the UK government, to ensure no one gets overlooked during vital digital migration
The switch from analogue to digital landlines is being rolled out across the country as copper networks become increasingly unreliable and spare parts are no longer available.
Putting safety at the centre of the switchover, landline companies will send an engineer to carry out the switchover and personally test the telecare alarm, ensuring it continues to work once a household has moved onto the digital network.
Landline providers will also offer vulnerable customers a free battery back-up device so their landline can continue working in an outage.
It comes as a major new campaign funded by BT and Virgin Media and backed by the UK government launches today (Monday 2 June), urging the millions of telecare users in the UK– typically elderly and disabled people – as well as their support network to identify themselves so nobody gets overlooked.
Many local authorities and private telecare operators have already signed data sharing agreements with landline providers to ensure that as many telecare users have been identified as possible. With over two thirds of landlines already migrated, the campaign is the final layer of protection to identify any additional users.
Following a fall last year, Ann, who is in her 90s and from Stockport, became reliant on her telecare device. She is backing the campaign after her provider successfully migrated her landline last year.
Ann said:
The visit with the engineer was most enjoyable and very smooth, they handled everything for me. It’s left me feeling more reassured and confident. It’s also given my daughter Vickey peace of mind, knowing that if I need support, my pendant will work as it should. I’d encourage other people like me who rely on a personal alarm to get in touch with their landline provider for support.
Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:
We cannot afford to leave anyone behind during the vital transition to digital landlines.
I have personally set a strict checklist of safeguards for industry to comply with before they migrate any telecare user.
This industry-led campaign marks a further step towards keeping people safe as we boost the resilience of our networks for the digital age.
I urge anyone with a telecare alarm – or anyone close to a user of a telecare alarm – to pick up the phone and contact their provider to access the help that’s available.
Since 2017, UK operators have been carrying out work to retire the decades old copper home phone network and move customers to digital landline services ahead of the analogue switch-off. Analogue landlines are reaching end of service life, becoming increasingly unreliable and spare parts are no longer available. Recent Ofcom data reveals faults rates substantially increased by 45% in 2024.
The campaign launched today and builds on the voluntary industry charter signed by BT, Virgin Media and other providers and the checklist agreed in November 2024. The checklist commits providers to complete a strict checklist of safeguards before transferring customers from old analogue phone lines onto a digital network, reducing the risk of them being disconnected during the migration. This includes engineer visits and issuing battery backups.
Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, said:
Patient safety is our priority and by supporting this campaign we are making sure that no-one will be put at risk by having to use unreliable devices.
We are working with communication providers who are delivering the digital phone switchover to make sure no-one falls through the cracks. BT and VMO2 are offering free advice as well as supported installations for vulnerable people.
Modernising our telecoms infrastructure will make a world of difference for millions of people and help guarantee their safety.
Claire Gillies, BT Group’s Consumer CEO, said:
Moving customers onto newer digital services is a necessary step as the reliability of the 40-year-old analogue landline technology is increasingly fragile – therefore the time to act is now.
The Digital Switchover project requires team collaboration, so we’ve been working hard with industry partners and are really pleased to have the support of government in helping us raise awareness and drive action. It’s incredibly important that nobody gets left behind, and we encourage telecare users and their carers to contact their provider to ensure a smooth switch.
Rob Orr, Chief Operations Officer at Virgin Media O2, said:
This major new campaign marks a significant moment where 2 industry leaders have come together to raise awareness of the digital landline switchover.
With traditional analogue landlines becoming less and less reliable, the programme is essential step to safeguard services for the future. Inaction would mean putting services at risk.
Our message is clear: if you or someone you know use a telecare alarm, pick up the phone and talk to your provider. Let us know, and we’ll support you every step of the way.
Amy Low, CEO at AbilityNet, said:
As a charity our core aim is empowering older and disabled people to use technology, so we’re fully behind this campaign which will raise further awareness to the most vulnerable, as well as their carers, with an urgent message to act.
With the digital switchover happening it has never been more important that they contact their provider who can offer tailored support and in-home assistance to ensure everything goes to plan.
Matthew Evans, Director for Markets and Chief Operating Officer at techUK, said:
As the current PSTN system becomes increasingly unreliable – with faults rising 45% in 2024 – we need to ensure a swift transition to a digital network fit for the future.
With many other countries and many millions of UK households having already completed the migration, it is essential to raise awareness and complete this move. We are proud to support VMO2 and BT as well as the UK government as they establish this important campaign and we look forward to continuing to work with the telecoms sector and other parties to ensure the delivery of a safe and sustainable switch.
Alyson Scurfield, chief executive of telecare advisory body, TSA said:
Landline phone lines are switching to digital, which could stop telecare alarms working. However, many people, families and carers just aren’t aware of the impact this could have on life-saving telecare. That’s why TSA is supporting this incredibly important national campaign. If you or someone you know uses a telecare alarm, then please call your landline provider. They will make sure your alarm keeps working through the switchover. Please help us spread this message far and wide.
From today, adverts will appear across TV, newspapers, social media and select radio stations around the country running over the next few months to ensure widespread reach. This is coupled with newly created posters which will be on display in GP surgeries, hospitals, pharmacies and post offices.
The campaign has been created following extensive research with telecare users and their carers, as well as charities, to ensure the messaging is suitable for healthcare alarm users. The advertising campaign is expected to be seen by 95% of all adults in the UK, including 98% of those over 65.
In 2023, BT and Virgin Media (and other major communication providers) voluntarily signed up to the government’s Public Switched Telephone Network charter to protect vulnerable people when they are moved onto digital services. In November 2024 the major communication providers agreed a checklist of specific safeguards to protect people during the migration.
Since then, both companies, which together make up the vast majority of landline users in the UK, have worked with Ofcom, government and charities to improve their policies and processes. They have developed comprehensive support measures to support vulnerable customers including providing free of charge battery backup solutions to provide connectivity during power outages.
To find out more about the support available, customers of all major providers can easily find contact information on the newly created digital landline website: www.digitalphoneswitchover.com.
BT and Virgin Media landline customers can call on 150 from their home phone.
LOS ANGELES, June 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As global temperatures continue to rise and daily comfort becomes a growing concern, TORRAS is making waves with its innovative Coolify series—a wearable air conditioner engineered to deliver rapid, personal cooling through cutting-edge semiconductor technology. But beyond its impressive specs and sleek aesthetics, Coolify is also gaining recognition for another powerful role: providing much-needed relief to women experiencing hot flashes and hormonal imbalances, especially during menopause.
TORRAS, a technology brand known for blending innovation with lifestyle-driven solutions, believes that technology should serve real human needs, and Coolify is a perfect reflection of that mission.
A Breakthrough in Personal Cooling Technology
Coolify isn’t just another neck fan—it’s a wearable air conditioning system designed for next-generation, body-centered comfort. At its core lies an advanced semiconductor cooling plate embedded within the collar, capable of dropping the skin temperature on the neck by up to 18°F (10°C) within just 3 seconds. Unlike traditional fans that simply circulate ambient air, Coolify creates a genuine cooling effect that users can feel immediately.
Engineered with ergonomics in mind, Coolify fits snugly around the neck and targets the sides and back of the neck—areas rich in arteries that play a crucial role in regulating core body temperature. By focusing cooling power on these critical zones, the device ensures rapid and efficient heat relief without compromising comfort.
Additional features include:
Three-speed smart temperature controls for customizable comfort 8-hour battery life for all-day usability Ultra-quiet operation for discreet use in workspaces, social settings, or while sleeping Lightweight and travel-friendly design with a stylish, minimalist look that complements any outfit
With its combination of advanced engineering and sleek design, Coolify has quickly become a favorite among tech-savvy consumers and outdoor enthusiasts alike. But some of its most impactful use cases come from a group that isn’t always the center of tech innovation: women in midlife.
Supporting Women’s Health: A Lifesaver for Hot Flashes and Hormonal Spikes
For women going through menopause, hot flashes are among the most common and disruptive symptoms. Sudden spikes in body temperature, facial flushing, sweating, and anxiety can make everyday life—whether at home, work, or out in public—uncomfortable and overwhelming. Traditional solutions like hormone therapy or cooling gels are either invasive or short-lived.
This is where Coolify is quietly changing lives.
Through direct customer feedback, TORRAS has discovered that a significant portion of Coolify users are women managing menopause-related symptoms. One user shared: “I was waking up drenched and exhausted every night. Coolify changed that. I wear it before bed, and I finally sleep through the night.”
Another wrote: “It’s discreet and stylish—I can wear it in the office or on walks without drawing attention. Most importantly, I feel like I have control over my body again.”
Because the neck houses multiple arteries that influence body temperature, cooling this area directly helps reduce hot flash intensity and duration. Unlike fans or ice packs, Coolify is hands-free, consistent, and wearable throughout the day or night.
By offering a non-invasive, drug-free, and dignified solution for a problem that affects millions of women, TORRAS is proud to be supporting a demographic often overlooked in the tech innovation space.
Everyday Comfort, Anywhere and Everywhere
While its impact on women’s wellness is significant, Coolify was also designed for a wide range of everyday scenarios, making it a multi-purpose companion for the modern lifestyle.
1. Daily Commutes & Urban Life Subways, buses, traffic-filled streets—urban environments can feel stifling in the summer. Coolify ensures personal climate control with a simple press of a button, making rush hour more bearable and sweat-free. 2. Travel & Theme Parks From family vacations to amusement parks like Disney, Coolify has been praised as the ultimate travel essential. A recent user blog even hailed it as the “best neck fan for Disney,” helping visitors beat the heat while enjoying outdoor attractions. 3. Outdoor Adventures Whether hiking, biking, or camping, Coolify is a powerful yet compact cooling device for those who love the outdoors. With no external fans to hold and no cords to manage, it allows full freedom of movement while keeping body temperature in check. 4. Office & Remote Work Environments In offices where thermostats can’t be adjusted or in shared workspaces, Coolify provides personalized cooling without disturbing colleagues. Its low-noise operation makes it perfect for Zoom calls, deep focus sessions, and quiet rooms. 5. Nighttime Use & Sleep Quality Some users incorporate Coolify into their nighttime routine, using it before sleep or even throughout the night to prevent heat spikes, leading to better rest and reduced sleep disturbances.
Tech with Purpose: TORRAS’s Vision for Human-Centered Innovation
More than a cooling gadget, Coolify represents a new frontier of wearable wellness tech. By marrying scientific design with empathy for daily challenges—like menopausal discomfort, urban heat stress, and the need for discreet comfort—TORRAS has crafted a product that is both technically advanced and emotionally intelligent.
“We didn’t just want to create a product that cools the skin,” says a spokesperson for TORRAS. “We wanted to create a product that elevates how people feel, improves their day-to-day lives, and empowers them to move freely, comfortably, and confidently—no matter the temperature or stage of life.”
As TORRAS continues to expand its innovation pipeline, the company remains committed to addressing real human needs with high-performance, beautifully designed solutions. Whether you’re managing hormonal transitions, chasing your kids through a summer park, or just trying to stay cool on the subway, Coolify is here to offer a smarter, kinder, cooler experience.
About TORRAS TORRAS is a global lifestyle technology brand dedicated to enhancing everyday life through smart, human-centric design. From award-winning smartphone accessories to cutting-edge wearable devices, TORRAS blends function and form to create thoughtful solutions for modern living.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
UK to expand submarine programme in response to Strategic Defence Review
The UK will build up to a dozen new attack submarines to keep Britain safe.
SSN-AUKUS concept image
UK to build up to 12 attack submarines as part of AUKUS programme in response to the rapidly increasing threats
Builds on £15 billion investment set out for the UK’s sovereign nuclear warhead programme, keeping the UK safe for generations to come and delivering on the Plan for Change
Nuclear investments will transform critical parts of the defence nuclear industry, directly supporting 30,000 highly skilled jobs up-and-down the country and the doubling of apprentice and graduate roles across the next ten years.
The Prime Minister will announce tomorrow that the UK’s conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet will be significantly expanded, with up to 12 new SSN-AUKUS boats to be built.
The increase in submarines will transform the UK’s submarine building industry and, following the £15 billion investment in the warhead programme outlined, will deliver on this government’s Plan for Change, supporting 30,000 highly skilled jobs up-and-down the country well into the 2030s, as well as helping work to deliver 30,000 apprenticeships and 14,000 graduate roles across the next ten years.
The announcement comes as the government unveils its new Strategic Defence Review tomorrow. The externally-led review is expected to recommend that our Armed Forces move to warfighting readiness to deter the growing threats faced by the UK. The report makes 62 recommendations, which the government is expected to accept in full.
Responding to the report, the government will make significant commitments to its armed forces and deliver greater security for working people through the government’s Plan for Change.
That includes:
A landmark shift in our deterrence and defence: moving to warfighting readiness to deter threats and strengthen security in the Euro Atlantic area;
Increasing stockpiles of munitions and support equipment, ensuring that production capacities can rapidly scale up in response to crises or war;
The procurement of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons for the UK Armed Forces, supporting around 800 defence jobs, and boosting our military capabilities
A new CyberEM Command to put the UK at the forefront of cyber operations, alongside £1bn investment in pioneering digital capability; and
Improving the lives of thousands of British military personnel and their families through more than £1.5 billion of additional funding to repair and renew armed forces housing.
The Prime Minister is expected to say:
From the supply lines to the front lines, this government is foursquare behind the men and women upholding our nation’s freedom and security.
National security is the foundation of my Plan for Change, and this plan will ensure Britain is secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering a defence dividend of well-paid jobs up and down the country.
This Strategic Defence Review will ensure the UK rises to the challenge and our Armed Forces have the equipment they need that keeps us safe at home while driving greater opportunity for our engineers, shipbuilders and technicians of the future.
Alongside the commitment to expand the UK’s conventionally armed attack submarine fleet, the government is securing the future of the Royal Navy’s Continuous At Sea Nuclear Deterrent, backed by a £15 billion investment into the sovereign warhead programme in this parliament and supporting more than 9,000 jobs.
It is the first time the UK has outlined the full scale of its investment plans in its warhead programmes and is further evidence of the Government’s triple lock commitment to the nuclear deterrent: to maintain our continuous at-sea deterrent; to build the new fleet of Dreadnought submarines; and to deliver all future upgrades necessary.
This will see significant modernisation of infrastructure at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston and supporting more than 9,000 jobs at the Berkshire site, and thousands more across the UK supply chain – from Scotland to Somerset.
The nuclear warhead programme includes some of the most advanced and sensitive science, engineering and manufacturing facilities in the UK.
Both the UK’s sovereign warhead programme and the UK’s conventionally-armed submarine fleet will make Britain and NATO safe for decades to come.
Defence Secretary John Healey MP said:
Our outstanding submariners patrol 24/7 to keep us and our allies safe, but we know that threats are increasing and we must act decisively to face down Russian aggression.
With new state-of-the-art submarines patrolling international waters and our own nuclear warhead programme on British shores, we are making Britain secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering on our Plan for Change with 30,000 highly-skilled jobs across the country.
Already supporting more than 400,000 skilled British jobs, UK defence is a crucial engine for economic growth, delivering on the government’s Plan for Change – supported by the Government’s historic uplift in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from 2027, and the ambition to hit 3% in the next parliament, when economic and fiscal conditionals allow.
Currently the UK is set to operate 7 Astute Class attack submarines, which will be replaced with an increased fleet of up to 12 SSN-AUKUS submarines from the late 2030s.
The boost to the SSN-AUKUS programme will see a major expansion of industrial capability at Barrow and Raynesway, Derby, with the build of a new submarine every 18 months in the future.
The increase in capacity at the two sites will allow the UK to increase its fleet to up to 12 attack boats, as part of the AUKUS partnership.
To ensure the demands of this expanded programme can be met, government is working closely with industry partners to rapidly expand training and development opportunities, aiming to double defence and civil nuclear apprentice and graduate intakes. This will result in 30,000 apprenticeships and 14,000 graduate roles over the next ten years.
The SDR calls for significant investment into the UK sovereign warhead programme this parliament, while maintaining the existing stockpile.
A woman has been arrested following the investigation into a house fire at Athelstone on Sunday afternoon.
About 1pm Sunday 1 June, police and emergency services were called to Burton Road, Athelstone after reports of a house fire. On arrival, patrols found the home engulfed by fire and despite efforts by fire crews, it was destroyed. A female occupant was detained by police at the scene, during which a female police officer was allegedly assaulted.
The occupant was taken to hospital for a mental health assessment and the police officer was taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
Eastern District detectives and fire cause investigators attended the scene and following their investigation, the occupant, a 21-year-old woman, was arrested and charged with arson, aggravated assault, causing harm to an emergency service worker and resisting police. She was refused bail and will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court today (Monday 2 June).
Law enforcement will not rest until another suspect in the murder of journalist Olorato Mongale is apprehended, Police Deputy Minister Dr Polly Boshielo said.
The 30-year-old was killed last Sunday after leaving her Johannesburg home when she went on a date with her alleged killer. Her body was found hours later in Lombardy East, sparking a multi-provincial manhunt for the suspects.
Speaking at her funeral service held at City Hall in Bloemfontein on Sunday, Dr Boshielo called on the public and for those who know the suspect to advise him to hand himself over to the nearest police station.
“We will also not rest until we find Bongani Mthimkhulu. If you know him, advise him to surrender to the nearest police station,” she said.
The Deputy Minister emphasised that the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) is committed to combating gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
“The fight against gender-based violence and femicide is a national priority for the South African Police Service, and it is for this very reason that maximum resources are always deployed to investigate GBVF cases and also track down GBVF perpetrators,” she said.
Upon learning of the case last Sunday, the SAPS swiftly mobilised resources, including the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Team and the Gauteng Provincial Investigating Unit, to assist the Sandringham police station in tracking down the perpetrator known as “John.”
The investigation led authorities to a lodge in Kew, Johannesburg, and subsequently to KwaZulu-Natal, where they discovered a VW Polo vehicle with traces of blood. The vehicle was linked to Philangenkosi Makhanya, who was identified as “John.”
On Friday morning, police located Makhanya at a block of apartments in Amanzimtoti. When police announced their arrival, he opened fire, and officers returned fire, resulting in his death at the scene.
In his possession, police found more than 27 ID smart cards belonging to various men and about 20 cellphones.
Dr. Boshielo revealed that Makhanya and his accomplice, Bongani Mthimkhulu, operated a syndicate targeting women across various malls in the country.
“We are still searching for Bongani Mthimkhulu because we have narrowed our investigation and now know that Philangenkosi Makhanya and Bongani Mthimkhulu were working together and they were a syndicate that was targeting women in various malls across the country,” she said.
The investigation has linked the duo to 22 cases of kidnapping and robbery, with women from across the country positively identifying them as the perpetrators.
Highlighting the broader impact of the syndicate’s activities, Boshielo noted that similar cases have been reported in Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Midrand, Pretoria, Potchefstroom, Lebowakgomo in Limpopo, and Johannesburg.
Addressing the family at the funeral service, Dr. Boshielo reassured them of the government’s commitment to justice.
“To the family, to the mother Poppy, we may not have been able to prevent the death of your child but be rest assured that one of her perpetrators is in permanent custody and will never rise up again to terrorize other women,” she said.
The Deputy Minister called for collaborative effort to end GBVF.
“GBVF is a crime that happens behind closed doors between two people that know each other and where we cannot always be as the police. Let’s all stand together and work together to put a stop to GBVF in our country,” the Deputy Minister said.
Police clear Fezile Ngubane
In a statement on Saturday, the SAPS informed the nation that Fezile Ngubane who was initially identified as a suspect in a syndicate targeting young women has been cleared.
This as Ngubane’s father handed him over to the KwaMashu police station on Friday when he learnt that his son was sought by police in the Olorato murder case.
“A multidisciplinary team led by the Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Crime Detection in Gauteng Major General Mbuso Khumalo,the SAPS National Anti-kidnapping task team, KZN and Gauteng Provincial Investigating Unit (PIU)have now cleared Ngubane following a thorough interview and preliminary investigation.
“According to a preliminary report, Ngubane washes cars for a living and stays in the same neighbourhood as deceased Philangenkosi Makhanya,” said the SAPS.
Makhanya allegedly identified Ngubane as a soft target and took his ID smart card and used it to Rica SIM cards that Makhanya would use to commit his long list of kidnapping and robbery crimes targeted at young women. Ngubane’s ID was found as part of the 27 ID smart cards found in possession of Makhanya.
“The SAPS has also released the parents of one of the two suspects in the case after their statements were taken down. Police are sitting with at least twenty cases where women have come forward identifying the suspects as those that kidnapped and robbed them.
The search for Bongani Mthimkulu continues and police once again call on Mthimkhulu to hand himself over at his nearest police station,” the police said on Saturday. –SAnews.gov.za
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka today recognises the significant achievements of the Māori recipients in the King’s Birthday 2025 Honours List, for their dedicated mahi and outstanding contributions across various important areas.
“The impressive mahi of Māori recipients this year are too numerous to mention. They have been honoured for achievements across many fields, coming from Iwi right across New Zealand – it is my privilege to recognise all of them today and to highlight just some examples,” Mr Potaka says.
“The King’s Birthday Honours recognise the commitment and the passion that the recipients have shown, along with what has come from their dedication to their work and their causes.
“Among those recognised are, Mrs Deborah (Debbie) Davis, who has done extensive work to bring so much good, including through He Iwi Kotahi Tātou Trust, the grassroots organisation transforming the community of Moerewa in Northland, along with her husband, Mr Ngahau Davis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Manu, Kohatutaka)
“Mrs Davis (Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu) has worked, through the Trust since 1987, to address challenges including housing, food security within the community, and youth engagement. Her and her husband’s work helped to provide insulation and heating solutions to more than 12,000 Northland homes since 2008.
“They have developed food rescue programmes and have introduced cultural and sports programmes that blend physical activity with the preservation of Māori traditions. They have expanded whānau support services to offer counselling, school programmes, and drug and alcohol programmes. Over the past 15 years, they have been involved in the establishment of a rehabilitative-focused sentencing in Kaikohe, Matariki Court.
“Hon Dover Samuels is recognised for services as a Member of Parliament and his achievements and what he progressed in that time, including as Minister of Māori Affairs.
“Mr Samuels (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kura, Ngāti Rēhia) was a Labour MP and MP for Te Tai Tokerau, working across various portfolios, including not least Māori Affairs, where his care and ability made considerable gains that continue to benefit Māori today. He also helped establish Rawene Health Hub for a rural Māori community and led the Rainbow Warrior project to sink the wreckage of the vessel and erect a memorial on Matauri Hill. He is kaumatua of several organisations.
“Mrs Elizabeth (Liz) Graham, who has dedicated more than 40 years to her community and to Māori education.
“Mrs Graham (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Toroiwahi), has contributed to her community in many ways – that includes through the education of our tamariki and to the education sector through many roles across her career, work she continues today as a teacher at Te Aute College. She helped guide her community through the Treaty Settlement process, and her knowledge of traditions, values, and customs, has helped the marae in hosting funerals, weddings, gatherings, and other events for over 20 years.
“The Honourable Sir Mark Cooper KC, High Court Judge, Court of Appeal Judge and President of the Court of Appeal, who was Chairperson of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Building Failure caused by the Canterbury Earthquakes.
Sir Mark (Ngāti Mahanga, Waikato-Tainui) chaired 33 public hearings to deliver four reports, all of these under intense time pressure and public scrutiny. The detailed findings and recommendations of those reports helped avoid delay to the Canterbury rebuild and helped provide a resolution to the community.
Amongst some of his other work has been his leadership in resource management and local government law, and his work that helped integrate various councils into one North Shore-based Council.
I want to thank all of today’s recipients, those mentioned here and all others who I trust will be celebrated by their people and their communities, and all the people who have worked with them along the way.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn)
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Congresswoman Betty McCollum will host a Medicaid Town Hall on Saturday, May 31st at 11am. She will be joined by a panel of special guests to discuss the importance of Medicaid for Minnesota seniors, children, and working parents.
WHAT: Medicaid Matters to Minnesota Families Town Hall
WHEN: Saturday, May 31st, 2025 at 11am
WHO: Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Dean of the Minnesota Congressional Delegation; John Connolly, Minnesota Department of Human Services, Deputy Commissioner, State Medicaid Director; Barbara Joers, President and CEO Gillette Children’s Hospital; Ryan Hilmoe, Minnesota Nurses Association; Kate Weeks, Assistant Commissioner, Economic Opportunity and Youth Services, Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families; Sumukha Terakanambi, Disability and Healthcare Advocate, Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities; Jessica Francis, Executive Director, Open Cupboard.
WHERE: Stillwater; Credentialed media will receive location upon RSVP. Editors and Reporters may RSVP by emailing mccollumpress@mail.house.gov with the subject line “Town Hall.”
RSVP: Residents of Minnesota’s Fourth Congressional District can RSVP here.
As we head into a new month of streaming, here’s a fresh wave of TV ready to challenge, transport and entertain you.
This month’s picks span genre and geography, from an eerie dystopian Buenos Aires, to a witty, awkward cyborg hero. Reality TV also gets a scandalous twist with the return of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. And Deaf President Now! delivers a powerful documentary on a historical milestone for Deaf rights.
There’s something for every kind of viewer — and every kind of mood.
The Eternaut
Netflix
Argentine sci-fi The Eternaut opens with a group of old friends in Buenos Aires meeting to play the card game truco on a hot summer night – when things suddenly get eerie.
The power goes out and a poisonous snowfall starts to blanket the city, killing thousands of people instantly. The survivors must get answers, quickly, as they start to grasp the true strength of their invisible enemy.
Based on Héctor Germán Oesterheld’s 1950s comic of the same name, The Eternaut portrays apocalypse through a deeply local and political lens – and in doing so has struck a chord in Argentina.
Directed by Bruno Stagnaro and led by Argentine film icon Ricardo Darín, as protagonist Juan Salvo, the series emphasises the power of collective heroism, and subtly critiques the current government’s uncompromising neoliberal approach.
It also pulses with national pride. Buenos Aires is not glamorized; real neighbourhoods are shown as classic Argentine tango, rock and folk plays in the background. Most importantly, Argentine identity is celebrated through themes of community spirit, grassroots resistance, and ingenuity in times of crisis.
The Eternaut feels both timely and timeless. Its slogan, “no one survives alone,” resonates for a country that has been long marked by both trauma and resistance efforts.
Its emotional weight is further deepened by Oesterheld’s legacy, including the tragic disappearance of him and his family members under the military rule of the 1970s.
With a second season on the way, this series is a powerful ode to Argentina.
Murderbot, Apple’s adaptation of Martha Wells’ science-fiction novella, All Systems Red (2017) is a satisfying combination of action, sci-fi and comedy. The show centres on a security unit (SecUnit) – an indentured private security cyborg – who secretly cracks the programming of its governing chip, granting itself autonomy.
Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård), as it dubs itself, is both horrified and fascinated by humans. It’s far more afraid of eye contact, emotions and direct conversation than any physical danger. It’s also obsessed with mainlining media, particularly the ridiculous soap opera The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.
Murderbot is hired, reluctantly, by some hippy scientists from a group of “freehold” planets – ones that exist outside the Corporation Rim – to act as protection on a scientific expedition. It goes quickly awry.
Wells’ award-winning novella, the first in an equally good series, limits us to the first-person perspective of the sarcastic cyborg. The series expands this frame beautifully, building on the source material’s dry humour to create a world that is both goofy and grounded.
And while there are serious themes at play, such as the way SecUnits are effectively enslaved, and the violent capitalist dominance of the Corporation Rim, the show is not heavy. Skarsgård offers a pitch-perfect performance of the awkward, anxious robot – its eyes flickering in horror as the scientists try to befriend it.
The opening minutes of the first episode are clumsy and on-the-nose, but ignore them. This otherwise well-designed and well-directed show cracks along with brisk, highly-entertaining 22-minute episodes.
– Erin Harrington
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, season two
Disney+
Season one of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives had us hooked at the end of 2024. Now, the women have returned for an explosive 10-episode second season.
The reality series follows a group of Mormon women living in Utah. While the title may have you anticipating stories of faith and motherhood, the show is more focused on the personal lives of Mormon mothers who rose to TikTok fame due to scandal and infamy.
Season one saw the women grapple with balancing traditional Mormon values with their online lives and subsequent businesses (along with the fallout from a “soft-swinging scandal”). Season two further highlights infidelity, jealously and money.
Old characters are brought back, with finger-pointing ex-husbands and former alienated friends adding to the fray. Police are called, insults are thrown and many of the women delve deeper into their pasts.
The show flips flops between difficult moments such as processing the death of loved ones and difficult pregnancies, with parties and poorly executed party games. At one point the women play pregnancy roulette (a game no one should recommend), and take pregnancy tests which are anonymously read out to the group. Chaos ensues.
And after watching, you can search for the TikTok accounts of the stars and watch new drama unfold in real-time – or watch them “correct” and expand on past situations based on their own perspectives – far removed from show’s editors.
– Edith Jennifer Hill
Deaf President Now!
Apple TV+
Deaf President Now! is a stirring documentary about an iconic student uprising at Gallaudet University, the world’s only Deaf university, in 1988. The film chronicles how Deaf students – tired of being led by hearing leadership – decided to take things in their own hands come the 1988 Gallaudet presidential election.
With two of the three candidates being Deaf, the appointment of Elisabeth Zinser, a hearing candidate unfamiliar with Deaf culture, sparked outrage. Fuelled by decades of marginalisation, the students barricaded campus gates, burned effigies of Zinser and marched to the Capitol, calling for Deaf leadership in Deaf spaces.
It worked. The protest forced Zinser’s resignation and ushered in Irving King Jordan, Gallaudet’s first Deaf president.
The film juxtaposes historic footage with present-day interviews with key leaders of the movement, allowing them to tell their stories their own way. These reflections, delivered in American Sign Language (ASL), underscore how storytelling itself can become an act of resistance for Deaf people.
At the same time, the documentary wrestles with a paradox. Co-directed by Deaf activist Nyle DiMarco and hearing filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, the film exemplifies how Deaf storytelling still often has hearing involvement, especially when the story is packaged for a mainstream audience.
Nevertheless, the release of Deaf President Now! couldn’t have been more timely. With disability rights in the United States threatened under Trump, the film is a call to action. It reminds us Deaf culture isn’t just about language: it’s about Pride, self-determination and visibility.
In Lorcan Finnegan’s The Surfer, our unnamed protagonist (Nicolas Cage) is returning to his former Australian home from the United States. He is newly divorced, and trying to buy a beachside property to win back his family.
He takes his teenage son (Finn Little) for a surf near the property, but they are run off by an unfriendly pack of locals.
Returning alone to the beachside car park to make some calls, he is besieged there by the same gang, and this continues over the next several days. The gang is led by a terrifying middle-aged Andrew Tate-esque influencer, Scally (Julian McMahon), who runs the beach like a combination of a frat bro party and wellness retreat.
It is impossible to think of an actor other than Cage who could make a character like this so enjoyable to watch. Cage’s distinctively American confidence has no resistance to the terrifying switches of Australian masculinity from friendly to teasing to violent.
The Surfer is an absolute blast. A lot of the fun is in anticipating each dreadful humiliation – and it somehow turning out worse than you could have expected.
The Surfer beautifully captures the natural surroundings, stunning views and shimmering heat of Australian coastal summer. At the same time, a confined, semi-urban feature like a beachside car park feels bleak and uninviting.
As a film setting, it is both a spectacular wide-open vista and stiflingly claustrophobic – a perfect mechanism for The Surfer’s psychological horror.
The story of serial killers, Fred and Rose West, has been highly narrativised since their shocking crimes were discovered in Gloucester in 1994. The horror of the Wests lies in the juxtaposition of their seemingly ordinary suburban family and what was hidden beneath the foundations of their home.
Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story takes us back to the moment of that revelation via previously unheard interview tapes and recordings of the property search – and of Rose while she was kept in a safe house. Family home videos add to the disturbing sense of the couple’s duplicity.
Interviews with the family of some of the victims emphasise the ongoing pain caused by the Wests, who preyed on vulnerable young women. Meanwhile, Fred’s interviews reinforce his determination to protect his wife: “I trained Rose to do what I wanted. That is why our marriage worked out so well.”
Many details of the Wests’ true horror, however, are absent: the incredible torture suffered by the victims; Fred and Rose’s own childhoods of abuse and Fred’s earlier assault of young girls, including his own sister; and any reference to the couple’s surviving children and the extraordinary abuse they suffered.
The horror of this new documentary is present in the couple’s habitual lies, their casual attitude to violence and murder, and their refusal to take responsibility for their many crimes. Yet it only scratches the surface of the Wests’ true horror story.
– Jessica Gildersleeve
The Four Seasons
Netflix
The Four Seasons follows three 50-something affluent couples as they holiday together over the course of a year.
Friends since college, the group’s easy camaraderie is upended by Nick’s (Steve Carroll) bombshell decision to leave his seemingly unsuspecting wife, Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver), after 25 years of marriage. The announcement sends shockwaves through the other couples, testing their own relationships.
Adapted from Alan Alda’s bittersweet 1981 comedy of the same name, the series preserves the film’s narrative conceit, unfolding over four seasonal mini trips. Episode one opens in full spring at Nick and Anne’s bucolic lake house.
Given the luxury on display, you’d be forgiven for mistaking The Four Seasons as another entry in the “rich-people-behaving-badly” genre. But while there’s plenty of quips and snarky humour, what unfolds is ultimately much kinder – less a scathing indictment of wealth and more a gentle exploration of the banalities of love and middle age.
The show’s creators make the most of the expanded running time to humanise the sextet. The open marriage between gregarious Italian Claude (Marco Calvini) and husband Danny (a marvellous Colman Domingo) updates the source material without sliding into tokenism or homonormativity.
The prickly Type-A Kate (Tina Fey) and peacekeeper Jack (Will Forte) provide the series’ beating heart, in a relationship that feels lived-in and familiar.
Despite its focus on ageing, loss, mortality and grief, The Four Seasons offers comfort viewing at its finest, best enjoyed with a cup of tea and a loved one who’s known you for decades.
– Rachel Williamson
Gemma King receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Claudia Sandberg, Edith Jennifer Hill, Erin Harrington, Grace Russell, Jessica Gildersleeve, Rachel Williamson, Samuel Martin, and Sofya Gollan do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
With the Reserve Bank of Australia easing monetary policy, interest rates are on the way down.
Already this year, mortgage pre-approvals had begun to rise, suggesting many aspiring home buyers are excited by the prospect of cheaper home loans.
With further cuts expected before the end of the year, some economists are predicting we could be on the cusp of another house price boom. Lower interest rates enable people to borrow more and potentially spend more on homes, bidding up prices.
So, how might the Reserve Bank’s actions affect home buying behaviour and the housing market more broadly? Research offers us some clues.
How rates affect prices
Researchshows that when a central bank lowers its benchmark interest rate, mortgage interest rates usually follow suit.
We saw this following the Reserve Bank’s May decision to cut rates. Australia’s big four banks immediately announced similar reductions in rates for new and existing borrowers.
Lower rates reduce the cost of servicing a loan. This is a big deal for Australian home buyers, whose mortgages can be very large.
With the average house price in Australia now hitting about $1 million, an 80% loan saddles the typical home buyer with $800,000 in debt.
Back in March, the average interest rate on new mortgages was 6%. For the average million-dollar house, this implies a monthly repayment of around $4,796, using the standard formula for amortising loans.
After the Reserve Bank cut the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points, this implies a new monthly repayment of $4,669 – $127 less. That’s a small, but surely welcome, relief for mortgage holders.
Combined with the Reserve Bank’s prior rate cut in February, such borrowers are now saving more than $250 a month relative to the start of the year.
Everyone can borrow more
Lower rates can also improve the borrowing capacity of new home buyers.
Before a bank issues a new mortgage, it weighs the ability of a borrower to service the loan. It does this by considering the amount of income they’ll have left over after meeting typical expenses.
This is known as a borrower’s “net income surplus”, and the proportion of this that is used to service a loan is known as the “net surplus ratio”.
The maximum ratio is capped at 90%, but the typical mortgage is lent against a ratio of less than 70%.
If a household earns $100,000 per year and allocates 25% to expenses, it can afford $4,375 in monthly mortgage repayments at a 70% net surplus ratio.
Given the previous interest rate of 6%, this maximum monthly repayment implies the household can afford to borrow $680,000. But after a 0.25 percentage point rate cut, this household can now afford a $695,000 home loan.
And following the 0.50 percentage points of cuts we’ve seen since January, this household’s borrowing capacity is up by $30,000.
Pulling up the ladder
For an individual home buyer, this extra borrowing may be enough to secure that dream home. But the rate cut affects everyone at the same time, increasing the borrowing capacity of home buyers all over the country.
All of this extra mortgage credit feeds housing demand, which is likely to pour more fuel into an already overheated market.
Indeed, recentresearch indicates that a 0.25 percentage point cut in the cash rate will likely lead to a 1.5–2% increase in average house prices over the following one to two years.
That’s an extra $20,000 on the current $1 million average home value.
Research also suggests the impact of interest rates across local housing markets may be strongest where housing supply is tightest and houses are already more expensive.
Mortgages get bigger
While lower rates reduce the cost of a given mortgage, the average mortgage size needs to grow to keep up with higher prices.
Recall that the monthly payment associated with an 80% loan on a million-dollar home at 6% interest was $4,796. If the interest rate falls by 0.25 percentage points but house prices rise by 2%, the new monthly payment is little changed, at $4,762.
On top of this, the 20% down payment on that new home will now have increased – by $4,000.
Despite the initial excitement of lower rates, aspiring home buyers may be disappointed to see the price of their dream home climb further out of reach. Some may end up no better off than they had been previously.
Others might try to snap up a home before lower rates are completely priced in – motivated by a fear-of-missing-out (FOMO). Research suggests it can take a year or more before house prices peak following a rate change.
And others still may decide to keep renting for the time being. Fortunately for them, recent research shows that changes in interest rates do not materially affect the rents that landlords charge their tenants.
Finally, one option is holding savings in the stock market while they wait, perhaps diversified via exchange-traded funds, as these assets usually rise in value following an interest rate cut.
It’s never a good idea to panic. It’s always important to think through your options before diving into the market. And remember, our discussion here is only for general information and is not intended to be financial advice. All investments carry risk.
James Graham has received research funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and is a member of Sydney YIMBY.
We all want homes that keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, without breaking the bank. However, Australian homes built before 2003 have a low average energy rating of 1.8 stars out of 10. This means they’re often uncomfortable to live in and expensive to run.
There’s a strong case for a “renovation wave” of home energy upgrades across Australia. Reducing the use of fossil gas and improving the energy efficiency of existing housing by nearly 50% is also central to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Energy-saving upgrades such as solar panels, batteries, insulation, draught-proofing and hot water heat pumps also reduce the cost of energy bills. So while there’s an upfront cost, upgrades can reduce household expenses in the long run.
We wanted to find out what’s holding people back from getting energy-saving upgrades. We surveyed 100 Australian households and interviewed 19 people about their experiences. Our new research revealed five major barriers that stop these upgrades from being accessible to most households. Suppliers, governments and community organisations can all help overcome these barriers.
Embarking on home energy upgrades can be an emotional rollercoaster ride. RACE for 2030
1. Information about upgrades is confusing and overwhelming
Households told us the amount of information out there about energy saving upgrades is overwhelming and sometimes conflicting. There are many different types of upgrades and product choices, making it challenging to identify which options provide the best value and what to do first. People found it difficult to know what information and which suppliers to trust.
Households need clear information from a trusted source about what their homes need. Many governments internationally, such as Scotland, provide online resources and tools to provide tailored advice to help with this.
Energy upgrade programs run by neutral community organisations and councils can also help, such as Rewiring Australia’s Electrify 2515 or Geelong Sustainability’s Electric Homes Program. These programs use their expertise to vet suppliers and ensure households receive good deals and high quality products.
2. Homes need to engage multiple suppliers and tradespeople
Many households worked on their home gradually, one upgrade at a time. Each upgrade involved a labour-intensive process of researching products, selecting companies, getting quotes and managing the disruptions caused by the installation. One Sydney homeowner told us:
The process of needing both a plumber and an electrician to change to induction cooking was frustrating. [We had to] to coordinate availability times and appliance delivery.
Australians need companies that can do multiple upgrades at once, to simplify and streamline the process. In Ireland, the government helped stimulate a market for organisations that can cover all the upgrades needed by a household.
Ireland has “One Stop Shops” for home energy upgrades (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland)
3. Households are losing opportunities for straightforward upgrades
Every year, Australians invest billions in home renovations. They spent more than A$3 billion in the December 2024 quarter alone.
One of the best times to improve your home is during major renovations or when old appliances, such as hot water systems, break down. If you’re already facing disruptions and need to spend money, it can be an easy and more cost-effective way to increase your home’s energy efficiency at the same time.
Yet our research found advice on energy-saving upgrades was rarely provided to people undertaking major renovations or emergency replacements unless they asked for it. Households needed to seek out builders, architects and tradespeople who specialised in sustainability to get advice on an energy-saving renovation.
Providing energy upgrades to homes should be a standard component of modern renovations. Otherwise, households are missing out on easy and more affordable opportunities to get these upgrades.
4. Many tradespeople lack knowledge of energy-saving upgrades
Our research found tradespeople are the most common point of contact for households. They can be a valuable source of information and advice to facilitate upgrades. However, many households reported difficulty finding tradespeople knowledgeable about – and willing to install – energy-saving upgrades.
Some upgrades, such as solar panels, require specialised workforces. Others, such as hot water heat pumps are usually installed by regular plumbers and electricians.
Some tradespeople lack the knowledge to advise on energy-saving upgrades or need training to install new technologies to a high standard. This situation leaves households vulnerable to misinformation, with a shortage of skilled workers to do their upgrades.
Tradespeople require increased support and incentives to make energy-saving measures part of their skill set. This is especially true in regional areas, where there are fewer products and workers available.
5. The costs are too high for many households
A final, significant barrier was the cost of home upgrades, which often caused households to drop out early in the process. Australian households, particularly those with less disposable income, need more help with the upfront cost.
One way to do this is through targeted government rebates, which are currently only available in some regions. Another is affordable and accessible financing, like that available in Tasmania and the ACT. The national Home Energy Upgrades Fund could also be extended to make sure available finance matches the scale of the challenge.
Also needed are long-term reforms such as mandatory disclosure of energy performance when homes are sold and minimum energy standards for rental properties, which are currently only required in some jurisdictions in Australia. When these are both addressed we can make comfortable, and affordable homes the norm rather than the exception.
Keeping warm in winter and cool in summer is the number one motivation for energy saving upgrades. RACE for 2030
A worthwhile journey
Roadblocks aside, households also shared the joy and satisfaction of completing home energy upgrades. While the journey was often difficult, those who reached the end of the road were overwhelmingly pleased with the results. A homeowner who had installed solar panels and undertaken draught-proofing and insulation in Adelaide said:
It’s nice not to have huge electricity bills, and but I find it’s that day to day stuff of actually being comfortable that makes the biggest difference.
This research was undertaken by Jaime Comber, Kamyar Soleimani, Ed Langham, Nimish Biloria, Leena Thomas and Kerryn Wilmot from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Jaime Comber received funding for this research as part of the Energy Upgrades for Australian Homes (EUAH) initiative – a national collaboration between research, industry and government partners to enable scalable, community-led energy upgrades. EUAH is funded through the RACE for 2030 cooperative research centre, which includes contributions from the NSW Government, Government of South Australia and Knauf Insulation. The project is led by Climate-KIC Australia and Monash University.
Ed Langham undertakes contract research for government, community and consumer advocates, and the clean energy industry. This research was funded as part of the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre’s Energy Upgrades for Australian Homes project, which is co-funded by Australian Government, NSW Government, Government of South Australia and Knauf Insulation. Ed is also affiliated with Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems, based in the UK.
Nimish Biloria receives funding through the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre. This research was undertaken as part of the Energy Upgrades for Australian Homes initiative, which is funded in part by the NSW Government, the Government of South Australia, and Knauf Insulation. Before this, Nimish Biloria has received funding from various governmental bodies, not-for-profit organizations, and the Industry such as the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), City of Sydney, AusIndustry Smart Cities and Suburbs Program, Transport for New South Wales, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Leigh Place Aged Care, Sydney, NSW, HMI Technologies.
In an emergency, police are often the first called to the scene. But they are rarely equipped to deal with complex mental health crises.
Following recent parliamentary inquiries and royal commissions there has been a push – led by researchers, advocates and some senior police officials – for a shift to a health-led and paramedic-first response.
South Australia is one of a number of states trialling a program based on a “co-responder” model. This means trained specialists accompany police to some mental health call-outs in the community.
So, how do co-responder programs work? And are they effective? Here’s what the evidence says.
The current situation
Mental health legislation in all states and territoriesgives police the power to use “reasonable force” to transport people who “appear to have a mental illness” to hospital to prevent harm.
In most cases, this involves police taking people experiencing mental health crises to hospital emergency departments, without help from mental health clinicians or paramedics.
Those who need mental health support may not need a hospital stay.
One study found only one in five (23%) of those taken to emergency by police – usually after expressing intention to self-harm – were admitted.
The strain on police resources is also significant. For example, in New South Wales, police now respond to triple zero calls about mental health crises in the community every nine minutes (in Victoria it’s every ten).
Criminalising mental health
The mere presence of police alone can escalate already heightened emotional situations.
Yet the main reason police take people to hospital is for self-harm or suicidal distress, and most are not deemed to be of risk to others.
What do people with mental health issues want instead?
In our research, conducted in 2021–2022, we interviewed 20 people across Australia who’d had police intervene when they had a mental health crisis.
Those we spoke to often had multiple experiences of police call-outs over their lifetime.
They told us excessive use of force by police had traumatising and long-term effects. Many were subject to pepper spray, tasers, police dogs, batons, handcuffs and restraints, despite not being accused of committing criminal offences.
For example, Alex*, said:
I was having an anxiety attack, and they pepper sprayed me. I had bruises all over my hands from the handcuffs they put on really roughly, even though I wasn’t under arrest. Then they took me to hospital.
In our study, people with mental health issues said they would prefer an ambulance-led response wherever possible, without police attending at all.
They also wanted to be linked to therapeutic and community-based services, including mental health peer support, housing, disability support and family violence services.
What are co-responder programs?
Co-responder programs aim to de-escalate mental health incidents, reduce the number of emergency department presentations and link people experiencing mental health crises with services.
These programs, such as the one being trialled in South Australia, mean mental health clinicians (for example, social workers, counsellors or psychologists) attend some mental health incidents alongside police.
Peer-reviewed research shows these kinds of responses can be effective when compared to traditional police-led interventions.
The success of programs in the United States and Canada shows many mental health crises can safely managed without police involvement, for example by addressing issues such as homelessness and addiction with health workers, and reducing the number of arrests.
Co-responder programs are not universally available. Often, they do not operate after usual business hours or across regions.
There is also a lack of long-term evaluations of these programs. This means what we understand about their implementation, design and effectiveness over time can be mixed.
More broadly, the mental health sector is facing significant and ongoing labour shortages across Australia, posing another resourcing challenge.
How can responses to mental health crises be improved?
Last year, the final report from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recommended paramedics should act as first responders in mental health crises wherever possible, instead of police, diverting triple zero calls to Ambulance Victoria.
However that reform has been delayed, with no indication of when it may be implemented.
A 2023 NSW parliamentary inquiry also remarked on the need to explore reducing police involvement.
Co-responder and ambluance-first models offer an improvement.
But our research suggests people with lived experience of mental health issues want more than ambulances replacing the police as crisis responders.
They need a mental health system that supports them and provides what they needed, when they need it: compassionate, timely and non-coercive responses.
*Name has been changed.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Panos Karanikolas is a member of the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC). He received funding for this research from the National Disability Research Partnership as part of a partnership with VMIAC.
Chris Maylea receives funding from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, and national and state legal aid commissions.
Hamilton Kennedy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Maley, Senior Lecturer in Politics, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University
Three and a half years ago, then-sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins’ Set the Standard report was handed to federal parliament, commissioned after Brittany Higgins’ allegations of sexual assault in Parliament House, which had shocked the public and politicians alike. Since then, work has been underway to implement its 28 recommendations.
The report found unacceptable levels of sexual harassment, bullying and misconduct in parliamentary workplaces, and laid out a radical plan to create a standards regime. The plan would provide tools to deal with such conduct, and try to prevent it by changing the culture of parliament.
In 2025, parliament’s implementation of the Jenkins review is due to be evaluated by an external independent reviewer. Have the recommendations been implemented? What are the prospects for continued reform of conduct in the parliamentary workplace? Will the election of an historic number of women into parliament create pressure for further reform?
Action after the review
On February 8 2022, the first sitting day of federal parliament after the Jenkins review had been handed down, both houses of parliament made an historic statement of acknowledgement and apology to the victims of misconduct in its workplace. It stated:
We say sorry. […] This place and its members are committed to bringing about lasting and meaningful change to both culture and practice within our workplaces. We today declare our personal and collective commitment to make the changes required.
Parliamentarians committed to implement all 28 recommendations of the Jenkins review. A cross-party body was created to lead the implementation process.
Known as the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce, it had members from both houses of parliament, ministers and legislators, Labor, the Coalition, the Greens and one independent parliamentarian. It worked hard for three years to design and put in place the rules and mechanisms laid out in the Jenkins review, before disbanding in September 2024.
The magnitude of the changes parliament had to make should not be understated. Among many ground-breaking reforms, it involved developing codes of conduct and a body to enforce them by investigating complaints about breaches of the code.
In February 2023, both houses of parliament agreed on codes of conduct. In October 2024, an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission was established to receive complaints, investigate and make findings about misconduct. There are seven commissioners, appointed from outside parliament, who are lawyers, former public servants, tribunal members and ex-ombudsmen. For the first time, there will be external independent review of parliamentarians’ conduct.
An independent human resources body for the parliamentary workplace was also created, known as the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service. These are huge achievements and represent historic reforms.
In line with Jenkins’ recommendations, the taskforce committed to an external independent review of parliament’s implementation of the Jenkins report.
But has it been effective?
It is hard to evaluate new rules, systems and bodies that are in their infancy, but one part of the new standards architecture does not represent best practice. After the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission has completed an investigation of a parliamentarian’s conduct, made findings and recommended sanctions, it will hand its report to the privileges committee in each house.
The privileges committees are made up of parliamentarians, almost exclusively members of the major parties. It is up to these committees to decide on any action to be taken. We won’t know if they depart from the commission’s recommendations, as standards commission reports are not public.
In the United Kingdom House of Commons, which represents best practice in this area, independent investigation reports are handed to a parliamentary committee called the Committee on Standards. Half the members of that committee are MPs, but half are “lay members” – that is, appointed members of the community, including lawyers and HR professionals.
The House of Commons established its standards regime in 2018, and has reviewed and improved it over time. Lay members were placed on the committee because it was evident MPs found it difficult to judge the conduct of their peers and struggled to hold them accountable.
Unfortunately Australia’s new standards system leaves decisions in the hands of parliamentarians, without the corrective and robustness that members of the public would provide. Will the federal parliament continue to reform and reshape its arrangements if they prove not to be robust enough?
Ongoing leadership is needed if parliament is to continue to address conduct issues, drive culture change and refine and develop its new standards regime. Some believe the culture of parliament has improved since the Jenkins review. Others disagree.
There are still recommendations of the review that have not been addressed. These include developing a ten-year strategy to increase diversity in the workplace, establishing a health and wellbeing service in parliament, and introducing an alcohol policy. Now that the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce has disbanded, who will continue to advance the reform process?
In October 2024, parliament decided to create a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards. Its functions include reviewing the operation of the new codes and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.
This committee should play a leadership role on conduct and culture issues, but its membership is tightly restricted. The government dominates positions and all members must also be members of the privileges committees. Presiding officers are not permitted to sit on the committee, despite their important leadership roles and responsibilities in parliament. Crossbenchers and independent parliamentarians are largely locked out of the committee (only two positions are reserved for them), despite the fact they have often been the leading voices calling for culture change.
With the influx of many more women and new faces into the parliament after the election, there is an opportunity to press for continued reform and for membership of the joint committee to include diverse voices from across the parliament.
In 2021 Maria Maley worked as a consultant to the Jenkins Review.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
New munitions factories and long-range weapons to back nearly 2000 jobs under Strategic Defence Review
Procurement of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons and £1.5 billion to build at least six munitions and energetics factories.
Procurement of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons and £1.5 billion to build at least six munitions and energetics factories.
Work to create more than 1,000 new jobs and support around 800 more across the UK, driving defence as an engine for economic growth and supporting the Plan for Change.
Delivers the Strategic Defence Review’s focus on warfighting readiness to deter and follows historic uplift in defence spending.
The UK will build at least six new munitions and energetics factories and thousands more long-range weapons to strengthen Britain’s Armed Forces and create new jobs across the country.
Through the Strategic Defence Review – published in the coming days – the UK’s defence and deterrence is being bolstered with thousands of long-range weapons and a new £1.5 billion government investment in munitions and energetics factories.
Together the investment will back around 1,800 highly-skilled jobs across the UK, putting money in the pockets of working people, and supporting the government’s Plan for Change by driving growth in every region and nation.
The SDR recommends creating an ‘always on’ munitions production capacity in the UK allowing production to be scaled up at speed if needed. It says the MOD should also lay the industrial foundations for an uplift in munitions stockpiles to meet the demand of high-tempo warfare.
Taking the lessons from Ukraine which shows that our military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind it, the measures will boost British jobs while improving the warfighting readiness of both British Armed Forces and industry.
The additional funding will see UK munitions spend hit £6 billion this Parliament. It follows the Prime Minister’s historic commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, recognising the critical importance of military readiness in an era of heightened global uncertainty.
Commitments include:
£1.5 billion in an “always on” pipeline for munitions and building at least 6 new energetics and munitions factories in the UK. Creating more than 1,000 skilled manufacturing jobs, the factories will produce munitions and energetics, which are key components of weapons, including propellants, explosives, and pyrotechnics.
Up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons for the UK Armed Forces, supporting around 800 defence jobs.The lessons from Ukraine demonstrate the importance of long-range weaponry and boosting our military capabilities.
The SDR sets a path for the next decade and beyond to transform defence and make the UK secure at home and strong abroad. It ends the hollowing out of our Armed Forces and will also drive innovation, jobs and growth across the country, allowing the UK to lead in a stronger NATO.
Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said:
The hard-fought lessons from Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine show a military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind them.
We are strengthening the UK’s industrial base to better deter our adversaries and make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.
We will embrace the Strategic Defence Review; making defence an engine for economic growth and boosting skilled jobs in every nation and region as part of our Government’s Plan for Change.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:
A strong economy needs a strong national defence, and investing in weaponry and munitions and backing nearly 2,000 jobs across Britain in doing so is proof the two go hand-in-hand.
We are delivering both security for working people in an uncertain world and good jobs, putting more money in people’s pockets as part of our Plan for Change.
The new investments will form an ‘always-on’ approach for priority munitions. They will provide a steady drumbeat of investment to industry sustaining a thriving defence industrial base that drives growth and jobs to deliver on the Plan for Change, while strengthening the UK’s commitment to NATO.
The funding will help transform the UK’s Armed Forces readiness and ability to endure in prolonged campaigns, providing the industrial foundations needed to support our Armed Forces in warfare, as demonstrated by the conflict in Ukraine.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)
Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash where he emphasized the unity of House and Senate Democrats in opposing the reckless Republican One Big Ugly Bill and serving as a check and balance on the out-of-control Trump White House.
DANA BASH: Here with me now is the House Democratic Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you so much for being here this morning, sir. I want to start with that bill. You have vowed to keep the pressure on and stop it from becoming law. Obviously, you’re in the minority, same goes with Democrats in the Senate. How will you do that? LEADER JEFFRIES: Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill narrowly escaped the House of Representatives, and we’re going to continue to press our case across the country, partner with Senate Democrats in making clear to the American people the type of damage that this bill would do if it ever became law. This bill actually hurts everyday Americans in order to reward billionaires. It would strip away healthcare from approximately 14 million Americans. Premiums, copays and deductibles for tens of millions more will go up. Actually, if it ever were to be implemented into law, hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down and people will literally die. At the same time, this bill represents the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history. It takes food out of the mouths of children, seniors and veterans, and all of this is being done in order to enact massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors like Elon Musk. And then they want to stick the American people with the bill, increase the debt by more than $5 trillion. So I expect that you’ll see strong Democratic opposition in the Senate, just like there was strong Democratic opposition in the House. And the bill just narrowly escaped the House of Representatives.
DANA BASH: You made these arguments before it passed the House. Democrats are going to make that argument in the Senate, but again, you don’t have the votes, so what makes you think that what you’re saying will prevail and change the outcome?
LEADER JEFFRIES: The bill is deeply unpopular. If you go back to where we were in 2017, where Republicans, after several failed attempts, finally got their effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act out of the House of Representatives, but it limped out of House and then failed in the Senate. I think the One Big Ugly Bill is setting up for a similar fate, but we can’t let our foot off the gas pedal.
DANA BASH: I want to ask you about something that happened in your home state of New York. In the past couple of days, Congressman Jerry Nadler said that DHS agents entered his congressional office on Wednesday without a warrant and handcuffed a member of his staff. This, of course, comes after the Trump Justice Department charged Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver with obstructing ICE agents after an altercation at a facility in Newark, New Jersey. Now, I know you previously warned that the administration charging Members of Congress was a, quote, red line. What are you doing now that the red line you talked about has apparently been crossed? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, let me make clear that the House is a separate and co-equal branch of government, the Congress. We don’t work for Donald Trump, we don’t work for the administration, we don’t work for Elon Musk, we work for the American people. And we have a responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. That’s the constitutional blueprint that was given to us by the framers of the United States democracy that we have inherited over the last few centuries. And so, we’re going to continue to undertake our congressional responsibility, notwithstanding efforts by the Trump administration to try to intimidate Democrats. It’s unfortunate that our Republican colleagues continue to be nothing more than rubber stamps for Trump’s reckless and extreme agenda, and the American people, I think, will ultimately reject that next year when we will take back control of the House of Representatives. In the meantime, in terms of how we will respond to what Trump and the administration have endeavored to do, we will make that decision in a time, place and manner of our choosing, but the response will be continuous and it will meet the moment that is required.
DANA BASH: What exactly does that mean? Have you not decided how to respond?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We’ve publicly responded in a variety of different ways. We haven’t let our foot off the gas pedal in terms of additional things that may take place with respect to our congressional oversight authority and capacity. We will respond in a time, place and manner of our choosing if this continues to happen. DANA BASH: You believe, as Jerry Nadler said, that the administration is trying to intimidate Democrats?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I think the administration is clearly trying to intimidate Democrats, in the same way that they’re trying to intimidate the country. This whole shock and awe strategy, this flood the zone with outrageous behavior that they’ve tried to unleash on the American people during the first few months of the Trump administration is all designed to create the appearance of inevitability. But Donald Trump has learned an important lesson, the American people are not interested in bending the knee to a wannabe king. It’s the reason why Donald Trump actually is the most unpopular president at this point of a presidency in American history. The American people have rejected this approach, and we as Congressional Democrats will continue to reject this approach.
DANA BASH: Mr. Leader, you brought up polls, so let me tell you about a new one that just came out here at CNN this morning. It shows that only 19% of Americans say that your party can get things done. 36% say the same about Republicans. And just 16% say your party has strong leaders. It’s pretty rough, and you are one of those leaders. How do you turn that around?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, we don’t have the presidency right now, so that’s always going to be challenging a few months after a presidential election. But we have to continue to make the case, one, that Democrats, of course, are the party that is determined to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, for hardworking American taxpayers, that we believe that we need to lower the high cost of living, which for decades has been going up while the size of the middle class has been going down. So, understandably, there’s real frustration amongst the American people. They should be frustrated. Housing costs are too high, childcare costs—
DANA BASH: But they’re frustrated with you as well, with Democrats as well.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Of course, they’re frustrated with the system. But what is interesting, Dana, I think you’re aware of this, every single public poll that has come out since the Trump presidency has had congressional Democrats winning the generic ballot against congressional Republicans. And in fact, we know this is not simply speculative, in every single high-profile special election, Iowa in January, New York in February, Pennsylvania in March, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court race in April and most recently in Omaha, the mayor’s race in May, Democrats have won. So the American people are actually being very clear and decisive in saying who they trust more to govern.
DANA BASH: We’re gonna have to leave it there. Hakeem Jeffries, the Leader of the House Democrats. Appreciate you being here this morning.
“June is National Indigenous History Month – a time to celebrate the knowledge, histories and contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have called these lands home for generations.
“It is an important time to reaffirm our commitment to reconciliation – an active and ongoing journey that requires collective action. I encourage everyone to participate in local events, foster connections with Indigenous communities and broaden their understanding of Indigenous histories, cultures, perspectives and protocols.
“Alberta’s government remains steadfast in its commitment to reconciliation, taking concrete steps to ensure Indigenous Peoples are included at every level of the economy – as owners, workers and partners.
“The Kihciy Maskikiy/Aakaakmotaani reconciliation garden, on the southeast lawn of the Alberta legislature grounds, is home to a towering stone monument that recognizes and honours the victims and survivors of residential schools. If you are in Edmonton, I encourage you to visit the reconciliation garden as it blooms once again – a meaningful space for reflection and healing.
“Big or small, every effort to deepen our understanding of Indigenous Peoples presents an opportunity to support reconciliation.”
Related information
National Indigenous History Month
Reconciliation garden and residential school monument
“Today, we recognize Canadian Armed Forces Day and honour the service, sacrifice and dedication of all who serve and have served, as well as the families who stand behind them.
“Alberta is home to a strong and enduring military presence, and we are honoured to recognize the invaluable contributions of our soldiers, sailors and aircrew who defend our freedoms and protect our nation.
“For more than a century, members of the Canadian Armed Forces have demonstrated exceptional courage, professionalism and resilience. They have defended Canada’s skies, supported allies abroad, led peacekeeping missions and delivered life-saving aid in times of disaster. Whether responding to wildfires in Alberta or providing relief across the globe, their commitment to service remains unwavering.
“Their sacrifices have earned our deepest gratitude and lasting respect. We thank those who continue to serve today, ensuring Canada remains strong, secure and ready for the challenges ahead.
“I encourage all Albertans to explore Alberta’s history by visiting heritage attractions across the province. Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans and their immediate families receive free admission to provincially owned historic sites, museums and interpretive centres with their CF One card.
“On behalf of the Government of Alberta, I extend heartfelt thanks to all current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Your service is deeply valued, and your sacrifices will never be forgotten.”
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
DOHA/Cairo, June 1 (Xinhua) — Egypt and Qatar on Sunday vowed to continue intensive efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip based on a proposal put forward by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff.
A joint statement released by the foreign ministries of both countries said they hoped to quickly reach a preliminary 60-day agreement on a temporary ceasefire that would pave the way for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
According to the statement, Qatar and Egypt, in coordination with the United States, reaffirmed their commitment to intensifying mediation efforts to resolve the ongoing crisis.
They called on all parties to support the efforts of the mediators to reach a solution that will ensure stability and calm in the region.
“This step will help end the unprecedented humanitarian crisis, open border crossings in accordance with certain standards and facilitate the entry of humanitarian and emergency aid into the enclave to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people,” the statement said.
The document also emphasizes that the ultimate goal is to end the war in Gaza and begin the reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave. –0–
WHEREAS, Alaska is known for its expansive landscapes, and people from around the world come to experience the magnificent views and diverse wildlife the Last Frontier has to offer; and
WHEREAS, throughout Alaska’s changing seasons, an abundance of recreational activities are enjoyed by residents and visitors, from big game hunting and sport fishing, to skiing, hiking, sled dog mushing, and much more; and
WHEREAS, Alaska is not only home to more than 700,000 people, it is also home to over 1,000 various vertebrate species, including approximately 100,000 black bear, 30,000 brown bear, and 750,000 wild caribou; and
WHEREAS, Alaska is also home to many ecosystems, ranging from coastal rainforests in the southern regions to arctic tundra and sea ice in the north; and
WHEREAS, as our time is increasingly spent indoors and in front of screens, it is important to take every opportunity to participate in outdoor activities, and Alaska’s State and National parks, forests, coastlands, and other recreational areas help mitigate the adverse effects of inactivity; and
WHEREAS, Alaskans play a vital role in caring for our natural spaces, and we demonstrate our dedication to maintaining our outdoor spaces for future generations by using our natural resources in a responsible manner and by educating our youth on the amazing wonders that surround us; and
WHEREAS, Great Outdoors Month offers an opportunity to celebrate the importance of Alaska’s majestic mountains, pristine waters, and vast landscapes as we enjoy the opportunities that abound and cherish the memorable experiences of being outdoors with family and friends.
NOW THEREFORE, I, Mike Dunleavy, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF ALASKA, do hereby proclaim June 2025 as:
Great Outdoors Month
in Alaska and encourage all Alaskans to take advantage of opportunities to enjoy the great outdoor activities available in Alaska’s majestic wilderness.
Source: United States Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock – Georgia
Senator Reverend Warnock on MTP: “This Big Ugly Bill is Going to Strip People of their Health Care”
Today, Senator Reverend Warnock joined Kristen Welker on Meet the Press to outline the consequences for Georgians if the Senate passes the GOP billionaire tax giveaway bill
The Senator laid out a vision for a tax code that uplifts ordinary people: “Here’s a proposal. How about [allowing] the tax cuts to expire for people making over $500,000 a year? If they did that, they wouldn’t have to have these draconian SNAP cuts and cuts on health care”
Watch the full interview HERE
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) joined Kristen Welker on Meet the Press to outline the consequences for Georgians if the Senate passes the GOP billionaire tax giveaway bill. The GOP tax bill is expected to kick as many as 13.7 million people off their health care and risk up to 42,000 good-paying Georgia jobs, all to pay for a tax cut for the ultra-wealthy. Senator Warnock is a member of the Finance Committee, which oversees taxes and revenue. The full interview is available HERE.
“The Republicans are trying to push forward this Big Ugly Bill that’s going to literally cut as many as 7 million Americans [on Medicaid] off of their health care. It is a drag, not only on their health care, it is a drag on the American economy. They want to cut some $290 billion out of SNAP,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “This is an unfunded mandate at a time when Donald Trump’s tariff tax is literally raising the cost of groceries, and so I’ve got my sleeves rolled up, and in front of me is the American people, the people of Georgia, and doing everything I can to save them from Trump’s Big Ugly Bill.”
“Here’s a proposal. How about [allowing] the tax cuts to expire for people making over $500,000 a year? If they did that, they wouldn’t have to have these draconian SNAP cuts and cuts on health care,” continued Senator Reverend Warnock.
Key excerpts of the interview are available below:
Senator Warnock on work reporting requirements:
“Listen, I am a big advocate for work. I have a fierce work ethic. It was something passed on to me by my late father, who was a preacher and a junk man… I believe in work and I recently released a study in Georgia that shows that this work reporting requirement, because that’s what we’re talking about, not work requirements, work reporting requirements, are very good at kicking [working] people off of their health care. It’s not good at incentivizing work at all… The data clearly shows that if you want to get people to work, the way to do that is to provide them just basic health care so that they don’t get sick. And what they’re trying to do now is take this terrible experiment in Georgia, force it on the whole nation, and what we will see as a result of that is a workforce that is sicker and poorer and an economy that’s weaker.”
Senator Warnock on consequences of the GOP tax bill:
“We are headed into a very critical week. The Republicans are trying to push forward this Big Ugly Bill that’s going to literally cut as many as 7 million Americans [on Medicaid] off of their health care. It is a drag, not only on their health care, it is a drag on the American economy. They want to cut some $290 billion out of SNAP. This is an unfunded mandate at a time when Donald Trump’s tariff tax is literally raising the cost of groceries. And so I’ve got my sleeves rolled up, and in front of me is the American people, the people of Georgia, and doing everything I can to save them from Trump’s Big Ugly Bill.”
“I’m laser-focused on doing everything I can for the people of my state, particularly children. You’re looking at somebody who grew up in public housing, the 11th of 12 children, but through good government programs, Pell grants and low-interest student loans, because of Head Start, which the Republicans want to cut. You are you looking at someone who is the first college graduate in his family, the 11th out of 12 children, who is now a United States Senator. I’ll tell you what keeps me up at night. It would be harder for me to do right now what I did as that 17-year-old kid all those years ago. That is an indictment on this moment. That’s an indictment on our leadership. And what the Republicans want to do this week will take us further back in the wrong direction. Which is why I’m going to do everything I can, not only to save us from this awful bill, but to put forward programs like workforce development programs so that our children can find their wings for their dreams. I want to do everything that I can for working-class people.”
Senator Warnock on his vision of a tax code that uplifts ordinary people:
“Here’s a proposal. How about [allowing] the tax cuts to expire for people making over $500,000 a year? If they did that, they wouldn’t have to have these draconian SNAP cuts and cuts on health care.”
