OLIGARCHS

Wealth of Russia's richest people rises to record $820 billion

Entrepreneur and billionaire Vagit Alekperov attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 17, 2022
PHOTO: Reuters

April 17, 2025 

MOSCOW - Russia's richest people saw their wealth rise by more than 8 per cent to $625.5 billion (S$820 billion) over the past year, with at least 146 billionaires listed by the Forbes Russian-language list of the wealthiest people in Russia, the magazine said on Thursday (April 17).

Vagit Alekperov, former boss of the Lukoil oil company, topped the Forbes list for a second year, with a fortune of $28.7 billion. He resigned as president of Lukoil in 2022 after Britain imposed sanctions against him.

Alexei Mordashov took second place in the rating with wealth of $28.6 billion, rising from fourth place in last year's list.

Forbes said there were 15 completely new billionaires in the ranking, the richest of which was Indian-born Vikram Punia, owner of pharmaceutical company Pharmasyntez. Forbes said he had a fortune of $2.1 billion.

None of the billionaires listed by Forbes could be immediately reached for comment.

The richest 10 billionaires are listed below:

1) Vagit Alekperov - $28.7 billion


2) Alexei Mordashov - $28.6 billion

3) Leonid Mikhelson - $28.4 billion

4) Vladimir Lisin - $26.5 billion

5) Vladimir Potanin - $24.2 billion

6) Gennady Timchenko - $23.2 billion

7) Andrei Melnichenko - $17.4 billion

8) Pavel Durov - $17.1 billion

9) Alisher Usmanov - $16.7 billion

10) Suleiman Kerimov and family - $16.4 billion

Source: Reuters

Myanmar junta and opposition to extend ceasefire, says Malaysia PM Anwar

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (pictured) said he held discussions with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.

PHOTO: REUTERS

UPDATED Apr 18, 2025

BANGKOK - Myanmar’s junta and a key opposition group have indicated they will extend a ceasefire to support more aid efforts, following a devastating earthquake in late March in the strife-torn nation, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on April 18.

Datuk Seri Anwar, who is also chair of the regional Asean bloc, revealed the outcome of talks he has held since April 17 with Myanmar’s junta chief and the prime minister of its shadow government in a rare outreach effort.

“There will be a ceasefire and no unnecessary provocations, because otherwise, the whole humanitarian exercise would fail,” Mr Anwar told reporters in the Thai capital.

“My initial exchange with both the SAC (State Administration Council) Prime Minister and NUG (National Unity Government) has been very successful,” he added, referring to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Besides his meeting with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Bangkok on April 17, the Malaysian premier said he also spoke on April 18 with Myanmar’s shadow administration, the NUG, as part of regional efforts to engage all parties in the conflict.

Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since 2021 when its powerful military ousted an elected civilian government, triggering widespread protests that expanded into a nationwide civil war, displacing over 3.5 million people and shattering the economy.

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake in late March, which left more than 3,600 people dead and damaged critical infrastructure, has piled more misery on the impoverished nation but opened a diplomatic window for Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmar’s junta announced a 20-day ceasefire on April 2, following a similar move by the opposition NUG.

However, the junta has continued military operations in some areas, according to the United Nations and other groups in Myanmar.

“Our priority is humanitarian efforts. They must have a ceasefire. They must ensure the safety of all the personnel helping out with the humanitarian arrangements,” Mr Anwar added.

The 10-nation Asean grouping has shunned the junta leadership since the coup began, barring Myanmar’s ruling generals from its meetings for their failure to comply with its peace plan.

“The Asean position is that we should be more involved in the effort to get them to agree on the basis of the five-point consensus,” Mr Anwar said, referring to Asean’s peace plan.

“I’ve already consulted Asean leaders that I will continue to engage.”

In the talks with the NUG, Mr Anwar said he had conveyed that Asean would continue dialogue with it and the junta, while humanitarian support would also continue.

The NUG, which includes remnants of the elected administration deposed by the 2021 coup, and other anti-junta groups had previously opposed the talks between the leaders of Malaysia and Myanmar, warning that any unilateral engagement with the military leader should be approached with “utmost caution”.

Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who met Mr Anwar for a bilateral meeting on April 17, also pushed for further engagement with Myanmar.

“The involvement of all sides will lead to positive development in Myanmar in line with the Asean five-point consensus,” a Thai government spokesman said, referring to their discussions. 

REUTERS

Malaysia PM to hold talks with Myanmar opposition after meeting junta chief

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks during a press conference, next to Malaysia's Trade Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amran Mohamed Zin and Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, following talks with a key Myanmar opposition group, a day after meeting with Myanmar's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 18, 2025.
PHOTO: Reuters

April 18, 2025 

BANGKOK - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will hold talks with a key Myanmar opposition group on Friday (April 18), a day after he met the leader of the war-torn country's ruling junta in Bangkok to discuss humanitarian needs after a devastating earthquake.

Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since 2021 when its powerful military ousted an elected civilian government, triggering widespread protests that expanded into a nationwide civil war, displacing over 3.5 million people and shattering the economy.

A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake in late March, which left more than 3,600 people dead and damaged critical infrastructure, has piled more misery on the impoverished nation but opened a diplomatic window for junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.


Malaysia's Anwar, who is also the chair of the regional Asean bloc, said late on Thursday that he had held discussions with Min Aung Hlaing, in part focused on Myanmar's humanitarian requirements in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Before the meeting, Anwar had said he would seek to extend a ceasefire called since the quake. The 10-nation grouping of Southeast Asian nations has shunned the junta leadership for years.

"Tomorrow morning, I will meet with representatives of the National Unity Government (NUG)," Anwar said in a post on Facebook.

"We continue to encourage all parties to engage seriously in the interest of Myanmar's stability and the wellbeing of its people."


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Malaysia takes on Asean mantle but tempers expectations on Myanmar, South China Sea


The NUG, which includes remnants of the elected administration deposed by the 2021 coup, and other anti-junta groups had previously opposed the talks between Anwar and Min Aung Hlaing, warning any unilateral engagement with the military leader should be approached with "utmost caution".

Since the coup, Asean has barred Myanmar's ruling generals from its meetings for their failure to comply with the bloc's peace plan, known as the five-point consensus.

Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who met Anwar for a bilateral meeting on Thursday, also pushed for further engagement with Myanmar.

"The involvement of all sides will lead to positive development in Myanmar in line with the Asean five-point consensus," a Thai government spokesman said, referring to their discussions.

Source: Reuters

Hamas says it is ready to release all remaining hostages for an end to Gaza war


A child looks on at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent camp sheltering displaced people, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 17, 2025.
PHOTO: Reuters

April 17, 2025 9:41 PM

CAIRO - Hamas wants a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza and swap all Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel, a senior official from the Palestinian militant group said, rejecting Israel's offer of an interim truce.

In a televised speech, Khalil Al-Hayya, the group's Gaza chief who leads its negotiating team, said the group would no longer agree to interim deals, adopting a position that Israel is unlikely to accept and potentially further delaying an end to the devastating attacks that restarted in recent weeks.

Instead, Hayya said Hamas was ready to immediately engage in "comprehensive package negotiations" to release all remaining hostages in its custody in return for an end to the Gaza war, the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel, and the reconstruction of Gaza.

"Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his prisoners (hostages)," said Hayya, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We will not be part of passing this policy."

Egyptian mediators have been working to revive the January ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in Gaza before it broke down last month, but there has been little sign of progress with both Israel and Hamas blaming each other.

"Hamas's comments demonstrate they are not interested in peace but perpetual violence. The terms made by the Trump Administration have not changed: release the hostages or face hell," said National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt.

The latest round of talks on Monday in Cairo to restore the ceasefire and free Israeli hostages ended with no apparent breakthrough, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said.

Israel had proposed a 45-day truce in Gaza to allow hostage releases and potentially begin indirect talks to end the war. Hamas has already rejected one of its conditions - that it lay down its arms. In his speech, Hayya accused Israel of offering a counterproposal with "impossible conditions."

Hamas released 38 hostages under a ceasefire that began on Jan 19. In March, Israel's military resumed its ground and aerial offensive on Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire after Hamas rejected proposals to extend the truce without ending the war.

Israeli officials say that the offensive will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarized. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war and has rejected demands to lay down its arms.
Israeli strikes

On Tuesday (April 15), the armed wing of Hamas armed said the group had lost contact with militants holding Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander after the Israeli army attacked their hideout. Alexander is a New Jersey native and a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army.

The armed wing later released a video warning hostages' families that their "children will return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart from shrapnel from your army."

Israeli military strikes killed at least 32 Palestinians, including women and children, across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, local health authorities said.

One of those strikes killed six people and wounded several others at a UN-run school in Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas command centre.

The war was triggered by Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.

Source: Reuters

Hamas formally rejects Israeli ceasefire deal

Friday 18 April 2025

Credit: AP

Hamas has formally rejected a ceasefire deal presented by Israel earlier this week but insists Hamas is "immediately" ready to negotiate a deal.

In a televised statement from Qatar on Thursday night, Khalil Al-Hayya, the head of negotiating for Hamas said: "The resistance and its weaponry are linked to the existence of the [Israeli] occupation, and it is a natural right for our people and all peoples under occupation."

Al-Hayya insisted that Hamas is "immediately" ready to begin negotiations for an agreement that would see the release of the remaining hostages for an "agreed-upon number" of Palestinian prisoners.

Such an agreement would include the beginning of Gaza’s reconstruction and an end to the blockade of the region.

The Israeli plan had called for a 45-day truce, during which the two sides would aim to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.

IDF strikes hospital in southern Gaza after Palestinian death toll passes 50,000


Palestinian Red Crescent demands investigation into Gaza paramedics' deaths

Under the proposal, the remaining 59 hostages would be released in stages, starting with American-Israeli hostage, Edan Alexander, on the first day of the truce as a "special gesture" to the US.

A further nine Israeli hostages would be released in two stages in exchange for 120 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and more than 1,100 detainees held without charge since October 7, 2023.

Israel also demanded that Hamas provide information about the remaining living Israeli hostages held by the group, "in exchange for information about the Palestinian detainees".

The proposal also included the release of the bodies of 16 deceased Israeli hostages for the remains of 160 deceased Palestinians held by Israel.

Khalil Al-Hayya, Head of negation for Hamas.Credit: AP

Hamas studied the proposal for several days before responding but it stood little chance of success.

Hamas had repeatedly made clear that it demanded an end to the war as part of any hostage release, and it refused calls for a complete disarmament.

Hamas also called for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, while the Israeli proposal only included a temporary redeployment of the military.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel would continue its bombardment of Gaza.

"The state of Israel shall not surrender to Hamas and won’t end the war without the complete victory and fulfillment of all its objectives, including eliminating Hamas and returning all the hostages," he said in a statement.

Emergency services pull someone from the rubble following a strike.Credit: AP

The renewed assault by Israel has seen more than 500,000 Palestinians displaced in less than a month, according to the UN, while attacks on Gaza, including hospitals, have killed nearly 1,700 Palestinians since March 18, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Meanwhile the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.

The UN has warned that lifesaving supplies were nearly all gone due to Israel's blockade.

In March, Israel cut-off essential aid and supplies to the enclave, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said that nearly 90% of water infrastructure, including wells, pumping stations, and sewage plants, had been destroyed or damaged by hostilities, exacerbating disease risks and forcing families to rely on unsafe sources

.

The UN has warned the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating.Credit: AP

"Stress levels, particularly among children, are surging as violence and deprivation persist," Dujarric said, emphasising that Israel bears legal responsibility, under international law, to ensure access to food, medical care, and public health services.

But Israel has argued that the humanitarian blockade has pressured Hamas into agreeing to a ceasefire.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, "The pressure on Hamas to carry out the deal is heavy and the tension between it and the local population is increasing."

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, according to Gaza's health ministry, following the militant group’s attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

 

US Senator Van Hollen meets wrongly deported man in El Salvador 

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By Daniel Trotta and Kanishka Singh, 

Reuters

Picture obtained from the X account of Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, @nayibbukele, showing US Senator Chris Van Hollen (R) holding a meeting with Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a US resident wrongfully deported to his home country, at a hotel in San Salvador on 17 April 2025. Photo: AFP / Supplied

• Van Hollen posts image of meeting with Abrego Garcia
• El Salvador's leader indicates Abrego Garcia to remain there
• Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported by Trump administration

Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen met on Thursday (local time) with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man wrongly deported to El Salvador in a case that has pitted a defiant Trump administration against the courts and fanned the prospect of a constitutional conflict.

The senator posted on X an image of himself in El Salvador with Abrego Garcia, dressed in a collared shirt, jeans and a baseball cap, a day after being denied access to the notorious prison for gang members where he has been held.

"I said my main goal of this trip (to El Salvador) was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance," the senator wrote in his post, but giving no indication of Abrego Garcia's health or state of mind.

"I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love," Van Hollen added. "I look forward to providing a full update upon my return."

The US Supreme Court has directed the administration of President Donald Trump to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return after Washington acknowledged he was deported because of an administrative error.

In a statement apart from the ruling, liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the government had cited no basis for what she called Abrego Garcia's "warrantless arrest," nor for his deportation or imprisonment in El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia's lawyers say he has never been charged with, nor convicted of, any crime, and deny the Justice Department's accusation that he belongs to the criminal gang MS-13.

But the government has given no indication it plans to seek his return and said it had no authority to release a man from a foreign prison, raising the potential for a constitutional conflict should Trump defy the highest court.

In a statement after the meeting, White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai repeated the unproven accusation that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13.

"Chris Van Hollen has firmly established Democrats as the party whose top priority is the welfare of an illegal alien MS-13 terrorist," Desai said.

"It is truly disgusting. President Trump will continue to stand on the side of law-abiding Americans."

Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told CNN the man belonged in prison, despite the Supreme Court directive.

"He's a citizen of El Salvador and he's in El Salvador. He's home," Homan said.

"I think we did the right thing, I think he is where he should be. Even if he came back ... he's going to be detained and he's going to be removed as per the order of removal."

Along with Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has deported to El Salvador hundreds of people, mostly Venezuelans, whom it says are gang members, under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, without presenting evidence and without a trial.

A US district judge, James Boasberg, has already threatened administration officials with criminal contempt charges over the deportations.

Boasberg said the administration demonstrated "wilful disregard" for his 15 March order barring the deportations to El Salvador under the 1798 act.

Salvadoran officials have also shown no interest in releasing Abrego Garcia.

During a meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday, El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, said he had no plans to return Abrego Garcia.

Bukele also posted pictures of the encounter with Van Hollen on social media, followed by a post saying he would remain in the custody of the Central American.

"Now that he's been confirmed healthy, he gets the honour of staying in El Salvador's custody," Bukele said.

Van Hollen, the US senator from Maryland, where Abrego Garcia lived, arrived on Wednesday in El Salvador to meet senior officials and advocate for his release, but was told by Vice President Felix Ulloa he could not authorize a visit or a telephone call with Abrego Garcia.

It was not immediately clear what changed to allow the senator's access.

Abrego Garcia, 29, left El Salvador at age 16 to escape gang-related violence, his lawyers said, and received a protective order in 2019 to continue living in the United States.

Representatives of Abrego Garcia and Van Hollen did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on the meeting.

- Reuters

GLOBALIZATION LIVES

Poland’s InPost takes over Yodel to create one of UK’s largest delivery firms

17 April 2025, 

Yodel bought up by rival consortium. Picture: PA

InPost, which has 10,000 parcel lockers in the UK, said the deal will help it ‘revolutionise’ the delivery market.

Polish parcel locker firm InPost has announced it is acquiring UK rival Yodel in a £100 million deal, combining the home delivery and collection networks to create one of the largest logistics groups in Britain.

InPost, which has 10,000 parcel lockers in the UK, said the takeover will help it “revolutionise” the UK delivery market and deepen its presence across Europe.

It has agreed to acquire 95.5% of Yodel’s parent company, Judge Logistics Ltd.

The debt-to-equity arrangement will see InPost converting an existing loan to the group, worth £106 million, into equity.

Payments business PayPoint will retain its existing 4.5% minority stake in Yodel.

The two delivery companies started working together at the end of last year through a “locker-to-door” service that saw Yodel handle the delivery of parcels from InPost lockers to customers’ homes.

InPost has about 10,000 parcel lockers in the UK (Alamy/PA)

The latest takeover comes several months after InPost snapped up UK logistics business Menzies Distribution for £60 million.

Liverpool-based Yodel was ranked the second-worst parcel firm at helping its customers, behind Evri, according to an Ofcom report in October.

The delivery firm performed “below average” on some aspects of its customer contact processes, contributing to a score of 38%, the regulator found.

InPost said after acquiring Yodel, which handles some 190 million parcels every year, its total share of the UK market will grow to about 8%.

Bringing together the delivery and locker services will create the third-largest independent logistics firm in the UK e-commerce market, behind Royal Mail and Evri, and excluding Amazon, the company said.

Neil Kusche, InPost UK’s chief executive, said: “This acquisition is a game-changer for InPost’s operations in the UK.

“Combining doorstep deliveries with our unrivalled locker network, we are reshaping the future of parcel delivery.

“We will be able to provide customers and e-commerce retailers with the reliability, flexibility, and efficiency they expect.”

By Press Association

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fires Back As 'Trump Country' Banner Flown Over Packed Rally

The New York congresswoman let the crowd size speak for itself as her Fighting Oligarchy tour with Bernie Sanders rolled into another Republican area.


By Graeme Demianyk
17/04/2025 

HUFFPOST

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat, New York) waves to the crowd during a stop of the 'Fighting Oligarchy' rally at Folsom lake College in Folsom, Calif., Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images

At another packed anti-Trump rally, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Independent, Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat, New York) shrugged off a warning that they were entering “Trump country” as they found another huge audience in Republican territory.

Their nationwide Fighting Oligarchy tour has for weeks drawn massive crowds as the Vermont senator and New York congresswoman push progressive policies and condemn President Donald Trump over his handling of the economy and growing authoritarianism.

In recent days, the pair have spoken at sold-out venues in deep-red states, with 12,500 people on Monday filling an arena in Nampa, Idaho, a state Trump took by more than 35 percentage points in 2024.

On Tuesday, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez rolled into Republican-dominated Folsom in northern California, a city which sits within Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley’s district.

To underscore the point, a small plane was spotted overhead before the rally pulling a banner emblazoned with the words “Folsom Is Trump Country” in red letters.
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The more than 30,000 people gathered at Folsom Lake College’s athletic track may have disagreed. Ocasio-Cortez certainly did.

“I heard that someone started flying a plane with a banner that said, ‘This is Trump country,’” she said to the crowd, prompting a chorus of boos.

She continued, “It sure don’t look like it today. I don’t think this is Trump country. I think this is our country. ”

Sanders picked up the theme when handed the rhetorical baton.

“We are seeing unbelievable turnouts,” he said. “We were in Idaho — Idaho! — we had 12,000 people coming out in Idaho, the most conservative state in the country. We had 20,000 people in Salt Lake City, a Republican state.”

He added, “I think what the American people — Republicans, independents, Democrats — are saying [is], ‘Sorry, Mr. Trump, we don’t want your oligarchy. Sorry, Mr. Trump, too many men and women have fought and died to defend democracy. You’re not going to take us into authoritarianism.’”
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Next stop: Missoula, Montana, a state Trump has won in three consecutive elections.

 

Generative AI’s diagnostic capabilities comparable to non-specialist doctors

Meta-analysis of medical research with LLMs reveals diagnostic accuracy

Osaka Metropolitan University

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The use of generative AI for diagnostics has attracted attention in the medical field and many research papers have been published on this topic. However, because the evaluation criteria were different for each study, a comprehensive analysis was needed to determine the extent AI could be used in actual medical settings and what advantages it featured in comparison to doctors.

A research group led by Dr. Hirotaka Takita and Associate Professor Daiju Ueda at Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Medicine conducted a meta-analysis of generative AI’s diagnostic capabilities using 83 research papers published between June 2018 and June 2024 that covered a wide range of medical specialties. Of the large language models (LLMs) that were analyzed, ChatGPT was the most commonly studied.

The comparative evaluation revealed that medical specialists had a 15.8% higher diagnostic accuracy than generative AI. The average diagnostic accuracy of generative AI was 52.1%, with the latest models of generative AI sometimes showing accuracy on par with non-specialist doctors.

“This research shows that generative AI’s diagnostic capabilities are comparable to non-specialist doctors. It could be used in medical education to support non-specialist doctors and assist in diagnostics in areas with limited medical resources.” stated Dr. Takita. “Further research, such as evaluations in more complex clinical scenarios, performance evaluations using actual medical records, improving the transparency of AI decision-making, and verification in diverse patient groups, is needed to verify AI’s capabilities.”

The findings were published in npj Digital Medicine.

###

About OMU 

Established in Osaka as one of the largest public universities in Japan, Osaka Metropolitan University is committed to shaping the future of society through “Convergence of Knowledge” and the promotion of world-class research. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ and follow us on social media: X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

---

Journal

npj Digital Medicine

DOI

10.1038/s41746-025-01543-z 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic performance comparison between generative AI and physicians

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School will move to Canada in acquisition deal

(RNS) — The Evangelical Free Church long had an outsized role in evangelicalism and helped give birth to such institutions as The Gospel Coalition and Sojourners magazine. But declining enrollment and financial struggles have dogged the school for years.

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School logo. (Courtesy image)
Bob Smietana
April 8, 2025


(RNS) — A prominent but troubled evangelical seminary has agreed to be acquired by a Canadian university and move to British Columbia, the school’s leaders announced Tuesday (April 8).

The move comes after years of financial struggle and declining attendance at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School — known as TEDS — an Evangelical Free Church school whose alums have played an outsized role in shaping American evangelicalism.

Trinity will continue to hold classes at its Bannockburn, Illinois, campus north of Chicago during the 2025-2026 academic year but will move to the campus of Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, in 2026. Current faculty will get a contract for the coming year but it’s unclear how many will move to Canada in the future.

The school said current students will be able to complete their program through in-person and online options. Students who are U.S. citizens will still be eligible for federal financial aid, though the school said details about scholarships for students have yet to be determined.

Along with moving, TEDS will part ways with Trinity International University, its parent nonprofit, which will continue to run online classes and operate a law school in Santa Ana, California. Trinity International President Kevin Kompelien said that given the challenges in higher education, the divinity school needed to ally itself with a larger institution.

“I believe a school like TEDS will thrive best and accomplish our mission most effectively as part of a larger theologically and missionally aligned evangelical Christian university,” Kompelien said in a statement.
RELATED: Theological schools report continued drop in master of divinity degrees

Founded by Scandinavian immigrants, Trinity was born from a merger in the 1940s of the Chicago-based Swedish Bible Institute and the Minnesota-based Norwegian-Danish Bible Institute. Though affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church, a Minneapolis-based denomination with 1,600 churches, the school has long sought to influence the wider evangelical world. Longtime former dean Kenneth Kantzer, who led the school from 1960 to 1978 and helped it grow to national prominence, called TEDS “the Free Church’s love gift to the worldwide church of Christ.”

Among the school’s alumni are historian Randall Balmer, Sojourners founder Jim Wallis, New Testament scholars Scot McKnight and Craig Blomberg, disgraced evangelist Ravi Zacharias, Christian television host John Ankerberg and Collin Hansen, editor-in-chief of The Gospel Coalition. Longtime professor Don Carson also was one of the founders of The Gospel Coalition, helping launch the so-called Young, Restless and Reformed movement that led to a Calvinist revival among evangelicals. Kantzer went on to be editor of Christianity Today magazine. The school is also home to a number of centers, including the Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding, named for a prominent evangelical theologian.

But over the last decade, Trinity has fallen on hard times. In 2015, the divinity school had 1,182 students — the equivalent of 753 full-timers — making it one of the nation’s larger seminaries. By the fall of 2024, that had dropped to 813 students and 403 full-time equivalents.

In 2023, the university shut down its on-campus programs, leaving it with too much property and not enough students. The university ran a $17.3 million deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial disclosure to the IRS, after shutting down its in-person undergraduate program. Trinity’s 2024 audit shows a $7.6 million deficit, with a similar deficit expected this year. A $19 million long-term loan is also coming due in 2026.

The entire Trinity campus is currently under contract, and the school hopes to close on that sale in October. After the sale is complete, Trinity will lease back part of the campus for the rest of the academic year and use the proceeds to pay off the $19 million loan. About 100 students currently live on campus and their leases will become month to month for the upcoming academic year.

A university spokesman said many details of TWU’s acquisition of TEDS remain to be sorted out, such as what happens to the Henry Center and other centers at the school and how many professors will move to Canada. The two schools are doing due diligence in hopes of finalizing the acquisition by the end of 2025.

Trinity Western will not take on any of TED’s financial obligations as part of the merger. The Canadian school’s president said the merger will lead to a “stronger combined future.”

“We are privileged to continue a longstanding legacy of evangelical scholarship and expand the impact of a global Christian education,” TWU President Todd F. Martin said in a statement. “We are driven by the same heartbeat for the gospel, and together, we can do even more to serve the Church and societies worldwide.”

Historian Joey Cochran, a TEDS alum, said news of the move to Canada is another sign that evangelicalism in the Midwest is on the decline. Institutions like TEDS, he said, once helped shaped the movement, but now most of the power has shifted to the South, he said, pointing out that Baptist seminaries in the South dominate theological education, with nearly 20,000 students enrolled in the six seminaries run by the Southern Baptist Convention or at Liberty University. That’s more than a quarter of the 74,000 seminary students in the U.S., according to data from the Association of Theological Schools, which includes Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish graduate schools of theology.

“We are seeing, in real time, the Southern-ification of evangelicalism,” said Cochran.

Mike Woodruff, pastor of Christ Church, a multisite evangelical church based in Lake Forest, Illinois, not far from the TEDS campus, said news of the move and merger is sad but not unexpected.

“Most graduate schools in theology are struggling,” he said. “It’s just a very different world.”

Woodruff said his church had hired grads from TEDS in the pasts and that professors from TEDS have taught in the church’s programs. The school’s presence will be missed, he said.

“It’s a loss,” he said.

Mark Labberton, former president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, said Trinity, like many seminaries, including Fuller, has faced serious headlines in recent years, like nearly all institutions of higher learning. While the school had outsized influence, it was tied to a smaller denomination, so had fewer resources to draw on. And while many TEDS graduates were known for their ability to innovate and influence, the school itself was less so.

“It would be known for faithfulness but not creativity alongside faithfulness,” said Labberton.

Ed Stetzer, dean of the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, said TEDS was often referred to as the “Queen of the Seminaries” and was well respected for its influence in theological education. News of the move and the school’s troubles is unsettling, he said.

“It’s a jarring moment in theological education, and a sign of the times,” he said. “Seminary education is in trouble — and more closures and mergers are coming, unless seminaries and churches find new and innovative ways to partner.”

David Dockery, a former Trinity International University president who now leads Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said he has hope for the future of TEDS. The school has reinvented itself before, moving from Minneapolis to downtown Chicago and later to the Chicago suburbs.

“This in many ways will be Trinity 4.0,” he said. “It now has an opportunity for a new and next phase, and I pray God’s blessings upon them as they make this important transition.”

Dockery said the combination of theological excellence and Scandinavian piety — from its Free Church founding — helped TEDS gain global influence. “That combination made for a marvelous institution that attracted some of the best scholars in the evangelical world,” he said.

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