Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 31 — China has broken new ground in work related to veterans and martyrs affairs during the 14th Five-Year Plan period from 2021 to 2025, Minister of Veterans Affairs Pei Jinjia said at a news conference on Thursday.
In 2022, China issued the first national-level special plan in the field of veterans’ affairs to bolster services and support for retired servicemen. Efforts in employment assistance, training, and rights protection have achieved the expected outcomes since the introduction of the plan, Pei said.
IMPROVING JOB SUPPORT
During the five-year period, China has rolled out a series of regulations and policies to support the employment of retired military personnel and broaden their career opportunities.
Veterans are playing an increasingly important role in the country’s economic and social development, said Vice Minister of Veterans Affairs Xu Yao at the press conference.
China has provided job placements to over 250,000 demobilized officers and veterans since 2021, Xu said, adding that more efforts will be made to expand job opportunities and streamline placement procedures for veterans.
According to Sheng Baochen, an official from the ministry’s employment and entrepreneurship department, more than 50,000 job fairs have been held, helping over 1.4 million veterans secure employment opportunities.
The ministry has guided localities to establish 1,988 business incubation bases to support veterans in business startups nationwide over the past five years, Sheng said.
Approximately 370,000 veterans now serve as officials of villages and communities, more than 14,800 have become teachers in primary and secondary schools, and over 18,000 have joined China’s national comprehensive fire and rescue teams, he added.
ENHANCING VETERAN SERVICES
Pei also highlighted the ministry’s strong focus on improving the construction of service centers in the past five years.
Efforts have been made to ensure nationwide coverage of veteran services through a six-tiered network of service centers and stations, extending from the national level to villages and communities, with a total of 610,000 units established so far, Pei said.
In addition, service delivery has been streamlined through the development of mobile apps tailored for veterans, and this digital approach has enhanced service efficiency and improved overall service quality, Pei added.
Veteran affairs coordinators have been recognized by the government as a new occupation, he said, referring to personnel working at veterans service centers and stations handling tasks such as policy consultation, employment and entrepreneurship support, and rights protection for veterans.
“The continuous improvement of veteran service centers and stations and their work standards has brought closer ties between veterans and the Party and government,” Pei said.
HONORING FALLEN HEROES
From 2021 to 2025, China took back home the remains of 265 soldiers of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV) who died in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953) and honored them with solemn burial ceremonies.
According to Pei, DNA samples from the returned remains of 981 CPV soldiers and DNA samples of over 1,300 family members of martyrs have been collected, forming a refined, dynamic database.
Additionally, China has set up a center for searching and identifying fallen soldiers’ remains, along with a national DNA laboratory for the identification of the remains of martyrs.
Pei also highlighted that the country has identified burial sites or found relatives for 7,000 fallen soldiers.
This achievement was made possible through a public service platform launched by the ministry, which encourages and guides public participation in such search efforts, he noted.
The ministry is committed to strengthening the preservation and utilization of martyr memorials, said Chen Erwei, an official with the ministry, at the press conference.
Furthermore, China plans to unveil new national-level memorials, historical sites, and a list of prominent heroes from the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), Chen said.
CALGARY, Alberta, July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Acceleware® Ltd. (“Acceleware” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: AXE), a leading innovator of cutting-edge radio frequency (“RF”) power-to-heat technologies targeting process heat for critical minerals, amine regeneration (for carbon capture and other applications), and enhanced oil production, announces that the Company closed the first tranche of the non-brokered private placement of units (the “Units”) that it previously announced on June 30, 2025 (the “Private Placement”) and distributed a total of 7,913,342 Units, at a price of $0.10 per Unit, for total gross proceeds of $791,334.20. It is anticipated that one or more subsequent tranches of the Private Placement will be closed in due course.
Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a “Common Share”) and one common share purchase warrant of the Company (a “Warrant”). Each Warrant entitles the holder of the Warrant to acquire one Common Share, at an exercise price of $0.20, which will expire which will expire 24 months from the date of issuance. If the Common Shares trade at a closing price at or greater than $0.30 per Common Share for a period of thirty (30) consecutive trading days, Acceleware may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof, and in such case, the Warrants will expire on the 30th day after the date on which such notice is given by Acceleware.
The Common Shares issued in connection with the Private Placement, the Warrants, and any Common Shares issued upon exercise of the Warrants will be subject to a four-month hold period which will expire on December 2, 2025 in accordance with applicable securities legislation. There were no finders’ fees or commissions paid in connection with the Private Placement.
The Company expects to use the proceeds of the Private Placement to fund a portion of the Company’s RF XL 2.0 redeployment plan, to advance commercialization of new RF heating applications, including critical minerals applications and amine regeneration applications including carbon capture, and for general corporate purposes.
Insiders of the Company purchased a total of 1,300,000 Units under the Private Placement, which is considered a related party transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”). Acceleware relied on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of MI 61-101 based on a determination that the fair market value of the Private Placement does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the Company. No new insiders and no control persons were created in connection with the Private Placement.
About Acceleware
Acceleware is an advanced electromagnetic heating company with cutting-edge RF power-to-heat solutions for large industrial applications. The Company’s technologies provide an opportunity to electrify and decarbonize industrial process heat applications while reducing costs.
The Company is working to use its patented and field proven Clean Tech Inverter to materially improve the efficiency of amine regeneration, and has partnered with a consortium of world-class potash partners seeking to decarbonize drying of potash ore and other critical minerals. Acceleware is actively developing other process heat applications and partnerships for RF heating.
Acceleware’s RF XL is a patented low-cost, low-carbon RF thermal enhanced oil production technology for heavy oil that is materially different from any enhanced recovery technique used today.
Acceleware is a public company listed on the TSXV under the trading symbol “AXE”.
Cautionary Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and/or forward-looking information (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. When used in this release, such words as “will”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “expects” and similar expressions, as they relate to Acceleware, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Acceleware with respect to future events, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause Acceleware’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any expected future results, performance or achievement that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Certain information and statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements, which reflects Acceleware’s current expectations regarding future events, including, but not limited to the use of proceeds under the Private Placement; the anticipated completion of any additional tranches of the Private Placement; the receipt of applicable approvals and exemptions (including the Company’s board of directors, shareholders, and regulatory approvals including approval of the TSXV) relating to any additional tranches of the Private Placement, the statutory hold periods applicable to the Units and; the anticipated participation by insiders in the Private Placement.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the availability of investment capital and other funding; receipt of necessary approvals; availability of financing for technology and project development; uncertainties and risks with respect to developing and adopting new technologies; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; change in demand for technologies to be offered by the Company; obtaining required approvals of regulatory authorities and/or shareholders, as applicable; ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. For a more fulsome list of risk factors please see the Company’s December 31, 2024, year-end Management Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) available on SEDAR+ atwww.sedarplus.ca.
Management of the Company has included the above summary of assumptions and risks related to forward-looking statements provided in this release to provide shareholders with a more complete perspective on the Company’s current and future operations and such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release is intended for distribution in Canada only and is not intended for distribution to United States newswire services or dissemination in the United States.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
For more information:
Geoff Clark Tel: +1 (403) 249-9099 geoff.clark@acceleware.com
Transport Minister Chris Bishop has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signed construction contracts with two alliances to build the new Ōtaki to north of Levin Road of National Significance, with construction set to get underway this spring.
“The Government is committed to delivering safe new roading infrastructure that helps boost economic growth and productivity, improves resilience, reduces travel times, and supporting much needed housing. The 24km Ōtaki to north of Levin project is critical for Kāpiti and Horowhenua and is a step forward for these priorities,” Mr Bishop says.
“The existing Kāpiti Highway currently sees up to 19,500 vehicle movements per day. Once completed, those travelling on the new Ōtaki to north of Levin Highway will experience significantly improved journey times, with up to 15-minute travel time savings for trips from Ōtaki to north of Levin, and 6 minutes for trips from Ōtaki to Levin.
“The two alliance teams will each deliver a section of the new highway and associated works, with Downer, McConnell Dowell, Beca and Tonkin+Taylor focused south of the Ohau River, and Fulton Hogan, HEB, WSP and Aurecon focused to the north.
“Ōtaki to north of Levin is one of the final stages of the Wellington Northern Corridor, started by the previous National Government in 2013. Its completion will improve safety by shifting heavy traffic out of local town centres, making regional freight trips more efficient and making it easier for locals to get around. It will also unlock new opportunities for housing and urban development.
“We know how important this project is to the region, and I appreciate that patience of local communities, road users, and freight operators while we took the necessary time to get this project across the line. Both alliances are cooperating across the project to ensure it is delivered smoothly and efficiently, and I look forward to being on site in the next few months to turn the first sod and kick off construction.”
In preparation for the start of construction, the alliance teams are underway with other site establishment works, including fencing, building demolition and relocations, establishing site accesses and construction roads, and setting up environmental controls. The site office on Tararua Road is now complete.
The new road is expected to be open to traffic before the end of 2029.
Notes to Editor:
Ōtaki to north of Levin is a crucial part of the Wellington northern corridor started by the previous National Government in 2013. It builds on the success of Transmission Gully, and the Mackays to Peka Peka and Peka Peka to Ōtaki Roads of National Significance.
Over the last year the alliances have operated under interim agreements as developed design and project costings have been carried out, with a strong focus on delivering on the project outcomes in an affordable way.
In June, the NZTA Board confirmed additional funding for the project, enabling the project to progress, and including some features from the earlier concept design.
21km of the new highway is four-laned, with the northernmost 3km, beyond the State Highway 57 (SH57) traffic split, being two lanes.
At the southern connection with Peka Peka 2 Ōtaki (PP2Ō), northbound traffic will be able to exit the new highway, and southbound traffic will be able to join the northern end of PP2Ō, to continue south.
A grade-separated interchange at Tararua Road, in Levin, will enable northbound and southbound traffic to leave or join the new highway, and local traffic continue uninterrupted
Large roundabouts at SH57 and the northern end of Ō2NL will transition traffic from the modern highway to the regional state highway network beyond.
In addition to the local road connection at Manakau Heights, local roads connect under or over the new highway at South Manakau Road, North Manakau Road, Kuku East Road, Muhunoa East Road and Queen Street East.
A north-south shared user path provides walking and cycling facilities between local communities.
The new road was approved for tolling in December 2024
ST. LOUIS, July 31, 2025– More than 3,200 IAM Union District 837 members at Boeing in the St. Louis area will vote on a modified offer from the company on Sunday, Aug. 3 beginning at 10 a.m. CT. A strike would begin at midnight on Monday, Aug. 4 if the modified offer is rejected.
Changes in Boeing’s modified offer:
Alternative Workweek Schedule (AWS) Proposal Withdrawn: Current contractual overtime policies remain unchanged.
Pay Enhancements: Added an annual 50 cent per hour additive for employees at max.
Retirement: Full $10 pension multiplier increase in Year 1, instead of $5 each in Years 2 and 3 for pension-eligible members. You must retire after January 1, 2026 to receive the $10.
The modified offer does not change proposed 20% wage increases, the $5,000 ratification bonus, vacation or sick leave, or healthcare.
This vote follows members’overwhelming rejectionof Boeing’s earlier proposal on Sunday, July 27.
The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, shipbuilding, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries across the United States and Canada.
goIAM.org|@IAM_Union
The post IAM Union District 837 Members at Boeing Defense in St. Louis to Vote on Modified Contract Offer appeared first on IAM Union.
Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Deb Fischer
Funds to construct training facility for air transport of infectious disease patients, replace hospital water heating systems, upgrade operating room equipment
Today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced she advanced $18 million in funding to support improvements and modernizations of health care facilities in Nebraska. The funding was included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health, and Human Services (LHHS) Appropriations Act, which now awaits consideration on the Senate Floor.
“Nebraskans deserve modernized and efficient hospitals and emergency care systems as they face ongoing health challenges. The $18 million I advanced for Nebraska through my position on the Appropriations Committee is a good step to help fulfill the mission of delivering quality care to secure better health outcomes for the people of this state,”Fischer said. Funding advanced by Fischer:
$12,000,000 for the University of Nebraska Medical Center to construct a training facility for air transport of infectious disease patients
$3,500,000 to the City of O’Neill to replace the boiler and water heating systems at Avera St. Anthony’s Hospital
$2,500,000 to upgrade operating room equipment at the Community Healthcare System in Friend
Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn
WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) proposed the Senate remaining in session into the month of August or changing Senate rules if Democrats persist in their extreme and unprecedented obstruction of President Trump’s nominees. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.
“I don’t believe, Mr. President, that the Senate should leave town without ensuring that President Trump has his nominees and his team in place.”
“We find ourselves really in an unprecedented situation where Democrats, rather than picking and choosing the nominees they choose to object to, have simply chosen to object to all of them, forcing us to burn a lot of valuable floor time that we could be using for other more constructive purposes, and delaying President Trump, who after all, won the election last November, the team he’s entitled to govern and carry out his policies.”
“What our Democratic colleagues are saying is, we will agree to no confirmation votes on Trump nominees during his second term.”
“Many of these nominees – I think roughly 30 of them – are Senate-confirmed nominees to serve as an ambassador in our embassies around the world.”
“I don’t have to remind all of us that the world has become a much more dangerous place and, the idea that the United States would not have a Senate-confirmed ambassador in these embassies around the world is simply shooting ourselves in the foot.”
“China and Russia and our other adversaries, they certainly have their ambassadors working in each of those countries to further their interests, but the idea that the United States would be absent because Senate Democrats simply refuse to confirm these ambassadors is really beyond the pale.”
“What we’re talking about really are rank-and-file people, who are confirmed by a vote of the Senate.”
“I personally believe that we should change the law and not require Senate confirmation for many of these positions.”
“The Democrats simply are mindlessly obstructing the confirmation of these non-controversial, really apolitical nominees.”
“If we can’t reach some sort of negotiated outcome that is satisfactory to President Trump, then we need to either stay here or change the Senate rules.”
“Senate Democrats are the ones that brought us to where we are today, and they’re the ones responsible for the blame.”
Volcano Watch — Distant versus local earthquakes and tsunami response times in Hawaii
Earthquakes and tsunamis in the news over the past few days are a reminder that we live on a dynamic planet with different hazards and associated response times. While tsunamis generated by large, distant earthquakes take hours to traverse the Pacific Ocean, it is important to remember that local earthquakes can also generate tsunamis—but with much less warning.
Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological SurveyHawaiian Volcano Observatoryscientists and affiliates.
On July 29, 2025 at 1:24 p.m. HST, a magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. A tsunami warning was issued for the State of Hawaii at 2:43 p.m. HST, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) issued a forecast for the first waves of a tsunami to arrive on Hawaiian shores a few minutes after 7:00 p.m. HST. With hours to prepare for the eventual arrival of tsunami waves, sirens sounded and cell phones received multiple alarms as coastal areas were evacuated. As PTWC modeled, tsunami waves began moving through the Hawaiian Islands after 7:00 p.m. HST and had a maximum measurement of 1.7 meters (5.7 feet) in Kahului, Maui. There was ultimately no significant damage in Hawaii and the warning was cancelled just before 11:00 p.m. HST.
Large distant earthquakes in the past have generated tsunamis that caused significant damage and deaths in Hawaii. In 1946, a magnitude-7.9 Aleutian Islands, Alaska earthquake generated a tsunami that killed 159 people in the State of Hawaii, with a maximum wave run-up height of 16 meters (55 feet) measured at Pololū Valley on the Island of Hawaiʻi. In 1960, a magnitude-9.5 earthquake in Chile, South America generated a tsunami that killed 66 people in Hilo, with a maximum wave run-up height of 10.6 m (35 feet). Then in 2011, the magnitude-9.0 Tohoku, Japan earthquake generated a tsunami with maximum wave heights of about 3.6 m (12 feet) in Hawaii. Though there was significant damage in Hawaii from the Tohoku tsunami, there were no deaths locally.
Improved earthquake detection and tsunami monitoring, along with streamlined emergency communication techniques—such as the text alarms sent in Hawaii on July 29—reduce the risk of people being injured or killed by tsunamis. Another important factor is the response time; tsunami waves generated by distant earthquakes take hours to reach the Hawaiian Islands, which gives people time to evacuate vulnerable areas. Local tsunamis, however, do not need to travel far to reach our shores, which leaves residents and emergency management agencies a much shorter time to respond.
Large fault slips along the bases of Hawaiian volcanoes have historically produced damaging earthquakes that generated local tsunamis, and they will certainly do so again in the future. These events leave residents little time to evacuate to safety. Researchers from the University of Hawai‘i have modeled that a tsunami generated from the south flank of the Island of Hawai‘i can wrap around and reach Hilo Bay 4–5 minutes after the earthquake, before propagating through the Hawaiian Islands in less than an hour.
In 1868, an estimated magnitude-7.9 earthquake occurred beneath Mauna Loa volcano in the District of Kaʻū. It caused landslides and a local tsunami that affected the entire south coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi, killing nearly 100 people. In 1975, a magnitude-7.2 earthquake beneath the south flank of Kīlauea volcano generated a tsunami with maximum wave run-up heights of about 14 meters (47 feet). Two people were killed and many more were injured. Even the magnitude-6.9 earthquake beneath Kīlauea in 2018 generated a small local tsunami with a maximum wave height of 40 centimeters (15.7 inches) in Hilo.
A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist measures a scarp that formed on the south flank of Kīlauea during the magnitude-7.2 earthquake in 1975. In this area, near Poliokeawe Pali in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, the scarp is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) high. USGS photo by P. Lipman.
During these large local earthquakes, the southeast part of the Island of Hawaiʻi—called the Hilina Slump, with its toe beneath the ocean surface—shifts to the southeast and downwards. As this part of the island moves, it displaces ocean water, generating the damaging tsunamis that quickly inundate local shores.
If you are near the shore in Hawaii, be aware of your surroundings. If you feel strong shaking from a large earthquake, remember that the time you have to respond before the tsunami arrives could be minutes. Receding water could be a sign of an impending tsunami wave to follow. Do not wait for sirens or cell phone alarms, because the tsunami could occur before there is time for those alerts to be sent. Immediately head for higher ground, and wait for emergency management agencies to sound the all-clear before returning to the shoreline.
Volcano Activity Updates
Kīlauea has been erupting episodically within the summit caldera since December 23, 2024. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is WATCH.
Episode 29 of the Kīlauea summit eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu crater occurred on July 20. Summit region inflation since the end of episode 29, along with persistent tremor, suggests that another episode is possible. Current inflation data indicate that episode 30 is likely to start between July 31 and August 3. Sulfur dioxide emission rates are elevated in the summit region during active eruption episodes. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.
Mauna Loa is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert Level is at NORMAL.
No earthquakes were reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week.
HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.
Please visit HVO’s website for past Volcano Watch articles, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa updates, volcano photos, maps, recent earthquake information, and more. Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — The death toll from recent heavy rainfall in Beijing has risen to 44, with nine people still missing, city authorities said at a press conference on Thursday.
Beijing Vice Mayor Xia Linmao said 31 people died at a care center for the elderly in Taishitun Township, Miyun District.
The recent flooding in Beijing affected more than 300,000 residents and damaged about 24,000 homes. Heavy rainfall mainly hit the northern mountainous areas, where the infrastructure of 40 townships and townships and 312 administrative villages was seriously damaged.
According to Xia Linmao, heavy rains triggered flash floods of devastating force, aggravated by a sharp increase in water inflow from upper rivers.
From July 23 to 29, the Chinese capital was hit by prolonged and intense rainfall, which hit mountainous areas such as Miyun, Huairou, Yanqing and Pinggu districts the hardest, causing flash floods.
According to Xia Linmao, on the evening of July 26, due to sudden torrential rain, Beijing authorities immediately issued the highest level of “red” warning in the affected areas and activated the first level of emergency response, issuing alerts and safety recommendations for the population. Emergency rescue operations were promptly organized, during which 104 thousand people were evacuated. Thanks to search and rescue operations, it was possible to rescue more than 5,400 people who were trapped due to the disaster. The vice mayor added that assistance to the victims is currently ongoing.
Xia Linmao also said that 364 of the 424 damaged rural highways have been cleared so far, and all major highways are scheduled to be fully reopened to traffic by Thursday. Emergency water supply has been restored to all affected administrative villages, and electricity has been restored to 105 of the 213 villages that experienced power outages. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Thursday 31 July 2025, Geneva, Switzerland – Parliamentary leaders from some 120 countries gathered at the United Nations Office at Geneva for the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, a summit convened every five years by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in partnership with the United Nations (UN).
The Conference, regarded as the world’s top parliamentary forum, was held from 29 to 31 July 2025. It gathered hundreds of participants, including 102 Speakers of Parliament, 34 Deputy Speakers, MPs, diplomats, UN officials, experts, and representatives from civil society, academia and the media.
The Conference took place amid rising global tensions and regional conflicts. After three days of debate and negotiations, the Speakers adopted a Declaration outlining the key transitions that are needed to advance peace, justice and prosperity, underpinned by a renewed commitment to deepen parliamentary engagement with the United Nations through a call for stronger and more effective multilateralism.
The Declaration highlights the need for greater collaboration and enhanced political will to tackle issues including climate change, armed conflict, economic instability and digital transformation. Parliamentary leaders underscored the view that global challenges require coordinated responses and solidarity among nations.
The Speakers also stressed the need to restore public trust in democracy and in its key institutions. The Declaration urges governments to fully integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into national policy, to tackle the rise in misinformation, and to ensure that legislation is grounded in science and evidence.
Security, the parliamentarians declared, should not be viewed solely through a military lens. Instead, they called for a broader approach that addresses the root causes of insecurity, from poverty and inequality to environmental decline.
Gender equality was a central theme, shaped in part by the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, which preceded the Conference. The Summit, co-hosted by the IPU and the Swiss Parliament, reinforced calls to put women’s empowerment and gender parity at the heart of efforts to build peace and foster innovation.
Discussions in Geneva covered the need for economic reform, with parliamentary leaders supporting a shift towards sustainable, people-centred models. The Declaration advocates for investment in the green and care sectors and calls for greater protection of vulnerable populations.
As part of its forward-looking agenda, the Conference also called for stronger regulation of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, ensuring they are governed responsibly and used peacefully, with respect for fundamental rights and for the benefit of all of society.
Quotes:
Michael Douglas, actor, activist and UN Messenger of Peace, opening the Conference, said: “When your faith is in short supply… look to [the] dreamers. To progress, and those who make it possible. Most of all: look to one another. To leaders willing to choose compromise over ego. To parliaments that act as lighthouses, amidst a tempest of authoritarianism. To legislative bodies, struggling towards inclusive democracy – but refusing to give up. And to the parliamentarians not just in here, but out there, linking arms with the people in the fight against cruelty, against corruption, against kings.”
Tulia Ackson, IPU President, said: “We are all products of our communities and of our interaction with others, starting with our parents, day after day, for our entire lives. In Africa we express this idea in one word: Ubuntu. Which roughly means: I am, because you are. Likewise, there is no such thing as a nation that can live and prosper in isolation from the rest of the world. There can be no national interest defined in total juxtaposition to what is good for the world as a whole. Now more than ever, as the world has grown smaller and more interdependent, countries need to work together to find solutions to their common problems.”
Maja Riniker, President of the National Council of Switzerland, said: “We must put gender equality at the very centre of peace and security, now. Conflicts disproportionately affecting women and girls, gender-based violence used as a weapon of war have to stop. Women must be in peace negotiations and peace processes equally with men. We must ensure they are not only present but empowered, supported and resourced to take decisions at every stage of diplomacy, conflict prevention, negotiations, and post-conflict recovery. We must also ensure that international humanitarian law is upheld and that the consequences of conflict are addressed in a gender-responsive manner.”
Tatiana Valovaya, Director General of the UN Office at Geneva, said: “The United Nations deeply values its cooperation with parliaments, which are the beating heart of democracy. Parliamentary leadership is indispensable to the multilateral system: you craft laws, shape budgets, and hold governments to account. We are very pleased that the new era for the Assembly Hall starts with this World Conference.”
Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General, concluding, said: “Looking at the number of Speakers and other high-level parliamentarians who have gathered here in Geneva and spoken so passionately over the past two days about their priorities to build a better world, I am filled with a renewed hope. A renewed belief that there is a future for the multilateral system that the UN has been building for 80 years… and the IPU for 136 years. A belief that we are stronger together, that dialogue and diplomacy are better tools for solving problems than bullets and bombs, and that parliaments can play a key role in reinvigorating global cooperation.”
The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 181 national Member Parliaments and 15 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes peace, democracy and sustainable development. It helps parliaments become stronger, younger, greener, more innovative and gender-balanced. It also def
“Peace Action Wellington completely opposes the opening of a US FBI office in Aotearoa New Zealand. The decision by the NZ government to allow a foreign country’s police force to operate here is terrifying.
This is particularly true given the authoritarian regime in power in the US and the FBI’s behaviour since Trump’s election,” said Valerie Morse, member of Peace Action Wellington.
“The FBI anti-terrorism units have been involved in numerous raids and arrests of student activists at universities across the US. These brutal investigations have nothing to do with criminal actions by anyone and everything to do with student support for Palestine.”
“The NZ government’s statement that a key area of collaboration is anti-terrorism is therefore extremely alarming. We have seen the kidnappings and deportations by US federal agents for those involved in nonviolent protests in the US. We want no US policing here.”
“The FBI is a US domestic police force. Its operation here raises very serious questions about its jurisdiction and powers here. We are concerned that FBI officers may be operating here with complete diplomatic immunity from prosecution and may be carrying firearms.”
“New Zealand’s most recent public experience with the FBI was the botched raids on Kim Dotcom’s house in 2011. What we learned from that was NZ’s intelligence agencies engaged in illegal surveillance for the FBI, and the charges brought against Dotcom were not even things that are illegal in this country. In short, the entire case, which is still going on, has been one violation of rights after another.”
“We would like to know if there are other foreign police forces operating here. We expect that there will be widespread opposition to the establishment of an FBI office.”
Among the 138 recommendations of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry’s final report to parliament was a clear call: remove the legal time limits that prevent survivors of historic abuse from seeking justice in civil court.
Without that reform, survivors of historic abuse remain vulnerable to being turned away by the legal system – not because their experiences aren’t credible, but because the law still treats them as being out of time.
The royal commission heard from thousands of survivors of childhood abuse in the care of state and faith-based institutions between 1950 and 1999. What stood out was how often that harm was made worse by silence, disbelief and legal systems that failed to respond.
Limitation periods in abuse cases
Under New Zealand law, people generally have six years from the time a harm occurs to bring a civil claim. That limit is set out in the Limitation Act 2010 for events after 2011, and in the Limitation Act 1950 for events before that.
For survivors of historic abuse, particularly childhood abuse, that six-year window rarely reflects how trauma actually works. Survivors often take decades to feel sufficiently safe and supported to come forward and name what happened to them.
The 1950 law allowed limitation periods to be paused if a claimant was under a “disability” – a legal term meaning they were either a child or, in the language of the time, of “unsound mind”. In practice, this meant the six-year clock usually didn’t start for children until they reached adulthood.
The 2010 law clarified this by explicitly saying the limitation period for children begins at 18. It also introduced a new “incapacitated” exception, allowing the clock to pause for adults who are unable to make decisions or take legal action because of trauma or other conditions.
But in practice it’s a narrow doorway. Courts require survivors to prove not just trauma, but a high legal incapacity threshold.
This means that even when the abuse is acknowledged, and even when survivors have strong evidence, civil cases are often barred. The bar is not that the harm didn’t happen, but that it happened “too long ago”.
How civil time limits deny justice
In 2019, former Air Force servicewoman Mariya Taylor brought a civil claim against the sergeant who had sexually abused her in the 1980s while both were stationed at the Whenuapai base.
The court accepted the abuse had occurred. But because Taylor was not legally considered “disabled” by trauma, and the six-year window had closed, her case was struck out under the Limitation Act 1950. Adding insult to injury, she was ordered to pay costs to her abuser.
At 18, Taylor had entered a rigid military hierarchy where power and discipline made reporting abuse nearly impossible.
Her case shows how limitation periods can block even well-evidenced claims, and how institutional dynamics such as silence, shame and obedience often delay disclosure.
These same patterns were pivotal to the royal commission’s findings.
Survivors can now bring civil claims regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. In landmark case in 2023, GLJ v. The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore, the High Court of Australia rejected a request to shut down proceedings even though the alleged abuser and other witnesses had died. The court said the case could still go ahead using available evidence.
The GLJ decision is important for New Zealand courts. It shows that while removing time bars doesn’t guarantee victory for survivors, it does give them the chance to be heard.
Delayed but not denied
Removing time limits for civil claims involving historic abuse, as the royal commission recommended, is now overdue.
A first step would be for the government to clearly commit to amending the Limitation Act 2010 to exclude claims of historic abuse – especially child sexual abuse – from the six-year deadline.
This would bring New Zealand into line with Australia and recognise what we now know about the delayed nature of disclosure, trauma and institutional silence. It would also honour the spirit of the royal commission’s work.
As courts and commissions have recognised, removing limitation periods doesn’t guarantee a win for survivors. But it does mean they’re at least allowed to try.
For years, survivors have been told they’ve spoken too late. Reforming limitation laws won’t undo the harm they suffered. But it will show their testimony matters, and that justice delayed does not have to mean justice denied.
Zoë Prebble 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.
Following the news that the US will impose 25% tariffs on all Indian imports starting from 1 August 2025.
Ramnivas Mundada, Director of Economic Research and Companies at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:
“These significant tariffs, coupled with penalties linked to India’s dealings with Russian energy and military supplies, pose serious challenges for key export sectors, including electronics, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and textiles. Compounding these issues, six Indian companies have recently been sanctioned by the US Department of State for engaging in petroleum trade with Iran. Against this backdrop, GlobalData has revised its 2025 economic growth forecast for India from 6.6% in March 2025 to 6.5% in July 2025.
“The Indian stock market initially reacted sharply to the trade tariff announcement, with the Nifty50 falling below 24,700—down 189 points—and the BSE Sensex dropping 600 points in early trading on July 31, 2025. The MSCI India Index also recorded its weakest monthly performance since February, reflecting heightened investor concerns around trade tensions and export sector exposure. However, market sentiment has since steadied, suggesting that investors have largely absorbed the initial shock and are now recalibrating expectations considering the evolving trade landscape.
“The rupee also weakened significantly in response to the tariff announcement, experiencing its largest one-day decline since May 2025 and falling past the 87 level against the US dollar on 30 July 2025.
“According to ITC Trade Map data, exports of electrical machinery and equipment, gems and jewelry, pharmaceuticals, machinery and mechanical appliances, and mineral fuels collectively represented over 51% of India’s exports to the US in 2024. Additionally, the possibility of manufacturing operations relocating to other Asian countries with lower tariffs poses a significant threat to India’s standing as a manufacturing hub.
“In conclusion, the ongoing stalemate in trade negotiations between the US and India underscores the complexities of their relationship. With the US justifying tariffs due to India’s high trade barriers and procurement of Russian goods, both nations face significant challenges ahead. As a US delegation prepares to visit India on 25 August 2025, for the sixth round of talks, achieving a mutually beneficial agreement is crucial for fostering stronger ties and ensuring the resilience of the Indian economy in an evolving global landscape.”
About GlobalData
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A New Urban Hospitality Hub to Open in Fall 2025 as Part of the “German Village” Concept
Chișinău, Republic of Moldova – July 31, 2025 – Amid a surge in tourism and international travel, Moldova is set to welcome its first ibis Styles hotel, part of the renowned Accor Group, a global leader in the hospitality industry. Scheduled to open in fall 2025, the project represents a €12 million investment and marks a new milestone in the development of Moldova’s HORECA and tourism infrastructure.
The hotel is a flagship component of the “German Village” urban concept, developed by Regata Imobiliare SRL, and is strategically located on the main road to Chișinău International Airport (RMO)—one of Europe’s most dynamic airports in its category, with a 48.3% increase in passenger traffic in the first half of 2025 alone, totaling over 2.45 million travelers.
“The opening of ibis Styles Chișinău marks a defining moment in the evolution of tourism in the Republic of Moldova. Through this project, we are contributing to the creation of a new hub of economic and touristic appeal, offering guests a hospitality experience that meets international standards in a creative and inclusive space. We are proud to be part of a project with such a broad and forward-looking vision for the urban future of Chișinău,”
– Natalia Dubina, General Manager, ibis Styles Chișinău.
“We are encouraged by the growing investment in Moldova’s tourism sector, reflecting the country’s rising profile as an attractive destination for the millions of visitors it welcomes each year.”
– Natalia Bejan, Director, Invest Moldova Agency
With a modern design inspired by tennis—echoing the creative identity of the wider development—the hotel will feature:
100 contemporary rooms
A modular event center (200+ m²)
A restaurant with bar and terrace
A fitness area
45 parking spaces.
The investment has already generated approximately 50 new jobs and is expected to attract international hospitality expertise to Moldova, further supporting local economic development.
This launch also signals Moldova’s increasing attractiveness for global hospitality groups and highlights the country’s potential to emerge as a competitive destination in Central and Eastern Europe, driven by sustainable, functional, and socially impactful development.
Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG: “The Lufthansa Group remains on course. Although the second quarter was again marked by geopolitical crises and economic uncertainties, we are today confirming our positive outlook for the full year. However, 2025 will remain a year of transformation for us, as delays in aircraft deliveries, certifications, and engine overhauls continue. The disproportionate burden on European airlines due to unilateral EU regulations also continues to put us at a disadvantage in global competition.
In this challenging environment, we were able to increase our operating result by almost a third in the second quarter and double the Lufthansa Group result. The basis for this economic success is and remains the regained operational stability of our airlines. Thanks to the tremendous commitment of our employees on board and on the ground, we are now able to report positive operating results for the first six months of the year. Our core brand achieved its best stability and punctuality figures since 2016. This not only significantly improved customer satisfaction but also had a noticeable impact on earnings due to lower compensation payments.
Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Technik once again demonstrated their global leading performance in the first half of 2025. It is also encouraging that our investment in ITA Airways is already contributing to the Group’s financial success.
We are continuing our necessary efforts to increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability, particularly in the turnaround of our core brand, in order to expand our position as the world’s largest airline group outside the US.”
Results
In the second quarter of 2025, the Lufthansa Group increased its revenue by three percent year-on-year to 10.3 billion euros (previous year: 10.0 billion euros). The Lufthansa Group generated an operating profit (Adjusted EBIT) of 871 million euros (previous year: 686 million euros). The improvement in earnings was mainly due to the four percent expansion of the flight program in the passenger business, a positive result from the investment in ITA Airways of 91 million euros, partly due to currency effects, and the doubling of the operating result of the logistics business segment compared to the previous year. As a result, the operating margin increased by 1.5 percentage points year-on-year in the second quarter. The Group net result was 1.01 billion euros, more than double the previous year’s figure (469 million euros). This disproportionate increase was due to extraordinary tax effects and currency effects.
Passenger numbers and traffic development
In the first half of the year, more than 61 million passengers flew with the airlines of the Lufthansa Group, an increase of two percent compared with 2024. In the second quarter alone, the airlines welcomed around 37 million passengers (previous year: 35.9 million) on board. Despite a four percent increase in seat capacity, the load factor remained stable compared with the previous year at 82 percent.
The passenger airlines’ revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) declined slightly by 0.9 percent in the second quarter compared with 2024 after adjusting for currency effects. This was primarily due to lower average prices in the European business as a result of intensifying competition. In contrast, average revenues from intercontinental traffic remained stable despite a market-wide expansion of capacity. Unit costs (CASK) excluding fuel and emissions expenses rose by 4.1 percent compared with the same quarter last year due to ongoing cost inflation, driven in particular by personnel and location costs.
Overall, revenue from passenger airlines rose by three percent to 8.2 billion euros in the second quarter (previous year: 8.0 billion euros). Adjusted EBIT increased to 690 million euros (previous year: 581 million euros). All airlines generated a positive result in the second quarter.
In the first half year, revenue for the passenger airlines totaled 14.1 billion euros, representing growth of around four percent compared with the previous year. Adjusted EBIT improved to -244 million euros (first half of 2024: -337 million euros). The positive development is mainly attributable to lower fuel costs, higher income from investments, and the absence of financial strike-related expenses in the previous year. In contrast to the first half of 2024, network stability also improved significantly, resulting in a 106 million euros reduction in financial expenses due to flight irregularities.
The integration of ITA Airways, in which the Lufthansa Group holds a 41 percent stake in the first phase, is continuing to progress. The benefits for customers are already clearly noticeable. Since the beginning of July, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group and ITA Airways have harmonized the benefits for their respective status customers, such as mutual lounge access, priority boarding, and conditions for additional baggage.
Also since July, flights from Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines can be combined with long-haul flights from ITA Airways in a single booking. This has been possible for short- and medium-haul flights since March.
Starting in September, ITA Airways guests will be able to store their travel profile electronically in the Lufthansa Group Travel ID and benefit from the associated digital customer services of the Lufthansa Group.
Lufthansa Airlines continues to implement Turnaround program
Lufthansa Airlines’ Turnaround program remains on track. Increasing operational stability forms the foundation for the success of this program. Significant progress has already been made in this regard: punctuality and reliability achieved their best figures in ten years in the first six months. At the same time, revenues increased. Revenue from flight-related ancillary services rose by more than 25 percent in the first half of the year. In addition, structural measures have been initiated with the announced closure of the customer service center in Peterborough (Canada) and the associated reduction in personnel, which will make Lufthansa Airlines more efficient in the long term. The Turnaround measures are expected to have a gross earnings effect of 1.5 billion euros in 2026 and 2.5 billion euros in 2028.
Lufthansa Technik at record levels in the first half of the year, Lufthansa Cargo doubles its second quarter result compared with the previous year
The sustained high demand for air travel is leading to a further increase in demand for maintenance and repair services. Lufthansa Technik’s revenue rose by eight percent to 2.0 billion euros in the second quarter (same quarter last year: 1.8 billion euros). Ongoing material shortages, the US dollar exchange rate and increased US tariffs led to a ten percent increase in expenses compared with the same quarter last year. Nevertheless, Lufthansa Technik achieved an Adjusted EBIT of 310 million euros in the first half of 2025, once again setting a new record.
Lufthansa Cargo continued the positive trend of the first three months of the year in the second quarter. With an Adjusted EBIT of 73 million euros, the operating result in the second quarter doubled compared with the previous year (second quarter of 2024: 36 million euros). High demand for Asian e-commerce shipments and capacity bottlenecks in sea freight traffic led to an increase in demand and thus a higher load factor for Lufthansa Cargo. Since June 2025, Lufthansa Cargo has been marketing the freight capacity of ITA Airways’ South American routes to Rome. Lufthansa Cargo plans to gradually expand the marketing of belly capacity to all continental and intercontinental routes of the Italian airline. This will further consolidate Lufthansa Cargo’s route network.
Balance sheet strengthened, debt reduced
The Lufthansa Group’s operating cashflow amounted to around 2.8 billion euros in the first half of the year (previous year: 2.7 billion euros). Net investments remained at the previous year’s level at 1.6 billion euros. Overall, the Lufthansa Group generated an Adjusted Free Cashflow of 1.04 billion euros (previous year: 878 million euros).
Net debt decreased slightly to 5.5 billion euros compared with the end of 2024 (December 31, 2024: 5.7 billion euros). Net pension obligations fell by 400 million euros to 2.2 billion euros due to the higher discount rate. The Lufthansa Group’s available liquidity increased by 100 million euros compared with the beginning of the year to 11.1 billion euros.
Till Streichert, Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG: “We continue to operate in a volatile environment with high uncertainty and high cost pressure. I am therefore pleased to be able to present another quarterly result that is significantly above the previous year and to report progress in our Turnaround program. In our assessment, opportunities and risks are balanced. We therefore continue to expect a full year 2025 result significantly above the previous year and Adjusted Free Cashflow at approximately the previous year’s level. We thereby confirm our guidance. At the same time, we are closely monitoring macroeconomic developments and can respond flexibly to changes in the business environment.”
Outlook
Global demand for air travel remains strong. However, geopolitical crises and macroeconomic uncertainties, particularly commodity price and exchange rate volatility, are affecting the accuracy of forecasts for the rest of the year. In addition, the tendency of many travelers to book at shorter notice is limiting visibility for the second half of the year.
Despite ongoing global uncertainties, the Lufthansa Group is reaffirming its forecast for the full year and expects operating profit (Adjusted EBIT) to be significantly higher than last year (previous year: 1.6 billion euros) with capacity growth of around four percent.
The company continues to expect Adjusted Free Cashflow to remain at the previous year’s level (previous year: 840 million euros). This includes net investments of 2.7 to 3.3 billion euros, primarily for the ongoing fleet renewal.
Among other things, this will finance the remaining payments for the first Boeing 787-9 long-haul aircraft at the group’s largest hub in Frankfurt. By the end of the year, up to ten of these ‘Dreamliner’ with the new Allegris seat generation are expected to be added to the group’s fleet. In summer 2026, Lufthansa Airlines plans to operate a total of 15 Boeing 787-9 s from Frankfurt, more than doubling the number of aircraft offering the Lufthansa Allegris premium product to customers.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Two Chinese men were attacked on the street by four men in central Tokyo on Thursday, suffering severe head injuries, local media reported.
The four unidentified men in their 20s attacked the victims with iron pipes in Chiyoda Ward in the Japanese capital at around 9 a.m. local time, and fled the scene in a car with a Kansai license plate, Jiji Press reported.
The two victims, sustaining serious head injuries, and bleeding, said they had no prior acquaintance with the attackers, and no demands for money or anything else were made, the report said.
The two Chinese men were walking down the street when the incident happened.
Police were currently searching for the attackers.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
In a friendly match at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park on Thursday, Tottenham Hotspur secured a 1-0 victory over Arsenal.
Arsenal fielded a star-studded lineup, including Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, and Declan Rice, while Tottenham featured key players such as Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Mohammed Kudus.
The match began with Arsenal pressing forward, but Tottenham gradually found its rhythm and launched counterattacks. In the 28th minute, Wilson Odobert broke into the box and fired a shot that struck the post. Just before halftime, Pape Matar Sarr unleashed a stunning long-range lob to give Tottenham a 1-0 lead at the break.
Arsenal intensified its attacks in the second half, creating several dangerous chances. After the 60th minute, both sides made multiple substitutions, with Tottenham’s Son Heung-min and Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres entering the game in the 77th minute. Despite spirited efforts from both teams, the scoreline remained unchanged.
Moscow has updated the design of its metro map. Now, only smooth lines are used for the design, and large parks within walking distance from the metro are depicted on the map. The last time the map’s design was radically changed was in 2013.
Moscow Metro.
The Moscow Department of Transport has unveiled the updated map of the capital’s metro. Among the main changes: only smooth lines are used for the schematic representation, and large parks within walking distance from the metro are shown on the map. Maksim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport and Industry, noted that the innovations are aimed at making the map more convenient for passengers.
According to Liksutov, some elements on the map have been introduced for the first time in 90 years; the last time its design was radically changed was in 2013. The new map was prepared for the opening of the new section of the Line 16, Novatorskaya — ZIL.
“This year, we will change the design of the metro map for the convenience of users. A total of more than 38 thousand maps will be placed for the opening of the new section of the Troitskaya line. The design was developed taking into account feedback from passengers, and the new approach to creating navigation will allow Muscovites and tourists to read information even faster,” –commented the Deputy Mayor.
The Moscow Metro is the largest in Europe in terms of passenger traffic and ranks second in the world in this indicator. The metro development program provides for the construction of 31 more stations in Moscow by 2030.
Currently, work continues on the construction of the Lines 16 and 17, as well as the Dostoevskaya station of the Circle Line. Additionally, design work is underway for the Line 18 and the extension of the Line 3 with the construction of a new terminal station, Golyanovo.
span dir=”ltr”>The WOWtruckis a really fun portable gym that travels throughout Douglas County. It unfolds into a bike track, climbing wall, mini golf spread, ping pong tables, bowling alley, an obstacle course, a learning kitchen and more. Recently the WOWtruck set up at Oregon Department of Human Services offices in Roseburg.
“We bring the WOWtruck to our offices because it helps us make connections with our community. We do It to establish ourselves as a community organization and to create a strong bond with our community,” Jessica Hunter, ODHS Child Welfare Program Manager for Douglas County, said.
The WOWtruck has been at the ODHS offices at 738 W. Harvard Avenue in June and July. It plans on returning Wednesday, August 13 and again Wednesday, September 10 from 1 to 4 p.m., same time both days. The WOWtruck is sponsored by Thundering Water Upstream Healthcare and ODHS. The idea is that it offers healthy, physical activity that can help prevent illness and disease.
“All activities are designed to move your body and to engage with friends and family. It’s also important to note that Douglas County is very rural. Many residents live 30 miles away from Roseburg, where many community events are held. So, having a traveling activity brings equity to the community. The WOWtruck helps remove barriers. The activity comes to them,” Hunter said.
Hunter and staff also made sure the surrounding neighborhood residents, which includes subsidized housing, were invited to WOWtruck event. They delivered flyers to every door.
“We wanted to level the playing field for all kids in our community,” she said.
Several dozen families including parents, children and caregivers – participated in the activities at each event.
“Everyone was clearly having a good time. I looked around and I saw that no one – not teens, preteens or anybody, was on their phones. They were all involved in cooperative play and were communicating with each other. That was really nice to see,” Hunter said.
Hunter said she played a little ping pong and next time she might try the climbing wall. She called the bike track, “absolutely the best!”
Hunter credits “the incredible staff from Child Welfare and the Self-Sufficiency Programs for donating their time to make the WOWtruck days happen.” Staff also gave out free water bottles, snacks and popsicles.
To learn more about the WOWtruck:https://thunderingwater.org/wowtruck/
New York, NY, July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Ether Machine, the ether generation company, announced yesterday that The Ether Reserve LLC has purchased nearly 15,000 ETH at $3,809.97 USD for a total of $56,900,000.01 USD as part of The Ether Machine’s long-term accumulation strategy. This brings total ETH purchased and committed to 334,757 with up to $407,000,000 of USD remaining for additional ETH purchases.
Timed to coincide with Ethereum’s 10-year anniversary, the purchase marks the beginning of The Ether Machine’s treasury deployment, and reflects a deep conviction in ETH as the most important asset of the decentralized internet and its mission to build a long-term, institutional-grade ETH treasury.
“We couldn’t imagine a better way to commemorate Ethereum’s 10th birthday than by deepening our commitment to ether,” said Andrew Keys, Chairman and Co-Founder of The Ether Machine. “We are just getting started. Our mandate is to accumulate, compound, and support ETH for the long term – not just as a financial asset, but as the backbone of a new internet economy.”
The purchase was made by The Ether Reserve LLC from part of the $97 million in cash proceeds from its previously announced private placement. The Ether Reserve LLC will purchase additional ether from the remaining proceeds in the coming days, which will be announced separately.
In parallel with the accumulation announcement, Keys also made a personal donation of $100,000 to the Protocol Guild, a community-led funding initiative supporting Ethereum’s core protocol contributors. The Protocol Guild is widely recognized as one of the most effective models for open-source sustainability in Web3, having distributed millions of dollars to over 150 long-term researchers, developers, and maintainers responsible for Ethereum’s base layer.
“Ethereum would not exist without the tireless work of its core developers,” said Keys. “This donation is a token of thanks to the stewards of the protocol, and a celebration of everything Ethereum has made possible over the past decade. Happy 10th birthday, Ethereum.”
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About The Ether Machine
Formed through a business combination (to be completed) between The Ether Reserve LLC and Dynamix Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company (the “Business Combination”), pursuant to a definitive business combination agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), The Ether Machine is an Ethereum yield and infrastructure company purpose-built for institutional management and scale. Expected to be anchored by one of the largest on-chain ETH positions of any public entity, The Ether Machine will actively generate and optimize ETH-denominated returns through staking, restaking, and secure, professionally risk-managed DeFi participation. The Ether Machine also expects to provide turnkey infrastructure solutions for enterprises, DAOs, and Ethereum-native builders seeking access to Ethereum’s consensus and blockspace economy. To learn more, please visit www.ethermachine.com.
About Protocol Guild
Protocol Guild is a community-led funding mechanism that supports the long-term contributors maintaining Ethereum’s core protocol. Through an eligibility framework, member registry, and onchain contracts, the Guild allocates funding transparently and over time to those advancing Ethereum’s layer 1. It operates independently of governance decisions and helps ensure the protocol’s most critical work is sustainably supported as a public good. To learn, please visit www.protocolguild.org.
About Dynamix Corporation
Dynamix Corporation (“DYNX”) is a special purpose acquisition company incorporated under the laws of Cayman Islands for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. DYNX is led by the following seasoned investors and industry executives: Andrea “Andrejka” Bernatova, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Nader Daylami, Chief Financial Officer, Philip Rajan, Vice President of M&A and Strategy and board members, Lynn A. Peterson, Diaco Aviki and Tyler Crabtree. Additionally, Ralph Alexander, Joe Gatto, Peter Gross, Jimmy Henderson, Tommy Stone, and Steve Webster served as Advisors to DYNX. DYNX maintains a corporate website at https://dynamix-corp.com.
DYNX and The Ether Machine, Inc. (“Pubco”) intend to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a Registration Statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”), which will include a preliminary proxy statement of DYNX and a prospectus of Pubco (the “Proxy Statement/Prospectus”) in connection with the Business Combination and the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement and/or described in this communication (together with the Business Combination and the private placement investments, the “Proposed Transactions”). The definitive proxy statement and other relevant documents will be mailed to shareholders of DYNX as of a record date to be established for voting on the Business Combination and other matters as described in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus. DYNX and/or Pubco will also file other documents regarding the Proposed Transactions with the SEC. This communication does not contain all of the information that should be considered concerning the Proposed Transactions and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or any other decision in respect of the Proposed Transactions. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION, SHAREHOLDERS OF DYNX AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES ARE URGED TO READ, WHEN AVAILABLE, THE PRELIMINARY PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS, AND AMENDMENTS THERETO, AND THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR THAT WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH DYNX’S SOLICITATION OF PROXIES FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF ITS SHAREHOLDERS TO BE HELD TO APPROVE THE PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS AND OTHER MATTERS AS DESCRIBED IN THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS BECAUSE THESE DOCUMENTS WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DYNX, THE COMPANY, PUBCO AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS. Investors and security holders will also be able to obtain copies of the Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and all other documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC by DYNX and Pubco, without charge, once available, on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to: Dynamix Corp, 1980 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100, PMB 6373, Houston, TX 77056; e-mail: info@regen.io, or to: The Ether Machine, Inc., 2093 Philadelphia Pike #2640, Claymont, DE 19703, e-mail: dm@etherreserve.com.
NEITHER THE SEC NOR ANY STATE SECURITIES REGULATORY AGENCY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS DESCRIBED HEREIN, PASSED UPON THE MERITS OR FAIRNESS OF THE BUSINESS COMBINATION OR ANY RELATED TRANSACTIONS OR PASSED UPON THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE DISCLOSURE IN THIS COMMUNICATION. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY CONSTITUTES A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
The Pubco Class A Stock to be issued by Pubco and the class A units issued and to be issued by The Ether Reserve LLC (the “Company”), in each case, in connection with the Proposed Transactions, have not been registered under the Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.
Participants in the Solicitation
DYNX, Pubco, the Company and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed under SEC rules to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from DYNX’s shareholders in connection with the Business Combination. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers, and information regarding their interests in the Business Combination and their ownership of DYNX’s securities are, or will be, contained in DYNX’s filings with the SEC. Additional information regarding the interests of the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies of DYNX’s shareholders in connection with the Business Combination, including the names and interests of the Company and Pubco’s directors and executive officers, will be set forth in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus, which is expected to be filed by DYNX and Pubco with the SEC. Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of these documents as described above.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication is for informational purposes only and is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the Proposed Transactions and shall not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange the securities of DYNX, the Company or Pubco, or any commodity or instrument or related derivative, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act or an exemption therefrom. Investors should consult with their counsel as to the applicable requirements for a purchaser to avail itself of any exemption under the Securities Act.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws with respect to the Proposed Transactions and the parties thereto, including expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, plans, prospects, results or strategies regarding Pubco, the Company, DYNX and the Proposed Transactions and statements regarding the anticipated benefits and timing of completion of the Proposed Transactions, business plans and investment strategies of Pubco, the Company and DYNX, expected use of the cash proceeds of the Proposed Transactions, the Company’s ability to stake and leverage capital markets and other staking operations and participation in restaking, the amount of capital expected to be received in the Proposed Transactions, the assets held by Pubco, Ether’s position as the most productive digital asset, plans to increase yield to investors, any expected growth or opportunities associated with Ether, Pubco’s listing on an applicable securities exchange and the timing of such listing, expectations of Ether to perform as a superior treasury asset, the upside potential and opportunity for investors resulting from any Proposed Transactions, any proposed transaction structures and offering terms and the Company’s and Pubco’s plans for Ether adoption, value creation, investor benefits and strategic advantages. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “potential,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions.
These are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including regulatory review, Ethereum protocol developments, market dynamics, the risk that the Proposed Transactions may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, failure for any condition to closing of the Business Combination to be met, the risk that the Business Combination may not be completed by DYNX’s business combination deadline, the failure by the parties to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the Business Combination, including the approval of DYNX’s shareholders, or the private placement investments, costs related to the Proposed Transactions and as a result of becoming a public company, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the Proposed Transactions, the level of redemptions of DYNX’s public shareholders which may reduce the public float of, reduce the liquidity of the trading market of, and/or maintain the quotation, listing, or trading of the Class A shares of DYNX or the shares of Pubco Class A Stock, the lack of a third-party fairness opinion in determining whether or not to pursue the Business Combination, the failure of Pubco to obtain or maintain the listing of its securities any stock exchange on which Pubco Class A Stock will be listed after closing of the Business Combination, changes in business, market, financial, political and regulatory conditions, risks relating to Pubco’s anticipated operations and business, including the highly volatile nature of the price of Ether, the risk that Pubco’s stock price will be highly correlated to the price of Ether and the price of Ether may decrease between the signing of the definitive documents for the Proposed Transactions and the closing of the Proposed Transactions or at any time after the closing of the Proposed Transactions, risks related to increased competition in the industries in which Pubco will operate, risks relating to significant legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty regarding Ether, risks relating to the treatment of crypto assets for U.S. and foreign tax purposes, challenges in implementing its business plan including Ether-related financial and advisory services, due to operational challenges, significant competition and regulation, being considered to be a “shell company” by any stock exchange on which the Pubco Class A Stock will be listed or by the SEC, which may impact the ability to list Pubco’s Class A Stock and restrict reliance on certain rules or forms in connection with the offering, sale or resale of securities, the outcome of any potential legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Company, DYNX, Pubco or others following announcement of the Business Combination and those risk factors discussed in documents of the Company, Pubco, or DYNX filed, or to be filed, with the SEC. The foregoing list of risk factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of the final prospectus of DYNX dated as of November 20, 2024 and filed by DYNX with the SEC on November 21, 2024, DYNX’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, DYNX’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 20, 2025 and the registration statement on Form S-4 and proxy statement/prospectus that will be filed by Pubco and DYNX, and other documents filed by DYNX and Pubco from time to time with the SEC, as well as the list of risk factors included herein. These filings do or will identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known or that are currently deemed immaterial may also cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward- looking statements, and none of the parties or any of their representatives assumes any obligation and do not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, each of which are made only as of the date of this communication.
A class of synthetic opioids that are up to 1000 times more potent than morphine have been found in used syringes across metropolitan Adelaide, sparking fears of a wave of overdoses that could be lethal.
In the first study of its kind in South Australia, University of South Australia researchers have detected traces of nitazene in samples of discarded injecting equipment, plastic bags, vials and filters from public disposal bins at local needle and syringe program sites.
Their findings are published today (Friday 1 August) in the Drug & Alcohol Review.
Using highly sensitive chemical analysis, researchers identified nitazenes in 5% of 300 samples, mainly in combination with heroin and mostly found in syringes.
Nitazenes led to 32 overdose deaths in Australia between 2020 and 2024, with 84% of patients unaware the synthetic opioid was present in the drug they consumed. It is increasingly hidden in illicit drugs such as fentanyl and heroin, posing extreme overdose risks, often with fatal consequences.
“Nitazenes are among the most potent synthetic opioids in circulation today, some stronger than fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin,” according to lead researcher UniSA Associate Professor Cobus Gerber.
“These substances can be lethal in tiny quantities and are often mixed with other drugs, making them incredibly difficult to detect and monitor through traditional means,” he says.
Several different nitazenes were identified, some of them combined with the non-opioid veterinary sedative xylazine, which is not approved for human use.
“This is particularly alarming,” says Assoc Prof Gerber, “as xylazine has been linked to severe adverse effects, including necrotic skin lesions, prolonged sedation and depression.
“Finding xylazine alongside nitazenes in the same samples is a worrying sign because it mirrors what we are seeing overseas, especially in the United States, where these drug combinations are contributing to a wave of overdose deaths and complex clinical presentations.”
Less than one in five nitazene-related emergency cases in Australia involved people who knowingly took the drug, with most people mistakenly believing they consumed heroin, methamphetamine or other familiar substances.
“Accidental exposure is a key risk,” says co-author UniSA researcher Dr Emma Keller.
“When drugs are contaminated with nitazenes, the margin for error narrows dramatically. Standard doses can become fatal, especially for people who don’t know what their product contains or who don’t carry naloxone, a medication that can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.”
The detection of these substances in South Australia comes amid growing calls for expanded drug-checking services, including the use of nitazene-specific drug strips and public health alerts.
Associate Prof Gerber says that chemical testing of used drug paraphernalia is a non-invasive, effective way to identify emerging threats in the drug supply.
“This kind of data can trigger rapid alerts to health agencies, treatment services and peer networks, allowing people who use drugs to make more informed choices.”
Wastewater analysis is also used to detect illicit drugs in the community, but due to the sporadic nature of drug use, other monitoring approaches like chemical testing are necessary.
Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia, who co-authored the study, has shared the findings with community advisory groups, healthcare providers and the state’s early warning system network.
‘Searching for a Needle in a Haystack: Chemical Analysis Reveals Nitazenes Found in Drug Paraphernalia Residues’ in published in Drug and Alcohol Review. DOI: 10.1111/dar.70010
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Researcher contacts: Associate Professor Cobus Gerber M: +61 423 496 066 E:cobus.gerber@unisa.edu.au; Dr Emma Pedler M: +61 424 950 030 E: emma.pedler@unisa.edu.au Media contact: Candy Gibson M: +61 434 605 142 E:candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au
UniSA’s Dr Sarah Boyle and Dr Ben Singh, recipients of SA’s 2025 Young Tall Poppy Awards
Six researchers from the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia have been named as this year’s South Australian Young Tall Poppies, with their expertise in chrono-nutrition, climate science, marine ecology and precision measurement garnering this prestigious recognition.
The Young Tall Poppy science awards are an initiative of the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) and have been established to celebrate researchers who combine cutting-edge science with a passion for engaging and inspiring others.
“I am thrilled to see such a strong showing from both the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia,” said Professor Anton Middelberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Adelaide and Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation at Adelaide University.
“These are six bright young minds who are leading their fields and improving so many aspects of our society through their work. It is exciting to have their combined talent included in the inaugural cohort for Adelaide University, which opens in 2026.”
The University of Adelaide and University of South Australia researchers honoured in the South Australian 2025 Young Tall Poppy Science Awards comprise:
Dr Sarah Boyle is an ARC DECRA Research Fellow at UniSA’s Centre for Cancer Biology, leading the Cancer Matrix and Mechanics Group within the Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory. Her research investigates how cancer cells hijack non-cancerous cells in their vicinity, and how physical stress in the tumour’s ecosystem promotes metastasis and recurrence. By identifying the mechanisms involved, she is paving the way for new treatments and improved patient outcomes.
Dr Georgina Falster is a DECRA Fellow from the University of Adelaide’s School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, whose research focuses on climate science. She is interested in local and global water cycles from monthly to multi-centennial time scales, and is looking into how Australian droughts are changing and using water isotopes to track dynamic variability in the water cycle.
Dr Amy Hutchison is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute and Adelaide Medical School, and based within SAHMRI’s Lifelong Health Theme. Her research explores how modified meal patterns, such as intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding, can improve blood glucose control and cardiovascular risk – a field known as chrono-nutrition.
Dr Sarah Scholten, from the University of Adelaide’s School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, researches how the unique properties of light can be harnessed to break the boundaries of precision measurement. Dr Scholten is part of a team that has developed a compact high-stability clock that outperforms GPS navigation systems and could be more reliable for use as a timing signal in defence applications.
Dr Ben Singh, from UniSA’s Allied Health and Human Performance Academic Unit, researches physical inactivity and why so many people remain physically inactive despite knowing the benefit of exercise. His research is focused on developing practical, evidence-based tools to help people move more in their daily lives. From tailored exercise programs to mobile apps and wearable devices, he explores how to keep people active and support them to live healthier lives.
Dr Nina Wootton, a marine ecologist from the University of Adelaide’s School of Biological Sciences, has an interest in the impacts of plastic pollution on marine environments. Dr Wootton’s research has involved quantifying the amount of plastic and microplastic found in seafood species globally, analysing the potential effects of plastic on seafood species and fisheries, and working with the seafood industry to help develop solutions to this growing plastic problem.
South Australia’s overarching Young Tall Poppy of the Year will be announced on Friday, 8 August. For more information on the Tall Poppy Awards, visit the website.
Media contacts
Johnny von Einem, Senior Media Officer, University of Adelaide. Phone: +61 0481 688 436, Email:johnny.voneinem@adelaide.edu.au Annabel Mansfield, Senior Media Advisor, University of Adelaide. Phone: +61 479 182 489. Email: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au
Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development
The ACCC is warning battery and solar suppliers and electricity retailers their sales practices must meet scrutiny as demand for home batteries and solar systems jumps due to subsidy schemes and the large savings that households on solar and battery plans are experiencing.
The ACCC’s latest Electricity Inquiry Report examines emerging markets for new electricity services, particularly those supported by solar and battery systems, and compares the electricity bills of solar and battery customers with the bills of regular customers who draw only from the grid.
The report found that the Australian Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program is making batteries more affordable and providing more households an opportunity to lower their electricity bills. To ensure that consumers receive the full benefit of the Program, the ACCC is warning that retailers and installers must act in the consumer’s interest.
“As more Australian households switch to battery and solar plans, it’s important that the deals on offer are fair, accurate and easy to understand,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
“The ACCC will be watching carefully and actively monitoring consumer complaints. We will hold solar and battery installers, retailers and suppliers accountable to ensure they comply with Australia’s consumer laws.”
“Consumers looking to take advantage of the new subsidies for solar home batteries to lower their energy bills, should take their time and not feel pressured to rush in straight away,” Ms Brakey said.
The report emphasises the complexity of investing in a solar and home battery system and the need for consumers to understand whether the benefits they receive outweigh the costs, particularly when choosing system sizes.
The report supports calls for additional consumer protections to safeguard consumers purchasing systems and signing up to new energy services like virtual power plants. It also supports calls for an overarching consumer duty that requires energy companies to act in the interests of consumers.
“We believe additional consumer protections are needed as more Australians participate in markets for new and emerging energy services,” Ms Brakey said.
“We advise consumers to read the Australian Government’s Solar Consumer Guide, compare a number of quotes from different providers, and ask for personalised information from solar and battery sellers about the appropriate size for their system and the projected cost savings.”
Solar and battery customers see biggest bill savings
Australian households with rooftop solar and a home battery have electricity bills that are on average 40 per cent less than customers whose electricity comes entirely from the grid (regular users), the report found.
The report presents new analysis of the 2023 to 2024 billing outcomes of customers that have adopted different renewable energy solutions and compares them to regular users.
The median annual residential electricity bill for regular users, without rebates, in the National Electricity Market in 2023 to 2024 was $1,565. The median household with rooftop solar paid about 18 per cent less ($1,279 per year), while a household with solar and a home battery paid about 40 per cent less ($936).
Residential customers who are connected to a virtual power plant, which is an energy sharing network of solar and batteries, paid about 63 per cent less ($580) than the median household.
“Home solar and batteries continue to be a compelling option for Australians who can afford the upfront cost, with those who are connected to a virtual power plant saving up to almost $1000 off their annual bill,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
Median bills paid by regular, solar, battery and virtual power plant customers, by region, quarter 3 of 2023 to quarter 3 of 2024.
Government rebates bring down power bills by 21 per cent
The report also shows that government rebates resulted in the median quarterly household power bill dropping by 21 per cent between the third quarter 2023 and third quarter 2024.
Without rebates, the median quarterly bill would have instead risen by 4 per cent.
“The sharpest decline across the National Electricity Market was in South East Queensland, where rebates exceeded the median bill amount,” Ms Brakey said.
Background
The National Electricity Market is comprised of South East Queensland, New South Wales (including the ACT), Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. Western Australia and the Northern Territory are not connected to the National Electricity Market.
To inform this report, we collected billing data from 8 retailers, which cover 97 per cent of residential customers and 90 per cent of small business customers in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and South East Queensland. We obtained additional data for customers on virtual power plant services, electric vehicle tariffs and behavioural demand response plans.
In 2018, the Australian Government directed the ACCC to hold an inquiry into the prices, profits and margins in relation to the supply of electricity in the National Electricity Market (which covers NSW, Victoria, South East Queensland and South Australia). On 23 March 2025, the Australian Government announced a 12-month extension to the inquiry.
This is the 13th time the ACCC has reported as part of this inquiry.
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
From 01.08.2025, by decision of NPO NCC (JSC), the following risk parameters are established on the stock market and deposit market:
No.
Trade code
Security
Minimum Restrictive Level of Market Risk Rates, %
Concentration limit, pcs.
Short selling ban
Inclusion in the list of securities accepted as security for the fulfillment of obligations under Partially Collateralized Securities Transactions
1st level, S1_min
2nd level, S2_min
3rd level, S3_min
Level 1
Level 2
1
RU000A10C8A4
Joint Stock Company “Polyplast”
50%
60%
70%
100,000
500,000
No
No
2
RU000A10C8C0
Open Joint Stock Company “Russian Railways”
15%
18%
21%
800,000
4,000,000
No
Yes
Admission to trading with partial security is carried out in accordance with criteria for bonds.
Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232Pr@moex.kom
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry
Today we are releasing the agenda for the government’s Economic Reform Roundtable.
This is all about bringing people together and building consensus around the big challenges and opportunities in our economy.
The Roundtable agenda released today reflects the government’s agenda for long term economic reform, with a focus on resilience, productivity and budget sustainability.
It’s a packed schedule.
From competition to capital attraction, AI to approvals, innovation to better regulation – there’s a lot to cover.
Each day will be divided into three sessions, and the core group of 23 attendees will participate in all sessions over the 3 days. More invitations will soon be issued for participants to attend specific sessions.
This is a targeted agenda that has been deliberately designed to give us the best possible chance of building consensus on the direction of economic reform.
Economic Reform Roundtable agenda:
Day 1 – Resilience
Presentation – Some perspectives on productivity trends by RBA Governor Michele Bullock
Session 1 – International risks, opportunities and trade
Session 2 – Skills attraction, development and mobility
Session 3 – Capital attraction and business investment
Day 2 – Productivity
Presentation – Productivity and reform by Productivity Commission Chair Danielle Wood
Session 1 – Better regulation and approvals
Session 2 – Competition and dynamism across the federation
Session 3 – AI and innovation
Day 3 – Budget sustainability and tax reform
Presentation – Role of budget sustainability by Treasury Secretary Jenny Wilkinson PSM
Session 1 – Efficient and high-quality government services, spending and care
Presentation – A better tax system by Grattan Institute CEO Dr Aruna Sathanapally
Late in the evening, the Antarctic sky flushes pink. The male leopard seal wakes and slips from the ice into the water. There, he’ll spend the night singing underwater amongst the floating ice floes.
For the next two months he sings every night. He will sing so loudly, the ice around him vibrates. Each song is a sequence of trills and hoots, performed in a particular pattern.
In a world first, we analysed leopard seal songs and found the predictability of their patterns was remarkably similar to the nursery rhymes humans sing.
We think this is a deliberate strategy. While leopard seals are solitary animals, the males need their call to carry clearly across vast stretches of icy ocean, to woo a mate.
Solitary leopard seals want their call to carry. Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Leopard seals are especially vocal during breeding season, which lasts from late October to early January. A female leopard seal sings for a few hours on the days she is in heat. But the males are the real showstoppers.
Each night, the males perform underwater solos for up to 13 hours. They dive into the sea, singing underwater for about two minutes before returning to the water’s surface to breathe and rest. This demanding routine continues for weeks.
Within a leopard seal population, the sounds themselves don’t vary much in pitch or duration. But the order and pattern in which the sounds are produced varies considerably between individuals.
Our research examined these individual songs. We compared them to that of other vocal animals, and to human music.
Listening to songs from the sea
The data used in the study was collected by one author of this article, Tracey Rogers, in the 1990s.
Rogers rode her quad bike across the Antarctic ice to the edge of the sea and marked 26 individual male seals with dye as they slept. Then she returned to record their songs at night.
The new research involved analysing these recordings, to better understand their structure and patterns. We did this by measuring the “entropy” of their sequences. Entropy measures how predictable or random a sequence is.
What stood out was the similarity between the predictability of human nursery rhymes and leopard seal calls. Nursery rhymes are simple, repetitive and easy to remember — and that’s what we heard in the leopard seal songs.
The range of “entropy” was similar to the 39 nursery rhymes from the Golden Song Book, a collection of words and sheet music for classic children’s songs, which was first published in 1945. It includes classics such:
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Frère Jacques
Ring Around a Rosy
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Humpty Dumpty
Three Blind Mice
Rockabye Baby.
For humans, the predictable structure of a nursery rhyme melody helps make it simple enough for a child to learn. For a leopard seal, this predictability may enable the individual to learn its song and keep singing it over multiple days. This consistency is important, because changes in pitch or frequency can create miscommunication.
Like sperm whales, leopard seals may also use song to set themselves apart from others and signal their fitness to reproduce. The greater structure in the songs helps ensure listeners accurately receive the message and identify who is singing.
Male leopard seals produce high-pitched cricket-like trills.
An evolving song?
Leopard seals sound very different to humans. But our research shows the complexity and structure of their songs is remarkably similar to our own nursery rhymes.
Communication through song is a very common animal behaviour. However, structure and predictability in mammal song has only been studied in a handful of species. We know very little about what drives it.
Understanding animal communication is important. It can improve conservation efforts and animal welfare, and provide important information about animal cognition and evolution.
Technology has advanced rapidly since our recordings were made in the 1990s. In future, we hope to revisit Antarctica to record and study further, to better understand if new call types have emerged, and if patterns of leopard seal song evolve from generation to generation.
Tracey Rogers receives funding from ARC.
Lucinda Chambers 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.
Jason Momoa’s historical epic Chief of War, launching August 1 on Apple TV+, is a triumph of Hawaiians telling their own stories – despite the fact their film and TV production industry now struggles to be viable.
The series stars Momoa (Aquaman, Game of Thrones) as Kaʻaina, an ali’i (chief) who fights for – and later rises against – King Kamehameha I during the bloody reunification of Hawaii.
Already receiving advance praise, the nine-episode first season co-stars New Zealand actors Temeura Morrison, Cliff Curtis and Luciane Buchanan, alongside Hawaiian actors Kaina Makua, Brandon Finn and Moses Goods.
A passion project for Momoa, the Hawaiian star co-created the series with writer Thomas Pa’a Sibbett after years in development. With a reported budget of US$340 million, it is one of the most expensive television series ever produced.
It is also a milestone in Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) representation onscreen. Controversially, however, the production only spent a month in Hawaiʻi, and was mostly shot in New Zealand with non-Hawaiian crews.
Momoa has even expressed an interest in New Zealand citizenship, but the choice of location is more a reflection of the troubled state of the film industry in Hawaiʻi. On the other hand, it is a measure of the success of the New Zealand screen industry, with potential lessons for other countries in the Pacific.
Ea o Moʻolelo – story sovereignty
Set at the turn of the 19th century, Chief of War tells the moʻolelo (story, history) of King Kamehameha I’s conquest of the archipelago.
Hawaiʻi was historically governed by aliʻi nui (high chiefs), and each island was ruled independently. Motivated by the threat of European colonisation and empowered by Western weaponry, Kamehameha established the Hawaiian Kingdom, culminating in full unification in 1810.
The series is an important example of what authors Dean Hamer and Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu have called “Ea o Moʻolelo”, or story sovereignty, which emphasises Indigenous peoples’ right to control their own narrative by respecting the “the inalienable right of a story to its own unique contents, style and purpose”.
Chief of War is also the biggest Hawaiian television series ever produced. Although Hawaiʻi remains a popular setting onscreen, these productions have rarely involved Hawaiians in key decision-making roles.
Sea of troubles
The series hits screens at a time of major disruption in Hollywood, with streaming services upending established business models.
“Linear” network television faces declining viewership and advertising revenue. Movie studios struggle to draw audiences to theatres. The consequences for workers in the the industry have been severe, as the 2023 writers strike showed.
Those changes have had a catastrophic impact on the Hawaiʻi film industry, too.
Long a popular location – Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980, 2010-2020), Magnum P.I. (1980-1988, 2018-2024) and Lost (2004-2010) were all shot on location in Hawaiʻi – it is an expensive place to film.
Actors, crew and production equipment often have to be flown in from the continental United States, and producers compete with tourism for costly accommodation.
Kaina Makua as King Kamehameha and New Zealand actor Luciane Buchanan as Ka’ahumanu in Chief of War. Apple TV+
An industry in transition
These are not uncommon problems in distant locations, and many governments try to attract screen productions through tax incentives and rebates on portions of the production costs.
New Zealand, for example, offers a 20-25% rebate for international productions and 40% for local productions. Hawaiʻi offers a 22-27% rebate.
But this is less than other US states offer, such as Georgia (30%), Louisiana (40%) and New Mexico (40%). Hawaiʻi also has an annual cap of US$50 million on rebates.
To make things even harder, Hawaiʻi offers only limited support for Indigenous filmmakers. Governments in Australia and New Zealand provide targeted funding and support for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori filmmakers.
By contrast, the Hawaiʻi Film Commission doesn’t provide direct grants to local filmmakers or producers (Indigenous or otherwise). Small amounts of government funding have been administered through the Public Broadcasting Service, but this is now in jeopardy after US President Donald Trump recently cut federal funding.
The Hawaiʻi screen industry faces a perfect storm. For the first time since 2004, film and TV production has ground to a halt. Many workers now doubt the long-term sustainability of their careers.
Lessons from Aotearoa NZ
While there are lessons Hawaiʻi legislators and industry leaders could learn from New Zealand’s example, there should also be a measure of caution.
The Hawaiʻi tax credit system is out of date. But despite industry lobbying, legislation to update it failed to reach the floor of the legislature earlier this year. New tax settings would help make local production viable again.
Secondly, decades of investment in Māori cinema have seen it become diverse, engaging and creatively accomplished. Hawaiʻi could benefit from greater direct investment in Hawaiian storytelling, respecting its cultural value even if it doesn’t turn a commercial profit.
On the other hand, New Zealand has a favourable currency exchange rate with the US which can’t be replicated in Hawaiʻi. And New Zealand film production workers have seen their rights to unionise watered down compared to their American peers.
But if Hawaiʻi can get its settings right, a possible second season of Chief of War may yet be filmed there, which could mark a genuine rejuvenation of its own film industry.
Duncan Caillard 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.
The money is easy to trace. Scroll back through tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s political donations and you’ll soon hit US$15 million worth of transfers sent to Protect Ohio Values, JD Vance’s campaign fund. The donations, made in 2022, are a staggering contribution to an individual senate race, and helped put Vance (Thiel’s former employee at tech fund Mithril Capital) on a winning trajectory.
But if money matters, so do ideas. Scroll back through Vance’s speeches, and you’ll hear echoes of Thiel’s voice. The decline of US elites (and by extension, the nation) is supposedly a result of technological stagnation: declining innovation, trivial distractions, broken infrastructure. To make the nation great again, Thiel believes, tech should come first, corporates should be unshackled, and the state should resemble the startup. For Vance, who has now risen to the office of US vice-president, a Thiel talk on these topics at Yale Law was “the most significant moment” of his time there.
Thiel’s influence on politics is at once financial, technical and ideological. In the New York Times, he was recently described as the “most influential right-wing intellectual of the last 20 years”. And his potent cocktail of networks, money, strategy and support exerts a rightward force on the political landscape. It establishes a powerful pattern for up-and-coming figures to follow.
To “hedge fund investor” and “tech entrepreneur”, Thiel has recently added a new label: Republican kingmaker.
Who is Peter Thiel?
Thiel was born in Germany but grew up in the United States, with a childhood sojourn in apartheid South Africa. Max Chafkin’s critical but balanced biography, The Contrarian, claims Thiel was bullied growing up and protected himself by becoming resolutely “disdainful”. He studied philosophy and then law at Stanford, where he founded The Stanford Review, a libertarian–conservative student paper that signalled his early interest in controversial politics and culture wars.
While difficult to pin down precisely, Thiel’s Christianity shapes his belief in a declining or even apocalyptic world that can only be countered with unapologetic interventions and technological innovations. God helps those who help themselves – but could always use additional help from ambitious tech elites.
In 1998, Thiel cofounded his first tech company, Confinity, which launched its flagship product PayPal in 1999 and merged with Elon Musk’s X.com in 2000. In 2002, eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion and Thiel became a multimillionaire. He invested in several startups, including Facebook, and established his hedge fund, Clarium, and his venture capital firm, Founders Fund.
In their own ways, each of these developments is a response to Thiel’s thesis that the world is stuck. In his 2011 essay The End of the Future, he decries the “soft totalitarianism of political correctness in media and academia” and the “sordid world” of entertainment. The result is “50 years of stagnation” that has transformed humanity “into this more docile kind of a species”.
Thiel’s answer is more risk, more tech and more ambition. It’s exemplified most clearly by Palantir Technologies, the data analytics firm he cofounded in 2004.
Palantir has worked closely with US armed forces and intelligence agencies for 14 years. It is currently working closely with the Trump administration to create a “super-database” of combined data from all federal agencies, and building a platform for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “to track migrant movements in real time”.
Investing in right-wing politics
Thiel’s political interventions have ramped up over time. Libertarianism generally takes an arms-length approach to politics in favour of individual freedom and market determination. But even in “purely” financial spaces, politics creeps in.
Clarium’s macroeconomic approach meant the political landscape had to be factored in: “high-conviction, directional investments based on key drivers of the global economy and fundamental themes underappreciated by the marketplace”.
If politics, like technology, had stagnated – into a non-choice between similar parties – how could it be “disrupted”? Thiel began making political donations in December 2011, with contributions totalling at least $2.6 million, to the third presidential campaign of Ron Paul, a longstanding conservative congressman in Texas.
While Paul would ultimately be unsuccessful, Thiel recognised something others had missed. Voters had not been attracted to some idealistic libertarian, as the media portrayed him, but to the old Ron Paul, a neoconservative whose newsletters published in his name in the 1980s and ‘90s suggested 95% of Black men in Washington DC were criminals. (He denied writing them in 2011, calling the statements “terrible”.) His appeal was never “merely” about economic freedom, but about race and class, fear and grievance.
Donald Trump took this dark undercurrent, a strain that has always underpinned parts of US politics, and ran with it. Dog-whistles were dispensed with in favour of overt claims that most illegal immigrants were rapists, certain Latin American countries were shitholes, women were bitches, and white supremacists were “very fine people”. Trump, noted one article, was “weaponizing the conservative id”.
In these visions, multiculturalism and progressivism are not just cultural threats, but economic ones. They undermine the ability of company founders to exploit labour, blow past regulations, and obey the brutal logic of the market.
“A world safe for capitalism is presumably one of monopoly companies and patriarchal networks,” note media scholars Ben Little and Alison Winch in their profile of Thiel. It’s a world “where ‘the multiculture’ has been transformed into racialised domination”.
Thiel has certainly contributed to the rise of Trump and the new breed of right-wing politicians through his vast wealth. In 2016, Thiel contributed $1.25 million to Trump’s campaign, thinking “he had a 50-50 chance of winning”. This earned him a speaking slot at the Republican convention. But his influence extends beyond mere money.
Thiel’s endorsement of Trump at the 2016 Republican convention was hugely significant for garnering support. So was his famous declaration there that he was proud to be gay, Republican and American. After Trump won his first term, Thiel continued to be involved. He joined the transition team and recommended aligned individuals for key positions, such as Michael Kratsios, who would become chief technology officer.
So, Thiel’s support of Trump should be understood as an investment, just like his early investments in PayPal and Facebook. As Chafkin notes, Thiel’s bet on Trump is a wager with high upsides and low risk. Thiel’s outspoken views in favour of “seasteading” (floating independent city-states) and against immigration and women’s emancipation had already alienated the more progressive sectors of Silicon Valley.
If the bet paid off, Thiel and his empire could benefit handsomely. And this is exactly what has played out. Since Trump has taken office in his second term, Palantir has already netted more than $113 million in federal government spending.
Palantir: from information to domination
Palantir’s origin story reflects its blend of technical expertise and political ambition. To combat rising fraud, members of PayPal developed a software tool that could mine vast amounts of transactions and find the connections between them, homing in on a handful of culprits in a deluge of data.
Thiel was prescient in spinning this core idea from finance to intelligence, where analysts were searching for patterns and anomalies amid the noise – a needle in a haystack. Palantir commercialised and expanded this concept, bringing a leaner, data-driven Silicon Valley approach to a sector dominated by established Washington incumbents.
Thiel and Palantir chief executive Alex Karp believe Silicon Valley has lost its way, frittering away its vast talents and ingenuity on trivial pursuits: advertising, gaming, social media. For them, the era of ambitious scientific projects and unapologetic military industrial collaborations – the Manhattan Project, the Moon landing — needs to be revived.
In his book, the Technological Republic, Karp calls for a state that looks more like a startup – lean, technology-driven, and led authoritatively by a founder-like figure who is not afraid to “move fast and break stuff” (the Silicon Valley motto), especially when it comes to dominating enemies and ensuring the safety of a nation’s citizens.
Palantir, of course, answers this call. It combines machine learning with military spending, data-driven “intelligence” with naked violence. This is most clear in its longstanding collaboration with ICE, which is now carrying out notorious immigration raids at the behest of the Trump administration. “On the factory floor, in the operating room, on the battlefield,” states a recent Palantir recruitment ad placed across US college campuses, “we build to dominate.”
Palantir’s blueprint has been emulated by a growing array of others. Anduril, Skydio and Shield AI are all founded on developing information technologies for military and intelligence use. Last week, Rune Technologies closed a $24 million Series A round of funding to move warfare logistics away from the “Excel era” and towards AI-augmented tools.
Answering Karp’s call, these startups are unapologetic in leveraging engineering expertise for more substantial, authoritarian and historically controversial areas.
Playing the scapegoat
One of the clearest outlines of Thiel’s political philosophy is laid out in the Straussian Moment, a 30-page essay he published in 2007.
For Thiel, the spectacular violence of the September 11 terrorist attacks was a wake-up call, rousing the citizenry from that “very long and profitable period of intellectual slumber and amnesia that is so misleadingly called the Enlightenment”.
In Thiel’s view, the Enlightenment project – to advance knowledge, cultivate tolerance, and elevate humanity as a whole – rested on a naive understanding of human nature. Like Curtis Yarvin and other influential Silicon Valley political thinkers, he asserts that humanity is brutal and a shift from Enlightenment optimism to Dark Enlightenment pessimism is required.
It is unsurprising, then, that Thiel looks to René Girard (once called “the new Darwin of the human sciences”) for inspiration; he even organised a symposium at Stanford with Girard in attendance. Girard begins from a bleak view of human nature, a Hobbesian world where life is nasty, brutish and short. For Girard, mimesis or imitation is at the heart of the human. This mirroring quality means violence is always threatening to escalate, to constantly ramp up with no inherent limit.
To corral this violence, ancient cultures created the scapegoat, a sacrificial system where all-against-all was replaced by all-against-one. Yet the scapegoat is no longer viable – the revelation of Christ is that the scapegoat is an innocent victim.
Thiel takes Girard’s insights and twists them to his own ends. First, Thiel asserts that even if violence begets more violence, nonviolence is not an option. Enemies must not be allowed to prevail. In the face of uncompromising adversaries, such as the 9/11 attackers, who threaten to dismantle some idealised way of life, preemptively responding to violence is “urgently demanded”.
Second, Thiel takes the concept of the scapegoat and flips it. In this judo-like manoeuvre, the real victims are not the marginalised or the minority, but the hegemonic class (whites, males, liberals, conservatives), who are being pressured by cancel culture, political correctness, diversity initiatives and so on.
Shortly after graduating, Thiel coauthored a book, The Diversity Myth, about alleged political intolerance at Stanford. In it, he rails against a rampant multiculturalism that he claims stifles freedom of speech and derails education and entrepreneurialism. Here, scapegoating is weaponised. It’s mobilised toward a conservative advance in the ongoing cultural wars, which are always also political wars.
Contradiction or evolution?
Thiel is a walking paradox. He bemoans cancel culture and political correctness, while waging a highly expensive and clearly personal war to bankrupt a media outlet that offended him. (After Gawker printed the “open secret” of Thiel’s gay status in 2007, Thiel funded lawsuits against them until they were shut down.)
He calls himself a libertarian, but has founded a company that derives millions in contracts from the bloated budgets of the many military agencies (the National Security Agency, the FBI, the US Army) that now comprise the sprawling state.
He celebrates capitalism and the free hand of the market, but always stresses that the path to business success rests on establishing monopolies with no real competition. He is a German-born immigrant who actively supports technologies (Palantir) and candidates (Trump) that establish xenophobic environments and seek to deport those deemed “other”. And, most personally, he is both a conservative Republican and an openly gay man.
At a purely logical level, these elements are incompatible. There is a perceived gap between Thiel’s words and actions, a gulf between his ideologies and his activities. For staunch libertarians at Thiel’s companies, his manoeuvrings at the state level make no sense. For queer scholars, Thiel’s exclusionary rather than liberatory politics mean he is a man who has sex with other men, rather than being gay.
For these critics, both things cannot be true; therefore, some labels, identities and activities are fake, marginal or impossible. Yet one of Thiel’s many lessons is that contradiction is a strength rather than a weakness.
Thiel’s philosophy, which journalists have called techno-fascism, recalls philosopher Umberto Eco, who described fascism as a “beehive of contradictions” and “a collage of different philosophical and political ideas”. The radical right, in particular, has no problem mashing together many views that at face value should not fit: scavenger ideologies that are opportunistic in grabbing elements that work for them.
Instead of contradictions, these hybrid forms need to be understood as evolutions. They are tensions, held within the body and the mind of the subject, that push monolithic frameworks like conservatism beyond their existing limits. Thiel’s power – and his political blueprint for others – is insisting you can be a philosophical entrepreneur, an illiberal patriot, and a queer conservative.
Luke Munn 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 New Mexico Martin Heinrich
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary (USDA) Brooke Rollins and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum following reports that staff reductions have required the deployment of fire personnel to fill administrative gaps, leaving fire crews understaffed and overwhelmed.
“Wildfire season is well underway, particularly across the Western United States. Much of the West is predicted to experience higher-than-normal fire behavior through October, and 44 large fires are currently uncontained. With wildfire season likely to continue for several more months, I am extremely concerned by reports that staff reductions have required the deployment of fire personnel to fill administrative gaps, leaving fire crews understaffed and overwhelmed,” Heinrich began.
“According to recent reports, firings, buyouts, and other personnel changes have led to gross understaffing at both the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior responsible for fire prevention and response, forcing firefighters to wear multiple hats,” Heinrich continued. “In addition to carrying out their own duties, firefighters reportedly have been thrown into serving in administrative and janitorial roles—ranging from cleaning campground bathrooms to answering front desk calls to mowing lawns.”
Highlighting the impacts of the Trump Administration’s Deferred Resignation Program on firefighting preparedness, Heinrich wrote, “As you know, thousands of staff with red cards left the agencies this year due to the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). If those personnel roles and responsibilities now must be filled by firefighters at the height of fire season, then the DRP was not only inefficient but has materially threatened public safety.”
In light of these concerns, Heinrich requested information from the Administration on firefighter staffing levels and support personnel since January 2025—including assessments of staffing gaps, data comparing current firefighting levels to the 10-year average, the impact of reassignments, and the number of firefighters serving in administrative or custodial roles. Heinrich concluded the letter by noting the Secretaries’Joint Memorandumcommitting to work together to “ensure that wildland fire personnel have the resources, training, and support to work under safe conditions and to effectively carry out their wildland fire management mission.”
“Since then, you have made assurances that you have the appropriate staff to meet current and future wildfire challenges. However, these recent news reports cast doubt on those assurances,” noted Heinrich.
Read the full letter here and below:
Dear Secretary Rollins and Secretary Burgum:
Wildfire season is well underway, particularly across the Western United States. Much of the West is predicted to experience higher-than-normal fire behavior through October, and 44 large fires are currently uncontained. With wildfire season likely to continue for several more months, I am extremely concerned by reports that staff reductions have required the deployment of fire personnel to fill administrative gaps, leaving fire crews understaffed and overwhelmed.
According to recent reports, firings, buyouts, and other personnel changes have led to gross understaffing at both the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior responsible for fire prevention and response, forcing firefighters to wear multiple hats. In addition to carrying out their own duties, firefighters reportedly have been thrown into serving in administrative and janitorial roles—ranging from cleaning campground bathrooms to answering front desk calls to mowing lawns.
This situation is the opposite to that described by Chief Tom Schultz in his “Wildfire Priority” memorandum, dated July 16, 2025, relating to making staff with ‘red card’ qualifications available for firefighting duties. As you know, thousands of staff with red cards left the agencies this year due to the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). If those personnel roles and responsibilities now must be filled by firefighters at the height of fire season, then the DRP was not only inefficient but has materially threatened public safety.
In light of these concerns, please provide responses to the following questions by August 14, 2025:
1. Since January 20, 2025, have your Departments conducted a review or assessment to understand the extent to which staffing gaps exist for firefighting personnel positions? Have you conducted a similar review or assessment on the staffing gaps for firefighting support staff, such as aircraft inspectors, dispatchers, or public information officers? If so, please provide a copy of those reviews or assessments.
2. You both have noted that your Departments are on pace to achieve their firefighter staffing goals for 2025, but multiple reports indicate extreme gaps in the staffing levels of firefighters, particularly those with enough experience to lead a crew or direct incident response. Please describe the number of firefighters at each General Schedule pay category for this fire year compared with the 10-year average.
3. To what extent has the Department of the Interior Secretarial Order 3426 “Ensuring National Parks Are Open and Accessible” contributed to the need to assign wildland firefighters to administrative or custodial roles?
4. Please provide the following data:
a. The total number of firefighters who have been assigned to administrative or support roles since January 20, 2025. In responding this question, please provide a listing of all non-fire related roles firefighters have been assigned to carry out.
b. The total number of firefighters who have been assigned to serve in maintenance roles since January 20, 2025.
c. The total number of fire team support staff who have departed the Department or have agreed to early retirement or entered into a DRP since January 20, 2025. In responding to this question, provide information for each category listed and for each agency.
In March, you signed a Joint Memorandum committing to work together to “ensure that wildland fire personnel have the resources, training, and support to work under safe conditions and to effectively carry out their wildland fire management mission.” Since then, you have made assurances that you have the appropriate staff to meet current and future wildfire challenges. However, these recent news reports cast doubt on those assurances.
We look forward to your timely responses to these important questions. Should you have any questions about this request, please contact my staff at (202) 224-4971.
The Retirement Commission’s annual Sorted Money Month campaign starts today and is putting the spotlight on emergency savings.
Research has found that 64% of people who had set up an emergency savings fund in the last three months felt confident about their future (almost identical to those with established funds at 65%) in comparison to only 22% of those without a fund. However, 44% of New Zealanders do not have an emergency savings fund, which threatens their financial resilience.
Sorted Personal Financial Lead Tom Hartmann says, “Building up your emergency savings this Sorted Money Month will help you to deal with financial challenges when they arise.”
“Having emergency savings in place can be the difference from feeling stressed or sorted when the unexpected happens. It can then be used for a variety of situations, such as trips to the vet, urgent home repairs, car breakdowns, or sudden job loss. Having this financial cushion ensures that you are prepared for life’s uncertainties and can handle them without undue stress.”
Alongside the national marketing activity which includes billboards, radio ads and social media, the financial services sector involved with the National Strategy for Financial Capability are hosting events, workshops, and sharing resources aimed at promoting emergency savings and encouraging saving habits. Details of what’s taking place can be found on the Sorted event calendar.
Sorted is also hosting two free webinars during Money Month providing independent financial information on starting an emergency savings fund. The first one, ‘Stressed to Sorted – Emergency Savings 101,’ is on 12 August. Then, on 26 August, there’s
‘How an Emergency Fund Can Save Your Life,’ featuring a panel of experts from community and financial organisations sharing their tips on building and keeping emergency savings.
There’s also a range of in-person events to choose from, including in Auckland Vaiola Pacific Island Budgeting Service: Empowering Pasifika mums event; Tamaki Budgeting: Beating the emergency event, (an Amazing Race-style experience with stations providing information on a range of common emergencies) and Ngā Tāngata Microfinance Trust’s Build Your Buffer event.
Waikato events include Kainga Aroha Community House is giving away the chance to win free butter as part of its Money Month event and Waihi Budget Services is offering free pork buns and a chat with a financial mentor every Tuesday in August. Tom Hartmann knows that economic conditions are tough for many people.
“But if you can take one action today to protect your future, open an emergency savings account and start regularly putting aside money to help deal with the unexpected,” he says.
“Having your own emergency money at the ready keeps you from sliding into debt and paying heaps in interest and fees. The more you have saved for the unexpected, the easier it is when things go wrong.”
About Sorted
Sorted is a free service run by Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, the government-funded, independent agency dedicated to helping New Zealanders get ahead financially.
As New Zealand’s trusted personal finance site, Sorted has the information needed to tackle debt, plan and budget, save and invest, dial up your KiwiSaver, plan for retirement, protect what’s important, and manage a mortgage. Providing tools, guides and blogs, Sorted can help no matter where you are at when it comes to money.
About Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission
Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission aims to help New Zealanders to retire with confidence. Retiring with confidence means New Zealanders feel secure they’ll have resources to live and the know-how to make
The greyhound racing industry has ended its 2024/25 season with yet another dog killed – bringing the season’s death toll to 17; the deadliest year for greyhounds since 2021.
The final fatality was Opawa Justin, a two-year-old greyhound who won his race at Addington Raceway in Christchurch on 31 July before suffering a catastrophic injury. He fell at the lure and fractured his left elbow. Veterinarians determined the injury was too severe to treat, and he was euthanised.
SAFE says the circumstances surrounding his death expose the brutal nature of racing, where even a winning dog isn’t safe.
“This young dog gave everything on the track, and it cost him his life. No matter how fast they run or how many races they win, greyhounds are always one fall away from tragedy,” says Campaign Manager Emma Brodie.
The total number of dogs killed has increased compared to last season, rising from 13 to 17. Over the course of the season, more than 800 dogs suffered race-related injuries, including 114 broken bones. SAFE says the scale of harm is staggering – and disturbingly routine.
“The death toll is going up, not down. If anything proves the failure of self-regulation, this is it,” says Brodie.
The Government was right to call time on this industry, and the rising body count only reinforces that.”
Racing Minister Winston Peters announced a phase-out of the industry in December 2024, with a full ban to come into effect by July 2026. The next season will be greyhound racing’s last.
SAFE is urging GRNZ to take immediate steps to slow the pace of racing and pour every resource into rehoming efforts.
“This is GRNZ’s last opportunity to show they care about the dogs they’ve profited from. They can either wind down with dignity or be remembered for prolonging suffering until the very end.”
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