Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE
Headline: OSCE Mission Hands Over Specialized Vehicles to Kosovo Police to Improve Public Safety and Security
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo handed over five specialized vehicles to the Kosovo Police K9 unit on 24 June 2025 to enhance the operational capabilities of police canine teams.
The vehicles, specially modified to support the safe and efficient transport of police dogs and their handlers during critical missions, will improve the mobility and responsiveness of K9 teams deployed in various security operations.
In addition, the Mission has overseen essential repairs to the existing kennels used by the K9 unit. These upgrades include improved ventilation systems, structural reinforcements, and enhanced sanitation facilities to ensure the wellbeing and readiness of the police dogs. The kennel repairs are a vital part of maintaining high standards of care and ensuring that the canine officers are in optimal condition to perform their specialized duties.
“The safety and security of all communities living in Kosovo remains our key priority,” said Ambassador Gerard McGurk, Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, speaking at the handover event. “The delivery of specialized vehicles and the renovation of the K9 kennels represent tangible steps towards strengthening public safety and building trust across all communities in Kosovo,” he added.
Kosovo Police General Director, Colonel Gazmend Hoxha, said that the longstanding co-operation with the OSCE has been instrumental in advancing the capabilities of the Kosovo Police. He underlined that the partnership is vital for improving the police’s ability to detect and confiscate illicit arms and explosives, ultimately contributing to a safer and more secure Kosovo.
The initiative is part of an extra-budgetary project funded by the Government of Germany and the European Union, focused on strengthening the canine capacity of Kosovo’s police services to detect and confiscate small arms and light weapons (SALW), ammunition, and explosives — key priorities for maintaining public safety and security. As part of the same project, the Mission built a training polygon for the K9 unit in 2023.
Through this support, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo is contributing to the long-term development and modernization of the police K9 unit. These improvements not only enhance operational efficiency but also demonstrate a shared dedication to security, professionalism, and the welfare of police dogs. The strengthened K9 capacity will play a crucial role in countering illegal arms trafficking and explosives, thereby fostering a safer environment for all people of Kosovo.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ5: Family offices Question:
According to a consultancy study commissioned by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), it was estimated that around 2 700 single family offices were operating in Hong Kong as at end-2023. However, it has recently been reported that quite a number of “fake family offices” have emerged in the market and some of them may even be involved in money laundering or illegal fund-raising activities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will consider drawing up a clear official definition and establishing a regulatory regime for family offices, and stepping up regulation through legislation or administrative measures to prevent money laundering and other financial crimes; if so, of the specific details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) whether it has developed corresponding monitoring mechanisms or regulatory measures when considering enhancing the preferential tax regimes for family offices and funds, so as to prevent the relevant regimes from being abused as tax avoidance tools; if so, of the specific details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) whether it has plans to provide more systematic training and accreditation schemes for professional talents to meet the demand from family offices for multi-disciplinary professionals, and whether it will regularly assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the policies relating to family offices, including market responses, economic contributions and potential risks; if so, of the specific details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
As an international financial centre and the freest economy in the world, Hong Kong maintains an open market environment. Meanwhile, we also attach great importance to safeguarding the integrity of our financial systems by implementing international standards on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing to deter and detect inward and outward flows of illicit funds.
In consultation with Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy (HKAWL), my reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(1) The Government welcomes all lawful and rule-compliant family offices (FOs) to set up in Hong Kong and respects the private financial arrangement of single FOs. Regarding the regulation of investment activities of FOs, the licensing regime under the Securities and Futures Ordinance is activity-based. Generally speaking, a single FO refers to an arrangement established by members of a single family to manage the family’s assets, investments, and long-term interests. A single FO is required to apply for a licence under the Securities and Futures Ordinance if it carries on a business of regulated activity in Hong Kong, for example, providing asset and wealth management services to clients other than members of the relevant family, and to fulfil relevant code of conduct and statutory requirements applicable to licensed corporations. The above requirements are also applicable to investment companies or multi-FOs. To facilitate the industry’s understanding of the regulatory regime in Hong Kong, the SFC has issued circular on the licensing obligations of FOs and quick reference guides to provide additional guidance.
In addition, professionals of various sectors providing services concerned to FOs will conduct necessary due diligence in compliance with the statutory requirements and relevant guidelines. Among others, the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615) provides that financial institutions (including banks, SFC-licensed corporations, insurance companies, money services operators, etc.) and designated non-financial businesses and professions (including solicitors, accountants, estate agents, and trust or company service providers) shall conduct customer due diligence, including identifying and verifying the identity of beneficial owners, continuously monitoring the business relationships with customers, as well as maintaining records. When service providers identify any suspicious transactions, they are also under the legal obligation to report to law enforcement agencies.
Our systems and measures for combating money laundering and terrorist financing have all along adhere to international standards and best practices. We will closely monitor the risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as the developments in international standards, and will keep our systems and measures under constant review so as to safeguard the integrity and stability of Hong Kong’s financial system.
(2) Family-owned investment holding vehicles (FIHVs) managed by single FOs in Hong Kong fulfilling the minimum asset threshold of HK$240 million and substantial activities requirement can enjoy profits tax exemption for qualifying transactions. Currently, a series of anti-avoidance measures have been put in place for the preferential tax regimes for single FOs and funds. For example, a business undertaking for general commercial or industrial purpose is not eligible for tax concessions with a view to avoiding abuse. The tax regimes also contain the anti-round tripping provisions to prevent abuse or round-tripping by resident persons to take advantage of the profits tax exemption via a fund or FIHV. Meanwhile, the general anti-avoidance provisions of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO) are also applicable to the preferential tax regimes for single FOs and funds. Through these provisions, the IRD can address any artificial or fictitious transaction, disposition that is not in fact given effect to and transaction entered into for the sole or dominant purpose of enabling a person to obtain a tax benefit.
To attract more FOs and high-net-worth individuals to choose Hong Kong as a destination for wealth management, we will enhance the preferential tax regimes for funds, single FOs and carried interest, including expanding the scope of “fund” under the tax exemption regime, increasing the types of qualifying transactions eligible for tax concessions for funds and single FOs, enhancing the tax concession arrangement on the distribution of carried interest by private equity funds, etc.
The Government also proposes to introduce a tax reporting mechanism under the enhanced tax regime for funds to ensure that the funds and special purpose entities meet the relevant tax exemption conditions under the IRO. The Government will continue to closely communicate with the industry on formulating the details of the tax reporting regime, and minimise the compliance burden on funds and special purpose entities under the tax reporting regime.
(3) The Government is committed to expanding the talent pool for wealth management and FOs to support the long-term development of the industry. We have since 2016 implemented the Pilot Programme to Enhance Talent Training for the Asset and Wealth Management Sector to nurture more industry talents. To date, over 4 700 applications for reimbursement of professional training course fees have been approved, and the Programme has provided internship opportunities for over 920 tertiary students, supporting the industry to offer more professional training and learning opportunities, thereby enhancing the professional standards of practitioners. Besides, we have included “management professionals in asset and wealth management (WAM)” and “professionals in compliance in WAM” under the Talent List since 2018 and 2021 respectively, so as to facilitate high-quality talents in these professions to pursue development in Hong Kong.
The Government has also established the HKAWL in 2023 to provide a platform for collaboration, networking, knowledge sharing and talent development, and to provide relevant training for asset owners, wealth inheritors and the FO sector. In 2024-25, the HKAWL organised, co-organised, and participated in over 20 events, enabling asset owners, wealth inheritors and FO practitioners to engage in discussions and exchanges. These events brought together over 3 100 participants.
The Government will maintain close communication with FOs to understand their needs, evaluate the effectiveness of relevant policies and introduce enhancements in a timely manner. For example, the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES) has been well-received by the industry since its launch. As of end-May this year, the New CIES has received over 1 370 applications. The current applications are expected to bring an investment amount of over HK$41 billion into Hong Kong. The Government has also implemented enhancement measures with effect from March 1 this year, allowing investment under the New CIES to be made through an eligible private company wholly owned by the applicant, creating synergy with the tax concession regime for FOs.
According to the research findings of the consultant commissioned by InvestHK and publicised in March 2024, there were around 2 700 single FOs operating in Hong Kong as of end-2023. The number is expected to exceed 3 000 in the near future. Separately, since its establishment in June 2021 up to end-May this year, the dedicated FamilyOfficeHK team of InvestHK has assisted over 190 FOs to set up or expand their business in Hong Kong, and around 150 FOs have indicated that they are preparing or have decided to set up or expand their business in Hong Kong. The performance indicator to attract no less than 200 FOs to establish or expand their operations in Hong Kong by end-2025 as set out in the 2022 Policy Address is likely to be achieved.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
HKMC Annuity Limited (HKMCA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited, announced today (June 25) the launch of a six-month “Panda Mode ON!” public education campaign, which uses the joyful, worry-free lifestyle of pandas as a metaphor to showcase retirement financial planning concepts and encourage retirees to achieve a stable and prosperous “Panda Mode” retirement through the creation of a lifelong income stream.
The HKMCA is launching a series of promotional activities including television commercials, outdoor, online and social media advertising across multi-media channels starting this month. Public education and outreach activities will also be held across Hong Kong, including a booth at the “10th Golden Age Expo and Summit 2025”, five “Well-Planned for Life. Stable for Life” roving exhibitions at the Ocean Park Hong Kong and major shopping malls in various districts, together with a promotional truck and information panels, to help promote the importance of retirement financial planning. For details of the outreach activities, please refer to the annex.
To reinforce public understanding of the HKMC Annuity Plan (Plan) and longevity risk management, the HKMCA is also expanding the “Mr. Well-Planned” series. In addition to utilising relatable day-to-day scenarios to highlight the key features of the Plan through television commercials, a new “Answer with One Click” webpage (www.hkmca.hk/eng/QnA) has been launched to provide the public with a convenient way to access answers to frequently asked questions.
For more information, please visit the HKMCA website (www.hkmca.hk) or the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/HKMCAnnuity). For enquiries, please call the HKMCA customer service hotline at (852) 2512 5000.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 25 — China has initiated a three-year special campaign targeting illegal dumping and disposal of solid waste, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said Wednesday.
The campaign will involve rigorous inspections and enforcement actions against illegal dumping and disposal of solid waste, Pei Xiaofei, spokesperson for the ministry, told a press conference.
The campaign will focus on combating the illegal dumping and landfilling of hazardous waste, industrial solid waste, and construction debris. It will also target unlawful practices in the disposal of scrapped motor vehicles, waste electronic products, retired new energy equipment, and used power batteries.
Pei said that cases involving the illegal discharge, dumping, or disposal of solid waste, which cause severe environmental pollution or result in economic losses to public property and should be prosecuted according to law for criminal liabilities, will be subject to expedited legal investigations and stringent actions.
The spokesperson also encouraged public participation in the campaign, inviting people to report illegal dumping and disposal activities via official websites, phone calls, and email.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
URUMQI, June 25 (Xinhua) — The Horgos border crossing in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region handled a total of 18.175 million tonnes of import and export cargo in the first five months of this year, up 3.7 percent year on year, according to Horgos Customs.
The range of goods imported through the said checkpoint during the reporting period mainly consisted of electromechanical products, unprocessed copper and copper materials, agricultural products, food products, metal ore, concentrate, etc. At the same time, exports were mainly represented by new energy vehicles, electromechanical and high-tech products, clothing and other goods.
According to Liu Xingwen, CEO of the local Yifan Export and Import Trading Company, his organization currently imports about 20 categories of goods, including safflower oil, honey, chocolate, dry camel milk, etc. These goods are imported to China from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland and other countries.
“From January to May 2025, our company’s import volume was more than 1,000 tons, with a total value of over 20 million yuan,” Liu Xingwen said.
Let us recall that Khorgos is located near the border with Kazakhstan and is the country’s first-class land port with the longest history and the largest total volume of transportation in the western region of China. -0-
A 36-year-old man is in hospital following a two-vehicle crash on Cambridge Road at Cambridge about 2pm today (Wednesday).The man was driving what was believed to be a stolen vehicle, a white Mitsubishi Express van, when he was observed by police.Police attempted to intercept the vehicle, activating their lights.The driver then allegedly evaded police, driving dangerously before crashing, rolling the van, and colliding with another vehicle.The man, who was the sole occupant of the van, was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital.The female driver, and sole occupant of the second vehicle, was not physically injured in the crash.Cambridge Road was closed for about 4.5 hours while the scene was examined. As at 6.35pm, the road was clear.As is normal practice, a Professional Standards investigation will be conducted into the incident to determine the circumstances surrounding the crash.Police are calling for witnesses of the crash or any person who observed a white Mitsubishi Express van being driven around the time of the crash to come forward.Anyone with dash cam footage or information should contact Police on 131 444 or report anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestopperstas.com.au. Please quote OR778445.
The Standing Committee on Appropriations today raised several concerns regarding the Department of Transports’ (DOT’s) performance and infrastructure priorities during a briefing on the 2025 Appropriation Bill.
The DOT has provided spending plans and briefed the committee on identified mega projects that are covered in the 2025 allocation for public infrastructure investments.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Mr Mmusi Maimane, expressed alarm over the persistent reliance on acting officials in key leadership roles within the department. “It is deeply concerning that while we are expected to appropriate significant funds that are over a trillion rands, the department has not appointed permanent officials in vital positions. This practice undermines accountability and weakens governance,” said Mr Maimane. He said leadership issues in the department need urgent intervention in order to stabilise.
Mr Maimane also raised concerns about the Moloto Road project, noting that the road has cost taxpayers approximately R15 billion, notwithstanding the historic spend on the road over the past ten years. “This is quite exorbitant for a 167-kilometre road and nearly three times the cost compared to another country such as China,” emphasised Mr Maimane.
The committee welcomed progress made at the South African Airways (SAA) and urged the department to do more to restore the airline to its former competitive standing. However, members of the committee voiced concern over revelations that R1.5 billion owed to SAA remains trapped in foreign countries, told the committee that despite several agreements between South Africa and Zimbabwe, little progress has been made.
The committee called for diplomatic intervention at the highest level to recover funds which will improve SAA’s liquidity. Furthermore, the committee welcomed the suspension of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Chief Executive Officer and calls for urgent resolution and accountability. The committee also called on the RAF Board to act decisively to root out corrupt practices and to resolve the growing number of unsettled claims.
“We are increasingly concerned with executive bonuses and golden handshakes in a department that oversees deteriorating road infrastructure. It is unacceptable that senior officials receive performance incentives when service delivery is clearly lagging,” added Mr Maimane.
Committee members also raised concerns over the growing number of trucks on the roads and the associated increase in traffic accidents. It also urged the department to explore a shift from road to rail for goods transport, which would reduce congestion and road maintenance costs. In addition, the high costs of toll gates particularly in Mpumalanga were criticised as an undue burden on commuters.
The committee also questioned inefficiencies and duplication in transport-related agencies. It noted with concern that entities like the Road Traffic Management Corporation invoice each other billions, which could be avoided if these entities were consolidated under the Department of Transport.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
During the US – Africa Business Summit in Luanda, Angola, Ruzizi III Holding Power Company Limited (RHPCL) announced the signing of an Invitation to Partner Agreement for a potential pivotal partnership with Anzana Electric Group (Anzana) (www.Anzana.com), aimed at advancing the $760 million Ruzizi III Regional Hydropower Project.
The 206 MW Ruzizi III Regional Hydropower Project is the first of its kind tri-national Public Private Partnership in the Great Lakes Region, formulated on a partnership between the Private Sector (RHPCL) and the three Contracting States, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) and Rwanda.
Located on the Ruzizi River between western Rwanda and eastern DRC, the hydropower plant will supply reliable electricity to benefit development for approximately 30 million people across Burundi, the DRC and Rwanda, in a region where 54% live below the poverty line and electricity access averages just 24%. The project will nearly double Burundi’s current capacity, boost Rwanda’s by 30%, and deliver critical baseload and dispatchable power to eastern DRC, advancing economic growth, regional integration, and energy security in one of Africa’s most underserved regions.
“The Directors of RHPCL are enthusiastic about this potential strategic alliance and, assuming a successful outcome of the partnering process, look forward to harnessing Anzana’s expertise and experience to realize the full potential of the Ruzizi III Project, extending critical energy access and fostering development in the region,” said Aleem Karmali, Director for RHPCL.
Anzana, a leading American electricity company developing, investing in, and operating power generation and distribution projects in Africa and the Great Lakes region, has expressed an interest in acquiring a minority equity interest in RHPCL.
“As an American electricity company committed to powering opportunity across Africa, Anzana is proud to partner with RHPCL and the governments of Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda at this pivotal moment,” said Brian Kelly, CEO of Anzana, during the 2025 U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Angola. “Ruzizi III will deliver sustainable, affordable, and reliable electricity to millions. Through this partnership, we are not only powering homes, communities, and industries, we are helping to drive regional integration, strengthen energy security and stability, and pave the way for expanded U.S. investment and trade in Africa’s energy future.”
Both parties are committed to negotiating toward a binding Partnership Agreement by September 15, 2025, in which Anzana may acquire no less than a 10% equity stake in RHPCL. The agreement will outline governance rights, investment commitments, and the trajectory for further collaboration.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Anzana Electric Group.
For further information, please contact: Aleem Karmali Director RHPCL +254 724 787786
About Anzana Electric Group: Anzana Electric Group is a leading developer, investor, and operator of hydropower and grid distribution projects across Africa. With presence in East, Central, and Southern Africa, Anzana delivers reliable, affordable power to communities, businesses, and industries. Its innovative approach to partnerships with government, development funders, and private sector in the region is intended to unlock the potential that electricity infrastructure can bring to economic growth.
About Ruzizi III Energy Holding Power Company Limited: Ruzizi III Energy Holding Power Company Limited (RHPCL) a special purpose vehicle registered in Rwanda, is the private sector partner to the project company Ruzizi III Energy Limited (the PPP company) set up, under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) structure, to develop, construct and operate the 206 MW Ruzizi III regional hydroelectric power project — one of the largest infrastructure initiatives in the Great Lakes region. The project is a public-private partnership between RHPCL, the Republic of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Rwanda, and is located on the Ruzizi River between Rwanda and the DRC. RHPCL is, during the development stage, mainly led by Industrial Promotion Services (IPS Group).
Change will be a key theme for both the West Indies and Australia in their upcoming three-test series in the Caribbean with the visitors set to field a remodelled batting line-up and the hosts being led out for the first time by Roston Chase.
Pat Cummins suggested Australia were due a top-order reset after their loss to South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier this month and the skipper said their line-up to face West Indies shows they are looking to the future.
Australia have brought in teenager Sam Konstas to open the batting with Usman Khawaja and added Josh Inglis to the line-up, while they will be without the dropped Marnus Labuschagne and injured veteran Steve Smith for a series which marks the start of both teams’ new WTC cycle.
Both Konstas and Inglis have played only two tests, the former opening the batting against India in Melbourne and Sydney last season, and the latter batting in the middle order in Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Australia could lose as many as half a dozen test regulars to retirement after this year’s Ashes series with the likes of Khawaja, Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all in their mid to late 30s.
When asked about the changes ahead of the first match beginning in Bridgetown later on Wednesday, Cummins told reporters: “You look forward to what the next couple of years are going to look like.
“I think part of that’s a keenness to get Sam and Josh into the squad, into the playing 11. You start looking at what the batting order might look like for the next couple of years. I think that’s part of the reset.
“And your goals change a little bit obviously. We’re starting on zero points, so it’s a bit of a mental reset. You block out the last couple of years and then start again.”
Cameron Green has retained his place at number three despite scoring only four runs and facing just five balls in the WTC final, with Cummins saying he viewed the 26-year-old all-rounder as a long-term option in the slot.
“He had a test match where it obviously didn’t go to plan,” he added.
“Think he only faced three or four balls, so the message is not to look into that too much. We’re really happy with where his game’s placed and I dare say we’ll get a decent run of number three.”
SCARS
Spin-bowling all-rounder Chase, who last played a test match in March 2023, will have his work cut out for him as he takes charge of a much-changed West Indies side who finished second bottom in the previous WTC cycle.
“You can expect positive cricket from us,” Chase, who succeeded Kraigg Brathwaite as captain in May, told reporters.
“We’re looking to play with a bit more flair and bring back that Caribbean style to the game, and we’re looking forward to making the Caribbean nation proud.
“It’s still test cricket, so you still have to have some type of patience, so it’ll (be on) the guys to mix their aggression with that patience.”
The sides last met in a two-test series in January 2024 which ended all square after West Indies claimed a shock eight-run victory in the second test in Brisbane – their first test win over Australia since 2003.
“I hope there are some scars,” Chase said.
“If they’re still thinking about that match going out there on Wednesday, that would be very good for us – that will be part of the job done for us.”
Change will be a key theme for both the West Indies and Australia in their upcoming three-test series in the Caribbean with the visitors set to field a remodelled batting line-up and the hosts being led out for the first time by Roston Chase.
Pat Cummins suggested Australia were due a top-order reset after their loss to South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier this month and the skipper said their line-up to face West Indies shows they are looking to the future.
Australia have brought in teenager Sam Konstas to open the batting with Usman Khawaja and added Josh Inglis to the line-up, while they will be without the dropped Marnus Labuschagne and injured veteran Steve Smith for a series which marks the start of both teams’ new WTC cycle.
Both Konstas and Inglis have played only two tests, the former opening the batting against India in Melbourne and Sydney last season, and the latter batting in the middle order in Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Australia could lose as many as half a dozen test regulars to retirement after this year’s Ashes series with the likes of Khawaja, Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all in their mid to late 30s.
When asked about the changes ahead of the first match beginning in Bridgetown later on Wednesday, Cummins told reporters: “You look forward to what the next couple of years are going to look like.
“I think part of that’s a keenness to get Sam and Josh into the squad, into the playing 11. You start looking at what the batting order might look like for the next couple of years. I think that’s part of the reset.
“And your goals change a little bit obviously. We’re starting on zero points, so it’s a bit of a mental reset. You block out the last couple of years and then start again.”
Cameron Green has retained his place at number three despite scoring only four runs and facing just five balls in the WTC final, with Cummins saying he viewed the 26-year-old all-rounder as a long-term option in the slot.
“He had a test match where it obviously didn’t go to plan,” he added.
“Think he only faced three or four balls, so the message is not to look into that too much. We’re really happy with where his game’s placed and I dare say we’ll get a decent run of number three.”
SCARS
Spin-bowling all-rounder Chase, who last played a test match in March 2023, will have his work cut out for him as he takes charge of a much-changed West Indies side who finished second bottom in the previous WTC cycle.
“You can expect positive cricket from us,” Chase, who succeeded Kraigg Brathwaite as captain in May, told reporters.
“We’re looking to play with a bit more flair and bring back that Caribbean style to the game, and we’re looking forward to making the Caribbean nation proud.
“It’s still test cricket, so you still have to have some type of patience, so it’ll (be on) the guys to mix their aggression with that patience.”
The sides last met in a two-test series in January 2024 which ended all square after West Indies claimed a shock eight-run victory in the second test in Brisbane – their first test win over Australia since 2003.
“I hope there are some scars,” Chase said.
“If they’re still thinking about that match going out there on Wednesday, that would be very good for us – that will be part of the job done for us.”
NATO leaders gathered in The Hague on Wednesday for a summit tailor-made for U.S. President Donald Trump, with European allies hoping a pledge to hike defence spending will prompt him to dispel doubts about his commitment to the alliance.
The summit is expected to endorse a higher defence spending goal of 5% of GDP – a response to a demand by Trump and to Europeans’ fears that Russia poses an increasingly direct threat to their security following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledged that it was not easy for countries to find the money for extra defence spending but said it was vital to do so.
“There is absolute conviction with my colleagues at the table that given this threat from the Russians, given the international security situation, there is no alternative,” he told reporters on Wednesday morning.
NATO officials are hoping the conflict between Israel and Iran, and the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend, will not overshadow the gathering, hosted by Rutte in his home city.
Trump has threatened not to protect NATO members if they fail to meet spending targets and he raised doubts about his commitment again on his way to the summit by avoiding directly endorsing the alliance’s Article 5 mutual defence clause.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he said there were “numerous definitions” of the clause. “I’m committed to saving lives. I’m committed to life and safety. And I’m going to give you an exact definition when I get there,” he said.
The new target – to be achieved over the next 10 years – is a big increase on the current goal of 2% of GDP, although it will be measured differently. It would amount to hundreds of billions of dollars in extra annual spending.
Countries would spend 3.5% of GDP on core defence – such as troops and weapons – and 1.5% on broader defence-related measures such as cyber security, protecting pipelines and adapting roads and bridges to handle military vehicles.
All NATO members have backed a statement enshrining the target, although Spain declared it does not need to meet the goal. Madrid says it can meet its military commitments to NATO by spending much less – a view disputed by Rutte.
But Rutte accepted a diplomatic fudge with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as part of his intense efforts to give Trump a diplomatic victory and make the summit go smoothly.
UNUSUAL INSIGHT INTO SUMMIT DIPLOMACY
Trump gave an unusual insight into those efforts on Tuesday by posting a private message in which Rutte lavished praise on him and congratulated him on “decisive action in Iran”.
“You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done,” Rutte told Trump.
“Europe is going to pay in a BIG way as they should, and it will be your win.”
To satisfy Trump, Rutte has also kept the summit and its final statement short and focused on the spending pledge.
The text is expected to cite Russia as a threat and reaffirm allies’ support for Ukraine but not dwell on those issues, given Trump has taken a more conciliatory stance towards Moscow and been less supportive of Kyiv than his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had to settle for a seat at the pre-summit dinner on Tuesday evening rather than a seat at the main meeting on Wednesday, although Trump said he would probably meet with Zelenskiy separately.
Zelenskiy and his aides have said they want to talk to Trump about buying U.S. weapons including Patriot missile defence systems and increasing pressure on Moscow through tougher sanctions.
The Kremlin accused NATO of being on a path of rampant militarisation and portraying Russia as a “fiend of hell” in order to justify its big increase in defence spending.
Just over 110 million people, or more than 20% of Europeans, are exposed to high levels of transport noise that exceed thresholds set under EU reporting rules and which harm our health, the environment and the economy, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report on noise pollution published today. The report calls for stronger action at EU and national levels to address the problem.
Progress in decreasing exposure to harmful levels of noise has been slow according to the EEA report ‘Environmental noise in Europe 2025’, adding that the EU zero-pollution objective to reduce the number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% by 2030 is unlikely to be met without additional measures.
Long-term exposure to transport noise in Europe is linked to a wide range of negative impacts on our health including cardiovascular diseases, mental illness, diabetes and even premature death. The report says children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the effects of noise. Based on new research, noise exposure in children contributes to reading impairment, behavioural problems and obesity.
The economic and social costs are also high, as associated illness and poor health have negative impacts on the economy. The report says noise pollution from transport sources results in annual economic costs of at least EUR 95.6 billion in Europe or 0.6% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) each year, applying established methods to estimate costs of environmental noise.
The EEA report is the most comprehensive analysis of environmental noise pollution in Europe, based on reporting by EEA Member States under the EU’s Environmental Noise Directive. It looks at both the impact on human health but also the impacts of noise on biodiversity and protected natural areas.
EEA Executive Director
Noise pollution is often overlooked, considered just an annoyance of everyday life. The long-term impacts of noise on our health and environment are widespread and significant contributing to premature deaths, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and mental health issues. Children are also particularly vulnerable to the effects of noise and it’s a problem all EU Member States need to urgently address if we are to make progress on our EU 2030 zero pollution target to reduce noise pollution,
Transport noise
Road traffic is identified as the dominant source of noise pollution, especially in densely populated urban areas, where the highest numbers of people are affected.
Based on thresholds set under the EU’s Environmental Noise Directive, road transport accounts for around 92 million people exposed to harmful day-evening-night noise levels. The EU noise thresholds under the Directive are set at 55 decibels (dB) for the day-evening-night period and 50dB for the night period.
In comparison, railway noise affects 18 million people during the day-evening-night period while aircraft noise impacts around 2.6 million (day-evening-night). While rail and aircraft noise affect fewer people overall, they remain significant sources of local noise pollution, particularly near major rail transport corridors and airports.
World Health Organization environmental noise guidelines recommend substantially stricter noise levels, meaning that many more individuals are exposed to transport-related noise. When considering these lower recommended levels, it is estimated that approximately 150 million people — more than 30% of the population — are exposed to long-term unhealthy noise levels from transport sources.
Health impacts
Noise pollution is not only an annoyance, it can cause extensive health impacts. It has typically been associated with impacts such as annoyance and sleep disturbance, but its effects are much broader. Exposure to noise affects health through interconnected pathways, primarily stress and sleep disturbance. These factors can contribute to a wide range of negative health outcomes, including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, mental health disorders, and even premature deaths.
Prolonged exposure to transport noise in Europe was linked to an estimated 66,000 premature deaths, 50,000 new cases of cardiovascular diseases and 22,000 new cases of type 2 diabetes. Additionally, according to new research, noise could also potentially contribute to thousands of cases of depression and dementia.
For children and adolescents, noise exposure contributed to over 560,000 cases of reading comprehension impairment, 63,000 behavioural problems and 272,000 cases of children being overweight according to latest data from 2021.
When compared to other environmental health threats in Europe, transport noise ranks among the top three — just behind air pollution and temperature-related (climatic) factors. Furthermore, it has a greater health impact than better-known risks such as second-hand smoke or lead exposure.
Noise harms nature
Noise pollution also impacts wildlife on land and in the sea. The report finds that at least 29% of Natura 2000 protected areas in Europe experience noise levels that could impact terrestrial wildlife behaviours.
Underwater noise pollution from shipping, offshore construction and marine exploration also disrupts marine life particularly in species in Europe’s waters that rely on sound for survival such as whales and dolphins. Areas with the highest underwater noise exposure in Europe include parts of the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar, parts of the Adriatic Sea, the Dardanelles Strait and some regions in the Baltic Sea.
Solutions towards a quieter Europe
Based on EEA estimates, the number of people highly annoyed by transport noise in the EU declined by only 3% between 2017 and 2022. This reduction falls short of the pace needed to meet the zero pollution action plan noise reduction objective. Based on current projections to 2030, it is unlikely the EU will meet the target without additional action.
The report identifies examples of effective solutions already available to help mitigate noise. They include improving access to quiet and green spaces in cities, actions like reduced speed limits for vehicles in urban areas, better maintenance of railway infrastructure, boosting use of low-noise tyres, and optimising aircraft landing/takeoff patterns at airports and promoting the use of quieter aircraft.
Further, long-term strategies for urban areas that prioritise preventative measures like creating buffer zones between transport corridors and residential areas or promoting sustainable mobility like public transport, walking and cycling can also help.
NASA retiree turned private astronaut Peggy Whitson was launched on the fifth spaceflight of her career early on Wednesday, joined by crewmates from India, Poland and Hungary heading for their countries’ first visit to the International Space Station.
The astronaut team lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at about 2:30 a.m. EDT (0630 GMT; 12 Noon IST)), beginning the latest mission organized by Texas-based startup Axiom Space in partnership with Elon Musk’s rocket venture SpaceX.
The four-member crew was carried aloft on a towering SpaceX launch vehicle consisting of a Crew Dragon capsule perched atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket.
Live video showed the towering spacecraft streaking into the night sky over Florida’s Atlantic coast trailed by a brilliant yellowish plume of fiery exhaust.
It marked the first Crew Dragon flight since Musk briefly threatened to decommission the spacecraft after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cancel Musk’s government contracts in a high-profile political feud between the two men earlier this month.
Axiom 4’s autonomously operated Crew Dragon was expected to reach the ISS after a flight of about 28 hours, then dock with the outpost as the two vehicles soar together in orbit some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
If all goes according to plan, the Axiom 4 crew will be welcomed aboard the orbiting space laboratory Thursday morning by its seven current resident occupants – three astronauts from the U.S., one from Japan and three cosmonauts from Russia.
Whitson, 65, and her three Axiom 4 crewmates – Shubhanshu Shukla, 39, of India, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, 41, of Poland, and Tibor Kapu, 33, of Hungary – are slated to spend 14 days aboard the space station conducting microgravity research.
The mission stands as the fourth such flight since 2022 arranged by Axiom as the Houston-headquartered company builds on its business of putting astronauts sponsored by private companies and foreign governments into Earth orbit.
For India, Poland and Hungary, the launch marked a return to human spaceflight after more than 40 years and the first mission to send astronauts from each of those three countries to the International Space Station.
The Axiom 4 participation of Shukla, an Indian air force pilot, is seen by India’s own space program as a kind of precursor to the debut crewed mission of its Gaganyaan orbital spacecraft, planned for 2027.
The Axiom 4 crew is led by Whitson, who retired from NASA in 2018 after a pioneering career that included her tenure as the first woman to serve as the U.S. space agency’s chief astronaut. She also was the first woman to command an ISS expedition and the first to do so twice.
Now a consultant and director of human spaceflight for Axiom, she has logged a career total of 675 days in space, a U.S. record, during three NASA missions and a fourth flight to space as commander of the Axiom 2 mission in 2023.
The Axiom 4 mission was previously scheduled for liftoff on Tuesday before a forecast of unsuitable weather forced a 24-hour postponement.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
This photo shows a Pony.ai robotaxi at a pick-up point in Nansha District of Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province, March 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)
On the outskirts of Beijing, a self-driving bus navigated effortlessly through traffic, demonstrating China’s rapidly advancing autonomous driving technology.
Developed by UISEE, a Beijing-based unicorn, this solution is now expanding beyond Chinese capital’s streets and beginning to make its mark on the global robotaxi industry.
These “AI drivers” have spread to countries like Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar, penetrating industries including energy, heavy industry, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, said Wu Gansha, CEO of UISEE.
The unmanned buses operate at over 20 airports worldwide, forming a fleet of more than 1,000 autonomous vehicles that have collectively covered 5.8 million kilometers.
These busy shuttles reflect the rising influence of Chinese companies like UISEE in the autonomous driving sector, as they secure increasing numbers of international contracts thanks to their reliable and innovative technology.
In addition to buses, UISEE’s diverse fleet includes unmanned retail vehicles, patrol cars, cleaning vehicles, towing tractors and heavy-duty trucks, varying in size and function.
Equipped with the latest solid-state LiDAR, the autonomous cars achieve 360-degree, blind-spot-free vision, according to Wu. While Tesla relies mainly on vision-based technology, Chinese tech firms are rolling out a multi-sensor data-driven approach globally.
GOING GLOBAL
UISEE is not alone in this global push. Last month, Pony.ai, a Guangzhou-based robotaxi service provider, announced a strategic partnership with Dubai’s transport authority.
Under the partnership, Pony.ai’s robotaxi fleet is scheduled to commence test operations in 2025, with plans to start fully autonomous commercial services in 2026 in Dubai.
“This partnership is integral to our goal of transforming 25 percent of all journeys in the city into autonomous trips by 2030, reinforcing Dubai’s position as a global leader in autonomous mobility and innovation,” said Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of Public Transport Agency at Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
To date, Pony.ai, a partner of ride-hailing platform Uber, has obtained Robotaxi licenses in countries such as the United States, the Republic of Korea and Luxembourg.
Last July, during the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding between Pony.ai and Luxembourg authorities, the country’s Minister of the Economy, Lex Delles, described the agreement as “a significant opportunity to advance Luxembourg’s technical capabilities in the smart mobility sector.”
“We are extending our proven-in-China integrated capabilities of autonomous driving, encompassing R&D, mass production, and commercial operations, globally,” said Pony.ai’s CFO Wang Junhao.
The UAE is emerging as one of the showcasing grounds for China’s self-driving technology.
In April this year, WeRide announced its collaboration with Uber and the RTA to launch robotaxi services in Dubai. It came after the Guangzhou-based tech firm secured the first autonomous driving license for the UAE in July 2023. In December last year, WeRide partnered with Uber to officially introduce robotaxi services in Abu Dhabi.
Also, Baidu’s Apollo Go has inked a deal with the RTA this March to launch autonomous driving tests and services in Dubai, marking its entry into the Middle East. It plans to deploy 100 fully autonomous vehicles in Dubai by the end of 2025 and scale the fleet to at least 1,000 by 2028.
The global Robotaxi market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 64.1 percent from 2025 to 2032, according to a market forecast released by Coherent MI early this year.
TECHNOLOGICAL STRENGTHS
The global expansion of Chinese autonomous driving companies is partly driven by the country’s “data dividend” and strong government support for developing a self-driving ecosystem.
With the country’s advantage of a vast population, extensive road networks, diverse and complex driving conditions, and rapidly advancing AI technology, robotaxi startups in China have quickly grown into leading companies in the world.
Baidu and WeRide were named among the top 10 vendors in the Guidehouse Insights Leaderboard Report on automated driving systems (ADS), published last December, alongside NVIDIA and Waymo.
They are developing at least Level-4 ADS that can operate without human intervention or supervision, according to research.
Plus, Chinese authorities have designated at least 20 cities and city clusters as pilot zones for the application of “vehicle-road-cloud” integration for intelligent connected vehicles.
This extensive road test data has boosted international recognition of China’s robotaxi services.
“One day, autonomous driving will liberate human hands, and we will endeavor to see ‘AI drivers’ cruising in every corner of the world,” said UISEE’s CEO Wu when he talked about his ambitious plan.
Tesla’s new car sales in Europe fell 27.9% in May from a year earlier even as fully-electric vehicle sales in the region jumped 27.2%, with the U.S. EV maker’s revised Model Y yet to show signs of reviving the brand’s fortunes.
Overall car sales in Europe rose 1.9%, with the strongest growth coming from plug-in hybrids and cars powered by alternative fuels, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Tesla’s European sales have now fallen for five straight months as customers switch to cheaper Chinese EVs and, in some cases, protest against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s politics.
Tesla’s European market share dropped to just 1.2% in May from 1.8% a year ago.
The revised Model Y is meant to revamp the company’s ageing model range as traditional automakers and Chinese rivals launch EVs at a rapid pace amid trade tensions.
BY THE NUMBERS
May new car sales in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association rose to 1.11 million vehicles, following a 0.3% dip in April, ACEA data showed.
Registrations at Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor and Germany’s BMW rose 22.5% and 5.6% respectively, while they fell 23% at Japan’s Mazda.
In the EU alone, total car sales have fallen 0.6% so far this year.
That comes despite growing demand for EVs, with registrations of battery-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid-electric (HEV) cars rising 26.1%, 15% and 19.8% respectively.
EU sales of BEVs, HEVs and PHEVs combined accounted for 58.9% of passenger car registrations in May, up from 48.9% in May 2024.
Among the largest EU markets, new car sales in Spain and Germany rose 18.6% and 1.2% respectively, while in France and Italy they dropped by 12.3% and 0.1%.
Tesla’s new car sales in Europe fell 27.9% in May from a year earlier even as fully-electric vehicle sales in the region jumped 27.2%, with the U.S. EV maker’s revised Model Y yet to show signs of reviving the brand’s fortunes.
Overall car sales in Europe rose 1.9%, with the strongest growth coming from plug-in hybrids and cars powered by alternative fuels, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Tesla’s European sales have now fallen for five straight months as customers switch to cheaper Chinese EVs and, in some cases, protest against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s politics.
Tesla’s European market share dropped to just 1.2% in May from 1.8% a year ago.
The revised Model Y is meant to revamp the company’s ageing model range as traditional automakers and Chinese rivals launch EVs at a rapid pace amid trade tensions.
BY THE NUMBERS
May new car sales in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association rose to 1.11 million vehicles, following a 0.3% dip in April, ACEA data showed.
Registrations at Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor and Germany’s BMW rose 22.5% and 5.6% respectively, while they fell 23% at Japan’s Mazda.
In the EU alone, total car sales have fallen 0.6% so far this year.
That comes despite growing demand for EVs, with registrations of battery-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid-electric (HEV) cars rising 26.1%, 15% and 19.8% respectively.
EU sales of BEVs, HEVs and PHEVs combined accounted for 58.9% of passenger car registrations in May, up from 48.9% in May 2024.
Among the largest EU markets, new car sales in Spain and Germany rose 18.6% and 1.2% respectively, while in France and Italy they dropped by 12.3% and 0.1%.
AMSTERDAM, June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TomTom (TOM2), the location technology specialist, and NextBillion.ai, a leading provider of AI-powered mapping solutions for enterprise, today announced an expanded partnership to deliver precise route calculations and travel time estimations across mobility, fleet, and logistics industries globally. NextBillion.ai leverages TomTom Orbis Maps within its API-first platform to deliver a powerful optimization and scheduling experience, better optimized routes and advanced integration capabilities.
NextBillion.ai’s all-in-one API platform prioritizes ease of use, customization and seamless integration across routing, navigation, and tracking use cases. It offers advanced features, such as customizable objective functions, sophisticated task sequencing, and support for over 50 constraints, allowing businesses to navigate their roadmaps with ease.
The integration of TomTom Orbis Maps into the NextBillion.ai engine equips drivers and field service agents with efficient routing, enabling them to perform deliveries and tasks more effectively. Improved routing and more accurate estimated times of arrival support increased productivity and enhanced safety. Additionally, as TomTom supports truck-specific routing that considers vehicle dimensions, weight, and cargo type, customers are guaranteed efficient and regulation-compliant navigation in all instances.
“At NextBillion.ai, we’re focused on helping enterprises solve complex mapping and routing challenges at scale,” said Gaurav Bubna, Co-founder, NextBillion.ai. “Integrating TomTom’s Orbis Maps into our platform allows us to offer even greater accuracy, customization, and operational efficiency, empowering our customers to make smarter decisions in real-time.”
“We are proud to expand our partnership with NextBillion.ai and deliver improved solutions to the mobility and logistics industries,” said Mike Schoofs, Chief Revenue Officer, TomTom. “By combining the advanced capabilities of TomTom Orbis Maps with NextBillion.ai’s API-first platform, we support businesses with more accurate and efficient routing.”
About TomTom:
Billions of data points. Millions of sources. Thousands of communities.
We are the mapmaker bringing it all together to build the world’s smartest map. We provide location data and technology to drivers, carmakers, businesses and developers. Our application-ready maps, routing, real-time traffic, APIs and SDKs empower the dreamers and doers to move our world forward.
Headquartered in Amsterdam with 3,600 employees around the globe, TomTom has been shaping the future of mobility for over 30 years.
NextBillion.ai is a leader in AI-powered routing and route optimization solutions, helping businesses customize, scale, and optimize their routing infrastructure through advanced APIs and tools. Operating globally across diverse industries, including logistics, field services, food delivery, and ride-hailing, NextBillion.ai’s platform processes millions of API calls daily, serving enterprises with tailored mapping solutions designed for their unique business needs.
AMSTERDAM, June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TomTom (TOM2), the location technology specialist, and NextBillion.ai, a leading provider of AI-powered mapping solutions for enterprise, today announced an expanded partnership to deliver precise route calculations and travel time estimations across mobility, fleet, and logistics industries globally. NextBillion.ai leverages TomTom Orbis Maps within its API-first platform to deliver a powerful optimization and scheduling experience, better optimized routes and advanced integration capabilities.
NextBillion.ai’s all-in-one API platform prioritizes ease of use, customization and seamless integration across routing, navigation, and tracking use cases. It offers advanced features, such as customizable objective functions, sophisticated task sequencing, and support for over 50 constraints, allowing businesses to navigate their roadmaps with ease.
The integration of TomTom Orbis Maps into the NextBillion.ai engine equips drivers and field service agents with efficient routing, enabling them to perform deliveries and tasks more effectively. Improved routing and more accurate estimated times of arrival support increased productivity and enhanced safety. Additionally, as TomTom supports truck-specific routing that considers vehicle dimensions, weight, and cargo type, customers are guaranteed efficient and regulation-compliant navigation in all instances.
“At NextBillion.ai, we’re focused on helping enterprises solve complex mapping and routing challenges at scale,” said Gaurav Bubna, Co-founder, NextBillion.ai. “Integrating TomTom’s Orbis Maps into our platform allows us to offer even greater accuracy, customization, and operational efficiency, empowering our customers to make smarter decisions in real-time.”
“We are proud to expand our partnership with NextBillion.ai and deliver improved solutions to the mobility and logistics industries,” said Mike Schoofs, Chief Revenue Officer, TomTom. “By combining the advanced capabilities of TomTom Orbis Maps with NextBillion.ai’s API-first platform, we support businesses with more accurate and efficient routing.”
About TomTom:
Billions of data points. Millions of sources. Thousands of communities.
We are the mapmaker bringing it all together to build the world’s smartest map. We provide location data and technology to drivers, carmakers, businesses and developers. Our application-ready maps, routing, real-time traffic, APIs and SDKs empower the dreamers and doers to move our world forward.
Headquartered in Amsterdam with 3,600 employees around the globe, TomTom has been shaping the future of mobility for over 30 years.
NextBillion.ai is a leader in AI-powered routing and route optimization solutions, helping businesses customize, scale, and optimize their routing infrastructure through advanced APIs and tools. Operating globally across diverse industries, including logistics, field services, food delivery, and ride-hailing, NextBillion.ai’s platform processes millions of API calls daily, serving enterprises with tailored mapping solutions designed for their unique business needs.
On 12 May 2025, KH Group announced the start of change negotiations in order to improve profitability in Indoor Group. The change negotiations began on 19 May 2025 and the scope of the negotiations covered 83 employees. At the start of the negotiations, the company estimated that the planned changes would lead to the termination of up to 30 positions.
The outcome of the change negotiations in Indoor Group is that up to 21 employment relationships will be terminated and temporary layoffs will be implemented by the end of May 2026.
The change negotiations sought measures to improve profitability by approximately EUR 2 million by renewing management model and reorganizing functions. The measures are part of an extensive operating model reform, estimated to improve Indoor Group’s annual operating profit by at least EUR 10 million by the end of 2026.
KH GROUP PLC
Further information: CEO Ville Nikulainen, tel. +358 40 045 9343 Indoor Group CEO Kati Kivimäki, tel. +358 46 876 1500
Distribution: Major media www.khgroup.com
KH Group Plc is a Nordic conglomerate operating in the business areas of KH-Koneet, Nordic Rescue Group and Indoor Group. We are a leading supplier of construction and earth-moving equipment, rescue vehicle manufacturer as well as furniture and interior decoration retailer. The objective of our strategy is to create an industrial group around the business of KH-Koneet. KH Group’s share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder at press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
AMMAN/GENEVA, June 2025 – “In a war already defined by its brutality, Gaza now teeters at its deadliest edge. Currently just 40 per cent of drinking water production facilities remain functional in Gaza (87 out of 217). Without fuel, every one of these will stop operating within weeks.
“Since all the electricity to Gaza was cut after the horrific attacks of 7 Oct 2023, fuel became essential to produce, treat and distribute water to more than two million Palestinians.
“If the current more than 100-day blockade on fuel coming into Gaza does not end, children will begin to die of thirst. Diseases are already advancing, and chaos is tightening its grip.
“Whilst alarm bells rightly ring on the nutrition situation in Gaza – just [last week] UNICEF reported a 50 per cent increase in children (6months to 5yrs) admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition from April to May – water cannot be sidelined.
“And so in the most relatable terms: Gaza is facing what would amount to a man-made drought. Water systems are collapsing.
“However, because this is man-made, it can be stopped. None of these problems are logistical or technical. They are political. Denial has become policy. If there is political will, the water crisis will be eased overnight – fuel would mean that water flows from hundreds of groundwater wells and restores supply within a day. But time is running out.
“To help paint the picture: without fuel, desalination plants that already operate on reduced capacity will cease completely, and critical membranes in the machinery will close, doing immense damage. Without fuel, trucking the millions of litres of water to people will stop. At major production points, large numbers of donkeys are starting to replace trucks. This is the last gasp of a collapsing system. A donkey cart can barely carry 500 litres. A truck, 15,000. And even the donkeys are slowing – there’s barely enough food to keep them moving.
“Fuel is also the thread holding Gaza’s devastated healthcare system together. Without it, hospital generators stop, oxygen production stops, and life-support machines fail. Ambulances can’t move. Incubators go dark. Denying fuel doesn’t just cut off supply – it cuts off survival.
“Or sanitation: The sewerage systems are broken. Sewage now flows into makeshift shelters and tents. There are already suspected cases of HepA and HepE, which are highly infectious.
“Or nutrition: Just as the water crisis is manmade, so too is the malnutrition it drives. In Gaza, these two crises feed off each other, creating a deadly cycle. On average, more than 110 children (6months to 5yrs) have been admitted for treatment for malnutrition every day since the beginning of 2025.
“At the start of this month a friend in Gaza said to me: ‘we have learnt to live without so much. Without our homes; without safety; without loved ones…but we cannot live without food’.
“This week he clarified that: ‘we have learnt to live without so much. Without our homes; without safety; without loved ones…we have even learnt we can live without food for a week, or more…but we cannot survive days without water’.
“UNICEF is very clear. This is Gaza’s most critical moment since this war on children began – a woeful bar to sink below. A virtual blockade is in place; humanitarian aid is being sidelined; the daily killing of girls and boys in Gaza does not register; and now a deliberate fuel crisis is severing Palestinians most essential element for survival: water.”
About UNICEF UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works to protect the rights of every child, everywhere, especially the most disadvantaged children and in the toughest places to reach. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive, and fulfil their potential.
The number seven is widely considered to be lucky across many cultures, and today seven new Police Security Officers (PSO) graduated from the South Australia Police Academy’s Qualification Program 7!
While hard work, determination and skill, rather than luck, saw today’s graduates successfully complete weeks of training, the new PSOs feel lucky to play a vital role in safeguarding the community.
Six men and one woman bring a wealth of valuable employment experience to the role, including from retail, sales, truck driving, and hospitality.
Before joining SAPOL, Scarlett worked in various roles including in retail, working as a barista while studying a Bachelor of Science.
“I was drawn to the variety of PSO roles, and the idea of every day being different,” she said.
When reflecting on the academy experience, the new PSO valued her course mates.
“We would encourage each other whenever any of us struggled with anything,” Scarlett said.
“We would catchup out of work to build up our rapport and become closer as a team.
“The mentors, as well as your course mates are always there to support you if you are ever concerned about anything.”
Fellow graduate Tynan studied and completed a Bachelor of Criminology at Flinders University before joining SAPOL.
“I studied this due to my interest in crime rehabilitation of offenders,” he said.
“This study exposed me to the world of law enforcement and was a major contributor as to why I wanted to join SAPOL.”
Tynan has a passion for football, which has developed his teamwork skills – of great value in this new role.
He was attracted to SAPOL knowing that every day has the potential to be new and different, and he hopes to one day become a police officer.
“SAPOL offers many pathways and extensive opportunities to branch off into different aspects of the organisation,” he added.
“As a PSO, the variety of working in the cells, working at static sites, and conducting patrols is an attractive aspect of the role.”
Today’s PSO graduates will be posted to Police Security Services Branch (PSSB), in the District Support Section.
SAPOL is currently recruiting for Police Security Officers and is keen to hear from people who are committed to the state’s safety and security.
If you are looking for job security, career progression pathways and a chance to make a real difference in local communities visit Achievemore – Join Us (police.sa.gov.au)
Tynan and Scarlett are among seven new Police Security Officers to graduate today from the South Australia Police Academy.
Press Release Nokia selected by Verizon as hardware and software provider for Thames Freeport multisite private 5G deal
Verizon Business, in collaboration with Nokia, will deliver multiple Verizon Private 5G Networks to industrial campuses across the Thames Freeport, one of the UK’s busiest maritime logistics and manufacturing regions.
The Thames Freeport is a designated UK “Free Trade Zone,” established to boost economic growth, create high-value jobs and attract global investment as part of a long-term effort to revive the UK’s River Thames Estuary region.
Thames Freeport will use Verizon Private 5G to enhance port operations with AI-driven data analytics, autonomous vehicle control, real-time logistics orchestration, innovation research & development, and more.
25 June 2025 London, UK – Nokia, Verizon Business and Thames Freeport today announced a strategic partnership to deploy Verizon Private 5G Networks across multiple key logistics, manufacturing, and innovation sites along the River Thames Estuary in the United Kingdom. The Verizon Private 5G Networks will serve as the technology foundation for a multi-year, multi-billion dollar operational transformation and economic revival for the region, one of the busiest maritime logistics hubs in the United Kingdom.
The Private 5G Networks buildout provides a scalable, long-term connectivity foundation for advanced data, AI, edge compute, and IoT infrastructure deployments aimed at transforming port and manufacturing operations.
The technological enhancements will play a direct role in boosting the local economy, underpinning job training and reskilling efforts as part of employment initiatives and supporting innovation and research and development collaborations among Freeport tenants and outside corporate, government, and research entities. Thames Freeport has already created 1,400 jobs and plans to reach 5,000 by 2030, with a focus on high-skilled training for local communities.
The Verizon Private 5G Networks will enable advanced data and application capabilities for AI-driven data analytics, predictive maintenance, process automation, autonomous vehicle control, safety monitoring, and real-time logistics orchestration. Nokia is the sole hardware and software provider for the networks, which will incorporate the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) platform and Nokia MX Industrial Edge (MXIE). The Verizon Private 5G Networks will be deployed to the following sites:
DP World London Gateway and DP World Logistics Park, the UK’s largest and most integrated deep-sea container port and logistics facility, with port capacity to handle over 3 million units per year. The hub includes a rail terminal with 20 daily services and a 9.25 million square foot high-tech logistics center.
Port of Tilbury, (two sites), the largest of the mixed-use Thames Freeport ports. Tilbury handles 16 million tonnes of cargo per year across 31 independent working terminals. Operated by Forth Ports, the sites comprise a crucial logistics hub for the construction, automotive, and food & drink sectors.
Ford Dagenham, the largest manufacturing site in London, is a unique location that gives access to regional manufacturing clusters, proximity to suppliers, and brings key production closer to the end market.
“Our partnership with Thames Freeport and Nokia shows the full promise of private 5G at scale. Thames Freeport is developing one of the most technologically advanced commercial corridors in Europe to enable forward innovation and economic revitalization for an entire community. We’re not just driving operational improvements to help a partner stay ahead of the curve; we’re laying the groundwork for new revenue streams, community development, and further commercial and technological investment,” said Jennifer Artley, SVP, 5G Acceleration, Verizon Business.
“A flexible, high-performance connectivity platform is critical to our long-term vision. Our investment in private 5G is not an incremental network upgrade—it’s the backbone of a technological transformation fueling our long-term multi-stakeholder mission, which includes operational excellence for tenants; ROI for shareholders like Ford, DP World and Forth Ports; innovation leadership for public and private benefit; circular economy models supporting efficient energy models; empowering community development by enabling high-value job creation and training; and transforming public services with near-real time diagnostics at health-service sites. By partnering with Verizon Business and Nokia, we’re delivering the technology needed to propel our region to the front of the leading edge,” said Martin Whiteley, CEO, Thames Freeport.
“Private wireless and industrial edge are the foundations for the digital transformation of industrial sites, and the Thames Freeport deployment is a landmark example of this evolution at scale. This is one of the largest commercial private 5G rollouts in a European port, incorporating the Nokia DAC platform. This network will allow Thames Freeport to overlay advanced use cases such as AI-driven data analytics, predictive maintenance, process automation, autonomous vehicle control, safety monitoring, and real-time logistics orchestration. Together with Verizon Business, we’re proud to be enabling the infrastructure that will help Thames Freeport drive new efficiencies, sustainable growth, and long-term economic opportunity for the region,” said David de Lancellotti, VP of Enterprise Campus Edge Sales, Nokia.
The Thames Freeport has a mission of economic regeneration and operational excellence, centered on stimulating trade, fostering innovation, supporting energy transition, creating jobs and improving the lives of the people around it. Private 5G Networks from Verizon Business can help enable a range of strategic priorities at Thames Freeport sites in service of that mission.
Select priorities include enabling advanced technology layers such as AI, edge computing, and IoT across active industrial sites where Freeport stakeholders can collaborate on new applications. For example, industrial sites can leverage IoT for autonomous yard tractors and quay cranes and for near real-time tracking, smart routing, and condition monitoring for cargo. That can allow tenants to intake cargo, assess quantity and condition, and ship it out faster and more efficiently, losing less to damage or misplacement.
Additionally, AI with edge computing can help manage environmental impact through edge-connected smart sensors and AI-driven analytics that monitor and optimize port operations and asset performance, including near-real time monitoring of emissions, air and water quality, and noise levels.
Managing the use of the Verizon Private 5G Network infrastructure will be the responsibility of Thames Freeport and its tenant shareholder organizations. This ensures fit-for-purpose connectivity that adapts to site-specific requirements while safeguarding data and operational autonomy.
About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.
As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.
With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.
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Some of these relate to the inclusion of households not facing economic hardship and the exclusion of families living in poverty. There’s a need to refine the current criteria to better identify households experiencing temporary financial difficulties, even if they own certain assets.
Challenges in data verification
Another area for improvement in Aswesuma is the difficulty officials face in verifying household information related to eligibility. For example, errors may occur during data collection if households withhold accurate information about their poverty status to qualify for benefits or are unable to recall details correctly. These inaccuracies can reduce the program’s effectiveness by excluding people who genuinely need help and undermining efforts to create a more objective social protection system.
Improving follow-up and monitoring
Better data collection methods during follow-ups with Aswesuma recipients would help improve the criteria. This would allow the program to monitor households’ economic conditions and track improvements resulting from cash transfers. The main goal of these transfers is to help participants move out of poverty by improving their living situations. Therefore, follow-up assessments should document any changes and measurable outcomes related to food insecurity or poverty levels. These outcomes should go beyond the current Aswesuma indicators to better reflect improvements in well-being.
Addressing chronic and transient poverty
Ongoing updates to Aswesuma should also improve its ability to target people experiencing both chronic and transient poverty. Chronic poverty refers to long-term deprivation, often passed down through generations, while transient poverty involves short-term income or spending losses, even when long-term resources are sufficient to stay above the poverty line (Duclos et al., 2078). The current deprivation score mainly focuses on chronic poverty, emphasizing household assets and housing conditions (13 of the 22 indicators are based on multidimensional measurements).
Gaps in coverage and food insecurity
While addressing chronic poverty is important, it’s also necessary to consider temporary poverty. A large portion of the population (households ineligible for Aswesuma but who experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months) remains underserved. Of the 20% of the population that faced food insecurity, nearly 40% are not eligible for Aswesuma.
Expanding the framework for vulnerability
Given the current economic climate, with rising costs and income losses, measures of temporary poverty could help identify both long-term and short-term hardship, regardless of assets or housing. Including data on household members’ recent employment experiences, especially job loss, could offer a more complete picture of who needs support. The amount of cash transferred is unlikely to directly improve indicators related to household assets or other long-term poverty markers, as those require larger investments in education, health, and infrastructure (Lipton and Ravallion, 1995).
Climate vulnerability and regional differences
Climate vulnerability also adds complexity to household conditions. Although it’s difficult to measure, including it would help the program reach more at-risk groups in Sri Lanka.
The current set of indicators can also be improved by accounting for both visible and hidden factors that influence household selection. The relevance of indicators varies by region and demographics. For example, vehicle use and electricity consumption depend on the availability of alternatives, which differ across the country. Rural households may lack access to transportation or electricity not because of poverty, but because those services aren’t available. Regional adjustments in how deprivation is measured could lead to more accurate assessments of poverty in both rural and urban areas.
Asset ownership and agricultural work
Asset indicators like ownership of agricultural machinery or land are influenced by both observable and hidden factors, including the decision to work in agriculture. This suggests a need for additional support programs, such as insurance for agricultural workers. In some areas, deprivation in agriculture-related indicators may actually reflect higher well-being, depending on location and market access.
Labor market impacts and conditional transfers
Finally, the program’s impact on labor market outcomes should be considered. The study predicts a drop in labor force participation for both men and women under various scenarios. This aligns with economic theory, which suggests that higher non-labor income reduces the need for paid work (Garganta et al., 2017). However, building resilience through employment is key to long-term poverty reduction. In some cases, transfers tied to employment have shown fewer negative, or even positive, effects on labor participation (Berlinski et al., 2024). While cash transfers are helpful for addressing food insecurity, exploring conditional transfers that encourage work and self-reliance is important for helping people move out of poverty.
Some of these relate to the inclusion of households not facing economic hardship and the exclusion of families living in poverty. There’s a need to refine the current criteria to better identify households experiencing temporary financial difficulties, even if they own certain assets.
Challenges in data verification
Another area for improvement in Aswesuma is the difficulty officials face in verifying household information related to eligibility. For example, errors may occur during data collection if households withhold accurate information about their poverty status to qualify for benefits or are unable to recall details correctly. These inaccuracies can reduce the program’s effectiveness by excluding people who genuinely need help and undermining efforts to create a more objective social protection system.
Improving follow-up and monitoring
Better data collection methods during follow-ups with Aswesuma recipients would help improve the criteria. This would allow the program to monitor households’ economic conditions and track improvements resulting from cash transfers. The main goal of these transfers is to help participants move out of poverty by improving their living situations. Therefore, follow-up assessments should document any changes and measurable outcomes related to food insecurity or poverty levels. These outcomes should go beyond the current Aswesuma indicators to better reflect improvements in well-being.
Addressing chronic and transient poverty
Ongoing updates to Aswesuma should also improve its ability to target people experiencing both chronic and transient poverty. Chronic poverty refers to long-term deprivation, often passed down through generations, while transient poverty involves short-term income or spending losses, even when long-term resources are sufficient to stay above the poverty line (Duclos et al., 2078). The current deprivation score mainly focuses on chronic poverty, emphasizing household assets and housing conditions (13 of the 22 indicators are based on multidimensional measurements).
Gaps in coverage and food insecurity
While addressing chronic poverty is important, it’s also necessary to consider temporary poverty. A large portion of the population (households ineligible for Aswesuma but who experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months) remains underserved. Of the 20% of the population that faced food insecurity, nearly 40% are not eligible for Aswesuma.
Expanding the framework for vulnerability
Given the current economic climate, with rising costs and income losses, measures of temporary poverty could help identify both long-term and short-term hardship, regardless of assets or housing. Including data on household members’ recent employment experiences, especially job loss, could offer a more complete picture of who needs support. The amount of cash transferred is unlikely to directly improve indicators related to household assets or other long-term poverty markers, as those require larger investments in education, health, and infrastructure (Lipton and Ravallion, 1995).
Climate vulnerability and regional differences
Climate vulnerability also adds complexity to household conditions. Although it’s difficult to measure, including it would help the program reach more at-risk groups in Sri Lanka.
The current set of indicators can also be improved by accounting for both visible and hidden factors that influence household selection. The relevance of indicators varies by region and demographics. For example, vehicle use and electricity consumption depend on the availability of alternatives, which differ across the country. Rural households may lack access to transportation or electricity not because of poverty, but because those services aren’t available. Regional adjustments in how deprivation is measured could lead to more accurate assessments of poverty in both rural and urban areas.
Asset ownership and agricultural work
Asset indicators like ownership of agricultural machinery or land are influenced by both observable and hidden factors, including the decision to work in agriculture. This suggests a need for additional support programs, such as insurance for agricultural workers. In some areas, deprivation in agriculture-related indicators may actually reflect higher well-being, depending on location and market access.
Labor market impacts and conditional transfers
Finally, the program’s impact on labor market outcomes should be considered. The study predicts a drop in labor force participation for both men and women under various scenarios. This aligns with economic theory, which suggests that higher non-labor income reduces the need for paid work (Garganta et al., 2017). However, building resilience through employment is key to long-term poverty reduction. In some cases, transfers tied to employment have shown fewer negative, or even positive, effects on labor participation (Berlinski et al., 2024). While cash transfers are helpful for addressing food insecurity, exploring conditional transfers that encourage work and self-reliance is important for helping people move out of poverty.
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
In service “My payments” The mos.ru portal now offers the option to set up an automatic payment for travel on toll roads. This was reported by the capital’s Department of Information Technology (DIT).
If previously car owners had to track and pay each invoice issued, now it is enough to connect autopayment, and the required amount will be debited from the bank card linked to the service automatically. This is especially convenient for those who regularly drive alongMoscow High-Speed Diameter (MSD), the M-12 “Vostok” highway, the Central Ring Road (CRR), Bagration Avenue andWestern High Speed Diameter in Saint Petersburg.
“We continue to develop the functionality of the My Payments service to make it even more convenient for residents of the capital to pay for services on the mos.ru portal without going to other resources. Over the past 2.5 years, payment for travel on Bagration Avenue, the Moscow Highway, M-12 Vostok, the Central Ring Road and the Western High-Speed Diameter in St. Petersburg has become available here. Now users have the opportunity to connect autopayment to pay for travel on these highways. It is enough to select and configure the appropriate parameters so that new bills are paid automatically and on time,” said Vladimir Novikov, Director of the Department for Support of Citywide Payment Systems of the Moscow Department of Information Technology.
The ability to connect automatic payments is one of the most popular functions among users of the My Payments service on the mos.ru portal. City residents have used automatic payment of bills more than 1.6 million times. This saves time and allows you not to worry about payment deadlines. All connected automatic payments are displayed in the section of the service with the same name. If necessary, you can edit their parameters or delete them here.
Automatic payment for the issued invoice
To make sure that payment for travel on toll road sections takes a minimum of time and is done automatically, you can set up automatic payment immediately after the first payment in the service on mos.ruto the invoice issued. To do this, in the “Connecting Auto Payment” window, you need to specify the maximum amount of one invoice and the amount of write-offs per month. Auto payment will occur automatically after the road operator issues an invoice.
Autopayment on schedule
Car owners using transponders can now set up automatic paymentsschedule. This is convenient for advance payment of travel. After the first payment is made, in the “Auto payment connection” window, it is enough to specify the amount and frequency with which funds will be debited from the account. At the moment, this opportunity is available to motorists who have installed transponders of two toll road operators – JSC “New Quality of Roads” AndUnited Toll Collection Systems LLC. Through the mos.ru portal, you can top up your transponder account to pay for travel on any Russian toll road.
The transponder account number is automatically displayed in the My Payments service on mos.ru if the user has specified the same phone number in their profile and in the contract with the toll road operator. If the numbers do not match, you can add the transponder yourself. To do this, in the Documents and Data section, simply select the Transport tab, the Add transponder option and fill out the form. The service will automatically generate a template with the current balance and the recommended amount to top up the transponder account. If several devices from different road operators are used, each of them will have its own template.
Automatic search for travel invoices
In order to make the payment for travel on toll road sections take a minimum of time, you must first indicate the state registration number of the car, as well as the series and number of the vehicle registration certificate in your personal account on the mos.ru portal. Then, after driving on the highway, the bill will automatically appear in the My Payments service. You can also set up a subscription to receive notifications aboutnew accountsTo do this, you will need to tick the convenient form of receiving messages in your profile – by email or via push notifications.
If there is not enough information in your personal account to automatically search for invoices, you can use the “Vehicle Certificate” widget. In the pop-up window that opens, simply enter the vehicle details, and the widget will show all unpaid invoices, and you will be asked to save the entered information in your profile so that you do not have to re-enter it in the future.
You can find out more about all the options for paying toll road bills in the My Payments service ininstructions.
The My Payments service on the mos.ru portal and in the Moscow State Services and My Moscow mobile applications is one of the most popular methods of paying bills among residents of the capital. It can be used to pay for about nine thousand municipal, federal and commercial services. Over the seven and a half years of the service’s operation, city residents have already paid more than 116 million bills.
The service automatically finds all unpaid bills if the user has a standard or full account and the necessary information is specified in the personal account. To save time, you can connect autopayment or create a template here. This will allow you to avoid filling in the details in the future. If necessary, it is possible to pay several bills at once. More information about all the features of the My Payments service is ininstructions.
You can learn more about how Moscow’s electronic services developed and how just 30 years ago, in order to pay bills, you had to visit up to five different departments from the film “Moscow in Digital”.
The creation, development and operation of the e-government infrastructure, including the provision of mass socially significant services, as well as other services in electronic form, corresponds to the objectives of the national project “Data Economy” and the regional project of the city of Moscow “Digital Public Administration”.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect
After 12 days of war, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran that would bring to an end the most dramatic, direct conflict between the two nations in decades.
Israel and Iran both agreed to adhere to the ceasefire, though they said they would respond with force to any breach.
If the ceasefire holds – a big if – the key question will be whether this signals the start of lasting peace, or merely a brief pause before renewed conflict.
As contemporary war studies show, peace tends to endure under one of two conditions: either the total defeat of one side, or the establishment of mutual deterrence. This means both parties refrain from aggression because the expected costs of retaliation far outweigh any potential gains.
What did each side gain?
The war has marked a turning point for Israel in its decades-long confrontation with Iran. For the first time, Israel successfully brought a prolonged battle to Iranian soil, shifting the conflict from confrontations with Iranian-backed proxy militant groups to direct strikes on Iran itself.
This was made possible largely due to Israel’s success over the past two years in weakening Iran’s regional proxy network, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Syria.
Over the past two weeks, Israel has inflicted significant damage on Iran’s military and scientific elite, killing several high-ranking commanders and nuclear scientists. The civilian toll was also high.
Additionally, Israel achieved a major strategic objective by pulling the United States directly into the conflict. In coordination with Israel, the US launched strikes on three of Iran’s primary nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
Despite these gains, Israel has not accomplished all of its stated goals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had voiced support for regime change, urging Iranians to rise up against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s government, but the senior leadership in Iran remains intact.
Although Iran was caught off-guard by Israel’s attacks — particularly as it was engaged in nuclear negotiations with the US — it responded by launching hundreds of missiles towards Israel.
Iran has demonstrated its capacity to strike back, though Israel has succeeded in destroying many of its air defence systems, some ballistic missile assets (including missile launchers) and multiple energy facilities.
Since the beginning of the assault, Iranian officials have repeatedly called for a halt to resume negotiations. Under such intense pressure, Iran has realised it would not benefit from a prolonged war of attrition with Israel — especially as both nations face mounting costs and the risk of depleting their military stockpiles if the war continues.
As theories of victory suggest, success in war is defined not only by the damage inflicted, but by achieving core strategic goals and weakening the enemy’s will and capacity to resist.
While Israel claims to have achieved the bulk of its objectives, the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program is not fully known, nor is its capacity to continue enriching uranium.
Both sides could remain locked in a volatile standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, with the conflict potentially reigniting whenever either side perceives a strategic opportunity.
Sticking point over Iran’s nuclear program
Iran faces even greater challenges when it emerges from the war. With a heavy toll on its leadership and nuclear infrastructure, Tehran will likely prioritise rebuilding its deterrence capability.
That includes acquiring new advanced air defence systems — potentially from China — and restoring key components of its missile and nuclear programs. (Some experts say Iran has not used some of its most powerful missiles to maintain this deterrence.)
Iranian officials have claimed they safeguarded more than 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium before the attacks. This stockpile could theoretically be converted into nine to ten nuclear warheads if further enriched to 90%.
Trump declared Iran’s nuclear capacity had been “totally obliterated”, whereas Rafael Grossi, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog chief, said damage to Iran’s facilities was “very significant”.
However, analysts have argued Iran will still have a depth of technical knowledge accumulated over decades. Depending on the extent of the damage to its underground facilities, Iran could be capable of restoring and even accelerating its program in a relatively short time frame.
And the chances of reviving negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program appear slimmer than ever.
What might future deterrence look like?
The war has fundamentally reshaped how both Iran and Israel perceive deterrence — and how they plan to secure it going forward.
For Iran, the conflict has reinforced the belief that its survival is at stake. With regime change openly discussed during the war, Iran’s leaders appear more convinced than ever that true deterrence requires two key pillars: nuclear weapons capability, and deeper strategic alignment with China and Russia.
As a result, Iran is expected to move rapidly to restore and advance its nuclear program, potentially moving towards actual weaponisation — a step it had long avoided, officially.
At the same time, Tehran is likely to accelerate military and economic cooperation with Beijing and Moscow to hedge against isolation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi emphasised this close engagement with Russia during a visit to Moscow this week, particularly on nuclear matters.
Israel, meanwhile, sees deterrence as requiring constant vigilance and a credible threat of overwhelming retaliation. In the absence of diplomatic breakthroughs, Israel may adopt a policy of immediate preemptive strikes on Iranian facilities or leadership figures if it detects any new escalation — particularly related to Iran’s nuclear program.
In this context, the current ceasefire already appears fragile. Without comprehensive negotiations that address the core issues — namely, Iran’s nuclear capabilities — the pause in hostilities may prove temporary.
Mutual deterrence may prevent a more protracted war for now, but the balance remains precarious and could collapse with little warning.
Ali Mamouri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Is AI going to take over the world? Have scientists created an artificial lifeform that can think on its own? Is it going to replace all our jobs, even creative ones, like doctors, teachers and care workers? Are we about to enter an age where computers are better than humans at everything?
The answers, as the authors of The AI Con stress, are “no”, “they wish”, “LOL” and “definitely not”.
The AI Con: How To Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want – Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna (Bodley Head)
Artificial intelligence is a marketing term as much as a distinct set of computational architectures and techniques. AI has become a magic word for entrepreneurs to attract startup capital for dubious schemes, an incantation deployed by managers to instantly achieve the status of future-forward leaders.
In a mere two letters, it conjures a vision of automated factories and robotic overlords, a utopia of leisure or a dystopia of servitude, depending on your point of view. It is not just technology, but a powerful vision of how society should function and what our future should look like.
In this sense, AI doesn’t need to work for it to work. The accuracy of a large language model may be doubtful, the productivity of an AI office assistant may be claimed rather than demonstrated, but this bundle of technologies, companies and claims can still alter the terrain of journalism, education, healthcare, service work and our broader sociocultural landscape.
Bender is a linguistics professor at the University of Washington, who has become a prominent technology critic. Hanna is a sociologist and former employee of Google, who is now the director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute. After teaming up to mock AI boosters in their popular podcast, Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, they have distilled their insights into a book written for a general audience. They meet the unstoppable force of AI hype with immovable scepticism.
Step one in this program is grasping how AI models work. Bender and Hanna do an excellent job of decoding technical terms and unpacking the “black box” of machine learning for lay people.
Driving this wedge between hype and reality, between assertions and operations, is a recurring theme across the pages of The AI Con, and one that should gradually erode readers’ trust in the tech industry. The book outlines the strategic deceptions employed by powerful corporations to reduce friction and accumulate capital. If the barrage of examples tends to blur together, the sense of technical bullshit lingers.
What is intelligence? A famous and highly cited paper co-written by Bender asserts that large language models are simply “stochastic parrots”, drawing on training data to predict which set of tokens (i.e. words) is most likely to follow the prompt given by a user. Harvesting millions of crawled websites, the model can regurgitate “the moon” after “the cow jumped over”, albeit in much more sophisticated variants.
Rather than actually understanding a concept in all its social, cultural and political contexts, large language models carry out pattern matching: an illusion of thinking.
But I would suggest that, in many domains, a simulation of thinking is sufficient, as it is met halfway by those engaging with it. Users project agency onto models via the well-known Eliza effect, imparting intelligence to the simulation.
Management are pinning their hopes on this simulation. They view automation as a way to streamline their organisations and not be “left behind”. This powerful vision of early adopters vs extinct dinosaurs is one we see repeatedly with the advent of new technologies – and one that benefits the tech industry.
In this sense, poking holes in the “intelligence” of artificial intelligence is a losing move, missing the social and financial investment that wants this technology to work. “Start with AI for every task. No matter how small, try using an AI tool first,” commanded DuoLingo’s chief engineering officer in a recent message to all employees. Duolingo has joined Fiverr, Shopify, IBM and a slew of other companies proclaiming their “AI first” approach.
The AI Con is strongest when it looks beyond or around the technologies to the ecosystem surrounding them, a perspective I have also argued is immensely helpful. By understanding the corporations, actors, business models and stakeholders involved in a model’s production, we can evaluate where it comes from, its purpose, its strengths and weaknesses, and what all this might mean downstream for its possible uses and implications. “Who benefits from this technology, who is harmed, and what recourse do they have?” is a solid starting point, Bender and Hanna suggest.
These basic but important questions extract us from the weeds of technical debate – how does AI function, how accurate or “good” is it really, how can we possibly understand this complexity as non-engineers? – and give us a critical perspective. They place the onus on industry to explain, rather than users to adapt or be rendered superfluous.
We don’t need to be able to explain technical concepts like backpropagation or diffusion to grasp that AI technologies can undermine fair work, perpetuate racial and gender stereotypes, and exacerbate environmental crises. The hype around AI means to distract us from these concrete effects, to trivialise them and thus encourage us to ignore them.
As Bender and Hanna explain, AI boosters and AI doomers are really two sides of the same coin. Conjuring up nightmare scenarios of self-replicating AI terminating humanity or claiming sentient machines will usher us into a posthuman paradise are, in the end, the same thing. They place a religious-like faith in the capabilities of technology, which dominates debate, allowing tech companies to retain control of AI’s future development.
The risk of AI is not potential doom in the future, à la the nuclear threat during the Cold War, but the quieter and more significant harm to real people in the present. The authors explain that AI is more like a panopticon “that allows a single prison warden to keep track of hundreds of prisoners at once”, or the “surveillance dragnets that track marginalised groups in the West”, or a “toxic waste, salting the earth of a Superfund site”, or a “scabbing worker, crossing the picket line at the behest of an employer who wants to signal to the picketers that they are disposable. The totality of systems sold as AI are these things, rolled into one.”
A decade ago, with another “game-changing” technology, author Ian Bogost observed that
rather than utopia or dystopia, we usually end up with something less dramatic yet more disappointing. Robots neither serve human masters nor destroy us in a dramatic genocide, but slowly dismantle our livelihoods while sparing our lives.
The pattern repeats. As AI matures (to some degree) and is adopted by organisations, it moves from innovation to infrastructure, from magic to mechanism. Grand promises never materialise. Instead, society endures a tougher, bleaker future. Workers feel more pressure; surveillance is normalised; truth is muddied with post-truth; the marginal become more vulnerable; the planet gets hotter.
Technology, in this sense, is a shapeshifter: the outward form constantly changes, yet the inner logic remains the same. It exploits labour and nature, extracts value, centralises wealth, and protects the power and status of the already-powerful.
Co-opting critique
In The New Spirit of Capitalism, sociologists Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello demonstrate how capitalism has mutated over time, folding critiques back into its DNA.
After enduring a series of blows around alienation and automation in the 1960s, capitalism moved from a hierarchical Fordist mode of production to a more flexible form of self-management over the next two decades. It began to favour “just in time” production, done in smaller teams, that (ostensibly) embraced the creativity and ingenuity of each individual. Neoliberalism offered “freedom”, but at a price. Organisations adapted; concessions were made; critique was defused.
AI continues this form of co-option. Indeed, the current moment can be described as the end of the first wave of critical AI. In the last five years, tech titans have released a series of bigger and “better” models, with both the public and scholars focusing largely on generative and “foundation” models: ChatGPT, StableDiffusion, Midjourney, Gemini, DeepSeek, and so on.
Scholars have heavily criticised aspects of these models – my own work has explored truth claims, generative hate, ethics washing and other issues. Much work focused on bias: the way in which training data reproduces gender stereotypes, racial inequality, religious bigotry, western epistemologies, and so on.
Much of this work is excellent and seems to have filtered into the public consciousness, based on conversations I’ve had at workshops and events. However, its flagging of such issues allows tech companies to practise issue resolving. If the accuracy of a facial-recognition system is lower with Black faces, add more Black faces to the training set. If the model is accused of English dominance, fork out some money to produce data on “low-resource” languages.
Companies like Anthropic now regularly carry out “red teaming” exercises designed to highlight hidden biases in models. Companies then “fix” or mitigate these issues. But due to the massive size of the data sets, these tend to be band-aid solutions, superficial rather than structural tweaks.
For instance, soon after launching, AI image generators were under pressure for not being “diverse” enough. In response, OpenAI invented a technique to “more accurately reflect the diversity of the world’s population”. Researchers discovered this technique was simply tacking on additional hidden prompts (e.g. “Asian”, “Black”) to user prompts. Google’s Gemini model also seems to have adopted this, which resulted in a backlash when images of Vikings or Nazis had South Asian or Native American features.
The point here is not whether AI models are racist or historically inaccurate or “woke”, but that models are political and never disinterested. Harder questions about how culture is made computational, or what kind of truths we want as society, are never broached and therefore never worked through systematically.
Such questions are certainly broader and less “pointy” than bias, but also less amenable to being translated into a problem for a coder to resolve.
What next?
How, then, should those outside the academy respond to AI? The past few years have seen a flurry of workshops, seminars and professional development initiatives. These range from “gee whiz” tours of AI features for the workplace, to sober discussions of risks and ethics, to hastily organised all-hands meetings debating how to respond now, and next month, and the month after that.
Bender and Hanna wrap up their book with their own responses. Many of these, like their questions about how models work and who benefits, are simple but fundamental, offering a strong starting point for organisational engagement.
For the technosceptical duo, refusal is also clearly an option, though individuals will obviously have vastly different degrees of agency when it comes to opting out of models and pushing back on adoption strategies. Refusal of AI, as with many technologies that have come before it, often relies to some extent on privilege. The six-figure consultant or coder will have discretion that the gig worker or service worker cannot exercise without penalties or punishments.
If refusal is fraught at the individual level, it seems more viable and sustainable at a cultural level. Bender and Hanna suggest generative AI be responded to with mockery: companies who employ it should be derided as cheap or tacky.
The cultural backlash against AI is already in full swing. Soundtracks on YouTube are increasingly labelled “No AI”. Artists have launched campaigns and hashtags, stressing their creations are “100% human-made”.
These moves are attempts to establish a cultural consensus that AI-generated material is derivative and exploitative. And yet, if these moves offer some hope, they are swimming against the swift current of enshittification. AI slop means faster and cheaper content creation, and the technical and financial logic of online platforms – virality, engagement, monetisation – will always create a race to the bottom.
The extent to which the vision offered by big tech will be accepted, how far AI technologies will be integrated or mandated, how much individuals and communities will push back against them – these are still open questions. In many ways, Bender and Hanna successfully demonstrate that AI is a con. It fails at productivity and intelligence, while the hype launders a series of transformations that harm workers, exacerbate inequality and damage the environment.
Yet such consequences have accompanied previous technologies – fossil fuels, private cars, factory automation – and hardly dented their uptake and transformation of society. So while praise goes to Bender and Hanna for a book that shows “how to fight big tech’s hype and create the future we want”, the issue of AI resonates, for me, with Karl Marx’s observation that people “make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please”.
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 Nevada Cortez Masto
“It might not be front-page news every day, but when you take all of these actions together, it is clear that this administration and Republicans at every level of government are taking the steps they need to implement a nationwide abortion ban.”
Video of the spotlight forum is available here.
Video of her speaking on the floor of the Senate is availablehere.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) called out Republican attempts to further take away access to reproductive health care for women across the United States, including efforts that could restrict access for women in Nevada. Today marks three years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the Court overturned the protections of Roe v. Wade.
Cortez Masto participated in a spotlight forum with patient, provider, and reproductive rights leaders to highlight the devastation caused since Dobbs, and the continued attacks from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to strip away access to abortion care, family planning services, and Medicaid and Affordable Care Act health coverage. Additionally, the Senator spoke on the Senate floor to call attention to the various ways the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans are working to create a backdoor national abortion ban, ripping away millions of women’s access to abortion care and right to control their bodies.
Senator Cortez Masto also joined all Democratic Senators in introducing the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation to guarantee access to abortion everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans. The bill’s introduction comes as the Trump Administration further attacks a woman’s right to choose and Congressional Republicans barrel ahead with a bill that defunds Planned Parenthood.
Senator Cortez Masto has been a fierce advocate for women’s reproductive rights. In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Cortez Masto introduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act to ensure legal protections for women traveling across state lines to receive reproductive care. She’s championed legislation torepeal the Comstock Act, an arcane 1873 law that anti-choice extremists have repeatedly invoked as a backdoor means to effectively ban abortion nationwide without a single act of Congress. In the last Congress, the Senator also cosponsored legislation to codify the right to contraception and IVF.
Below are her floor remarks as prepared for delivery:
M. President, right now, this administration is causing so much chaos and confusion that it’s sometimes hard to take stock of the damage being done.
But the anniversary of the day Roe v. Wade was overturned is a reminder that we can’t let all that chaos distract us from the work being done to roll back women’s reproductive rights right under our noses.
Take the Republicans’ billionaire tax giveaway bill as an example.
We all know that this bill will cut $800 billion in Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, but the legislation that passed the House would also decimate women’s health care. Not only would it force cuts to critical services, but it also cuts off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.
That Medicaid funding wouldn’t be going toward abortions. Planned Parenthood providers distribute birth control, conduct wellness exams, test for and treat STIs, and provide lifesaving cancer screenings.
For many Americans with Medicaid, especially in underserved areas, Planned Parenthood is the only accessible source of this care.
Defunding it jeopardizes basic health services that more than one million men and women rely on.
It’s already outrageous that so many Planned Parenthood health centers in anti-choice states around the country have been forced to close over the last several years. But if they’re prohibited from treating patients with Medicaid nationwide, many clinics – even in states where abortion remains legal – may be forced to close their doors.
So in states like Nevada, where women have access to essential reproductive care, Republicans are working to strip that access away – ignoring the will of states that have chosen to protect these rights.
Republican legislators in states across the country are also quietly working to gut access to reproductive care.
Last November, voters in 7 different states approved ballot measures to protect or expand reproductive rights. But in the months since, extremist politicians in more than half of those states have tried to ignore the will of their voters and push new restrictions on abortion access.
And, in several other states, anti-choice politicians are working to block similar ballot initiatives in the future. They’re trying to ignore what people have clearly voted for, and then they’re trying to make it so people can’t actually vote on those issues at all.
Because let’s be clear: for anti-choice politicians, this is about controlling women.
I’ll give you an example.
In Arizona, voters went to the polls last November and overwhelmingly chose to enshrine abortion protections in their state constitution. But since then, Republican politicians in their state legislature have been trying to pass bills that would limit the use of medication abortion and ban doctors from even informing women about abortion as a potential treatment option.
Or how about in Missouri, where anti-choice politicians are trying to get a measure on the ballot that would overturn the abortion rights protections Missouri voters just approved last November.
These plots to subvert the will of voters and roll back women’s rights in the states may not be capturing everyone’s attention right now, but it’s happening. And we need to shed light on it, because it’s just as dangerous as some of the harmful policies coming out of this administration.
We can’t forget that this administration is also taking steps to continue to take away women’s reproductive rights – without any input from legislators at all.
The Food and Drug Administration has appointed commissioners who want to reexamine the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone.
And, no surprise, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is encouraging it.
He’s already asked the FDA to “review the latest data on mifepristone”. Secretary Kennedy is raising questions and injecting doubt about this medication that has already been proven to be safe and effective.
This is a man who, at one time, said he believed it was “always the woman’s right to choose.”
Mifepristone accounts for over 60% of abortions nationwide. Any attempts to restrict access to this medication would jeopardize the health and autonomy of women in Nevada and across the country.
This is an overt tactic by the administration to continue to take away access to the abortion pill nationwide.
In fact, the Trump administration made it more clear than ever that they’re not concerned about women’s safety when they eliminated guidance that hospitals have to provide abortions in emergency situations.
We have a law in this country that hospitals that receive federal funding are required to provide medical care to stabilize a health emergency, including for pregnant patients. In cases where an abortion is necessary to stabilize a patient, hospitals are obligated to provide that care. It’s called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA.
Now, I want to stress that EMTALA is the law of the land, and emergency abortion care is protected under EMTALA.
But the problem is that this administration is telling women they are unwilling to enforce those protections. That’s incredibly dangerous, and it ignores our laws.
It might not be front-page news every day, but when you take all of these actions together, it is clear that this administration and Republicans at every level of government are taking the steps they need to implement a nationwide abortion ban.
We have to remain vigilant and demand change when these harmful policies they emerge. Because we know anti-choice politicians all across the country, including here in Washington, will continue to push them and take away women’s access to health care.
It’s happening at the Supreme Court, too, where the justices who struck down Roe v. Wade are taking up multiple abortion rights cases.
So, as we mark the anniversary of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which took the constitutional right to an abortion away from every woman in this country, I want to thank my colleagues who are standing with me today and every day in this fight.
We will never stop pushing back against this administration’s, and any other anti-choice politician’s, attempts to make women second-class citizens in America.
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
“It might not be front-page news every day, but when you take all of these actions together, it is clear that this administration and Republicans at every level of government are taking the steps they need to implement a nationwide abortion ban.”
Video of the spotlight forum is available here.
Video of her speaking on the floor of the Senate is availablehere.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) called out Republican attempts to further take away access to reproductive health care for women across the United States, including efforts that could restrict access for women in Nevada. Today marks three years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the Court overturned the protections of Roe v. Wade.
Cortez Masto participated in a spotlight forum with patient, provider, and reproductive rights leaders to highlight the devastation caused since Dobbs, and the continued attacks from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to strip away access to abortion care, family planning services, and Medicaid and Affordable Care Act health coverage. Additionally, the Senator spoke on the Senate floor to call attention to the various ways the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans are working to create a backdoor national abortion ban, ripping away millions of women’s access to abortion care and right to control their bodies.
Senator Cortez Masto also joined all Democratic Senators in introducing the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation to guarantee access to abortion everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans. The bill’s introduction comes as the Trump Administration further attacks a woman’s right to choose and Congressional Republicans barrel ahead with a bill that defunds Planned Parenthood.
Senator Cortez Masto has been a fierce advocate for women’s reproductive rights. In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Cortez Masto introduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act to ensure legal protections for women traveling across state lines to receive reproductive care. She’s championed legislation torepeal the Comstock Act, an arcane 1873 law that anti-choice extremists have repeatedly invoked as a backdoor means to effectively ban abortion nationwide without a single act of Congress. In the last Congress, the Senator also cosponsored legislation to codify the right to contraception and IVF.
Below are her floor remarks as prepared for delivery:
M. President, right now, this administration is causing so much chaos and confusion that it’s sometimes hard to take stock of the damage being done.
But the anniversary of the day Roe v. Wade was overturned is a reminder that we can’t let all that chaos distract us from the work being done to roll back women’s reproductive rights right under our noses.
Take the Republicans’ billionaire tax giveaway bill as an example.
We all know that this bill will cut $800 billion in Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, but the legislation that passed the House would also decimate women’s health care. Not only would it force cuts to critical services, but it also cuts off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.
That Medicaid funding wouldn’t be going toward abortions. Planned Parenthood providers distribute birth control, conduct wellness exams, test for and treat STIs, and provide lifesaving cancer screenings.
For many Americans with Medicaid, especially in underserved areas, Planned Parenthood is the only accessible source of this care.
Defunding it jeopardizes basic health services that more than one million men and women rely on.
It’s already outrageous that so many Planned Parenthood health centers in anti-choice states around the country have been forced to close over the last several years. But if they’re prohibited from treating patients with Medicaid nationwide, many clinics – even in states where abortion remains legal – may be forced to close their doors.
So in states like Nevada, where women have access to essential reproductive care, Republicans are working to strip that access away – ignoring the will of states that have chosen to protect these rights.
Republican legislators in states across the country are also quietly working to gut access to reproductive care.
Last November, voters in 7 different states approved ballot measures to protect or expand reproductive rights. But in the months since, extremist politicians in more than half of those states have tried to ignore the will of their voters and push new restrictions on abortion access.
And, in several other states, anti-choice politicians are working to block similar ballot initiatives in the future. They’re trying to ignore what people have clearly voted for, and then they’re trying to make it so people can’t actually vote on those issues at all.
Because let’s be clear: for anti-choice politicians, this is about controlling women.
I’ll give you an example.
In Arizona, voters went to the polls last November and overwhelmingly chose to enshrine abortion protections in their state constitution. But since then, Republican politicians in their state legislature have been trying to pass bills that would limit the use of medication abortion and ban doctors from even informing women about abortion as a potential treatment option.
Or how about in Missouri, where anti-choice politicians are trying to get a measure on the ballot that would overturn the abortion rights protections Missouri voters just approved last November.
These plots to subvert the will of voters and roll back women’s rights in the states may not be capturing everyone’s attention right now, but it’s happening. And we need to shed light on it, because it’s just as dangerous as some of the harmful policies coming out of this administration.
We can’t forget that this administration is also taking steps to continue to take away women’s reproductive rights – without any input from legislators at all.
The Food and Drug Administration has appointed commissioners who want to reexamine the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone.
And, no surprise, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is encouraging it.
He’s already asked the FDA to “review the latest data on mifepristone”. Secretary Kennedy is raising questions and injecting doubt about this medication that has already been proven to be safe and effective.
This is a man who, at one time, said he believed it was “always the woman’s right to choose.”
Mifepristone accounts for over 60% of abortions nationwide. Any attempts to restrict access to this medication would jeopardize the health and autonomy of women in Nevada and across the country.
This is an overt tactic by the administration to continue to take away access to the abortion pill nationwide.
In fact, the Trump administration made it more clear than ever that they’re not concerned about women’s safety when they eliminated guidance that hospitals have to provide abortions in emergency situations.
We have a law in this country that hospitals that receive federal funding are required to provide medical care to stabilize a health emergency, including for pregnant patients. In cases where an abortion is necessary to stabilize a patient, hospitals are obligated to provide that care. It’s called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA.
Now, I want to stress that EMTALA is the law of the land, and emergency abortion care is protected under EMTALA.
But the problem is that this administration is telling women they are unwilling to enforce those protections. That’s incredibly dangerous, and it ignores our laws.
It might not be front-page news every day, but when you take all of these actions together, it is clear that this administration and Republicans at every level of government are taking the steps they need to implement a nationwide abortion ban.
We have to remain vigilant and demand change when these harmful policies they emerge. Because we know anti-choice politicians all across the country, including here in Washington, will continue to push them and take away women’s access to health care.
It’s happening at the Supreme Court, too, where the justices who struck down Roe v. Wade are taking up multiple abortion rights cases.
So, as we mark the anniversary of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which took the constitutional right to an abortion away from every woman in this country, I want to thank my colleagues who are standing with me today and every day in this fight.
We will never stop pushing back against this administration’s, and any other anti-choice politician’s, attempts to make women second-class citizens in America.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has sent a clear signal to the Trump administration: the Japan–US relationship is in a dire state.
After saying just days ago he would be attending this week’s NATO summit at The Hague, Ishiba abruptly pulled out at the last minute.
He joins two other leaders from the Indo-Pacific region, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, in skipping the summit.
The Japanese media reported Ishiba cancelled the trip because a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump was unlikely, as was a meeting of the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4) NATO partners (Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan).
Japan will still be represented by Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, showing its desire to strengthen its security relationship with NATO.
However, Ishiba’s no-show reveals how Japan views its relationship with the Trump administration, following the severe tariffs Washington imposed on Japan and Trump’s mixed messages on the countries’ decades-long military alliance.
Tariffs and diplomatic disagreements
Trump’s tariff policy is at the core of the divide between the US and Japan.
Ishiba attempted to get relations with the Trump administration off to a good start. He was the second world leader to visit Trump at the White House, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs imposed a punitive rate of 25% on Japanese cars and 24% on all other Japanese imports. They are already having an adverse impact on Japan’s economy: exports of automobiles to the US dropped in May by 25% compared to a year ago.
Six rounds of negotiations have made little progress, as Ishiba’s government insists on full tariff exemptions.
Japan has been under pressure from the Trump administration to increase its defence spending, as well. According to the Financial Times, Tokyo cancelled a summit between US and Japanese defence and foreign ministers over the demand. (A Japanese official denied the report.)
Japan also did not offer its full support to the US bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities earlier this week. The foreign minister instead said Japan “understands” the US’s determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Japan has traditionally had fairly good relations with Iran, often acting as an indirect bridge with the West. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe even made a visit there in 2019.
Japan also remains heavily dependent on oil from the Middle East. It would have been adversely affected if the Strait of Hormuz had been blocked, as Iran was threatening to do.
Unlike the response from the UK and Australia, which both supported the strikes, the Ishiba government prioritised its commitment to upholding international law and the rules-based global order. In doing so, Japan seeks to deny China, Russia and North Korea any leeway to similarly erode global norms on the use of force and territorial aggression.
Strategic dilemma of the Japan–US military alliance
In addition, Japan is facing the same dilemma as other American allies – how to manage relations with the “America first” Trump administration, which has made the US an unreliable ally.
Earlier this year, Trump criticised the decades-old security alliance between the US and Japan, calling it “one-sided”.
“If we’re ever attacked, they don’t have to do a thing to protect us,” he said of Japan.
Lower-level security cooperation is ongoing between the two allies and their regional partners. The US, Japanese and Philippine Coast Guards conducted drills in Japanese waters this week. The US military may also assist with upgrading Japan’s counterstrike missile capabilities.
But Japan is still likely to continue expanding its security ties with partners beyond the US, such as NATO, the European Union, India, the Philippines, Vietnam and other ASEAN members, while maintaining its fragile rapprochement with South Korea.
Australia is now arguably Japan’s most reliable security partner. Canberra is considering buying Japan’s Mogami-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy. And if the AUKUS agreement with the US and UK collapses, Japanese submarines could be a replacement.
Ishiba under domestic political pressure
There are also intensifying domestic political pressures on Ishiba to hold firm against Trump, who is deeply unpopular among the Japanese public.
After replacing former prime minister Fumio Kishida as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last September, the party lost its majority in the lower house of parliament in snap elections. This made it dependent on minor parties for legislative support.
Ishiba’s minority government has struggled ever since with poor opinion polling. There has been widespread discontent with inflation, the high cost of living and stagnant wages, the legacy of LDP political scandals, and ever-worsening geopolitical uncertainty.
On Sunday, the party suffered its worst-ever result in elections for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, winning its lowest number of seats.
The party could face a similar drubbing in the election for half of the upper house of the Diet (Japan’s parliament) on July 20. Ishiba has pledged to maintain the LDP’s majority in the house with its junior coalition partner Komeito. But if the government falls into minority status in both houses, Ishiba will face heavy pressure to step down.
Craig Mark 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.
