JUNEAU, Alaska – A Juneau man pleaded guilty today to producing child pornography.
According to court documents, William Steadman, 35, a registered sex offender, met a pre-pubescent boy in his community and enticed him to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Steadman documented the conduct and posted the content on the dark web. Steadman first came to the attention of law enforcement when he distributed his newly produced child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online. Steadman attempted to obscure his identify from law enforcement by using the dark web, but tips from law enforcement, a cryptocurrency payment for additional CSAM, and analysis of his online statements led to his identification and arrest. A residential search resulted in the discovery of over 4,000 images and videos of CSAM on his devices.
Steadman pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography. He is scheduled to be sentenced on a later date and faces a mandatory‑minimum penalty of 25 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska and Glen Peterson, U.S. Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Seattle Field Office made the announcement.
The Secret Service’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mac Caille Petursson, Jack Schmidt, and William Reed for the District of Alaska and Trial Attorney McKenzie Hightower of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office brought federal firearms charges against 18 defendants in the month of March—twice the monthly average since January 2021—announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is continuing its work to Make D.C. Safe Again by aggressively prosecuting violent offenders, adopting eligible Superior Court cases into District Court, and coordinating federal and local resources,” said U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. “Our efforts directly support the President’s Executive Order to restore law and order in the District and help make our nation’s capital not only safer, but also worthy of its place as the pride of every American.”
“We are committed to reducing violence by addressing the flow and supply of illegal firearms within the District, we at ATF will continue to work diligently with our law enforcement partners as well as the United States Attorney’s Office to ensure those who violate federal firearm laws and terrorize our communities with violence are held accountable and brought to justice for their crimes,” said ATF Washington Field Division Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood. “We remain steadfast in our mission of fighting violent crime in D.C.”
During the month of March, the U.S. Attorney’s Office accepted 23 cases for federal prosecution, 18 of which have already been charged in the U.S. District Court. This is the highest number of case adoptions since before January 2021. As a result of this surge, more dangerous offenders are off the streets. Examples of these cases include:
Make D.C. Safe Again is a law enforcement initiative in support of President Trump’s Executive Order to Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful. Make D.C. Safe Again aims to crack down on gun violence, prioritize federal firearms violations, pursue tougher penalties for offenses, and seek detention for federal firearms violators.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Metropolitan Police Department are investigating these cases.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jonathan P. Stewart, Professor of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
The 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake near San Francisco in 1989 caused about $6.8 billion in damage and 63 deaths.J.K. Nakata/U.S. Geological Survey
Earthquakes and the damage they cause are apolitical. Collectively, we either prepare for future earthquakes or the population eventually pays the price. The earthquakes that struck Myanmar on March 28, 2025, collapsing buildings and causing over 2,000 deaths, were a sobering reminder of the risks and the need for preparation.
In the U.S., this preparation hinges in large part on the expertise of scientists and engineers in federal agencies who develop earthquake hazard models and contribute to the creation of building codes designed to ensure homes, high-rises and other structures won’t collapse when the ground shakes.
Local communities and states decide whether to adopt building code documents. But those documents and other essential resources are developed through programs supported by federal agencies working in partnership with practicing engineers and earthquake experts at universities.
First, seismologists and earthquake engineers at the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS, produce the National Seismic Hazard Model. These maps, based on research into earthquake sources such as faults and how seismic waves move through the earth’s crust, are used to determine the forces that structures in each community should be designed to resist.
A steering committee of earthquake experts from the private sector and universities works with USGS to ensure that the National Seismic Hazard Model implements the best available science.
In this 2023 update of the national seismic risk map, red areas have the greatest chance of a damaging earthquake occurring within 100 years. USGS
Second, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, supports the process for periodically updating building codes. That includes supporting the work of the National Institute of Building Sciences’ Provisions Update Committee, which recommends building code revisions based on investigations of earthquake damage.
More broadly, FEMA, the USGS, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation work together through the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program to advance earthquake science and turn knowledge of earthquake risks into safer standards, better building design and education. Some of those agencies have been threatened by potential job and funding cuts under the Trump administration, and others face uncertainty regarding continuation of federal support for their work.
It is in large part because of the National Seismic Hazard Model and regularly updated building codes that U.S. buildings designed to meet modern code requirements are considered among the safest in the world, despite substantial seismic hazards in several states.
This paradigm has been made possible by the technical expertise and lack of political agendas among the federal staff. Without that professionalism, we believe experts from outside the federal government would be less likely to donate their time.
These programs and the federal agencies supporting them have benefited from a high level of staff expertise because hiring and advancement processes have been divorced from politics and focused on qualifications and merit.
This has not always been the case.
For much of early U.S. history, federal jobs were awarded through a patronage system, where political loyalty determined employment. As described in “The Federal Civil Service System and The Problem of Bureaucracy,” this system led to widespread corruption and dysfunction, with officials focused more on managing quid pro quo patronage than governing effectively. That peaked in 1881 with President James Garfield’s assassination by Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled supporter who had been denied a government appointment.
The passage of the Pendleton Act by Congress in 1883 shifted federal employment to a merit-based system. This preference for a merit-based system was reinforced in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. It states as national policy that “to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive workforce … and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles.”
The shift away from a patronage system produced a more stable and efficient federal workforce, which has enabled improvements in many critical areas, including seismic safety and disaster response.
Merit-based civil service matters for safety
While the work of these federal employees often goes unnoticed, the benefits are demonstrable and widespread. That becomes most apparent when disasters strike and buildings that meet modern code requirements remain standing.
A merit-based civil service is not just a democratic ideal but a proven necessity for the safety and security of the American people, one we hope will continue well into the future. This can be achieved by retaining federal scientists and engineers and supporting the essential work of federal agencies.
Jonathan P. Stewart has received funding from NSF and USGS. He is the chair of the Steering Committee for the National Seismic Hazard Model, a member of the National Institute of Building Sciences’ Provisions Update Committee, and a member of the federal Advisory Committee for Earthquake Hazard Reduction (ACEHR). His contributions to this article draw upon his experience and do not reflect the views of the Steering Committee, Provisions Update Committee, or ACEHR.
Lucy Arendt has received funding from NSF and the Applied Technology Council. She is a member and current chair of the federal Advisory Committee for Earthquake Hazard Reduction (ACEHR). Her contributions to this article reflect her professional expertise and do not reflect the views of ACEHR.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a top contender for the title of Great American Novel, turns 100 on April 10.
A century later, it is invoked to help make sense of a world that still confuses “material enterprise with moral achievement” – as critic Sarah Churchwell wrote in the foreword to Gatsby’s centennial edition.
A Meta insider’s memoir takes its title, Careless People, from Fitzgerald’s novel. The same phrase circulated on social media and in The New York Times during Donald Trump’s first presidency, referring to his administration’s downplaying of COVID-19.
In 2018, The Atlantic compared Trump to Tom Buchanan, one of Fitzgerald’s “careless people”, describing “an eerie symmetry […] as if the villain of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel had been brought to life in a louder, gaudier guise for the 21st century”. More recently, others have compared Trump to Gatsby himself.
The Great Gatsby tells the tale of a lovesick man striving for social acceptance, believing personal reinvention and riches can help to rewrite the past. It is a story of longing: not just for lost love, but for an unattainable ideal.
The centenary couldn’t be more timely for this literary masterpiece, preoccupied by the same things we are: immense affluence, privilege, the limits of social mobility and the hidden underbelly of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby, while a relative literary failure in Fitzgerald’s lifetime, is enduringly popular today, with at least 25 million copies sold to date, numerous film and stage adaptations (and literary riffs), and a staple position on school and university reading lists.
“What we think about Gatsby illuminates what we think about money, race, romance and history,” wrote The New York Times’ A.O. Scott recently. “How we imagine him has a lot to do with how we see ourselves.”
The Great Gatsby is set against the backdrop of Roaring Twenties America: an era Fitzgerald famously dubbed the Jazz Age.
Fuelled by the infectious rhythms of jazz, driven by the economic forces of market prosperity and mass consumerism, and heady on the alcoholic vapours and illicit thrills associated with Prohibition-era nightlife, the 1920s were a decade where American fortunes were made and lost.
It was also, as Fitzgerald’s novel outlines, a period where individual ambition burned as fiercely as desire.
Picryl
The plot follows the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, a spotlight-eschewing, self-made millionaire whose seemingly breezy approach to life masks a singular obsession: the rekindling of a lost romance with a beautiful woman from his past.
Born James Gatz, Fitzgerald’s charismatic protagonist reinvents himself in the hope of winning back the love of his life, wealthy socialite Daisy Buchanan. Taken at face value, Gatsby’s world is one of incredible luxury and dazzling excess – lavish parties, fast cars and ostentatious attire – all designed to lure Daisy back into his arms.
But as we begin to scratch beneath the surface, the glittering facade Gatsby has constructed gives way to something far more fragile and tragic: an impossible fantasy driven by jealously, obsession and self-deception.
As the reader comes to appreciate, Gatsby’s accumulated gains may grant him partial access to the world of old money, but he will never truly be accepted by America’s elite. No matter how hard he might try, he cannot surmount the barriers of class and entitlement.
Ultimately, Gatsby’s misguided belief that he can somehow crowbar his way into the upper echelons of high society while simultaneously turning back the hands of time leads to his downfall. In Fitzgerald’s words, he ends up paying “a high price for living too long with a single dream”.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is still invoked to help make sense of a world that often confuses ‘material enterprise with moral achievement’. Nickolas Muray/Picryl
F. Scott Fitzgerald, literary celebrity
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24 1896. The son of middle-class Catholic parents, he spent much of his youth living in upstate New York. In 1913, he enrolled at Princeton University, where he formed a lasting friendship with future literary critic Edmund Wilson.
More absorbed in literary and dramatic endeavours than his studies, Fitzgerald’s grades suffered and he dropped out in 1917 – though not before falling deeply in love with Ginevra King, an heiress who would leave an indelible imprint on his writing. She would inspire many of his fictional female characters, including Daisy Buchanan.
Fitzgerald first encountered King during a winter vacation in St. Paul in January 1915. The debutante daughter of a wealthy Chicago stockbroker, she quickly became the object of Fitzgerald’s intense devotion (much to the disapproval of her family, who thought him beneath her).
In the wake of his heartbreak after the relationship broke down, Fitzgerald enlisted in the United States Army, earning a commission as a second lieutenant. During his military service, he met Zelda Sayre, the woman he would eventually marry. Meanwhile, he began work on his first novel, This Side of Paradise.
Released in 1920, Fitzgerald’s formally adventurous debut was a critical success and cultural sensation, capturing the restless energy and shifting moral landscape of a cohort coming of age in the wake of World War I.
The novel’s transparently autobiographical narrative centres on Amory Blaine, a young Midwesterner whose intellectual and romantic adventures at Princeton – especially a doomed affair with the beautiful, elusive Isabelle Borgé – struck a chord with readers. It turned Fitzgerald into a media celebrity and unofficial spokesman for his generation.
Two years later, Fitzgerald published The Beautiful and Damned. It details the disintegration of a wealthy, aimless couple – Anthony and Gloria Patch – whose hedonistic lifestyle and misplaced belief in their own brilliance leads to ruin.
Fitzgerald’s tonally pessimistic second novel was again shaped by his own experiences, drawing heavily on his tempestuous marriage to Zelda, who was exhibiting symptoms of profound mental instability.
However, in stark contrast to This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned sold well, but received a lukewarm reception from reviewers. Some found its characters unappealing and its plot depressing.
By then, the Fitzgeralds had grown accustomed to the finer things in life. Which meant they needed money. Lots of it. To keep up with their lavish spending, Fitzgerald started to churn out short stories for popular magazines at a rapid pace. While this move provided him with a degree of financial security, some critics and contemporaries questioned whether he was squandering his literary gifts. Ernest Hemingway, for one, was “shocked” by his friend’s willingness to pander to commercial tastes and imperatives.
‘I want to write something new’
That said, while he was generating copy for mass-market publication, Fitzgerald was also hard at work on The Great Gatsby. In July 1922, he declared:
I want to write something new – something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned.
Determined to prove his worth as an artist, Fitzgerald, who wanted “to write a novel better than any ever written in America”, began to play with “form and emotion”. As his ideas for the new novel – which at one point bore the working title Trimalchio – took shape, Fitzgerald set up shop in Great Neck, Long Island. This location became the inspiration for East and West Egg, the fictionalised island communities that are the novel’s primary setting.
Fitzgerald, clearly not lacking in confidence, set his sights high for his third novel, taking inspiration from James Joyce’s Ulysses and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.
Departing from conventional realism, Fitzgerald experimented with modernist techniques, layering his narrative with symbolic depth, synesthetic imagery, fragmented storytelling and complex characterisation.
The result was a work both lyrical and impressionistic. Here’s a vivid, illustrative excerpt:
The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. […] The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath; already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group, and then, excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light.
Fitzgerald’s Midwestern narrator, Nick Carraway, is describing one of Gatsby’s legendary West Egg parties. He is renting the house next to Gatsby’s mansion,
“a colossal affair by any standard”, with “a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden”.
At first, Nick is fascinated by his enigmatic neighbour, drawn in by the sheer force of Gatsby’s optimism and his unrelenting faith in the transformative power of love and the trappings of wealth. But as the novel progresses, events lead Nick to reevaluate. He describes his charming friend as possessing “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life”.
He continues, outlining attributes essential to a good confidence man:
It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.
When he isn’t with Gatsby, Nick is often with his cousin Daisy and her husband, Tom, the embodiment of American aristocracy and snobbery. They are, in Nick’s damning estimation, “careless” and “rotten” people.
An unreconstructed white supremacist prone to casual displays of extreme prejudice and physical violence, the adulterous Tom – who wouldn’t be out of place in the more dismal real-world and online recesses of today – is, in particular, deeply suspicious of Gatsby, regarding him as an interloper with dubious intentions.
The Atlantic wrote that Tom, “the Yale man, the football star, the spender of old money, the scion of what he calls the Nordic race – embodies the peak of social status in his century”. And that “Trump – the former Playboy-cover subject, the billionaire celebrity, the most powerful man in America – does the same for his”.
And their shared personality traits are the product of their shared relationship to power – the casual unreflective certainty that comes from inheritance, and enables its holders to wield its blunt force as both a weapon and a shield.
Tom’s “little investigation” into Gatsby’s background and finances reveals they are not what they seem. This leads to unintended, disastrous consequences.
Nick, our disillusioned observer, doesn’t quite know what to make of it all. We take leave of him at the end of the novel, on “the beach and sprawled out on the sand”, reminiscing about “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock”.
‘A flying leap into the future’
Fitzgerald knew he had achieved something special with The Great Gatsby. His peers did too. T.S. Eliot considered it “the first step” forward “American fiction has taken since Henry James”. Edith Wharton concurred, calling it “a flying leap into the future.”
Yet, for all this critical acclaim, The Great Gatsby failed to resonate with the reading public – much to Fitzgerald’s dismay. By October, the book had sold less than 20,000 copies. (By comparison, This Side of Paradise had sold nearly 50,000 copies, across multiple printings.) As his biographer Arthur Mizener observed, by February 1926, “a few thousand more copies had been sold and the book was dead”. It was a blow the writer never really recovered from.
Fitzgerald’s personal life was tumultuous, marred by alcoholism, Zelda’s mental health issues and financial debt. This had a negative effect on his work. While he completed one more novel in 1934 – the excellent, darkly romantic Tender is the Night, arguably his best book – Fitzgerald struggled to be productive.
Following several failed suicide attempts, in 1940 he died of a heart attack, believing himself an abject failure and his career a total write-off. His most recent royalty cheque had been for $13.13. He was 44.
In the immediate aftermath of his death, writers and critics began to reassess Fitzgerald’s accomplishments. This effort was initially spearheaded by his friends, notably Edmund Wilson, who, in 1941, organised a series of tributes to be published in The New Republic.
In 1945, Viking Press released The Portable F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Dorothy Parker, which brought Fitzgerald to the attention of a new generation of readers. At the same time, the US military distributed 150,000 copies of The Great Gatsby to American servicemen during World War II as part of their Armed Services Editions.
Before long, The Great Gatsby made its way into the classroom, where it remains a staple of countless high school and university syllabuses. It continues to inspire readers, many of whom encounter it at a formative stage in their lives.
Amazon
It has been adapted for the screen on multiple occasions – with mixed results. Jack Clayton’s 1974 version, starring Robert Redford as the eponymous Gatsby, was faithful to Fitzgerald’s vision, but utterly lifeless, while Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation, a hollow exercise in audiovisual bluster, failed to do justice to the novel’s subtleties. For all their shortcomings, these films helped cement Gatsby’s place in the popular imagination.
An ‘uncannily prescient’ enduring classic
Novelist Jesmyn Ward suggests Fitzgerald’s novel is
a book that endures, generation after generation, because every time a reader returns to The Great Gatsby, we discover new revelations, new insights, new burning bits of language.
I agree – and I think Fitzgerald would have had rich material to work with, had he been alive today. Ours, lest we forget, is a world where ersatz robber barons hoard nearly all our shared available assets and resources, where racist discourse resounds, and where rampant consumerism remains unchecked.
Last year America magazine argued Gatsby himself “gives the greatest insight into why Mr. Trump is still popular”, comparing Trump’s “fraudulent real estate deals” to Gatsby’s nefarious way of making his money, and Gatsby’s huge parties to Trump’s rallies. Both, the writer argued, are nouveau riche outsiders, “hell-bent on being accepted by the Manhattan set”, and scorned by the elites. (Though Trump’s second presidency seems to be ushering in a new elite.)
Thinking aloud, perhaps it’s more accurate to say Trump is a weird combination of characters. On one hand, he resembles Gatsby: a self-mythologising social climber, nostalgic for a past that never really existed. On the other, he shares much with Tom Buchanan: unscrupulous, self-interested and protected by his wealth.
In a historical moment that mirrors his own in many ways, Fitzgerald’s essentially tragic masterwork, which ends suggesting we are all forever “borne back ceaselessly into the past”, strikes me as uncannily prescient and relevant today.
Alexander Howard 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: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Social Welfare Department (SWD) today (March 31) held the Kick-off Ceremony themed “Act Together for a Caring Community” to announce the extension of the District Services and Community Care Teams – Scheme on Supporting Elderly and Carers to all 18 districts for a period of 12 months starting from tomorrow (April 1) to provide support and care to elderly persons and carers in need.
​ Addressing the ceremony, the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, said that all 452 Care Teams across the territory will help identify elderly persons and carers in need through visits and contacts in the coming 12 months. Apart from sending them care and providing assistance to ensure elderly persons and carers feel the warmth and support from the community, the Care Teams will also refer those in need to social welfare service units for suitable support.
​ He said that with the extension of the Scheme to 18 districts the Care Teams are expected to reach over 60 000 households in need. He hoped that members of the Care Teams would go beyond serving as care ambassadors in the community by strengthening collaboration with other stakeholders. In addition to encouraging carers to use the Designated Hotline for Carer Support 182 183 and the Information Gateway for Carers (carers.hk), Care Teams will also enhance communications with the Designated Hotline for Carer Support to arrange visits or contacts for the carers in need.
​ At the ceremony, Mr Cheuk presented certificates of appointment to the Care Teams of 18 districts. Accompanied by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun; the Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Ms Alice Lau; and the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Edward To, he also presided at a pledging ceremony to start the extension of the Scheme.
​ Immediately after the ceremony, the Care Teams of Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po Districts conducted home visits in the two Districts with the respective District Officers and District Social Welfare Officers to introduce welfare services to households and encourage them to seek help whenever necessary.
​ The SWD will arrange trainings for the Care Teams, covering communication skills, information on local social welfare services and referral procedures. The SWD will also maintain close communication with the Care Teams in various subdistricts and provide assistance to ensure a smooth implementation of the Scheme.
​ Piloted in Tsuen Wan and Southern Districts in the first quarter of 2024 to identify singleton/doubleton elderly persons and carers of elders persons/persons with disabilities in need through visits or contacts by the Care Teams, the Scheme has made great achievements. By the end of February this year, 36 Care Teams in the two Districts had visited or contacted over 7 200 singleton/doubleton elderly persons and carers of elderly persons/persons with disabilities, making over 1 200 referrals for welfare services, including elderly services, services for persons with disabilities, mental health services, family services and financial assistance. Moreover, more than 300 elderly persons and persons with disabilities received subsidies for the installation of emergency alarm systems through referrals made by the Care Teams.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah unveils the grand statue of Maharaja Agrasen, inaugurates the newly constructed ICU, and lays the foundation stone for the PG hostel in Hisar, Haryana The land of Haryana has worked to enrich and preserve India’s culture, values, and traditions since ancient times
Maharaja Agrasen paved the way for the prosperity and welfare of every individual without burdening the state
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is also following the path shown by Maharaja Agrasen and working towards the development of the country
The Modi government has spent 64,000 crore rupees on public health centers and community health centers, building a strong foundation for medical infrastructure
In the next 5 years, there will not be a single district in the country without a medical college
In the double-engine government, Haryana is the best example of politics based on principles by like-minded people
The Saini government in Haryana provided 80,000 jobs to youth in a transparent manner, without bribes or recommendations
OP Jindal established the values of caring for the people before profit, caring for society before business, and prioritizing
In the Agarwal community, most people are entrepreneurs who are contributing to the service of the nation with a spirit of dedication
Posted On: 31 MAR 2025 5:00PM by PIB Delhi
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah today unveiled the grand statue of Maharaja Agrasen, inaugurated the newly constructed ICU, and laid the foundation stone for the PG hostel in Hisar, Haryana. On this occasion, several distinguished individuals, including Haryana’s Chief Minister Shri Nayab Singh Saini, were present.
In his address, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said the land of Haryana has worked to enrich and preserve India’s culture, values, and traditions since ancient times. He said, from Mahabharata time to the freedom struggle and even after independence, Haryana’s contribution to the development of the country has always been far greater than that of the larger states.
Shri Amit Shah said that in this large hospital, where nearly 5 lakh people avail OPD services, 180 children graduate in medical education every year, and patients receive various types of modern medical facilities, all of this is possible due to the foundation laid by O.P. Jindal. He mentioned that today, along with the statue of Maharaja Agrasen, the newly constructed ICU has been inaugurated, and the foundation stone for the PG hostel has also been laid. He added that these initiatives represent another step towards advancing this institution.
Union Home Minister said that Maharaja Agrasen was a unique kind of ruler, and it is said that in his time, the capital had a population of 1 lakh people. Whenever a new person arrived there, they were given a brick and one rupee by every individual to help them build a house. Shri Shah said, Maharaja Agrasen paved the way for the prosperity and welfare of every individual without burdening the state. He said that Maharaja Agrasen worked to nurture the values of the entire state. Maharaja Agrasen ensured that no one in his kingdom went to bed hungry, no one lived without a roof over their head, and no one was without work. He said that these three things were guaranteed by Maharaja Agrasen through his good governance. Home Minister added that today, every individual in all the clans of the Agarwal community is an entrepreneur, dedicated to the country, serving others, and contributing to the nation’s development.
Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is also following the path shown by Maharaja Agrasen. He mentioned that during Prime Minister Modi’s 10-year tenure, 25 crore people in the country have risen above the poverty line. He said that Prime Minister Modi has provided 4 crore houses, 5 kg free ration per person per month to 81 crore people, gas connections to 11 crore families and toilets to 12 crore families. He said that the first government in the country to provide toilets in every house was the Haryana Government. He added that the Modi government has provided 15 crore people with piped water, health coverage of up to 5 lakh for 60 crore people, electricity to every household, and is now working through cooperatives to provide self-employment to every household.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that under Prime Minister Modi’s tenure, the country has seen transformative changes in various sectors over the past 10 years. He mentioned that the Modi government has taken a holistic approach to the health of the citizens. He explained that the government first provided a gas cylinder to every household, which is directly related to the health of women. Following that, yoga was popularized worldwide, then the Fit India Mission, the Nutrition Campaign, Mission Indradhanush, and the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, which provides health coverage up to 5 lakh, were introduced. He stated that all these initiatives are related to health, and Prime Minister Modi has worked to weave them all together as a unified approach.
Shri Amit Shah said that the Modi government has made significant strides in the field of medical infrastructure. He said, the Modi government has spent 64,000 crore rupees on public health centers and community health centers, building a strong foundation for medical infrastructure. He also highlighted the establishment of 730 integrated public health labs, 4,382 block public health units, and 602 new critical care boxes over the past 10 years. He further stated that in the year 2013-14, the country’s health budget was 33,000 crore rupees, which Prime Minister Modi has more than tripled, raising it to 1 lakh 33 thousand crore rupees in the 2025-26 budget.
Union Home Minister said that in 2014, there were 7 AIIMS in the country, while in 2024, there are 23 AIIMS. Similarly, in 2014, there were 387 medical colleges in the country, and today there are 766. He mentioned that the number of MBBS seats, which was 51,000 in 2014, has now increased to 1.15 lakh and an additional 85,000 seats will be added over the next 5 years. He also stated that in 2014, there were 31,000 PG seats, which have now increased to 73,000. Shri Shah assured that in the next 5 years, there will not be a single district in the country without a medical college.
Shri Amit Shah said that Haryana is the best example of politics based on principles, with like-minded people in the double-engine government. He mentioned that in previous governments, corruption in jobs was due to casteism, and jobs were obtained through bribes and recommendations. Shri Shah said that Saini government in Haryana provided 80,000 jobs to youth in a transparent manner, without bribes or recommandations. Shri Shah also pointed out that Haryana’s athletes have won three times more medals in the last 10 years, Haryana is the largest exporter of Basmati rice, and one in every 10 soldiers in the army is from Haryana. He added that Haryana is the state where the highest number of 24 crops is purchased at the minimum support price (MSP). Furthermore, Haryana was the first state to give land ownership rights within the red lines (Lal Dore), ensured that no Panchayat head is illiterate, and has 50 per cent participation of women in Panchayats.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that between 2004 and 2014, Haryana received 41,000 crore rupees from the central government, while the Modi government has provided Haryana with 1 lakh 43 thousand crore rupees between 2014 and 2024. He added that in addition to this, infrastructure work worth 1 lakh 26 thousand crore rupees, road construction worth 72 thousand crore rupees, and railway projects worth 54 thousand crore rupees have also been carried out in Haryana.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released the latest figures on retail sales today (March 31).
The value of total retail sales in February 2025, provisionally estimated at $29.4 billion, decreased by 13.0% compared with the same month in 2024. The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in January 2025 decreased by 3.1% compared with a year earlier. For the first two months of 2025 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of total retail sales decreased by 7.8% compared with the same period in 2024.
Of the total retail sales value in February 2025, online sales accounted for 7.8%. The value of online retail sales in that month, provisionally estimated at $2.3 billion, decreased by 7.3% compared with the same month in 2024. The revised estimate of online retail sales in January 2025 increased by 2.8% compared with a year earlier. For the first two months of 2025 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of online retail sales decreased by 2.4% compared with the same period in 2024.
After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales in February 2025 decreased by 15.0% compared with a year earlier. The revised estimate of the volume of total retail sales in January 2025 decreased by 5.1% compared with a year earlier. For the first two months of 2025 taken together, the provisional estimate of the total retail sales decreased by 9.9% in volume compared with the same period in 2024.
In interpreting these figures, it should be noted that retail sales tend to show greater volatility in the first two months of a year due to the timing of the Chinese New Year. Consumer spending in the local market normally attains a seasonal high before the Festival. As the Chinese New Year fell on January 29 this year but on February 10 last year, it is more appropriate to analyse the retail sales figures for January and February taken together in making year-on-year comparison.
Analysed by broad type of retail outlet in descending order of the provisional estimate of the value of sales and comparing the combined total sales for January and February 2025 with the same period a year earlier, the value of sales of other consumer goods not elsewhere classified decreased by 2.0%. This was followed by sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (-15.8% in value); commodities in supermarkets (-4.4%); wearing apparel (-5.4%); electrical goods and other consumer durable goods not elsewhere classified (-5.3%); commodities in department stores (-9.9%); fuels (-8.5%); motor vehicles and parts (-49.9%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (-12.3%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (-10.9%); furniture and fixtures (-25.6%); Chinese drugs and herbs (-9.1%); and optical shops (-7.6%).
On the other hand, the value of sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco increased by 0.7% in the first two months of 2025 over the same period a year earlier. This was followed by sales of medicines and cosmetics (+0.6% in value).
Based on the seasonally adjusted series, the provisional estimate of the value of total retail sales decreased by 2.0% in the three months ending February 2025 compared with the preceding three-month period, while the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales decreased by 4.0%.
Commentary
A government spokesman said that the value of total retail sales increased further in February 2025 over the preceding month on a seasonally adjusted comparison. The year-on-year decline in the value of total retail sales in February 2025 widened, partly due to the earlier arrival of Chinese New Year in late January this year as compared to mid-February last year. Taking the first two months of 2025 together to remove this effect, the value of total retail sales saw a narrower decline on a year-on-year basis than December 2024.
Looking ahead, the spokesman said that the various measures by the Central Government to boost the Mainland economy and benefit Hong Kong, the SAR Government’s proactive efforts to promote tourism and mega events, and the sustained increases in employment earnings in local labour market, would benefit the retail sector, though it would continue to face challenge from the change in consumption patterns of visitors and residents.
Further information
Table 1 presents the revised figures on value index and value of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet for January 2025 as well as the provisional figures for February 2025. The provisional figures on the value of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet as well as the corresponding year-on-year changes for the first two months of 2025 taken together are also shown.
Table 2 presents the revised figures on value of online retail sales for January 2025 as well as the provisional figures for February 2025. The provisional figures on year-on-year changes for the first two months of 2025 taken together are also shown.
Table 3 presents the revised figures on volume index of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet for January 2025 as well as the provisional figures for February 2025. The provisional figures on year-on-year changes for the first two months of 2025 taken together are also shown.
Table 4 shows the movements of the value and volume of total retail sales in terms of the year-on-year rate of change for a month compared with the same month in the preceding year based on the original series, and in terms of the rate of change for a three-month period compared with the preceding three-month period based on the seasonally adjusted series.
The classification of retail establishments follows the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC) Version 2.0, which is used in various economic surveys for classifying economic units into different industry classes.
These retail sales statistics measure the sales receipts in respect of goods sold by local retail establishments and are primarily intended for gauging the short-term business performance of the local retail sector. Data on retail sales are collected from local retail establishments through the Monthly Survey of Retail Sales (MRS). Local retail establishments with and without physical shops are covered in MRS and their sales, both through conventional shops and online channels, are included in the retail sales statistics.
The retail sales statistics cover consumer spending on goods but not on services (such as those on housing, catering, medical care and health services, transport and communication, financial services, education and entertainment) which account for over 50% of the overall consumer spending. Moreover, they include spending on goods in Hong Kong by visitors but exclude spending outside Hong Kong by Hong Kong residents. Hence they should not be regarded as indicators for measuring overall consumer spending.
Users interested in the trend of overall consumer spending should refer to the data series of private consumption expenditure (PCE), which is a major component of the Gross Domestic Product published at quarterly intervals. Compiled from a wide range of data sources, PCE covers consumer spending on both goods (including goods purchased from all channels) and services by Hong Kong residents whether locally or abroad. Please refer to the C&SD publication “Gross Domestic Product by Expenditure Component” for more details.
Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact the Distribution Services Statistics Section of C&SD (Tel: 3903 7400; E-mail : mrs@censtatd.gov.hk).
European Parliament resolution on targeted attacks against Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – defending religious freedom and security
–having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966,
–having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Article 10 thereof on freedom of thought, conscience and religion,
–having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
–having regard to the statements by the European External Action Service on the security and human rights situation in the DRC,
–having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
–having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A.whereas the DRC is experiencing an escalation of violence, particularly in the eastern regions, where armed groups such as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have targeted Christian communities;
B.whereas between 12 and 15 February 2025, more than 70 Christians were found dead in a Protestant church near Kazanga, North Kivu province in the DRC; whereas the victims had been beheaded by the Islamist ADF, an affiliate militia of Islamic State Central Africa Wilayat (ISCAP);
C.whereas according to BBC Monitoring analysis, ISCAP is now the deadliest armed group in the DRC; whereas from 1 January to 30 June 2024, Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing a total of 698 African Christians; whereas ISCAP claimed responsibility for killing 639 Christians;
D.whereas the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) has amplified Pope Francis’s appeals for an end to the violence and has initiated discussions between the government and rebel groups, with consultations ongoing; whereas CENCO and the Church of Christ in Congo have launched an appeal for 2025 to be a ‘Year of Peace and Good Coexistence’ to address the ongoing violence;
E.whereas churches and Christian institutions have increasingly become targets of violence and persecution by terrorist groups, including the ADF, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State; whereas the ADF, originally an armed Ugandan rebel movement, has evolved into a jihadist terrorist group operating in the eastern DRC, conducting mass killings, attacking civilian populations and disrupting agricultural and economic activities; whereas despite military operations by Congolese and Ugandan forces, the ADF continues to perpetrate violence and instability in the region;
F.whereas ISIS-DRC continues to pose a severe threat in the region, carrying out deadly attacks against civilians, including the January 2025 massacre in Makoko, North Kivu, and the December 2024 attack in Batangi-Mbau; whereas recent operations by Interpol and Afripol have led to the arrest of 37 suspected terrorists across East Africa, yet ISIS-DRC remains active, exploiting instability and weak governance to sustain its violent campaign;
G.whereas the appointment of a new EU Special Envoy for religious freedom by the Commission on 7 December 2022 followed a three-year standstill, during which the former Special Envoy who had been appointed in 2021 returned his mandate after a few months to assume another position in a national government;
H.whereas in 2016 the Hungarian Government set up a special department for persecuted Christians around the world; whereas the State Secretariat for the Aid of Persecuted Christians supports, through its ‘Hungary Helps’ programme, faith-based initiatives in more than 50 countries, with hundreds of humanitarian and development projects; whereas in 2019 the Italian Government established a fund for persecuted Christian communities; whereas in May 2022 the Italian Government led by Mario Draghi appointed a special envoy for the protection of religious freedom and interreligious dialogue; whereas in 2023 the Italian Government led by Giorgia Meloni appointed a special envoy attached to the foreign ministry to protect Christian communities around the world;
I.whereas over the past decade, the EU has provided significant financial assistance to the DRC, including over EUR 272 million in humanitarian aid between 2023 and 2025 to address urgent needs such as shelter, clean water, food and education for vulnerable populations; whereas the EU allocated EUR 584 million through the European Development Fund for the period 2008-2013 to support stability and development projects; whereas the EU has also been involved in security and peacekeeping efforts, deploying missions such as the EU Security Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUSEC) and the EU Police Mission for the DRC (EUPOL RD Congo) to assist in rebuilding the Congolese security forces;
L.whereas the DRC has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world, scoring 20 out of 100 in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International and ranking 162nd out of 180 countries; whereas a conservative estimate of 30 % of the approximately EUR 1.2 billion in aid funded with EU taxpayers’ money, provided between 2008 and 2024, suggests that at least EUR 360 million may have been misappropriated by corrupt officials, seriously undermining efforts to enhance governance, stability, safety and living conditions in the DRC;
M.whereas the EU and Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding on sustainable raw materials value chains in February 2024, granting the EU access to sources of raw materials and rare earth elements in Rwanda; whereas several UN reports state that Rwanda supports the M23 group as a means of extracting and exporting minerals from the DRC; whereas the US Embassy in the DRC confirmed that Congolese minerals are being transported, with the support of armed groups, to Rwanda, where they are subsequently sold to international buyers;
N.whereas this conflict has been overshadowed by global attention focused on crises in the Middle East and Ukraine, despite over 10 million lives lost in years of violence and an estimated 3 000 people killed in just a few days;
1.Strongly condemns the murder of Christians in the DRC, and all acts of violence targeting them, and expresses its solidarity with the victims;
2.Notes that the DRC ranks 35th on the Open Doors’ World Watch List 2025 of countries where Christians are persecuted because of their faith; emphasises that Christians face severe persecution and violence especially from Islamist groups; emphasises that the ADF abduct and kill Christians and attack churches, leading to terror, insecurity and population displacement; emphasises that the M23 group also targets Christian civilians; is concerned about the involvement of the M23 group in the widespread violence in the DRC; takes note of the EU sanctions against people holding leading positions in the Rwanda Defence Force and M23; demands that the Rwandan Government withdraw its troops from the DRC and cease its cooperation with M23; notes that the DRC ranks fourth on Global Christian Relief’s Red List of countries where Christians have been forced to flee their homes due to violence;
3.Is worried about the growing threat posed by ISCAP in Central Africa; notes that the increasing number of violent attacks demonstrates both ISCAP’s willingness and operational capability to intensify its campaign of terror and violent attacks against Christians; is worried that the expansion of Islamic State in Central Africa poses a danger to the security of the whole continent;
4.Is of the opinion that by stalling the process of mandating an EU Special Envoy for religious freedom for almost three years, the Commission signalled to the outside world that the issue of the persecution of Christians worldwide is not one of the EU’s priorities; notes that this reflects its policy in the EU, only appointing a coordinator for combating Muslim hatred, and neglecting the rising violence against Christians in the EU; finds this lack of commitment highly regrettable and problematic in the light of the rising violence against Christians worldwide; is of the opinion that the significant delay in appointing the EU Special Envoy for religious freedom undermines the credibility of the EU’s commitment to protecting religious freedom and belief beyond its borders;
5.Welcomes the ‘Hungary Helps’ programme, which helps Christian communities rebuild after persecution and manages projects, reconstructing institutions and improving education and healthcare after violent persecution by Islamic terrorist groups; emphasises that the Hungarian initiative, enabling people to build their future in their own country, is also an important migration prevention policy; welcomes the fact that the ‘Hungary Helps’ programme and the Reformed Church of Hungary will give donations to help the victims of the Islamist terrorist attacks on Christians in the DRC; welcomes the cooperation between the Hungarian and Italian Governments to undertake joint initiatives in Africa, with a focus on supporting persecuted Christians; hopes that Hungarian and Italian policy will inspire other Member States to follow suit;
6.Calls for the EU and the EU Special Envoy for religious freedom to take all the necessary diplomatic and political initiatives to protect Christians in the DRC;
7.Calls on the DRC and its authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the murders and to ensure that the criminals responsible are brought to justice;
8.Calls on the DRC and its authorities to take immediate and effective action to protect Christian communities and all religious minorities from further violence and persecution;
9.Calls on the DRC and its authorities to provide financial and logistical support for local and international humanitarian organisations assisting the victims of religious persecution in the DRC;
10.Welcomes the efforts of religious leaders to foster peace and dialogue and urges all parties involved to seek constructive solutions rather than resorting to violence;
11.Encourages regional and international African bodies such as the African Union and the East African Community to take the lead in addressing the conflict, as they are the best suited for this task; encourages these African bodies to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation, intelligence-sharing and military coordination against extremist groups operating in the region;
12.Calls strongly for the EU to work with regional and international actors to protect civilians and Christian communities and bring the perpetrators of these criminal acts to justice;
13.Emphasises the need to address these crimes at the African Union level;
14.Calls on the Commission to suspend the implementation of the memorandum of understanding on sustainable raw materials value chains signed with Rwanda in February 2024, in the light of credible reports linking Rwanda to the illicit exploitation and export of minerals from the eastern DRC, including through its support for the M23 armed group; stresses that the continuation of this agreement risks fuelling the ongoing conflict, undermining regional stability and leading to the further killing of Christians in the region;
15.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the EU Special Envoy for religious freedom, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, Degrading and Inhuman Treatment, the African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, the Government and Parliament of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the African Union and the East African Community.
Adam Bielan, Mariusz Kamiński, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Cristian Terheş, Maciej Wąsik, Aurelijus Veryga, Jadwiga Wiśniewska, Małgorzata Gosiewska, Waldemar Tomaszewski, Joachim Stanisław Brudziński on behalf of the ECR Group
B10‑0216/2025
European Parliament resolution on the targeted attacks against Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: defending religious freedom and security
–having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as the right to manifest one’s religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance,
–having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which recognises the right of individuals to freedom of religion, including freedom to worship and observe religious practices,
–having regard to the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which guarantees the right to freedom of conscience and the free exercise of religious worship for all citizens,
–having regard to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 November 1981,
–having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Article 9 thereof, which guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,
–having regard to reports from the UN and various other human rights organisations, detailing the rise in attacks and indiscriminate killings and ongoing violations of the freedom of belief by armed groups, including Islamist militants, against Christian communities in the eastern DRC region,
–having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A.whereas the DRC has endured decades of widespread violence and instability in its eastern provinces, exacerbated by armed conflicts that have created fertile ground for the emergence of over 100 extremist groups targeting vulnerable populations, including religious communities;
B.whereas Christians in the DRC’s eastern provinces are facing an increasing number of targeted attacks, killings and abductions as well as the destruction of their property, perpetrated by armed groups with extremist ideologies;
C.whereas, according to local reports, on 13 February 2025, 70 Christians were abducted in the village of Mayba and later found dead in a church in nearby Kasanga; whereas the attack was reportedly committed by militants of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF);
D.whereas the ADF is one of the most prominent extremist groups with explicitly religious objectives, especially since its leader pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2019;
E.whereas in May 2020, the ADF participated in ISIS’s global ‘Battle of Attrition’, specifically targeting Christian communities in seven neighbourhoods throughout north-eastern DRC; whereas in 2021, a prominent local Muslim leader received death threats from the ADF, and he was later gunned down; whereas in 2023, the ADF bombed services at a Pentecostal church in Kasindi, killing 14 people; whereas in January 2024, the ADF killed eight people in Beni during an attack on a Pentecostal church and, in May 2024, ADF assailants reportedly killed 14 Catholics in North Kivu province for refusing to convert to Islam; whereas the ADF also reportedly executed 11 Christians in the village of Ndimo in Ituri province and kidnapped several others;
F.whereas in addition to the ADF, several armed groups in the eastern DRC have politicised religion, targeting religious infrastructure as part of their insurgency strategies;
G.whereas in 2024, 355 people were reportedly killed in the DRC for their faith, compared to 261 in 2023, while an estimated 10 000 people were internally displaced because of their faith, marking a tenfold increase from 2023; whereas houses have been looted and burned down, schools relocated, churches and healthcare facilities closed, and several Christian villages have been abandoned altogether;
H.whereas the attacks on Christians are part of a broader trend of escalating violence and religious intolerance, with religious leaders and communities increasingly finding themselves under threat in areas controlled by armed groups;
I.whereas the recent activities of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group have further exacerbated the vulnerability of religious communities in the region;
J.whereas converts to Christianity from Islam and indigenous religions face pressure from their families to revert to their former faiths;
K.whereas local and international human rights organisations have documented numerous instances of religious violence in the DRC, highlighting the failure of the state to provide adequate protection; whereas, while the DRC Government has demonstrated a strong intention to address the impacts of armed group violence in the eastern DRC, other recent developments call into question the government’s commitment to safeguarding religious freedom specifically;
L.whereas the EU has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to the promotion and protection of religious freedom globally, and has taken steps to combat religious persecution and intolerance in various parts of the world; whereas Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world;
M.whereas Parliament has consistently called for the strengthening of international efforts to combat religious persecution and to hold accountable those responsible for attacks on religious communities;
1.Strongly condemns the targeted attacks against Christian communities in the DRC, including killings, abductions and the destruction of religious property, and calls for an immediate halt to such acts of violence;
2.Is deeply concerned about the situation of Christians and Christian converts from Islam and indigenous religions in the region, who are facing a severe and escalating crisis owing to a combination of militant threats, familial pressure and political interference;
3.Expresses its deep concern about the violence committed by the ADF and other extremist groups in the eastern DRC and underlines that the chaos created by the M23 rebel group has further exacerbated the vulnerability of religious communities;
4.Calls for the immediate cessation of all forms of violence and for the commitment of all parties involved in the ongoing conflict in the eastern DRC to respect international humanitarian law;
5.Calls on the DRC Government to counter extremist propaganda and provide armed security at churches and other religious buildings;
6.Calls for the establishment of early warning mechanisms to more effectively prevent and respond to attacks by the ADF and other armed groups against civilians;
7.Stresses the critical importance of supporting the DRC Government in strengthening the rule of law, improving security and ensuring the protection of religious communities at risk, while ensuring that perpetrators of attacks against religious communities are brought to justice;
8.Echoes the calls for international solidarity in defending religious freedom and the protection of religious minorities in conflict zones, particularly in the DRC, while addressing the root causes of violent extremism in the DRC and its neighbourhood;
9.Encourages the establishment of safe zones in the eastern DRC, where religious communities and other civilians who have been targeted can have access to legal services and psychological support;
10.Stresses the need for a comprehensive approach that combines humanitarian aid, peacebuilding initiatives and support for the rule of law so as to ensure lasting protection for all religious communities in the DRC, including Christians; underlines the role of religious communities in the DRC in promoting peace, social cohesion and the well-being of local communities;
11.Urges the EU to uphold its commitment to the promotion of religious freedom and the protection of religious communities, ensuring that the rights of these groups are prioritised in the EU’s external policies;
12.Calls for enhanced cooperation between the EU and the African Union, as well as regional actors, to promote stability and prevent extremist groups from using religion as a tool for violence and division;
13.Notes, with concern, the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa, which is a staunch supporter of the Putin regime and its violent, unlawful war in Ukraine; underlines that, on 29 December 2021, the Russian Orthodox Church officially announced the formation of the Patriarchate Exarchate of Africa, which consists of two dioceses: the South African Diocese, encompassing 24 countries, and the North African Diocese, covering 31 countries;
14.Underlines that this move significantly expands the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church across the African continent, encroaching on the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, which holds the official canonical responsibility for the entire African continent; underlines that this development raises significant questions regarding the broader geopolitical and ideological objectives of the Russian Federation in Africa;
15.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the African Union, the Joint Council of Ministers and Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the EU, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Government and Parliament of the DRC.
Delivering on the EU’s net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 and the climate neutrality target by 2050, as enshrined in the European Climate Law[1], calls for ambitious action to ensure a swift decrease in emissions from all sectors, including transport.
The revised CO2 standards Regulation[2] sets targets which get more stringent over time, up to a 100% emission reduction for new cars and vans registered in the EU as of 2035.
These standards drive a gradual transition towards zero-emission mobility, while giving industry enough lead-time to develop an adequate compliance strategy.
The 2025 target requires a 15% reduction of emissions from the 2021 baseline. It was agreed by the co-legislators in 2019 and was confirmed in 2023.
For manufacturers that may not be in a position to achieve target compliance on their own , the regulation provides the option to pool with other manufacturers. Pooling is not mandatory but provides manufacturers with one more flexibility to choose from.
In the Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector[3], the Commission has announced that it will swiftly present additional flexibilities, through a targeted amendment of the CO2 emission standards, which would determine that compliance is assessed over the years of 2025, 2026 and 2027 combined to allow manufacturers to compensate target exceedance in one or two of these years by overachievements in the other year(s).
This will contribute to safeguarding industry’s capacity to invest, keeping the overall ambition of the 2025 targets. The Commission will also accelerate work on the preparation of the review of the regulation.
First Half Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue up 13.1% to $16.4 Million Period over Period
Accelerating Enterprise AI Adoption Fuels Market Expansion, Unlocking New Opportunities in AI-Powered Customer Engagement
Management to Host Conference Call Today, March 31, 2025 at 4:30 PM ET
SINGAPORE and SAN DIEGO, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Helport AI Limited (NASDAQ: HPAI) (“Helport AI” or the “Company”), an AI technology company serving enterprise clients with intelligent customer communication software and services, today announced financial results for the six months ended December 31, 2024.
First Half Fiscal Year 2025 Highlights
Average monthly subscribed seats were 6,469 for the six months ended December 31, 2024, representing an increase of 29.1% from 5,011 in the same period of 2023.
Revenue for the six months ended December 31, 2024, was $16.4 million, representing an increase of 13.1% from $14.5 million in the six months ended December 31, 2023, driven by increased enterprise adoption of AI-driven solutions.
Gross profit for the first half of fiscal year 2025 was $9.0 million, representing a decrease of 7.7% from $9.7 million in the first half of fiscal year 2024, as a result of continued investment in AI infrastructure and product innovation.
Net income was $1.1 million in the first half of fiscal year 2025, compared to $6.2 million in the first half of fiscal year 2024, representing a decrease of 82.9%, as a result of our increased investments in R&D, public company regulatory compliance costs, and global expansion expenses.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $3.9 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, supporting business expansion and strategic initiatives.
As of December 31, 2024, there were 37,132,968 ordinary shares and 18,845,000 warrants issued and outstanding.
Subsequent Operational Milestones
As of December 2024, Helport AI Assist software is officially approved and available on Google Cloud Marketplace, allowing businesses across sectors to access Helport’s AI-driven software.
Successful rollout of partnership with Google by delivering AI-driven software and services to one of its US west coast government accounts. First phase completed with further collaboration underway.
In December 2024, Helport AI formed a strategic partnership with a US wholesale mortgage lender to offer Helport AI Assist software to its network of over 100,000 loan officers nationwide.
Opened new office in the Philippines in January 2025, establishing a ‘Global Center of Excellence’ to drive artificial intelligence operations and service offerings in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. In less than three months, headcount has grown to more than 100 workers, reflecting strong demand from customers in the region.
Appointed Amy Fong as President, Director, and Interim Chief Financial Officer, bringing over 25 years of experience as a seasoned professional across multiple industries, including banking, private equity, management consulting, and the not-for-profit sector.
Progress in the debt collection space since January 2025, having secured partnerships with three consumer financing companies in Southeast Asia, two of which are publicly listed in the U.S.
Since February 2025, the Company has signed partnerships with seven U.S. insurance agencies to pilot Helport AI Assist software.
Company to host “Investor/Analyst Day” at its North America HQ in San Diego in Q2 of 2025.
Outlook for Second Half Fiscal Year 2025 & Beyond:
Revenue Growth: Accelerating revenue materialization from a robust pipeline of customers in our core sectors of insurance, mortgage sales, BPO call centers, consumer financing, and government services. Driving further expansion in the U.S. and Southeast Asia through enterprise partnerships and focused execution in these core industries.
Profitability & Cost Optimization: Improving AI training efficiency and cloud infrastructure to enhance margins over time.
AI+BPO Monetization: Expanding in-house AI + human service delivery model to facilitate new customer acquisition and rapid proof of concept. Leveraging this software plus service offering to efficiently scale user base and revenue generation across global markets.
Continued R&D Innovation: Investing in AI capabilities, including voice cloning, multilingual automation, and industry-specific integrations.
Management Commentary
“The first half of fiscal year 2025 delivered revenue growth of 13.1%, which was driven by continued enterprise adoption of AI-powered software, technology improvements, and the scaling of our international sales and operations teams,” said Guanghai Li, Chief Executive Officer of Helport AI. “During this time, we made significant investments in product development, cloud infrastructure, and international expansion, which temporarily impacted gross margins and profitability. However, we believe that these investments are essential to scaling our platform and expanding into new markets, and we maintained profitability despite these investments. Moreover, we have seen our enterprise customers increasingly leverage our AI-powered BPO solutions to drive cost efficiencies and improve customer engagement, helping differentiate ourselves as a market leader in the AI-driven customer contact space.”
“On the technology front, our products are now comprehensively integrated with large language models (LLMs), which has been shown to enhance their ability to digest raw, unstructured information and provide smart, domain-specific applications for our growing customer base. We have also built new industry-specific knowledge bases, achieving major milestones for the Company across key sectors. Demonstrating this ability to penetrate new industries where we see vast growth potential, we have partnered with U.S.-based LendSure Mortgage Corp. (“LendSure”), a wholesale lender with a network of over 100,000 loan officers, as well as with seven insurance agencies across multiple US states. These scalable seeds represent early traction across multiple industry sectors, each of which represents significant market opportunities.”
“Operationally, we continued to make strategic investments in our team and infrastructure to strengthen and expand our capabilities and global reach. We have established offices in the Philippines and the U.S. and are in the process of opening additional offices in North America and Southeast Asia to execute on both existing and potential demand in these regions. We also welcomed Amy Fong as President, Director, and Interim CFO. Amy is a seasoned executive who is now overseeing our finance functions, leading strategy across capital markets, partner and customer development, and global operations.”
“Looking ahead to the second half of fiscal year 2025, we are building on our foundation and doubling down on strategic initiatives to accelerate revenue growth and enhance profitability. We are deepening penetration in what we anticipate will be high-growth markets, specifically North America and Southeast Asia. As demonstrated with our recent customer acquisitions across mortgage, insurance, and debt collection, we are tailoring our AI-powered solutions for industry-specific needs, aiming to expand adoption among BPOs, financial services, and public sector industries. We are driving monetization and acceleration of our AI+BPO offering, which has seen noteworthy demand in new segments such as consumer financing, which we expect will allow us to capture greater market share in AI-driven customer engagement solutions.”
“We will continue to prioritize R&D investments and building next-generation AI products that further differentiate Helport AI in the market. We are also focusing on cost efficiencies, including optimizing AI training costs and cloud infrastructure, and improving unit economics per deployment, to strengthen profitability and deliver long-term value to our shareholders,” concluded Li.
Financial Review for the Six Months Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023
Revenue
During the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, all of our revenue was derived from AI services. Revenue increased by approximately US$1.9 million, or 13.1%, from US$14.5 million for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$16.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024. The increase was primarily attributable to the average monthly subscribed seats, which grew from 5,011 for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to 6,469 for the six months ended December 31, 2024. The growth was driven by (i) our efforts in continuous optimization and development in our service offerings and software platform, (ii) our abilities to improve overall cost performance for customers in their business management process, and (iii) the growing demand for AI software in the professional technology services market. During the first half of FY2025, the Company entered the U.S. market and secured several customers, demonstrating initial business traction and expansion potential.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue primarily consists of amortization of software, payments to a third-party service provider for outsourced operations, as well as cloud infrastructure costs. Cost of revenue related to AI services increased by approximately US$2.6 million, or 55.2%, from US$4.8 million for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$7.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, mainly due to the corresponding rise in outsourced operation costs as revenue increased. The growth rate of cost of revenue is proportionally higher than that of revenue, primarily due to investments required to serve new markets and customers. These investments enable us to enhance our product and service offerings with differentiated, competitive technology—particularly through the development of industry-specific application scenarios. These tailored solutions are essential for entering new sectors such as insurance, mortgage sales, and government services, as well as for localizing our platform to meet the regulatory and operational demands of new geographic regions like North America and Southeast Asia.
Gross Profit
As a result of the foregoing, we recorded gross profit of US$9.0 million and US$9.7 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. This reduction of gross profit margin from 67.0% to 54.6% is the result of the aforementioned elevated amortization costs from software R&D, increased outsourcing operation fees, and expanded cloud infrastructure, which we believe are necessary for our future growth and profitability.
Selling and Marketing Expenses
Our selling and marketing expenses increased by 953.0% from US$50,214 for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$528,746 for the six months ended December 31, 2024, which was mainly due to (i) the increase of payroll expenses of US$303,050, primarily driven by the establishment and ramp-up of dedicated sales and marketing teams in our U.S. subsidiary; and (ii) the increase of share-based compensation expense of US$121,800, resulting from share grants under the Company’s 2024 Equity Incentive Plan. The U.S. team expansion is part of our broader international growth strategy, aimed at strengthening our presence in North America—a key strategic market. As part of this effort, we significantly expanded our U.S. office presence, increasing headcount to support go-to-market execution, client onboarding, business development, and marketing in the region. In February 2024, we established the U.S. team, and by December 2024, it had expanded to twenty-two staff, among whom eight were engaged in selling and marketing activities.
General and Administrative Expenses
Our general and administrative expenses increased by 125.2% from US$2.0 million for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$4.6 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, which was primarily attributable to: (i) an increase of US$1.5 million in professional service fees such as advisory fees, audit fees and legal fees for overseas listing; (ii) an increase of US$0.4 million in insurance expenses; (iii) an increase of US$0.2 million in payroll expenses resulting from the expansion of the management team’s headcount; and (iv) an increase of US$0.2 million in withholding tax incurred from 10% withholding tax on AI services provided to our customers in China.
Research and Development Expenses
Our research and development expenses increased by US$1.3 million from US$78.8 thousand for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$1.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024. The increase was attributable to an additional US$0.8 million in AI training service fees and US$0.3 million in product development fees incurred during the six months ended December 31, 2024, allowing us to better differentiate and diversify our product and services offerings with competitive technologies, especially as they relate to the development of industry-specific application scenarios.
Financial Expenses, net
Our financial expenses, net increased from US$19,162 for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$312,437 for the six months ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to an increase in foreign exchange loss of US$266,669 and the increase in interest expenses accrued for convertible promissory notes and the loan from a third party of US$22,139.
Income Tax Expenses
As a result of our operating income position for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, we incurred income tax expenses of US$0.7 million and US$1.3 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Net Income
As a result of the foregoing, our net income decreased by US$5.1 million, or 82.9%, from US$6.2 million for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$1.1 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024. The decrease in net income was mainly due to a US$2.6 million increase in general and administrative expenses, a US$1.4 million increase in research and development expenses, and a US$0.7 million decrease in gross profit.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash was $0.9 million as of December 31, 2024, as compared to $0.1 million on December 31, 2023. We had a positive working capital of $7.6 million and $10.6 million as of December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively. Our liquidity is based on our ability to enhance our operating cash flow position and obtain financing from equity and debt investors to fund our general operations and capital expenditure. Our ability to further enhance our liquidity depends on management’s ability to execute our business plan successfully, which includes optimizing accounts receivable collection and striking a balance between revenue growth and investments in R&D activities.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We consider adjusted net income, a non-GAAP financial measure, as a supplemental measure to review and assess our operating performance. We define adjusted net income for a specific period as net income in the same period excluding share-based compensation expenses and changes in fair value of warrant liabilities.
We present this non-GAAP financial measure because it is used by our management to evaluate our operating performance and formulate business plans. Accordingly, we believe that adjusted net income helps identify underlying trends in our business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of certain expenses that are included in net income and certain expenses that are not expected to result in future cash payments or that are non-recurring in nature. We also believe that the use of the non-GAAP financial measure facilitates investors’ assessment of our operating performance, enhances the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allows for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by our management in its financial and operational decision making.
The non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered in isolation from or construed as an alternative to its most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the historical non-GAAP financial measure in reconciliation to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. As the non-GAAP financial measure has material limitations as an analytical metric and may not be calculated in the same manner by all companies, such measure may not be comparable to other similarly titled measure used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider the non-GAAP financial measure as a substitute for, or superior to, its most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.
The following table reconciles our adjusted net income for the periods indicated to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which is net income.
For the six months ended December 31,
2024
2023
Net income
$
1,066,894
$
6,243,606
Add:
Share-based compensation expenses
223,933
–
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities
336,136
–
Total
$
1,626,963
$
6,243,606
First Half Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call
Guanghai Li, Chief Executive Officer, and Amy Fong, President and Interim Chief Financial Officer, will host the conference call, followed by a question-and-answer session. The conference call will be accompanied by a presentation, which can be viewed during the webcast or accessed via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.
To access the call, please use the following information:
Date:
Monday, March 31, 2025
Time:
4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Toll-free dial-in number:
1-800-274-8461
International dial-in number:
1-203-518-9814
Conference ID (Required for Entry):
HELPORT
Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact MZ Group at 1-949-491-8235.
The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay at https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1712485&tp_key=f52524cadf and via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.
A replay of the webcast will be available after 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time through July 1, 2025.
Toll-free replay number:
1-844-512-2921
International replay number:
1-412-317-6671
Replay ID:
11158521
About Helport AI Limited
We are a global AI technology company serving enterprise clients with intelligent customer communication software and services. Our proprietary software offering, Helport AI Assist (“AI Assist”), is a real-time, AI-driven “co-pilot” providing intelligent guidance for customer contact professionals across business settings. In addition, we provide AI+BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) services to facilitate customer engagement, helping clients grow sales, improve customer service, and reduce operational costs.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, HPAI’s business plan and outlook. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on HPAI’s current expectations and projections about future events that HPAI believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “approximates,” “believes,” “hopes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. HPAI undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although HPAI believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and HPAI cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in HPAI’s registration statement and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
External Investor Relations Contact: Chris Tyson Executive Vice President MZ North America Direct: 949-491-8235 HPAI@mzgroup.us www.mzgroup.us
HELPORT AI LIMITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Amounts in and U.S. dollars (“US$”), except share data)
As of December 31,
As of June 30,
2024
2024
(unaudited)
Cash
$
852,463
$
2,581,086
Accounts receivable
22,016,884
21,313,735
Deferred offering costs
–
817,871
Prepaid expenses and other receivables
2,027,167
41,966
Total current assets
24,896,514
24,754,658
Intangible assets, net
8,592,817
2,425,694
Right-of-use assets, net
762,644
–
Total non-current asset
9,355,461
2,425,694
Total assets
$
34,251,975
$
27,180,352
Accounts payable
$
3,280,565
$
284,067
Income tax payable
2,508,021
2,724,998
Amount due to related parties
536,538
965,776
Convertible promissory notes
–
4,889,074
Warrant liabilities
4,782,915
–
Accrued expenses and other liabilities
5,684,775
5,263,239
Lease liabilities, current
110,832
–
Deferred tax liabilities
332,626
–
Total current liabilities
17,236,272
14,127,154
Lease liabilities, non-current
687,093
–
Total non-current liabilities
687,093
–
Total liabilities
17,923,365
14,127,154
Commitments and contingencies
Ordinary shares (US$0.0001 par value per share; 500,000,000 authorized as of December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively; 37,132,968 and 30,280,768 issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively)*
3,713
3,028
Additional paid-in capital*
2,212,361
4,528
Retained earnings
14,112,536
13,045,642
Shareholders’ equity
16,328,610
13,053,198
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
$
34,251,975
$
27,180,352
*Par value of ordinary shares, additional paid-in capital and share data have been retroactively restated to give effect to the reverse recapitalization that is discussed in Note 1 to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
HELPORT AI LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Amounts in and U.S. dollars (“US$”), except share data)
For the six months ended December 31,
2024
2023
(unaudited)
(unaudited)
Revenue
$
16,406,402
$
14,506,363
Cost of revenue
(7,440,338
)
(4,793,021
)
Gross profit
8,966,064
9,713,342
Selling expenses
(528,746
)
(50,214
)
General and administrative expenses
(4,598,484
)
(2,042,289
)
Research and development expenses
(1,448,115
)
(78,757
)
Total operating expenses
(6,575,345
)
(2,171,260
)
Income from operation
2,390,719
7,542,082
Financial expenses, net
(312,437
)
(19,162
)
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities
(336,136
)
–
Income before income tax expense
1,742,146
7,522,920
Income tax expense
(675,252
)
(1,279,314
)
Net income
$
1,066,894
$
6,243,606
Total comprehensive income
$
1,066,894
$
6,243,606
Earnings per ordinary share
Basic
0.03
0.21
Diluted
0.03
0.21
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding*
Basic
35,990,935
30,280,768
Diluted
35,990,935
30,280,768
*Share data have been retroactively restated to give effect to the reverse recapitalization that is discussed in Note 1 to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
HELPORT AI LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONDOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Amounts in and U.S. dollars (“US$”), except share data)
For the six months ended December 31,
2024
2023
(unaudited)
(unaudited)
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net income
$
1,066,894
$
6,243,606
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Amortization of intangible assets
1,957,877
1,166,667
Amortization of right-of-use assets
36,806
–
Share-based compensation
223,933
–
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities
336,136
–
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable
(703,149
)
(5,809,454
)
Prepaid expenses and other receivables
1,028,346
(57,896
)
Accounts payable
2,996,498
1,654,223
Amount due to related parties
–
10,800
Accrued expenses and other liabilities
(3,196,882
)
1,939,154
Income tax payable
(216,977
)
1,279,315
Deferred tax liabilities
332,626
–
Lease liabilities
(10,810
)
–
Net cash provided by operating activities
3,851,298
6,426,415
CASH FLOWS FORM INVESTING ACTIVITY
Purchase of intangible assets
(8,125,000
)
(7,000,000
)
Net cash used in investing activity
(8,125,000
)
(7,000,000
)
CASH FLOWS FORM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Deferred offering costs
(213,052
)
(467,465
)
Loan from a third party
–
954,909
Repayment of loans from a third party
(199,582
)
–
Repayment of loans from related parties
(429,238
)
(5,143
)
Cash inflow from reverse recapitalization
1,136,951
–
Proceeds from PIPE investments
2,600,000
–
Repayment of sponsor loans
(350,000
)
–
Net cash provided by financing activities
2,545,079
482,301
Effect of exchange rate changes
–
(130
)
Net change in cash
(1,728,623
)
(91,414
)
Cash at the beginning of the period
2,581,086
142,401
Cash at the end of the period
$
852,463
$
50,987
SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
Recognition of right-of use assets and lease liabilities
Q4 Sequential Revenue Growth of 43% Driven by New Products and Technologies, and 131% Year over Year
New OEM and Distributor Relationships to Equip New Campers and RVs with Advanced Lithium-Ion Batteries
Began Shipping e360 Home Energy Storage Solutions
REDMOND, Ore., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Expion360 Inc. (Nasdaq: XPON) (“Expion360” or the “Company”), an industry leader in lithium-ion battery power storage solutions, today reported its financial and operational results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.
Q4 2024 revenue totaled $2.0 million, up 131% from Q4 2023, and 43% sequentially from Q3 2024.
Began fulfilling purchase orders for its Home Energy Storage Solutions (“HESS”).
Signed a non-binding letter of intent with NeoVolta Inc. (“NeoVolta”), a leading innovator in energy storage solutions, providing the framework for a potential collaboration that aims to engineer a state-of-the-art battery manufacturing facility and develop innovative lithium-ion battery cell and module product designs, marking a significant milestone in the production of American-made batteries.
Partnered with Scout Campers, a subsidiary of Adventurer Manufacturing, Inc., to equip its high-quality campers with Expion360’s advanced lithium-ion batteries as a standard option, enhancing the energy efficiency and reliability of Scout Campers’ products.
Added several new original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and one new distributor reflecting successful ongoing sales efforts to expand customer base across the United States.
Closed a $2.6 million registered direct offering and private placement priced at the market under Nasdaq rules.
Management Commentary
“The fourth quarter of 2024 and early 2025 was highlighted by robust sequential revenue growth, a strengthened balance sheet, and the addition of new OEM customers,” said Brian Schaffner, Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer of Expion360. “Revenue grew sequentially for a fourth consecutive quarter, improving 43% from Q3 2024, demonstrating the successful execution of our efforts to expand sales with our more than 300 resellers across the United States, consisting of dealers, wholesalers, private-label customers and OEMs who then sell our products to end consumers. Year-over-year sales continued to be impacted by the downturn in the RV market with the persistence of high interest rates. We believe the RV market will continue to gain ground through 2025, with shipments remaining steady in the short term and increasing traction heading into next year. In January we took the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet with the close of a $2.6 million registered direct offering and private placement.
“We are making significant progress against our goals with the ongoing expansion of our OEM relationships and acquisition of several new OEM partnerships. New customers, including Scout Campers, Alaskan Campers, and K-Z Recreational Vehicles, are driving demand for high-quality lithium battery technology for their premium campers and vehicles.
“We are working with NeoVolta to combine our strengths toward a potential collaboration that aims to engineer a US-based state-of-the-art battery manufacturing facility and develop innovative lithium-ion battery cell and module product designs. A formal engagement would enable us to contribute our expertise in design and engineering, while NeoVolta plans to provide the necessary capital and manpower. Together we expect to bring high-performance, sustainable energy storage solutions to the market to address the growing demand for efficient energy management in both residential and commercial applications.
“We have continued our progress in our Home Energy Storage Solutions vertical, with production shipments beginning in January 2025. We believe the HESS product line will benefit from a fast-growing battery energy storage market, and consumer uptake can rapidly scale with the introduction of products that improve price, flexibility, and integration. We also anticipate HESS will benefit from incentives available through California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program and federal tax credits available through the Inflation Reduction Act for home battery systems.
“Looking ahead, we anticipate our new OEM partnerships and distributors to generate incremental revenue of approximately $5.0 million for fiscal year 2025, with additional new customers expressing interest across our product line, including our next generation GC2, Group 27, and new Edge batteries. The anticipated revenue growth is expected to increase gross profits by an estimated $1.4 million for fiscal year 2025. We are also highly focused on further development of HESS and the introduction of new technologies and batteries. We look forward to announcements of additional wins and milestones in the months ahead,” concluded Mr. Schaffner.
Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Summary
Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled $2.0 million, an increase of 131% from $0.9 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to increased OEM sales with existing and new customers.
Gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled $438,552 or 22.1% of revenue, as compared to $205,114 or 23.9% of revenue in the prior year period. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to OEM customer discounts issued in connection with higher-volume purchases.
Selling, general and administrative expenses in the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased to $1.6 million compared to $2.4 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to reductions in salaries related to a lower employee headcount and lower stock-based compensation.
Net loss in the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled $251,647, an 88% improvement from a net loss of $2.2 million in the prior year period. The decrease in net loss was primarily due to our sales growth.
Full Year 2024 Financial Summary
For the year ended December 31, 2024, revenue totaled $5.6 million, decreasing 6.0% from $6.0 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily attributable to softness in the recreational market during the first two quarters, driving decreases in OEM sales during those same two periods.
Gross profit for the full year of 2024 totaled $1.2 million, a 20.5% gross margin as compared to $1.6 million or 26.3% of revenue in the same year-ago period. The decrease in gross profit was primarily attributable to lower sales volumes due to the slowdown in the RV industry resulting in lower economies of scale on fixed costs, as well as the liquidation of non-core product increasing cost of sales above what they would have been without the liquidation.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the full year of 2024 decreased 9.6% to $7.9 million compared to $8.7 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to decreases in legal and professional fees, as well as salaries and benefits, which was partially offset by an increase in license and fee cash premiums paid when making repayment on our convertible note, as well as fees incurred in connection with our termination of our warehouse lease.
Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2024, totaled $13.5 million or $(21.03) per share, compared to net loss of $7.5 million or $(108.25) per share in the prior year. The net loss was primarily the result of $5.0 million in suspended liability expense due to our reverse stock split cash true-up payment provision in the Series A Warrants issued and sold in a public offering we consummated in August 2024, as well as increased interest incurred under our convertible note, and increased settlement expenses.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $0.5 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $3.9 million as of December 31, 2023. On January 3, 2025, the Company closed a $2.6 million registered direct offering and private placement priced at the market under Nasdaq rules.
Net cash used in operating activities totaled $9.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $5.5 million in the prior year period.
The share, per share, and resulting financial amounts in this press release, including prior period metrics, have been adjusted to reflect the reverse stock split of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, which was effective on October 8, 2024.
Fourth Quarter & Full Year 2024 Results Conference Call
Brian Schaffner, Chief Executive Officer of Expion360, will host the conference call, followed by a question-and-answer period. The conference call will be accompanied by a presentation, which can be viewed during the webcast or accessed via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.
To access the call, please use the following information:
A telephone replay will be available approximately three hours after the call and will remain available through April 14, 2025, by dialing 1-844-512-2921 from the U.S., or 1-412-317-6671 from international locations, and entering replay pin number: 10196334. The replay can also be viewed through the webcast link above and the presentation utilized during the call will be available via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.
About Expion360
Expion360 is an industry leader in premium lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries and accessories for recreational vehicles, marine applications, Light EV and residential energy storage.
The Company’s lithium-ion batteries feature half the weight of standard lead-acid batteries while delivering three times the power and ten times the number of charging cycles. Expion360 batteries also feature better construction and reliability compared to other lithium-ion batteries on the market due to their superior design and quality materials. Specially reinforced, fiberglass-infused, premium ABS and solid mechanical connections help provide top performance and safety. With Expion360 batteries, adventurers can enjoy the most beautiful and remote places on Earth even longer.
The Company is headquartered in Redmond, Oregon. Expion360 lithium-ion batteries are available today through more than 300 dealers, wholesalers, private-label customers, and OEMs across the country. To learn more about the Company, visit expion360.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The foregoing material may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended. Forward-looking statements include all statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts, including without limitation statements regarding the Company’s business prospects, and can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “project,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “should,” “continue” or the negative versions of those words or other comparable words. Forward-looking statements included in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Company’s beliefs, plans, and expectations about its operations, product development and pipeline, growth prospects, market opportunity, potential partnership with NeoVolta, the anticipated incremental revenue to be generated from new OEM partnerships and distributors, and the expected timing of the Company’s next conference call to discuss the Company’s financial results. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future actions or performance. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and its current plans or expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect current plans. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ significantly from those anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended, or planned. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, the Company cannot guarantee future results, performance, or achievements. Except as required by applicable law, including the security laws of the United States, the Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.
Company Contact: Brian Schaffner, CEO and Interim CFO 541-797-6714 Email Contact
External Investor Relations: Chris Tyson, Executive Vice President MZ Group – MZ North America 949-491-8235 XPON@mzgroup.us www.mzgroup.us
Expion360 Inc. Balance Sheets
As of December 31, 2024
As of December 31, 2023
Assets
Current Assets
Cash and cash equivalents
$
547,565
$
3,932,698
Accounts receivable, net
613,022
154,935
Inventory
4,831,461
3,825,390
Prepaid/in-transit inventory
1,612,686
163,948
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
236,461
189,418
Total current assets
7,841,195
8,266,389
Property and equipment
914,081
1,348,326
Accumulated depreciation
(430,191
)
(430,295
)
Property and equipment, net
483,890
918,031
Other Assets
Operating leases – right-of-use asset
754,832
2,662,015
Deposits
27,471
58,896
Total other assets
782,303
2,720,911
Total assets
$
9,107,388
$
11,905,331
Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$
338,091
$
286,985
Customer deposits
48,474
17,423
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
187,464
292,515
Convertible note
—
2,082,856
Current portion of operating lease liability
256,153
522,764
Current portion of stockholder promissory notes
—
762,500
Current portion of long-term debt
31,758
50,839
Suspended Liability
4,985,948
—
Total current liabilities
5,847,888
4,015,882
Long-term debt, net of current portion and discount
198,412
298,442
Operating lease liability, net of current portion
542,764
2,241,325
Total liabilities
$
6,589,064
$
6,555,649
Stockholders’ equity
Preferred stock, par value $.001; 20,000,000 shares authorized; zero shares issued and outstanding
—
—
Common stock, par value $.001; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 2,096,082 and 69,230 issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively
2,096
69
Additional paid-in capital
37,091,468
26,445,378
Accumulated deficit
(34,575,240
)
(21,095,765
)
Total stockholders’ equity
2,518,324
5,349,682
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
$
9,107,388
$
11,905,331
Expion360 Inc. Statements of Operations
For the Years Ended December 31,
2024
2023
Net sales
$
5,624,939
$
5,981,134
Cost of sales
4,469,711
4,405,611
Gross profit
1,155,228
1,575,523
Selling, general and administrative
7,909,219
8,745,135
Loss from operations
(6,753,991
)
(7,169,612
)
Other (Income) / Expense
Interest income
(86,121
)
(125,854
)
Interest expense
976,618
124,511
Loss on sale of property and equipment
146,760
3,426
Settlement expense
709,900
281,680
Suspended liability expense
4,985,948
—
Other income
(6,073
)
(394
)
Total other expense
6,727,032
283,369
Loss before taxes
(13,481,023
)
(7,452,981
)
Tax (income) / expense
(1,548
)
3,293
Net loss
$
(13,479,475
)
$
(7,456,274
)
Net loss per share (basic and diluted)
$
(21.03
)
$
(108.25
)
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding
641,011
68,882
Expion360 Inc. Statements of Cash Flows
For the Years Ended December 31,
2024
2023
Cash flows from operating activities
Net loss
$
(13,479,475
)
$
(7,456,274
)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Depreciation
173,973
205,723
Amortization of convertible note costs
667,144
—
Loss on sale of property and equipment
146,760
3,426
Decrease in allowance for doubtful accounts
—
(18,804
)
Stock-based settlement
209,000
251,680
Stock-based compensation
616,632
560,365
Decrease in right-of-use assets and lease liabilities
(67,778
)
—
Increase in suspended liability
4,985,948
—
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
(Increase) / Decrease in accounts receivable
(458,087
)
161,904
(Increase) / Decrease in inventory
(1,006,071
)
704,746
Increase in prepaid/in-transit inventory
(1,448,738
)
(22,338
)
Increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets
(47,043
)
(17,626
)
Decrease in deposits
31,425
5,005
Increase in accounts payable
51,106
56,735
Increase in customer deposits
31,051
17,365
Increase / (Decrease) in accrued expenses and other current liabilities
21,819
(13,649
)
Increase in right-of-use assets and lease liabilities
9,789
30,510
Net cash used in operating activities
(9,562,545
)
(5,531,232
)
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchases of property and equipment
(19,203
)
(20,170
)
Net proceeds from sale of property and equipment
132,611
36,748
Net cash provided by investing activities
113,408
16,578
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceed from / (Principal payment on) convertible note
(2,750,000
)
2,420,025
Principal payments on long-term debt
(119,111
)
(161,194
)
Principal payments on stockholder promissory notes
(762,500
)
(62,500
)
Proceeds from exercise of warrants
185,434
49,800
Settlement of fractional shares for cashless warrant exercise
ROSEMONT, Ill., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wintrust Financial Corporation (“Wintrust”) (Nasdaq: WTFC) today announced it will release first quarter 2025 earnings results after the market closes on Monday, April 21, 2025 and host a conference call on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. (CDT).
For individuals wanting to listen to a simultaneous audio-only web cast, this may be accessed at Webcast Link.
Individuals interested in participating in the call by addressing questions to management should register for the call at Conference Call Link to receive a dial-in number and unique PIN to access the call seamlessly. It is recommended that you join 10 minutes prior to the event start (although you may register and dial in at any time during the call).
An accompanying slide presentation will be available on the Company’s web site at http://www.wintrust.com, Investor Relations link.
A replay of the audio-only webcast and an accompanying slide presentation will subsequently be available at http://www.wintrust.com, Investor Relations, Investor News and Events, Presentations & Conference Calls link. The text of the first quarter 2025 earnings release will be available at http://www.wintrust.com, Investor Relations, Investor News and Events, Press Releases link.
About Wintrust
Wintrust is a financial holding company with approximately $65 billion in assets whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Guided by its “Different Approach, Better Results” philosophy, Wintrust offers the sophisticated resources of a large bank while providing a community banking experience to each customer. Wintrust operates more than 200 retail banking locations through 16 community bank subsidiaries in the greater Chicago, southern Wisconsin, west Michigan, northwest Indiana, and southwest Florida market areas. In addition, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units, providing residential mortgage origination, wealth management, commercial and life insurance premium financing, short-term accounts receivable financing/outsourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges. For more information, please visit www.wintrust.com.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Investors are cautioned that such statements are predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. Wintrust’s expected financial results or other plans are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see “Risk Factors” and the forward-looking statement disclosure contained in Wintrust’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and Wintrust undertakes no duty to update the information.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy S. Crane, President & Chief Executive Officer David A. Dykstra, Vice Chairman & Chief Operating Officer (847) 939-9000 Website address: www.wintrust.com
While this political climate brings uncertainty at an international level, it comes with fear of job loss for many Canadians at a time when the cost of living is already straining many families’ finances.
These topics may appear to be concerns for adults, but children may also feel the effects. As psychology researchers studying parent-child relationships and child mental health, we believe it is important to consider children’s potential fears and anxiety in the current political climate.
Here, we explain why it’s important to address this topic with children, and how parents can do so in a reassuring and informative manner.
Children’s concerns and emotions
While the economy and politics could seem like topics that children would not really care about, recent research suggests that many children and youth actually worry about these topics.
Studies suggest children worry about issues affecting their families. (Shutterstock)
Similarly, studies elsewhere suggest children and youth worry about issues affecting their families. Based on these numbers, we can assume that many Canadian children also worry about the current Canada-U.S. political climate.
Of course, it’s worth remembering not all families experience political and economic events in the same way. For example, children whose families face economic precarity are likely already living with stressors affecting their households like unemployment or food insecurity. Current tensions may also exacerbate children’s existing concerns.
When children are able to talk about what concerns them with their parents, they learn important emotional regulation and coping skills. For example, they learn how to identify and understand their emotions, and how to regulate those emotions. Discussions between parents and children also help foster a climate of trust, in which children feel like they can rely on their parents in moments of need.
Noticing, tackling children’s anxiety and fears
Children may not always have the words to articulate their concerns in the same way that adults do. Parents should watch for anxiety symptoms in their children, which may manifest in various ways, including having mood changes, being more irritable or sad, having difficulty sleeping, being more clingy than usual, or withdrawing from activities. There are also signs that may be harder to spot.
We present five ways to address the situation with your children:
1. Use direct questions to understand how children feel. Direct questions can help understand how children feel. For example, you may ask: “What have you heard about what’s happening?” or “How do you feel about it?” These questions can help understand what specifically is scary to them.
Children could be worried about no longer seeing family in the U.S., or some may even fear a military clash. (Shutterstock)
This is especially important given that children tend to worry about different things than adults. For example, younger children with family in the U.S. may worry they will no longer be able to see their family members anymore. Older children may be worried about a parent losing a job, the country’s economic instability or environmental impacts. Some children may even fear a military clash.
2. Be sensitive to how the conflict is presented. In the media, it is common to refer to the diplomatic and economic tensions as a “trade war.” While adults understand that trade wars do not involve military attacks, this concept is much more abstract for children.
It’s important to reframe the conflict in ways that children can understand. For example, parents can compare the conflict between two children. Parents might say: “You know when there are two children upset with each other at school, and they have a big disagreement. Sometimes it can take a lot of time to find a solution that works for everyone. The conflict between Canada and the U.S. is a bit like that. It could take a lot of time and trouble to find a solution.”
3. Avoid misinformation. When discussing these topics, parents should seek to clarify any misinformation and provide reassurance. They should also help ensure children receive information from credible sources rather than social media or peers, who may sensationalize or misinterpret events. Providing factual but age-appropriate explanations is a key ingredient in mitigating fear and uncertainty.
4. Focus on co-operation and opportunities instead of boycotting.
Many Canadian families are choosing to boycott American products. In order to ease the emotional burden on children, it can be helpful to reframe the boycott as an opportunity for co-operation. For instance, parents can highlight how they are trying to support local businesses.
Similarly, for families with resources to travel, changes in travel plans can be framed as a way to discover new places. A parent might frame it as: “This year, instead of going to the beach, we’re going to be exploring some incredible places closer to home. We’re going to have so much fun trying new things!” This approach creates curiosity and control, not anxiety. It can also be beneficial for children’s development to learn to be more flexible with change.
5. Create a sense of normalcy and routine. As important as it is to validate children’s fears, it is equally important to help them maintain a sense of normalcy. Families should strive to balance discussions about the trade war and its potential ramifications with more light, mundane topics. Similarly, limiting the time that children watch the news or when it is audible can help limit further concerns from developing.
Routines are also beneficial for children’s development and well-being. Maintaining a predictable schedule, such as a bedtime routine, can help children feel safe and less anxious. Focus on adding fun and soothing activities to the daily routine. This lets children know life goes on.
Navigating turbulent times
As the trade war with the U.S. plays out, parents should consider how it may impact their children’s emotions and sense of safety. Even serious conflicts such as this one don’t last forever, and solutions will come.
In the meantime, parents can help children cope with these challenging times by offering age-appropriate explanations and encouraging resilience.
Jean-François Bureau receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Consortium National de Formation en Santé.
Audrey-Ann Deneault receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Centre de recherche universitaire sur les jeunes et les familles.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-FL-03)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL-03), Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02), Senator Shelley Moore Capitol (R-WV), and Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Alleviating Barriers to Caregivers Act (ABC Act). The legislation would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Social Security Administration (SSA), and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to review their eligibility, processes, procedures, forms, and communications to reduce the administrative burden on family caregivers. The legislation would then require CMS, SSA, and CHIP to report to Congress after two years about any issues they are facing and any next steps they are taking to support family caregivers.
Family caregivers serve as a primary source of support for seniors and people with disabilities of all ages. In the United States alone, there are more than 48 million family caregivers. More than half of family caregivers act as an advocate for their loved one with care providers, community services, or government agencies. However,one in fourfamily caregivers say they want help with forms, paperwork, and eligibility for services. Many report competing responsibilities while experiencing serious emotional, physical, and finance challenges.
“America’s family caregivers work around-the-clock to provide essential care for their loved ones, and over half act as advocates on behalf of their family members. The last thing these caregivers need is more red tape that distracts from their support for those in their care,” said Representative Cammack. “I’m honored to introduce this bipartisan and bicameral ABC Act with my colleagues to lower the burden around the important medical decisions caregivers must make every day. Together we can support the 48 million caregivers that make up a critical part of our health care landscape in the U.S.”
“Family caregivers have a lot on their plates, devoting their lives to support others,” said Representative Magaziner. “They shouldn’t have to struggle with confusing paperwork and delays on top of their essential work. The bipartisanABC Actwill make it easier for families to get the support they need so caregivers can focus on what matters most — caring for their loved ones.”
“More than 1 in 4 Americans over 50 are now caregivers. I was one of these caregivers for my parents during their struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and know personally how hard it can be to balance all of the responsibilities put on individuals caring for their loved ones,”Senator Capito said.“One of the most common frustrations I hear from caregivers in West Virginia is how difficult it is to navigate federal processes and procedures. TheAlleviating Barriers for Caregivers Actwould attempt to ease this often-stressful time by requiring federal agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Social Security Administration, to review their processes, procedures, forms, and communications to reduce the administrative burden on family caregivers.”
“Caregivers, like my father was, serve on the frontlines of our nation’s health care system by giving our families and friends the care and support they need to remain in their homes and communities with their loved ones,”said Senator Markey. “But caregivers are struggling needlessly to navigate complex, burdensome, and stressful processes each and every day while also still managing day-to-day family and professional responsibilities. TheAlleviating Barriers for Caregivers Actwill help lift the weight off caregivers by clearing the red tape that so often gets in their way. I thank Senator Capito and Representatives Magaziner and Cammack for their partnership on this critical legislation.”
Cosponsors in the Senate include John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai’i), Mike Rounds (R-S.Dak.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).
Cosponsors in the House include Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-02), Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), Nick Langworthy (R-NY-23), Sharice Davids (D-KS-03), Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Jared Golden (D-ME-02), Greg Steube (R-FL-17), Deborah Ross (D-NC-02), August Pfluger (R-TX-11), Ed Case (D-HI-01), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), Mike Lawler (R-NY-17), Darren Soto (D-FL-09), and Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16).
TheABC Actis endorsed by: AARP, ADA Watch/Coalition for Disability Rights & Justice, Aging Life Care Association, Alliance for Aging Research, Alliance for Retired Americans, Allies for Independence, ALS Association, Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, American Academy of Nursing, American Association on Health and Disability, American Heart Association, American Network of Community Organizations and Resources (ANCOR), American Psychological Association Services, American Society for Transportation and Cellular Therapy, American Society on Aging, Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Autism Society of America, Autism Speaks, Caregiver Action Network, Caring Across Generations, Child Neurology Foundation, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Diverse Elders Coalition, Elder Services of Berkshire County Inc., Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Family Caregiver Alliance, National Center on Caregiving, Fight Colorectal Cancer, Gerontological Society of America, Grayce, Greater Lynn Senior Services, Hispanic Federation, Huntington’s Disease Society of America, Japanese American Citizens League, Justice in Aging, Lakeshore Foundation, LeadingAge, LifePath, Lymphoma Research Foundation, Massachusetts Councils on Aging, Medical Alley, Mystic Valley Elder Services, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, National Adult Day Services Association, National Alliance on Caregiving, National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, National Council on Aging, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, National Disability Rights Network, National Down Syndrome Congress, National Federation of Filipino American Associations, National Fragile X Foundation, National Health Council, National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, National Patient Advocate Foundation, National Respite Coalition, NMDP, OCA- Asian Pacific American Advocates, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, Senior Connection, Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC), Speak Foundation, the Arc of the United States, The ERISA Industry Committee, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Third Way, USAging, Village to Village Network, and Well Spouse Association.
Effie Kisgeropoulos Discusses Her Early Scientific Inspiration and Journey to Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
As a young girl, Effie Kisgeropoulos dreamed about the endless universe of constellations. Photo from Effie Kisgeropoulos, NREL
Lying on the grass in Canton, Ohio, a young Effie Kisgeropoulos studied constellations with her eyes and later through her telescope, dreaming about the mechanisms of faraway celestial bodies.
Little did the future National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researcher know that her budding scientific gaze would later turn to something closer to home: orbiting subatomic particles in microscopic structures.
The ability to translate perspectives between different worlds might be her superpower—although this superpower has come with its challenges. Yet Kisgeropoulos has persisted through all the uphill climbs, maintaining her joy of learning.
Kisgeropoulos was homeschooled for most of her childhood, and she benefited from a framework that empowered her to absorb knowledge and ask questions. Looking back, the ease with which Kisgeropoulos moved through primary education was perhaps unsurprising given her much later diagnosis with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She thrived in the home setting where learning was fun, engaging, and flexible. But when it was time to begin her university honors program, Kisgeropoulos’ success at home became a struggle to maintain. Her passion for exploring new ideas came under serious doubt.
Although Kisgeropoulos struggled at first, she persevered through trial and error and by embracing new opportunities. Her path at NREL began with a postdoctoral position that employed her passion for using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to decipher the subatomic interactions that dictate our world.
Kisgeropoulos is now a full-time researcher in NREL’s Biosciences Center, responsible for helping manage the Advanced Spin Resonance Facility (ASRF), which houses the EPR equipment. This facility helps illuminate the subatomic workings of chemical reactions, like those that sustain photosynthesis or enable light-driven ammonia production and hydrogen catalysis.
In this interview (edited for length and clarity), Kisgeropoulos discusses her contagious enthusiasm for science, her unique journey to NREL, and her passion for all things EPR.
You have an interesting upbringing that isn’t familiar to many people. Can you talk about that and how it was a factor in your embrace of science?
My mom homeschooled my sister and I until mid-high school. During our elementary years, she taught us for two days and worked the other three, when my dad—who worked midnights—would help.
Around this time, I fell in love with astronomy and spent countless hours poring over star maps and gazing at constellations. I even got a small telescope! It kick-started my obsession with science fiction and, later, theoretical physics.
Kisgeropoulos, as a child, gazes through her new telescope. Photo from Effie Kisgeropoulos, NREL
Homeschooling allowed me a certain freedom in how I assimilated information. I could work on my lessons while barefoot and sitting cross-legged on the floor, make as much noise as I wanted, go at my own pace. I was unencumbered by the classical rules of school.
Later when my parents separated, my mom juggled multiple jobs while still maintaining our education. Watching all this, I also learned a lot about hard work and perseverance. I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until 29, so these qualities—and the love of learning I grew up with—were vital to me navigating undergrad and then a Ph.D. without any context for why I had different needs than my peers.
Kisgeropoulos (right) and her sister, Sophia (left), pose in front of their school project—sprouting seeds from plants. Photo from Effie Kisgeropoulos, NREL
Can you tell me about your transition from homeschooling to the university world?
My science obsessions led me to join the honors program at Kent State University with a plan outlined by my guidance counselor: a bachelor’s in physics; grad school for astrophysics. Once classes started, a harsh reality formed. Many students are challenged during the transition to college, but I wasn’t aware of the unique challenges that came with a neurodivergent brain.
Tougher coursework meant I had to study in earnest, but sitting alone for hours in the library to accomplish this was a strange experience. It would take me significant time to clear my mind of distractions before I could fully immerse myself in a task. Although I had experience with self-directed learning, my skills began failing me in this demanding and unfamiliar college environment.
It was a disheartening first couple of years. I had been excellent at math, but I did poorly in calculus. I did okay in Physics I, but I dropped Physics II twice because it wasn’t clicking. The irony is the stuff in Physics II—like circuits, electricity, and magnetism—are foundations to some of what I do now at NREL.
So, how did you adjust?
The end of sophomore year was my worst. I wanted to study the stars, but I just couldn’t make the connections in my coursework. At around the same time, we found out my mom had breast cancer. It really impelled me, and I switched majors to biotech. I thought a more industry-focused degree would help with getting a job, if I needed to take care of my sister, and I hoped it would lead me to work in cancer research to help patients like my mom.
With the switch, I started to excel in my classes again. In Intro Biochem, I learned about enzyme pathways in cells. It was like a puzzle, mapping them all out. In some ways, it felt like mapping out the stars. I was becoming fascinated with microscopic biological and chemical mechanisms that I had no idea about. My fire for learning came back. And as I approached graduation, my mom cleared her cancer!
That’s wonderful. So at that point, you were on the path to a Ph.D. in biochem at The Ohio State University (OSU)?
Yeah. I was thrilled when I was offered a spot. I started with three different lab rotations: mouse models of cancer, yeast genetics, and spectroscopy. Although I was still invested in cancer research, I enjoyed the approach of spectroscopy the most, which was in the lab of a new OSU professor, Hannah Shafaat. And in the end, I was still awarded a fellowship for the connection of my work to cancer research!
My work at OSU involved applying advanced pulse EPR spectroscopy to biological systems. Before even developing these experiments, we needed to characterize the systems using a more common type of EPR: continuous wave (CW). At the time, the EPR capabilities we needed weren’t available at OSU. Instead, we would drive four hours roundtrip to Miami University and collect data for 10, 12 hours.
This was where I became mesmerized by the EPR process. There’s this giant magnet with a sample in the middle that’s cooled to 5 Kelvin, and then microwaves are shot at it. It’s so metal! The resulting data were beautiful. You’re investigating a signal that looks like a child’s drawing and translating it to give information on interactions happening at the electron level.
So, when were you able to work primarily with pulsed EPR?
During my fourth year, we shifted to pulsed EPR techniques, which use microwaves shot in pulses rather than continuously. Using pulses unlocks a whole new dimension of capabilities, especially manipulating electron spins to acquire different, higher-resolution information. But pulsed EPR demands a higher level of theory and understanding to run an experiment, let alone troubleshoot one or customize it to the sample.
I was applying pulsed EPR to proteins to answer questions about their electronic structure and function. This work was like what I do here at NREL in Paul King’s (Physical Biochemistry and Photosynthesis) group, except now I investigate how this reactivity is controlled and tuned into very complex redox enzymes.
Good segue to becoming a postdoc at NREL. I imagine your experience with pulsed EPR had a lot to do with you coming here?
Honestly, I struggled with the motivation to do research or become a professor. When I started EPR, my research interest sparked a bit, but I wasn’t sure how to do EPR at a private company. And then my OSU lab partner, Tasha Manesis, sent me a link for an NREL postdoctoral position in the Physical Biochemistry and Photosynthesis group. I read the job description and was ecstatic they wanted someone to study redox enzymes using pulsed EPR!
Postdoctoral researcher Effie Kisgeropoulos poses in 2022 by an MBraun anaerobic chamber at NREL’s Science and Technology Facility. This type of equipment allows researchers to work with the oxygen-sensitive proteins and enzymes that are involved in many of nature’s important energy conversion reactions and pathways. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL
Another bit of serendipity. How was the postdoc experience here at NREL?
Right after they hired me, COVID-19 happened. COVID-19 protocols made lab interactions challenging and training and team-building difficult. Once the protocols loosened, this all improved, and we added some new postdocs that quickly became great friends of mine. My relationship with Paul, my group manager and principal investigator, also really began to develop. These working relationships, and the willingness everyone showed to put effort into making them better, were a large reason why I stayed at NREL.
How was the transition from postdoc to full-time researcher?
Getting an NREL staff position doing what I love felt validating, a recognition of my contributions to the team. It also really brought me a sense of permanence. Even though six years in graduate school was a long time, it always had an end date. With this transition, I experienced a sense of investment in my work that I never felt before.
Kisgeropoulos works with cell culture media containing ferredoxin proteins in the Research and Innovation Laboratory at NREL. These proteins are important for understanding the control electron transfer reactions in the photosynthetic cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and will be studied using techniques like EPR once they are purified from the media. Photo by Kaylee Weatherly, NREL
What are your responsibilities as a biological EPR spectroscopist?
I continue to build upon my postdoc work, contributing to research projects under Paul on photosynthetic energy transduction and mechanisms of photochemical nitrogen reduction. Both are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Basic Energy Sciences program.
I also took on safety-representative duties for our lab space and have an official role helping David Mulder manage and operate the ASRF, which houses the EPR equipment. David and I developed an approach for scheduling on the CW EPR, helping maintain access for all users amid high demand for instrument time. I also help train new EPR users and advise on project data collection, interpretation, and analysis.
NREL researchers (from left) Paul King, Effie Kisgeropoulos, and David Mulder talk in front of the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer in NREL’s Advanced Spin Resonance Facility in Golden, Colorado. Photo by Gregory Cooper, NREL
So, why does this new role and the Advanced Spin Resonance Facility at NREL excite you so much?
Most institutions operate one CW EPR at a single microwave frequency (commonly X-band). But at NREL, we have an incredible breadth of EPR capabilities in one place: CW EPR, pulsed EPR, both X-band and Q-band microwave frequencies, equipment to produce shaped pulses, the ability to incorporate radio waves and do EPR-detected nuclear magnetic resonance, and all using helium gas in a cryogen-free system to obtain super cold temperatures. All these capabilities are the perfect playground for me to explore and grow with.
There’s also a tremendous amount of expertise here applying EPR to understand highly complex enzymatic functions, like nitrogen fixation to ammonia or hydrogen generation from protons and electrons. There’s a great foundation to build from and use my understanding of pulsed EPR to advance the research.
Pulsed EPR, and really EPR in general, is such a powerful tool for obtaining targeted information on the movement, properties, and local environments of electrons, whether they exist as radicals, in defects, or on metal clusters. It’s highly applicable across a large swathe of research disciplines, from biology to materials—even brewing beer, although that’s not really in the NREL mission space. I’d like to continue to improve the experience of our core user group and expand the reach of the ASRF across NREL.
Okay, one last question. If you had the power to make one change in the world, what would it be?
Oh, tough, it’s hard to articulate, but I’d make empathy and compassion abundant. Through all my challenges, I’ve come out of it with a different appreciation for people. We’re all flawed, but people are also surprisingly great. I think it’s important to listen to what others are saying and consider how they might be feeling, the milieu that could be contributing to the actions they take.
I try to always remember this, and I would want to make the changes necessary so everyone could feel safe enough and empowered to extend this kind of empathy and compassion to each other. I think it would help the world a lot.
Learn more about NREL’sbioscience researchand theAdvanced Spin Resonance Facility.
Entire communities in central Myanmar have been devastated and the full scale of the earthquake disaster “remains unclear”, the UN’s top humanitarian coordinator in the countrysaid on Monday.
Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator Marcoluigi Corsi expressed the UN’s profound sorry at the immense loss of life stemming from Friday’s 7.7 and 6.4 magnitude quakes with the death toll rising to around 2,000, according to the country’s military junta.
“The latest reports indicate significant loss of life, widespread injuries, and many still unaccounted for as rescue operations continue,” Mr. Corsi said in a statement on behalf of the UN Country Team.
Urgent support operation continues
He stressed that the UN and partners continue to urgently mobilise in support of the emergency response, standing ready to assist all communities “wherever they are”.
The earthquakes struck near Mandalay and Sagaing, with impacts felt across Bago, Magway, Nay Pyi Taw, and parts of Shan State. Hospitals are overwhelmed, while communication and transport routes have been severely disrupted.
Thousands are sleeping in the open, fearful of aftershocks and unable to return to damaged homes.
UN-facilitated rescue teams from around 20 countries, including sniffer dogs, paramedics and medical supplies, supported by millions of dollars in aid, continue to arrive in Myanmar – where millions were already displaced by civil war, arising from the military coup of February 2021.
Resilience further eroded
“Even before this earthquake, nearly 20 million people in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance,” Mr. Corsi emphasized. “This latest tragedy compounds an already dire crisis and risks further eroding the resilience of communities already battered by conflict, displacement, and past disasters.”
The UN Humanitarian Country Team is actively conducting rapid needs assessment missions in coordination with UN agencies, humanitarian partners, local authorities and community-based organizations, paying particular attention to the needs of women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, who are disproportionately affected in such disasters.
“Beyond the immediate response, this crisis highlights the urgent need to strengthen efforts towards recovery and to invest in measures that help communities withstand future shocks,” Mr. Corsi said.
Significant UN presence
An initial $15 million in emergency funds has been allocated by the UN to support the lifesaving response. Medical teams, shelter materials, and critical water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) items are arriving – alongside prepositioned and supplementary food aid.
“We have a significant presence in Mandalay and surrounding areas, and we are doing everything we can to reach people in need despite serious logistical challenges,” Mr. Corsi said. “But much more will be required in the days and weeks ahead.”
More than ever, timely support is critical to prevent further deterioration of the crisis, he added.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that it aims to support 100,000 of the worst hit with ready-to-eat meals, following by food and cash-for-food assistance to around 800,000 for the next month.
WFP Myanmar/Chit Min Htet
Severe damage to Naypyidaw’s road infrastructure following the earthquake in Myanmar.
“The earthquake has laid bare the deeper vulnerabilities facing Myanmar’s people and underscored the need for sustained international attention to the broader crisis.”
Referencing the ongoing conflict which has seen military forces lose control of a majority of the country to opposition armed groups amid brutal fighting and airstrikes, she said that “all sides must urgently allow space for humanitarian relief and ensure that aid workers can operate in safety.”
Continuing military operations in quake-affected areas “risks further loss of life and undermines the shared imperative to respond,” she continued.
Ms. Bishop called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties, to prioritise the rescue, aid and recovery effort, including protection of civilians.
She said she was in close contact with Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher and the UN Country Team in Myanmar who are working in partnership with neighboring countries and others, supported by the UN’s regional and global network.
Headline: Governor Stein Encourages Employers to Apply for HIRE Vets Medallion Program
Governor Stein Encourages Employers to Apply for HIRE Vets Medallion Program lsaito
Raleigh, NC
Governor Josh Stein and North Carolina Department of Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley are encouraging North Carolina employers to hire veterans and to apply for recognition with a HIRE Vets Medallion Award, an official program of the U.S. Department of Labor.
The application period runs through April 30, 2025.
“North Carolina is home to approximately 700,000 veterans, who bring great skills and experience to our state’s workforce,” said Governor Stein. “The HIRE Vets program recognizes companies for their support for our nation’s heroes, cementing North Carolina’s position as the most military-friendly state.”
HIRE Vets medallions are the only federal-level veterans’ employment awards that recognize an organization’s commitment to veteran hiring, retention and professional development. In 2024, 28 North Carolina employers received a HIRE Vets Medallion Award.
The N.C. Department of Commerce pioneered a first-of-its-kind online feature that highlights North Carolina employers that have received the HIRE Vets medallion award on the state’s NCWorks job search site and on the NCWorks Veterans Portal, located at veterans.ncworks.gov. This tool helps veterans more easily find jobs that the recognized companies are currently advertising.
“North Carolina’s military community is one of our state’s strategic assets, and we applaud the many employers who recognize the talent, value and unique perspective that our veterans provide,” said N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley. “By recruiting and training veterans for meaningful employment opportunities, companies assist in the transition to civilian life and honor the sacrifice of military service.”
“Veterans and their families enrich North Carolina communities and provide a ready and skilled workforce that is second to none,” said Secretary Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (NC DMVA). “Transitioning from active-duty military to Veteran status is easier when Veterans and employers engage and connect. The economic impact is significant, but the security of supporting your family with meaningful employment is something beyond measure. We appreciate the HIRE Vets Medallion program and all it does to inspire, create, and encourage employment opportunities for our Veterans.”
The HIRE Vets Medallion Award is based on several criteria, ranging from veteran hiring and retention to providing veteran-specific resources, leadership programming, dedicated human resources, and compensation and tuition assistance programs – with requirements varying for large, medium, and small employers. There is a fee to apply for the HIRE Vets Medallion Program, which is used to cover the costs associated with carrying out the HIRE Vets Act. The fee for large employers is $495 per applicant, the fee for medium employers is $190 per applicant, and the fee for small employers is $90 per applicant.
One of the many North Carolina employers recognized by the program is the nonprofit Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministries (ABCCM), the parent organization of Veterans Services of the Carolinas. Founded in 1969 through the collaboration of local churches, ABCCM works with community organizations to offer free assistance to veterans and their families.
“At ABCCM Veterans Services of the Carolinas, we are deeply committed to empowering and supporting our nation’s Veterans as they transition into meaningful careers,” said Jessica Rice, Managing Director for Veterans Services of the Carolinas. “We are honored to be a three-time recipient of this award, recognizing the immense value Veterans bring to our organization. Their unique skills and experiences not only enhance our team but also allow them to connect on a deeper level with both their Veteran coworkers and the Veterans we serve. Together, we can ensure that those who have served our country receive the opportunities, support, and respect they deserve.”
The Department of Commerce, working in close partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, has 50 NCWorks Veterans Services professionals (all of whom are veterans themselves). Their primary mission is to help veterans find good jobs and training opportunities. These professionals are located across the state at local NCWorks Career Centers, which serve veterans and other jobseekers, while also helping employers meet their talent needs. The department also partners with North Carolina For Military Employment (NC4ME) on special hiring events.
To learn more and apply for the HIRE Vets Medallion Award Program, go to www.HireVets.gov.
Employers and veterans may also visit or contact an NCWorks Career Center for assistance. Contact information for each career center is found at www.NCWorks.gov.
NCWorks Veterans Services are supported by the Jobs for Veterans State Grant from the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) of the U.S. Department of Labor as part of an award to North Carolina totaling $5,703,016, with 0% financed from non-governmental sources.
Drowning in streaming choices? If so, you’re not alone – as our experts have a particularly wide range of picks this month.
From musicals and comedy, to serial killers and twisted fictional corporations, there’s plenty to get stuck into.
The Pitt
Binge (Australia), Neon (NZ)
The Pitt is best described as a cross between ER and 24. The series follows an emergency room in Pittsburgh in real time across a 15-hour shift. Each one hour episode is an hour of their shift. Creator R. Scott Gemill and executive producer John Wells both worked extensively on ER, as did Noah Wyle who plays Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, the senior attending.
The day in question falls on the anniversary of the death of Robby’s mentor during the COVID pandemic and he experiences several flashbacks throughout the shift. The ER ward is chaotic due to the nursing shortage and failing American healthcare system. The series regularly cuts to the overcrowded waiting room of desperate people, waiting to receive care.
The large ensemble is fantastic and it’s great to see a medical show that actually includes nursing staff as key characters (take note, Grey’s Anatomy!). By unfolding in real time, we get a sense of how chaotic their work is, with several doctors jumping between patients. Several key cases also unfold across several episodes, with many building to dramatic effects.
It should also be noted that due to having its home on a streaming platform, the show is allowed to depict graphic and sometimes gruesome medical scenes without intruding soundtracks or montages, which only adds to the realism.
– Stuart Richards
Severance, season two
Apple TV
In absurdist psychological thriller Severance, individuals working for the multinational biotech corporation Lumon Industries can have their work-selves surgically “severed”, separating the memories and experiences of their workplace “innies” from those of their “outies”.
The second season, three years in the making, looks at the fallout from season one’s cliffhanger finale, in which the innies of Macrodata Analysis, Helly R (Britt Lower), Irving B (John Turturro) and Dylan G (Zach Cherry), led by Mark S (Adam Scott), staged a revolt and busted briefly into their outies’ worlds. In doing so, they exposed shocking secrets about Lumon – including that outie Mark’s wife, thought dead, is somehow alive but being held by Lumon.
This season has been as stylish and weird as the first, revelling in striking cinematography, impeccable direction, quirky scripting and inspired world-building. It also becomes increasingly eerie, focusing more on Lumon’s bizarre, cult-like history and culture, and the unsettling nature of the innies’ jobs.
Although lore-heavy, the show has avoided many of the pitfalls of “puzzle box” shows, balancing revelations with astonishingly good performances, particularly from Trammell Tillman as Lumon floor manager Mr Milchick. This uncanny and perversely funny season deserves its status as a water cooler hit. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait three more years for a resolution.
– Erin Harrington
Happiness
ThreeNow (New Zealand) from April 3
With their new show Happiness, airing on Three and Three Now, Kip Chapman and Luke Di Somma have created a welcome New Zealand answer to the popular style of “backstage” musical TV show.
The protagonist is stage director Charlie (Harry McNaughton), who has returned from New York to his hometown of Tauranga having been dismissed from helming a Broadway revival of Cats. In a desperate attempt to demonstrate competency for a renewal of his visa, and to please his mum Gaye (Rebecca Gibney), Charlie decides to help out the local amateur musical theatre society Pizzaz (“the finest large-scale yet boutique classical musical theatre company in Tauranga”) with its latest production, an original musical called The Trojan Horse.
While the story is fairly predictable, the show blessed with an engaging pastiche score by Luke Di Somma that references a variety of fun musical theatre tropes. It is a welcome addition to the “let’s put on a show” backstager genre, and will appeal to fans of musical theatre as well as workplace comedies.
Happiness paints New Zealand musical theatre talent in a positive light – showing what the locals can do – while being highly entertaining in its own right.
– Gregory Camp
Running Point
Netflix
Running Point is writer-producer Mindy Kaling’s return to her roots with an office-family comedy. After spending some time in high-school with Never Have I Ever and college with Sex Lives of College Girls, Kaling returns to where she started her TV career with The Office and The Mindy Project. Based very loosely on the real-life story of Los Angeles Lakers President Jeanie Buss, this Kate Hudson vehicle is ripe with satire, family dynamics and absurdity.
When her older brother (Justin Theroux) goes to rehab, he names his sister (Hudson) as the new president of their family business: basketball empire the Los Angeles “Waves”. Running Point feels like a more fully-realised version of Kaling’s previous short-lived family sports comedy Champions.
The cast is stacked with TV comedy MVPs including Brenda Song, Drew Tarver, Scott MacArthur, Jay Ellis, Max Greenfield and Jon Glaser. Hudson is at her most Goldie Hawn-like here, mixing physical comedy with goofiness and heart. It’s easy and enjoyable watching, even if (like me) you are not a big sports fan!
– Jessica Ford
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer
Netflix
True crime documentaries, particularly those concerned with serial killers, are often criticised for their silencing of the victims, while elevating the perpetrator and perversely celebrating their crimes.
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer bucks that trend. Its focus is on the women who were murdered by Rex Heuermann, and the families and friends who band together in their shared suffering and pursuit of justice over a period of more than two decades. In particular, it is the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, and her mother’s dogged perseverance in keeping the police department’s attention on her missing daughter, which leads to the discovery and identification of the bodies of another six women.
Like his namesake, the “Long Island Ripper”, Heuermann relied on the fact that his victims were sex workers – assuming their deaths would be of little consequence to law enforcement, or that their disappearances wouldn’t even be noticed. For some time this was true, as one interviewee observes: “knowing that sex workers might be afraid to come forward with information, police were not active in reaching out to them and making them feel comfortable coming forward”.
But these women were mothers, daughters, sisters and friends. Gone Girls rejects the marginalisation of the victims, just as their communities had worked so hard to do.
– Jessica Gildersleeve
Adolescence
Netflix
Why do children kill other children? What makes an intelligent boy from a loving suburban family borrow a knife from a school friend and, on a casual Sunday evening, stab another child to death? When someone so young commits a horrific act, who is to blame – the child, the family, or society?
With its technical mastery and gut-punch power, Adolescence is a tour de force. The series tracks the story of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) after he is arrested and later charged with the murder of his classmate, Katie. Co-creator Stephen Graham stars as Jamie’s father, Eddie.
The series is a harrowing take on male violence and rage, and the misogynist radicalisation of vulnerable boys. Trapped in the dark mirrors of the manosphere, and allured by the grim logic of Andrew Tate, Jamie represents a generation of boys tragically and perhaps permanently lost to incel culture.
Skilfully filmed in Philip Barantini’s signature one-shot style, the series pushes the limits of television production. The high-wire act of timing and trust amplifies the message that one misstep can lead to failure. In Adolescence, however, there are no easy outs. Just as the continuous filming style offers no reprieve, the show refuses to offer a simple explanation for why Jamie did it.
Adolescence is not an easy watch, but for those parenting teens, it is a necessary one.
Edutainment at its finest, The Role of a Lifetime approaches contemporary parenthood with good humour and even better, good research. Informative without being preachy, the short series focuses on parenting tweens (children in late primary school) and above, with a sympathetic approach to the pressures of modern life. In a nutshell: social media is everywhere, what can and should we do about it?
Leads Kate Ritchie and Nazeem Hussain serve as part-segment presenters and part-parent role players in this mixture of magazine show and sitcom, while the steady hands of Amanda Keller and Maggie Dent provide context and permission to get it wrong.
Aimed very squarely at a nuclear heterocentric Australian middle class, there are moments that still stray into cliché. For instance, why is mum still in charge of dinner even though she’s also worked a full day, often still in full work clothes, until late at night? Nonetheless, the warm dynamic between the family members and the chosen experts makes the show really engaging and invites further discussion rather than dictating rules and failures.
The featured “young experts” who participate in the casual panels are also excellent. If they are anything resembling Australia’s future, we are in good hands.
– Liz Giuffre
Nickel Boys
Prime Video
Nickel Boys, a new film adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel, follows Elwood Curtis – a studious, law-abiding teenager who is sent to the Nickel Academy in mid-1960s Florida after he unwittingly accepts a ride in a stolen car and is unjustly convicted as an accessory to the theft.
The Nickel Academy, based on the real-life Dozier School for Boys, is a segregated reform school operating as a front for the coercion of unpaid labour from the boys detained there. These boys are subject to beatings, rapes and psychological torture. And their efforts to run away or resist often prove fatal.
At Nickel, Elwood bonds with another 17-year-old inmate, Turner, whose cynicism provides a foil to Elwood’s idealism. A second timeline follows the adult Elwood’s efforts to build a life and maintain relationships in the aftermath of his imprisonment and escape.
You don’t watch Nickel Boys so much as experience it – seeing and hearing what Elwood and (later) Turner see and hear. The film’s first-person approach can sometimes be distracting, not least because of the impulse to compare it with your own sense of what looking looks like.
That said, the film honours Whitehead’s ambivalence, developing a visual style that amplifies a major plot twist in the novel. It turns the darkest events into a luminous fable of endurance.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The future of Australia’s key climate policy is uncertain after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said a Coalition government would review the measure, known as the “safeguard mechanism”, which is designed to limit emissions from Australia’s largest industrial polluters.
According to the Australian Financial Review, if the Coalition wins office it will consider relaxing the policy, as part of its plan to increase domestic gas supplies.
Evidence suggests weakening the mechanism would be a mistake. In fact, it could be argued the policy does not go far enough to force polluting companies to curb their emissions.
Both major parties now accept Australia must reach net-zero emissions by 2050. This bipartisan agreement should make one thing clear: winding back the safeguard mechanism would be reckless policy.
What’s the safeguard mechanism again?
The safeguard mechanism began under the Coalition government in 2016. It now applies to 219 large polluting facilities that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year. These facilities are in sectors such as electricity, mining, gas, manufacturing, waste and transport. Together, they produce just under one-third of Australia’s emissions.
Under the policy’s original design, companies were purportedly required to keep their emissions below a certain cap, and buy carbon credits to offset any emissions over the cap. However, loopholes meant the cap was weakly enforced.
Labor strengthened the safeguard mechanism after it won office, by setting a hard cap for industrial emissions. The Coalition voted against the reforms.
Dutton has since labelled the safeguard mechanism a “carbon tax”
– a claim that has been debunked. Some members of the Coalition reportedly believe the policy makes manufacturers globally uncompetitive.
Now, according to media reports, a Coalition government would review the safeguard mechanism with a view to weakening it, in a bid to bolster business and increase gas supply.
Why the safeguard mechanism should be left alone
Weakening the safeguard mechanism would lead to several problems.
First, it would mean large facilities, including new coal and gas projects, would be permitted to operate without meaningful limits on their pollution. This threatens Australia’s international climate obligations.
Second, if polluters were no longer required to buy carbon offsets, this would disrupt Australia’s carbon market.
As the Clean Energy Regulator notes, the safeguard mechanism is the “dominant source” of demand for Australian carbon credits.
In the first quarter of 2024, about 1.2 million carbon-credit units were purchased by parties wanting to offset their emissions. The vast majority were purchased by companies meeting compliance obligations under the safeguard mechanism or similar state rules.
If companies are no longer required to buy offsets, or they buy fewer offsets, this would hurt those who sell carbon credits.
Carbon credits are earned by organisations and individuals who abate carbon – through measures such as tree planting or retaining vegetation. The activities are often carried out by farmers and other landholders, including Indigenous organisations. Indigenous-led carbon projects have delivered jobs, cultural renewal and environmental benefits.
The safeguard mechanism, together with the government pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, also provides certainty for the operators of polluting facilities. Many in the business sector have called for the policy to remain unchanged.
And finally, winding back the safeguard mechanism would send a troubling signal to the world: that Australia is stepping back from climate action.
Now is not the time to abdicate our responsibilities on climate change. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen dramatically since 1960. This increase is driving global warming and climate change, leading to extreme weather events which will only worsen.
A hard-won policy
The safeguard mechanism has not had time to deliver meaningful outcomes. And it is far from perfect – but it is hard-won, and Australia needs it.
The 2023 reforms to the mechanism were designed to support trade-exposed industries, while encouraging companies to invest in emissions reduction.
Undoing this mechanism would risk our climate goals. It would leave the government limited means to curb pollution from Australia’s largest emitters, and muddy the roadmap to net-zero. It would also create uncertainty for all carbon market participants, including the polluting facilities themselves.
Felicity Deane 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.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has finally ended weeks of speculation and named the election date for the national parliament.
After months of unofficial campaigning, Australians will now be treated to a festival of democracy as promises are made, policies are announced, and the leaders travel the country to rally support.
Much of the campaigning by the parties will be focused on the House of Representatives. This is to be expected as the lower house is where government is formed by the party that wins the majority of seats in this chamber, and the leader of this party becomes prime minister.
While the election for the lower house dominates the campaign, the contest for the Senate is rarely mentioned.
This is a bit unfair as the Senate is an immensely powerful chamber.
The power of the Senate
Barring its inability to initiate or amend supply bills, the Senate has almost the same powers as the House of Representatives. Senators can introduce their own bills, as long as they’re not supply bills.
For any proposed bill to become law, it must be passed by the Senate as well as the House of Representatives.
All states have equal representation in the chamber. Currently, every state is represented by 12 senators, each with six-year terms.
This means half the Senate is up for election at every general election.
The territories are represented by two senators each and they face re-election at every general election. The current number of senators is 76.
Winning a majority in the Senate has no bearing on who forms government (it’s the result of the lower house – the House of Representatives – which determines this). It does, however, make it easier for the government to pass bills to become law if it enjoys a majority in this chamber.
Who wins seats in the Senate?
The voting system in the Senate is very different to the House of Representatives. To win a seat in the House of Representatives, a candidate must win 50% +1 of the votes cast in the district.
In the Senate, however, a candidate must win a proportion (approximately 14.3%) of the state-wide vote.
This makes it a bit easier for minor parties to win representation as they can rely on broad support from across the state to reach the required threshold.
Changes introduced in 2016 mean Australians have choice on how to complete their Senate ballot paper. They can either number six or more candidates of their choice above the black line, or vote below the line by numbering 12 or more candidates.
While parties will organise their own preference deals to benefit them, voters are ultimately in control of where their preferences go.
Thanks to the voting system used in the Senate, it is rare for a government to hold a majority of seats in the upper house. The last time this occurred was in 2004 when the John Howard-led Coalition enjoyed a majority in the chamber.
The current Senate
Following the 2022 election, both major parties lost ground in the Senate. To have a majority in the chamber, a party must have 39 seats. Currently, Labor has 25 representatives, while the Coalition has 30.
The remaining seats are held by the Greens with the third highest number of representatives (11), One Nation (2), Jacqui Lambie Network (1), United Australia Party (1), and six Independents.
Several high-profile senators are up for election in 2025. In Queensland, for example, Malcolm Roberts from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation will be up for re-election, Jacqui Lambie will be recontesting in Tasmania, while Independent Senator David Pocock from the ACT will be seeking another term.
There will also be some other prominent senators hoping to be re-elected from established parties.
These include Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (Country Liberal Party) and Senator Malarndirri McCarthy (ALP) from the Northern Territory, Liberal James Paterson from Victoria, Sarah Hanson-Young from the Greens in South Australia, and Jordan Steele-John from the Greens in Western Australia.
The 2025 contest
Fewer people have been voting for the major parties in recent years. In 2022, the vote for non-major party candidates reached a high of 35.7% (which, as Antony Green reminds us, was higher than the primary vote for both the Coalition and Labor).
Since the 1980s, Australians appear to have become open to supporting non-major party candidates contesting the Senate. If this continues as expected in 2025, whoever becomes prime minister will have to deal with the diverse interests and policy demands from those in the upper house.
While the campaign for the Senate may go under the radar over the next few weeks, who is elected to the Senate will have a massive impact on Australian politics for years to come.
Zareh Ghazarian 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.
Good health care depends on evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. They translate the best available research into recommendations that shape diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies.
But what happens when the studies underpinning these guidelines are flawed?
Evidence suggests scientific misconduct – from fabricated or manipulated data to methodological errors and ethical concerns – is a growing problem. In some disciplines, estimates suggest as many as 40% of studies included in systematic reviews may have issues with their integrity.
This is not just an academic issue. When flawed studies are used to guide real-world health care, the consequences for health-care providers and ultimately patients can be serious. They include unnecessary or even harmful treatments, delay or denial of other effective treatments, wasted resources and a loss of public trust in science and health care itself.
Yet until recently, there has been no formal method to identify and manage flawed studies, before they make their way into clinical recommendations. We recently helped develop a framework that addresses this crucial gap. Published in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine, this framework provides a step-by-step process for evaluating the integrity of studies used in clinical guidelines and systematic reviews.
In an era of increasing concern about research misconduct, it’s a timely and much-needed advance.
Clinical care relies on research integrity
Randomised controlled trials are considered the gold standard in medical research.
Their results often underpin clinical guidelines that shape day-to-day decisions in health care. But what if a randomised controlled trial contains fabricated data? Or is conducted without ethics approval? Or is retracted after being used in a previous guideline?
A 2020 study found 44% of randomised controlled trials submitted to a major medical journal between 2017 and 2020 contained problematic or false data.
Compounding the problem is the fact that journal editors and publishers can be very slow to respond to concerns about research integrity.
For example, between November 2017 and April 2024, a group of researchers wrote to editors and publishers of 891 potentially untrustworthy papers published in 206 different journals. At the time their study was published earlier this year, only 30% of the papers they flagged had received an outcome – 58% of which were retracted.
Notably, it took a median time of 38 months for editors and publishers to make a decision. In only 13% of the flagged cases was a decision made within 12 months.
The ripple effects of this can be enormous. A review by the independent Cochrane Collaboration of nutrition interventions in pregnancy found that removing studies with integrity concerns changed the conclusions of 72% of reviews. One third (33%) needed to be updated because their guidance was no longer reliable.
Despite this, most guideline development tools — including those from the World Health Organization — assess methodological quality, not the trustworthiness or integrity of the studies that are included.
When flawed studies are used to guide real-world medical advice, the consequences for doctors and ultimately patients can be serious. Yuri A/Shutterstock
A practical framework for safeguarding integrity
Our framework features a six-step process for safeguarding research integrity:
Review: conduct a standard systematic review to identify eligible studies
Exclude: remove studies that have been formally retracted or are flagged with serious concerns
Assess: use available tools and checklists to assess the integrity of the remaining studies
Discuss: convene an independent integrity committee to review ratings and vote on each study
Establish contact: reach out to authors of high-risk studies to clarify issues or provide missing information
Reassess: based on responses (or lack thereof), determine whether a study should be included, excluded, or held in limbo.
The integrity committee is central to this approach. It is a multidisciplinary group responsible for assessing studies objectively, without preconceived judgements or biases around which studies to exclude.
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a common hormonal, reproductive and metabolic condition affecting 8–13% of women of reproductive age, depending on the diagnostic criteria used. It can cause irregular menstrual cycles, elevated androgen levels, and an increased number of small follicles in the ovaries, visible on ultrasound. It is a leading cause of infertility.
The guideline was developed with input from diverse professional and consumer groups. It was endorsed by 39 organisations across six continents.
In making recommendations on infertility treatment in polycystic ovary syndrome, 101 studies were initially identified. After applying our framework, 45 studies were not included due to concerns about integrity. Only three authors responded to clarification requests. This illustrates the problem with transparency after publication.
Without our framework, these problematic studies may have directly shaped recommendations and health care for women with polycystic ovary syndrome around the world.
Our framework was incorporated into the National Health and Medical Research Council review process that approved the guidelines. It has since been applied to other guidelines in women’s health. Further scale up is planned.
A 2020 study found 44% of randomised controlled trials submitted to a major medical journal between 2017 and 2020 contained false data. T.Schneider/Shutterstock
Some drawbacks
While our framework offers a much-needed solution, it’s not without drawbacks.
Second, older studies (conducted before trial registries were common) or those from countries with different ethics standards, may be unfairly penalised.
There is also a risk that valid research could be excluded simply because authors do not respond to integrity enquiries.
Implementing the framework can also take time. In resource-limited settings, this may be a barrier.
But failing to assess integrity will likely cost more in the long run. It could lead to flawed recommendations, misplaced public confidence and patient harm.
Aya Mousa receives funding from NHMRC.
Ben W. Mol receives funding from NHMRC, MRFF as well as international competitive grants.
Helena Teede receives funding from NHMRC and MRFF as well as international competitive grants. She is President of International Endocrine Society.
Seemingly innocuous conversations, informed by online campaigns, could interfere with elections.(Matt Quinn/Unsplash), CC BY
Election interference is a much broader phenomenon than is often assumed. Once limited to intimidation, voter fraud or hacking, election interference includes more mundane, pervasive and ubiquitous interactions. A seemingly innocuous and casual chat with a neighbour or barista could now be considered part of a hostile influence campaign.
From this perspective, interference is less about how ballots are cast and more about shaping the motivations, intentions and contexts in which voters think about politics. Yet those same processes, debates, persuasions and messy arguments are integral to democracy.
If “election interference” encompasses all efforts to influence opinion, do we risk diluting its meaning, creating a new hollow accusation like “fake news?” More importantly, if this broad view is right, it raises difficult new challenges beyond the narrow measures of election law.
Blurred lines
Germany recently accused Elon Musk of meddling in their February election, claiming that his prominent endorsement of the Alternative for Germany party on X was an illegal foreign donation. During the 2022 Brazilian election, misinformation on WhatsApp and Telegram swayed voter intentions, and the Superior Electoral Court frequently requested that content be taken down.
Much of this content was homegrown, produced, endorsed and circulated by Brazilians themselves. If such content was traditional journalism, existing laws and standards could be applied. But when it resembles ordinary political speech, many see takedowns as censorship. Blurred lines between citizen speech and journalism complicate the laws and policies designed to address clearly defined electioneering.
During the 2020 Taiwan elections, officials worried that pro-unification memes came not only from Chinese-controlled bots and paid posters (itself a form of election interference), but were trending because the TikTok algorithm systematically prioritized it.
And in the United States, the legislative push to ban TikTok gained momentum alongside political concern that an apparent uptick in anti-Israel sentiment was caused by covert manipulation of TikTok’s algorithm.
Broader concerns
Concerns about election interference should extend the focus beyond the ballot to include information vulnerabilities. Politicians of all stripes have called for action on deceptive speech, but there is little agreement on the nature of the problem, especially across partisan divides
Complaints about fake news are as likely to be strategic as sincere. News isn’t just about facts, it’s about what matters and why, and as such, media regulation should not solely be determined by the legal system. There is the risk that any effort to control content used to interfere with elections (propaganda, disinformation, fakes) will be inescapably partisan, thus unacceptable in democracies.
The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) notes some of these concerns. The act indicates that monitoring and reporting about societal risks and public transparency databases will be required. It establishes “trusted flaggers” (experts and civil society groups) to help moderate content. It doesn’t mention elections, but voices concerns that platforms may be “used to disseminate or amplify misleading or deceptive content, including disinformation,” which can undermine fundamental rights.
Currently, too much speech is circulating, along with the power given to algorithms and human moderators to make sense of it. This suggests a different ideal — the freedom to be informed and in control of our information environments, to feel authentically represented and to have fair dealings with speech platforms. Translating these to policies and slogans is much harder than a hands-off approach to media regulation.
Overwhelmed with information, consumers favour brands, curators, editors, tastemakers, vibes and tribes that align with their personal values. If there is a shift in values, consumers cancel, unfollow and disconnect — and then replace the source.
Trust-breaking disrupts the systems we use to filter, verify and contextualize information. This is exemplified in “firehose of falsehood” tactics and hack-and-leak operations that simultaneously sow distrust and weaponize predictable reactions.
Scales of influence
For every internationally important election or referendum, there are hundreds of local contests, municipal elections, internal party nominations and the like that shape political realities just as meaningfully. Influencers operating at small scales can have outsized effects that ripple through broader constituencies. A post on a local forum might spark a thousand invisible offline conversations.
These broad concerns about vulnerabilities in our media systems matter all the time, not just during elections. Political representation requires trust in the media that inform us about what other people and communities think and care about. These reflections are distorted by online social media platforms and messaging apps.
We will have to eventually consider something like a “made in Canada” Digital Services Act that can give voters a voice in the kind of information environment they want. There’s much to be learned from the EU’s early lessons, especially as they respond to American tech companies that control so much of the online information space.
The project will create new creative, community and co-working spaces, allowing the charity to support 50% more young people each year.
Paddington Arts, a youth arts charity in Westminster, has secured £2.7 million from Westminster City Council to redevelop and expand its building.
The investment forms part of the council’s North Paddington Programme and Cultural Strategy. The project supports with the council’s Fairer Westminster ambitions and its approach to supporting voluntary and community organisations
The project will create 545 square metres of additional space. New facilities will include a dance studio, consultation rooms, co-working space, roof terrace, reception, café and live performance area.
Match funding includes £1.419 million from the North Paddington Capital Budget, £1.25 million from the Paddington Arts Capital Budget, and £50,000 already approved. The council’s support unlocks £830,000 raised by Paddington Arts from external funders including the Garfield Weston and London Marathon Foundations.
The redevelopment will allow Paddington Arts to increase the number of young people it supports by 50%. Founded in 1988, the charity runs creative programmes for children and young people, many from disadvantaged backgrounds.
New spaces will also support mentoring, emotional wellbeing, and disability arts. The expanded building will offer long-term financial resilience through workspace rental and venue hire. Paddington Arts has signed up to the council’s Sustainable City Charter, with plans including a green roof and energy-efficient systems.
Match funding conditions include a 100-year charge on the building and a requirement to develop a new partnership strategy with local organisations. A senior council officer will join the charity’s board. The redevelopment is expected to complete within three years.
North Paddington is now home to one of London’s Creative Enterprise Zones — part of a city-wide initiative to make space for artists and creative businesses to put down roots and grow.
The designation brings new investment into skills, training and affordable workspaces, helping local people access careers in one of the UK’s fastest-growing sectors.
Paddington Arts is a key part of this creative infrastructure. Its expansion supports the wider ambition to make North Paddington a place where culture and opportunity go hand in hand.
Councillor Cara Sanquest, Cabinet Member for Communities, said:
I’m pleased that Westminster City Council is supporting the redevelopment of Paddington Arts with this match funding. Paddington Arts is a long-standing local organisation that has played a big role in the lives of generations of children and young people in North Paddington since 1988. This investment will enable Paddington Arts to provide more opportunities to access the arts – from drama to dance and playing steel pan – in an area with high levels of deprivation and to expand their valuable services.
Steve Shaw, the Director of Paddington Arts says:
Paddington Arts has been working with children and young people in our community for over thirty-five years. We came up with a scheme to build an extension to our building, to include a café, rehearsal studio, creative workspace, and a roof garden. We are delighted that the Council has agreed to provide us with the necessary funding to complete our extension, and we look forward to working together to provide much needed facilities and creative activities for our young people and for the community. This new space will also allow us to strengthen our support and collaboration with other local organisations.
Notes to Editors
The Cabinet’s decision is to subject to the council’s usual call-in procedures.
Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)
March 31, 2025
Senators say “requirements in this illegal order would likely disenfranchise millions of American voters…places a variety of other process burdens on voters, especially married women, rural residents, and low-income voters, and communities of color.”
Washington D.C.—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said today they have joined Senate colleagues in calling on Donald Trump to revoke his illegal anti-voter executive order that would disenfranchise millions of Americans.
“This unlawful directive exceeds your authority over an independent agency and would likely disenfranchise millions of eligible American voters by creating barriers to voting, while also inviting chaos into state voter registration processes – including by inappropriately sharing Americans’ data with the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE),” the lawmakers wrote. “Under the Constitution and existing law, this Executive Order cannot be implemented. Sadly, we are not surprised at your continued efforts to undermine our free and fair elections. From welcoming foreign election interference in our elections, to supporting the January 6 insurrection, to promoting baseless election conspiracy theories, your dangerous rhetoric has undermined public confidence in our election system.”
The proof of citizenship requirements in the executive order would restrict the right to vote for millions of Americans given the burden it creates to obtain these documents. Nearly half of all American citizens do not have valid passports, and millions more have a legal name that differs from other government-issued documents, including up to 69 million married women whose birth certificates no longer match their legal name.
The senators emphasized that the order runs counter to the constitutional foundation that elections are to be primarily administered by the states. They also sounded the alarm on the order’s attempt to empower DOGE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to review state voter registration lists, other state records, and various federal databases, with the power of subpoena.
“Voting by noncitizens is already a federal crime and, despite unsubstantiated claims to the contrary, is extremely rare. By interjecting DOGE into the process, this order would interfere with states’ maintenance of voter registration lists, compromising voters’ personal information,” the lawmakers continued.
“The new federal voter registration requirements in this illegal order would likely disenfranchise millions of American voters. Millions of Americans do not have passports and many face challenges obtaining other documents that would be required by this order, if it was ever implemented,” the lawmakers concluded. “This order also places a variety of other process burdens on voters, especially married women, rural residents, and low-income voters, and communities of color.”
The letter was led by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif. In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter is also signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and U.S. Senators Cory Booker, D-N.J., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Angus King, I-Maine, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
The full text of the letter is here.
Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) joined his colleagues to introduce legislation that will direct much-needed funding to farmers in Maine. The Honor Farmer Contracts Act would release federal funding — currently being withheld by the White House — for all contracts and agreements previously agreed to by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Farmers, and the organizations that serve them, operate on tight margins, and right now are waiting for funding they rightfully deserve and need for essential operations. This legislation would require the USDA to pay farmers all past due payments as quickly as possible to prevent them from having to shut down. If not quickly made whole, these organizations will be forced to make difficult and unnecessary financial decisions, destroying years of progress in advancing local food systems.
“Farmers are an original building block of our state economy, providing jobs and a secure food source for thousands of people in Maine and across the northeast,” said Senator King. “The Honor Farmer Contracts Act would ensure that Maine’s farmers receive the federal funding from all signed agreements and contracts as quickly as possible to prevent any operations from having to shut down. This is a critical step to protect the Maine agricultural economy and food supply that everyone in our state rely on for their essential nutrition needs.”
“Maine farmers produce milk, apples, beef, seafood, wild blueberries, vegetables, and more. These nutritious foods sustain the health of Americans in Maine, New England, and throughout the country, and are the lifeblood and the economy of rural communities across the state,” said Eric Venturini, President of the Agricultural Council of Maine. “Increasingly, Maine’s farmers are forced to compete within our own domestic market with cheaper imported foods. The economic sustainability of the Maine agricultural community requires constant change and innovation to remain competitive in this global marketplace. USDA staffing and funding are all essential programs that support Maine farms. We thank Senator King and others for their ongoing support to maintain these important programs for Maine farms.”
“Farmers are struggling with a perfect storm of stressors from escalating costs of production to labor shortages to low pay prices to extreme weather events,” said Heather Spalding, the Deputy Director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. “The last thing that farmers need right now is for USDA to abandon the farmers they have pledged to support. Honoring the farmer contracts is all about putting American farmers first. It’s about building self-reliance, a strong economy, a clean environment and healthy people.”
The Honor Farmer Contracts Act would:
Require USDA to unfreeze all signed agreements and contracts;
Require USDA to make all past due payments as quickly as possible;
Prohibit USDA from cancelling agreements or contracts with farmers or organizations providing assistance to farmers unless there has been a failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement or contract.
Prohibit USDA from closing any Farm Service Agency county office, Natural Resources Conservation Service field office or Rural Development Service Center without providing 60 days prior notice and justification to Congress.
The Honors Farmers Contracts is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Dick Durbin (D-Ill), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
To read the full text of the bill, click here
appy Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month! This is a time to celebrate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their many contributions to their communities. As the month comes to a close, this year’s theme from the Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities, “Developmental Disabilities Awareness Always,” reminds us that awareness and support should happen all year round, not just in March.
At the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), our goal is to make sure everyone, no matter their abilities, has the opportunity to thrive and be included. Through our Office of Developmental Disabilities Services (ODDS) and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program, we help people with I/DD and their families by offering services that help them live fulfilling lives, discover their talents, and support their individual choices.
To get ODHS I/DD services, people must apply and meet certain requirements. To learn more, visit our I/DD Services and Eligibility page or contact your county’s Community Developmental Disabilities Program (CDDP) or Support Services Brokerage.
Services for people with I/DD include:
Employment supports: We believe that everyone who wants to work should have support to try to find employment. ODHS offers VR services to help people with disabilities, including those with I/DD, prepare for, find, and keep meaningful jobs. These services provide job training, skill-building, and job placement support. ODHS also supports businesses in hiring and retaining employees with disabilities.
Family support: ODHS offers family support to help families caring for children with I/DD at home. Families can choose services that best meet their needs, like extra help with daily tasks, and training on how to support their child. The goal is to help families stay healthy, independent, and safe while providing the care their child needs.
Healthier Oregon (Medicaid) services: Medicaid helps people of all ages get the medical care and support they need. For people with I/DD, there may be even more services available. In Oregon, the Healthier Oregon program provides free health coverage through the Oregon Health Plan for people who meet income and other requirements – no matter their age or immigration status. This means that anyone who qualifies for I/DD services can get the support they need, including help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, eating, and getting around the community, or getting assistive technology to make life easier and more independent.
In-home support: Adults with I/DD can get in-home support to help them live independently and stay engaged in their community. Through a CDDP or Brokerage, eligible adults can receive help with daily tasks like personal care, meal preparation, shopping, and making their home safe and accessible.
Just like adults, children with I/DD can receive in-home supports to help their families care for them at home. For children with very high medical or behavioral needs, Children’s Intensive In-Home Services (CIIS) and the Children’s Extraordinary Needs Program offer additional support. With the Children’s Extraordinary Needs Program, parents and guardians can receive up to 20 hours of paid care per week to help with their child’s needs (due to limited funding, this program currently has a waitlist).
Out-of-home services: Some people with I/DD need extra support and may live in settings outside their family home. For adults, support is available through Supported Living, 24-Hour Residential Homes, and Adult Foster Homes. Services coordinators help individuals create a person-centered plan and find the best housing option. In addition, ODHS has a Stabilization and Crisis Unit (SACU) that supports individuals with I/DD and mental health challenges. When people enter SACU in crisis, we focus on stabilization and transitioning them to lower levels of care, aiming for reintegration into community-based settings.
For children, out-of-home support options include Foster Homes, Host Homes, and Residential Care Homes. These services ensure that people with I/DD receive the care, stability, and support they need while staying connected to their families and communities.
Service coordination: People with I/DD who are eligible for services get a services coordinator that connects with them or their families to assess their needs and create a plan that helps them thrive. An Individual Support Plan (ISP) is built around their strengths, interests, and goals, ensuring they get the right services for their health and safety. Each year, services coordinators meet with individuals and their families to review their progress and adjust their ISP as needed.
Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month is an opportunity to recognize the vital role that services play in supporting people with I/DD. By ensuring access to the right services and supports, we hope to build a future where everyone in Oregon, can feel safe, supported, and able to reach their highest potential. For more information about ODHS I/DD services, visit https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/idd/Pages/default.aspx.
Marine Le Pen, figurehead of France’s Rassemblement National (RN), one of the most established far-right parties in Europe, has been found guilty of embezzling funds from the European parliament.
During her time as an MEP between 2004 and 2017, Le Pen and her team paid party staff with funds that should have gone to European parliamentary aides. The ruling estimates that a total of €2.9 million (£2.4 million) in European parliament funds were involved in the crimes and that Le Pen personally embezzled €474,000 of that total.
She has been sentenced to four years in prison, two of which would be electronic monitoring. She is also unlikely to see the inside of a cell for the other two years as she is appealing her conviction.
More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that she has been banned from holding public office for five years. Crucially, the ban is to start immediately, meaning that even with an appeal, Le Pen is highly unlikely to be able to stand as a candidate in the next presidential election in 2027.
For many in the RN, the court’s decision will be a major blow. The party appears to have lost the candidate they believed was on course for victory in 2027. However, others will no doubt see this as a chance to distance the party further from the Le Pen name, following the death of Marine Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen earlier this year.
This process has been in motion for some time. Jordan Bardella took over from Le Pen as president of the party in 2022 and has clearly been waiting and preparing for this eventuality. Allegations were first levelled at Le Pen many years ago and her crimes relate to her time as an MEP between 2004 and 2017. He has been the plan B option throughout her trial.
Bardella led the RN to victory in the 2024 European election in France. He also managed to send a record number of parliamentarians to the National Assembly after French president Emmanuel Macron called a snap election just weeks later.
This was, nevertheless, a somewhat disappointing outcome as many on the far right had started to imagine Bardella as prime minister. Since failing to meet this expectation, his leadership has come under more scrutiny. His reaction to Le Pen’s sidelining will be watched carefully.
Playing the victim
Overall, it is good news to see corruption being taken seriously and justice being served. However, Le Pen’s conviction comes after years of embezzlement which has allowed the far right to build its strength. All this has come on the back of a system it has vowed to destroy. As such, it feels like too little too late.
Furthermore, this decision, and the fact that it is tied to the European Union, is likely to feed into typical far-right propaganda on the domestic stage. Le Pen and the party will play the victim, blaming Le Pen’s fate on a wide conspiracy organised by something akin to the deep state operating via Brussels.
The deep levels of distrust in public institutions and mainstream politics are likely to play a role here. Le Pen will aim to paint the decision of an independent court as the political assassination of the “champion of the people”.
She could become a martyr, turning her cause into a revolt against “the system”. Bardella has already said that Le Pen’s conviction amounted to the “execution” of democracy.
Crucially, though, this outcome isn’t inevitable. Whether such a narrative takes hold is a choice that is very much in the hands of mainstream elite actors. Those who have a privileged access to shaping public discourse, such as journalists, politicians and experts will therefore play a key role.
Instead of giving pride of place to Le Pen and the far right in a tempting sensationalising coverage, the mainstream media must turn to serious analysis. This would involve removing the focus from individuals and putting it on the wider issues at hand. That would lessen the potential for a narrative of victimisation to take hold.
Beyond providing an accurate picture of the case itself, good coverage should predominantly focus on politics rather than on the spectacle the RN will inevitably try to construct as a diversion tactic. This would mean engaging seriously with what the RN actually proposes as a model of society: one that is not against the “elite” and for the people, but merely in favour of a different elite taking control at the head of a top-down authoritarian state.
This would then allow voters to understand that the far right is not on their side, but on the side of power, wealth and hierarchies. Those who oppose such a takeover could go some way to fix the damage that has been done with carelessly associating these parties with “populism”.
Finally, good coverage would also mean shifting the agenda away from the far right and its pet issues. Had politicians – left, right and centre – not continuously used the far right as a diversion from their own failures to tackle the many crises their countries face, the far right would not be as powerful as it seems.
As opinion polls show, when people are asked what are their biggest concerns personally, issues core to the far right such as immigration are low. Instead, it is issues that would require radical measures to tackle economic and social insecurity which are prioritised.
The far right offers nothing to address these – only division to make citizens powerless to fight back. Now that Le Pen is out of the picture, it is a good time to shift the agenda back to democracy and hope.
Aurelien Mondon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo
Washington, D.C.–Access to affordable housing remains one of the most pressing issues affecting both employees and employers across Idaho. Today, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) launched a housing survey across the state of Idaho to solicit feedback from homeowners, renters, insurance brokers, bankers, realtors, government officials and general contractors. Information provided in the survey will help inform Senator Crapo of common issues where legislation may be considered.
“A lack of affordable housing is the number one issue Idahoans raise with my staff and me in meetings across the State,” said Crapo. “Idaho is far from alone in this nationwide challenge, but Idahoans can be a key part in piecing together the housing puzzle as I continue to work to find collaborative solutions to this issue. I invite any Idahoan to complete the survey and share as much detail as they are willing and able to provide.”
The housing survey follows the model of Senator Crapo’s veterans’ surveys from 2014 and 2015 that ultimately resulted in legislation Senator Crapo introduced being signed into law.
The survey is available on Senator Crapo’s official website at https://www.crapo.senate.gov/issues/affordable-housing-survey, or at the QR code at the bottom of this release. Flyers with the QR code can be picked up at any of Crapo’s Idaho regional offices, listed below. At the conclusion of the survey, data will be aggregated and released into a final report available to the public. No personally identifiable information will be included in the final report and responses will ensure anonymity.
The housing survey will run through May 31, 2025.
Boise
251 E. Front St.
Suite 205
208-334-1776
Coeur d’Alene
610 Hubbard St.
Suite 209
208-664-5490
Lewiston
313 D St.
Suite 105
208-743-1492
Twin Falls
202 Falls Ave.
Suite 2
208-734-2515
Pocatello
275 S. 5th Ave.
Suite 138
208-236-6775
Idaho Falls
410 Memorial Dr.
Suite 204
208-522-9779
