Parsons Cuts Revenue Outlook, Citing State Department Reorganization
Parsons cut its revenue outlook and removed the financial effects of a confidential contract from its guidance following the State Department's statement last week that it would reorganize.
The defense engineering company said Monday the department's decision created uncertainty around the contract.
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Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
South Korea's new President Lee vows to pursue talks with North and bolster ties with US and Japan
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung vowed Wednesday to restart dormant talks with North Korea and bolster a trilateral partnership with the U.S. and Japan, as he laid out key policy goals for his single, five-year term. Lee, who rose from childhood poverty to become South Korea's leading liberal politician vowing to fight inequality and corruption, began his term earlier Wednesday, hours after winning a snap election that was triggered in April by the removal of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ill-fated imposition of martial law late last year. In his inaugural address at the National Assembly, Lee said that his government will deal with North Korean nuclear threats and its potential military aggressions with 'strong deterrence' based on the South Korea-U.S. military alliance. But he said he would 'open a communication channel with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula through talks and cooperation.' He said he'll pursue pragmatic diplomacy with neighboring countries and boost trilateral Seoul-Washington-Tokyo cooperation. 'Through pragmatic diplomacy based on national interests, we will turn the crisis posed by the major shift in global economic and security landscapes into an opportunity to maximize our national interests,' Lee said. It was unclear whether Lee's election would cause any major, immediate shift in South Korea's foreign policy. Lee, previously accused by critics of tilting toward China and North Korea and away from the U.S. and Japan, has recently repeatedly stressed South Korea's alliance with the U.S. as the foundation of its foreign policy and avoided any contentious remarks that would raise questions on his views on the U.S. and Japan. 'We'll have to now see if the pressures of office will cause Lee Jae-myung to govern from the center — at least when it comes to matters of national security and the alliance with the United States,' said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'It's hard to predict with absolute certainty how he will deal with the U.S., North Korea, Japan and China because he's changed his position so much,' said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security. 'We can expect tensions if his government doesn't align with Washington's approach to China and Japan.' The toughest external challenges awaiting Lee are U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy and North Korea's expanding military partnerships with Russia. But experts earlier said whoever becomes president can't do much to secure major progress in South Korea's favor on those issues. The U.S. and Japan said they congratulated Lee's election and expressed their commitments to developing three-way cooperation. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he wants to hold summit talks with Lee 'as early as possible,' saying he hopes to further promote bilateral ties, both public and commercial. The U.S. State Department said that Seoul and Washington share 'an ironclad commitment' to the alliance. Chinese President Xi Jinping also sent a congratulatory message to Lee, saying that Beijing is willing to work with Seoul to advance their cooperative partnership for the benefit of the countries' peoples, according to state broadcaster CCTV. It's unclear how North Korea would react to Lee's speech, as it has shunned any talks with South Korea and the U.S. since 2019. North Korea in recent years has supplied weapons and troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine, and South Korea, the U.S. and their partners suspect Russia might in return transfer high-tech technologies to North Korea to help it perfect its nuclear weapons program. Russia's Tass news agency said Wednesday that top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu has arrived in Pyongyang for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in the latest sign of the countries' booming exchanges. Lee has said he would support Trump's moves to restart nuclear diplomacy with Kim Jong Un as part of efforts to engage with North Korea. North Korea hasn't publicly responded to Trump's outreach. 'Lee and Trump would personally want to resume dialogue with Kim Jong Un. But North Korea has no incentive to talk to Washington or Seoul,' said Duyeon Kim, the analyst. 'Pyongyang has Beijing and Moscow's support both politically and economically, and can buy a lot of time to further perfect its nuclear weapons.' Later Wednesday, Lee nominated former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, a dove who favors greater rapprochement with North Korea, as his spy chief. The nomination is likely related to Lee Jae-myung's hopes to reopen talks, as the National Intelligence Service previously played a behind-the-scene role to promote ties with North Korea, observers say. Lee Jae-myung also nominated his key political ally and veteran lawmaker Kim Min-seok as prime minister, the government's No. 2 job. Lee is expected to nominate other top Cabinet members in coming days. Lee called for unity to address the country's stark political divide deepened after Yoon's martial law debacle, saying that he will 'answer the people's solemn call to let hope bloom over deep and painful wounds.' Lee still promised a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Yoon's martial law imposition, describing it as a 'rebellion that seized people's sovereignty with arms.' Lee said revitalizing a slowing domestic economy would be his top priority and that his government would immediately launch an emergency task force to wage a 'head-on battle' against the threats of recession. He also promised more aggressive government spending to help spur economic activity. South Korea's central bank last week cut its key interest rate and sharply lowered its growth outlook for 2025 to 0.8%, as it moved to counter Trump's tariff hikes and weak domestic demand worsened by recent political turmoil. Lee also reiterated his campaign vows to reduce inequality, saying that 'the polarization fueled by inequality is now hindering further growth.' Lee's term began immediately without the usual two-month transition period after the National Election Commission formally confirmed his election victory. Before his inauguration, Lee visited the national cemetery in Seoul to pay his respects to late Korean leaders, patriots and war dead who are buried there, and he had a telephone call with Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Kim Myung-soo to call for military readiness against possible North Korean aggression.
News24
an hour ago
- News24
‘The end of our industry': Meshack Mavuso slams influencer casting in SA entertainment
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Growing Ranks of Military Homeschoolers Get Defense Department Support
Last week, the Department of Defense ordered a review of the support it offers to military families that homeschool their children. DIY education is very popular among military personnel, who have long chosen homeschooling at roughly double the rate of the general population: 12 percent by the latest figures. They favor it for all the reasons parents have increasingly turned to directing their children's education, including academic quality, philosophy, flexibility, and safety concerns. For families subject to frequent relocation, homeschooling also provides kids with continuity. They may also see it as an effective way to escape fruitless battles over school policy and curricula. "The Department is currently reviewing options to support expanding educational choice for military-connected families, as directed by [Executive Order] 14191," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a May memorandum. "Homeschooling offers an individualized approach for students and highlights the significant role parents play in the educational process. I hereby direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to conduct a Department-wide review of its current support for homeschooling military-connected families, as well as best practices, including the feasibility of providing facilities or access to other resources for those students." The January 29 executive order from President Trump that Hegseth referenced directed him to "review any available mechanisms under which military-connected families may use funds from the Department of Defense to attend schools of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools." In that order and elsewhere, the Trump administration signaled its commitment to school choice across the country. But choice is especially important to military families which, on average, relocate every two to three years. With traditional public schools and even private schools, that can entail a lot of social disruption as well as switching among classrooms teaching at different paces, with varying styles, and drawing from mismatched materials. "To provide their children with more stability, military families are choosing to homeschool their children more frequently," Sarah Sicard of Task & Purpose, which serves the military community, reported of the results of the Blue Star Families annual lifestyle survey in 2015. "Of those polled with school-aged children, 7% indicate their children are homeschooled—more than double the number of children homeschooled among the general U.S. population." By 2021, those figures had risen, with the Blue Star Families survey noting, "only 8% of active-duty family respondents with children eligible for K-12 education reported they homeschooled their oldest child during the 2019-2020 school year, but this number jumped to 13% who homeschooled their oldest child in the 2020-2021 school year." Of course, 2020–2021 was the year of COVID-19, and homeschooling rose across the country—to as high as 11 percent among the general population, according to the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey. Homeschooling levels declined as pandemic worries faded, but stabilized at 6 percent, or roughly double the pre–COVID rate. Military families remain even more devoted to DIY education. "In 2023-2024, around 6% of U.S. families homeschooled a child compared to 12% of active-duty military families," Angela Watson wrote in March of this year for the Johns Hopkins University School of Education's Homeschooling Hub, of which she is director. "Frequent moves or family separation are driving factors in choosing homeschooling to stabilize and prioritize their family life." Watson noted that on-base Department of Defense schools are generally considered to offer better education quality than most public schools—"however, the threat of frequent moves may offset the potential benefit of schools on military bases for some families." But it can't all be about fears of the disruptions that come with relocation. Members of the National Guard and the reserves aren't subject to the same frequent transfers as active-duty military personnel, but they are also big fans of school choice. "Homeschool participation rates among reserve and National Guard members rival their active-duty military peers," Watson added. "For example, while around 12% of active-duty military families reported homeschooling in 2023, so did 11% of their reserve and National Guard peers." Watson didn't speculate about why National Guard and reserve families share active-duty families' taste for homeschooling despite having fewer worries about relocation and family separation. But it's likely that military personnel of all sorts share some common values and concerns that might drive them to make similar choices. Around the country in recent years, public schools have been consumed by battles between parents, teachers, and bureaucrats over politicized curriculum, public health policies, gender identity, and culture-war concerns. "It feels as if every stakeholder—from school leaders to teachers, to parents, to students, to policymakers—is at odds," Lauraine Langreo commented last August for Education Week. I've written before that school choice in general, and homeschooling in particular, provides an offramp for parents tired of fighting over what and how their kids should be taught. Why fight when you can pick what works for you and go your own way? "When parents can choose where and how their children will be educated, they're no longer at the mercy of politicians and bureaucrats," the Cato Institute's Colleen Hroncich wrote in 2022. "That means they don't have to rely on political battles when it comes to education." Military families are probably more likely than the general population to be at odds with ideological classroom trends and in shared ways. So, it's not surprising to see different segments of the military population taking an offramp from curriculum and cultural battles in favor of deciding their own children's educational paths. Which is to say that military families probably exercise school choice options, especially homeschooling, for the same reasons as everybody else—just more so. They want good quality education in a stable environment, and they don't want to have to argue about it with people who have different views. 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