SNIPEF, the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers Federation, has elected Dundee-based contractor Steve Craig as its 102nd president for the 2026/27 term, drawing on a career that began with an apprenticeship at Munro Petrosea in 1979 and the co-founding of APS Dundee Ltd in 2012. Craig plans to prioritise apprenticeship reform and funding, particularly for SME plumbing and heating firms that carry most of the recruitment and training burden. He will use SNIPEF’s existing research and ongoing government engagement to push for changes in apprenticeship support, skills and competence frameworks linked to net-zero building services.

Former CIA officer David J. Rush has been charged with theft of public funds after FBI agents found 303 gold bars worth about $40 million, plus roughly $2 million in cash and dozens of luxury watches, hidden in his Virginia home. US officials say Rush fabricated a “special access program” and a “made-up contract” to persuade at least two CIA colleagues to transfer cash, foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars between November 2025 and March 2026. His lawyer claims the case is really about $65,000 in alleged time card fraud and disputes that Rush owned the bullion.

US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra is urging Canada to act as a core US partner on critical minerals, energy and defence, framing a North American “economic fortress” built on Canadian resource endowment and mining expertise, including experience working with Indigenous communities. He cited existing integration such as 3–4 million barrels of oil per day moving from Alberta to the US, growing Quebec–US power interconnections, and Davie Shipbuilding’s expansion into Finland and Texas as models for cross-border industrial projects. Hoekstra warned that Washington is already backing billions of dollars in critical minerals deals with allies like Australia and “is not waiting” if Ottawa hesitates to join US-led frameworks.